An Ideal World

 


An Ideal World by Ian Potter

Wow, A Dalek Occupation of Winter was great! I can't wait to see what they follow it with! 
Oh. 
Oh no. 
So, other people tend to really like this one, but here's the thing. The plot is generic. Planet is alive. Okay, good, you can do a Who story about that. As a matter of fact, Part One is quite excellent. The Doctor, Vicki and Steven explore this planet, and oops, there's not much oxygen anymore, they can barely survive, AAAAA! Then a creature crawls out of nothing and kills the Astronauts. Is that the part one cliffhanger? No, that's the part two cliffhanger. The Part one cliffhanger is the same creature saying "Consume." Understandable, okay. Nothing important happens in Part Two. This is a Three or Two part story, or it needed something else, but after a great part one focusing on survival, Part Two is...also focusing on Survival, and it gets old fast. The Doctor gets sick, and remains pretty much unconcious until part Four, so the story can have an excuse to stall. Part Three is similarly paced, but it's a step up, and the Part Three cliffhanger almost convinces you that the creatures that killed the Astronauts are going to strike, and Part Four reveals that these bloodthirsty creatures that have killed multiple people at this point, and literally have no lines except "Consume" are actually okay? What, no. That's not how you do a plot. They just killed loads of people! They were previously characterized as mindless animals! 
This story is geniunely pathetic. It is not good, and I'm tired of pretending it's otherwise. Four points for Maureen O'Brian and Peter Purves, they do a good job with this tripe: 4/10 

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