Sarah -
I've been looking forward to this story, which I haven't watched since the first airing. I remembered it being the best of the Specials year and I was not disappointed.
Harry -
Everyone acted the hell out of this one, especially Lindsay Duncan as Captain Adelaide Brooke. Wow!
Sarah -
Duncan is definitely one of my favorite guest actors of the Tennant era. She’s spectacular as Adelaide.
Harry -
The only memories I had of this story were the "Gadget gadget" droid, and the dripping monsters. But I forgot how much of a horror story this one was. More haunted house than base under siege. What happened to the infected crew members was horrific.
Sarah -
"The Waters of Mars" is a proper horror story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The junior member of the Smith household, let’s call her Ace, commented that the story reminded her of Alien. Alien is my favorite horror film, so I’m down with that.
Harry -
Wicked!
Sarah -
I love that the chaos starts with a simple carrot.
Harry -
A simple carrot, bitten by the first unfortunate member of the crew, bringing something very ancient back to life and setting off a chain reaction for Adelaide and her crew.
I can't recall if there was an expectation that a story set on Mars would include the Ice Warriors. They did get a shout out by the Doctor quite late, but the menace he encountered here was something else entirely. An ancient race or intelligence (that understood a Northern Martian dialect, apparently), that craved or depended so much on water that it was ready to travel to Earth and soak up its seas. It was up to the Doctor to stop this invasion before it even got off the planet. Only, once he realized where he'd stumbled into, and who he was among, and what day it was, he suddenly wanted to leave the Mars base as soon as possible.
Sarah -
It’s so rare to see the Doctor react this way, which just amps up the tension even more. He knows how this is going to end and watching it happen is unnerving. He keeps trying to get out of there, but can’t manage to do so.
Harry -
Half the time he was was standing in a doorway in his orange spacesuit, knowing he should leave but desperate to stay. He hung around, then got completely carried away at the end when he should have just left.
Sarah -
We’ve already called out Lindsay Duncan’s performance, but the entire cast is fabulous. Watching them be infected one by one is terrifying. Maggie’s transformation while talking to Yuri is especially effective. Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s performance well and truly scared me. The moment that broke my heart was Steffi starting the video of her children when she realizes she’s about to transform. That was crushing.
Harry -
The props and costume crews outdid themselves here. The monsters were very unique and very horrifying.
Each time a crew member fell victim to the infection was traumatic. I forgot how powerful this story was.
It all leads up to a series of confrontations between the Doctor and Adelaide. First, when she cottons on to the fact that he knows more than he's admitting. Then, when she refuses to let him leave until he lets her know what he knows. Their final face-to-face was the most explosive of all. Having gone completely apeshit movie hero, the Doctor rescued Adelaide and two remaining crew members before the Mars base was completely destroyed. Knowing her future history, and realizing that it has been altered with potentially massive consequences, Adelaide rounds on the Doctor with fury. How dare he play god and tamper with human history, and then act all full of himself for having saved a few lives, when he might have prevented the disaster from the very beginning. I love how she completely tells him off.
Sarah -
YES! The Doctor has had that coming for a while. What happened to, "you can't rewrite history! Not one line!"
Harry -
It was something he badly needed to hear. Left alone again, he finally admitted to himself, "I've gone too far" with his Time Lord victorious shtick.
He seems to hallucinate the appearance of an Ood on a London street, before retreating to the TARDIS with destiny about to crash down upon him. What a wild story.
Shall we see how the Doctor's song ends?
Sarah -
Let’s go!
Harry -
Best line: "I hate funny robots."
Favourite moment: Adelaide rips the Doctor to shreds.
Lasting image: Andy, the first victim, transformed by the waters of Mars.
7/10
Sarah -
Best Line:
Adelaide: State your name, rank, and intention.
Doctor: The Doctor. Doctor. Fun.
Favorite Moment: Adelaide telling the Doctor off for rewriting history.
Lasting Image: Maggie after her transformation.
8/10
Our marathon continues with Story #202: The End of Time...
