Review Kill the Moon (2014)

[Doctor Omega]

Your thoughts on this story....

In the near future, the Doctor and Clara find themselves on a space shuttle making a suicide mission to the Moon. Crash-landing on the lunar surface they find the most terrible things.

On to the next story....

MUMMY ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS....

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/mummy-on-the-orient-express-2014.5327/


Back to the previous story....

THE CARETAKER....

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-caretaker-2014.5326/

 

[Carol]

Colour me polarised, then, don't see why people have a problem! I think it's a hoot.

 

[Doctor Omega]

The sticker for continuity in me is unable to reconcile this story with The Moonbase, set - series wise - about thirty years later.

If Troughton's story had been called "The Freshly Laid Moonbase", I might be more forgiving of this story.

Also, in terms of science, wouldn't the resolution of this story have resulted in death and cataclysm for the inhabitants of the Earth, even more so than would be caused by the wonky science of Space 1999?

 

[ant-mac]

Colour me polarised, then, don't see why people have a problem! I think it's a hoot.

Because it is childishly idiotic and moronically ignorant of basic scientific principles. You do not have to be Professor Stephen Hawking to read a few books or ask a few questions to get the basics right when writing a short science fiction story. It also goes against common sense and established DOCTOR WHO lore. Of course, the former isn't as common as everyone would like to think and the latter is far more tenuous than everyone would like to think.

However, I do not believe it is too much to ask for these so-called "show-runners" and self-proclaimed "visionaries" to occasionally make an effort to avoid plunging the TV series into the realms of the ridiculous. Perhaps if they pulled their collective heads out of their collective arses, they might just find their collective vision a little bit clearer.

Oh well...

 

[Carol]

Also, in terms of science, wouldn't the resolution of this story have resulted in death and cataclysm for the inhabitants of the Earth

(1) Apparently not, because it didn't - I was watching carefully.
(2) I suspect the writer(s) are entitled to plead the "real science says" defence -e.g. bumble bees can be aerodynamically proven to be incapable of achieving flight - but this is OK because bees don't bother to read scientific papers so remain unaware of this and go right on flying.

Also I cheerfully defer to your greater knowledge of Moonbase continuities - clearly a little accidental vagueness on my part goes along way t blissful ignorance.

 

[The Seeker]

The only part of this episode I liked was Clara's chewing out the Doctor. It raises many valid questions.

 

[Carol]

the realms of the ridiculous.

My favourite place on a Saturday evening during the WHO season. Fantasy, nostalgia, escapism, wish-fulfillment... limitless creativity.

 

[Carol]

Clara's chewing out the Doctor

My apologies - my memory of Clara is fastidiously dim, and getting dimmer all the time. Did she give him a bollocking I've somehow erased?

 

[The Seeker]

She sure did! It was because he left her to make the decision without helping her.

 

[ant-mac]

My favourite place on a Saturday evening during the WHO season. Fantasy, nostalgia, escapism, wish-fulfillment... limitless creativity.

I prefer at least a vague glimmer of intelligence when viewing a reasonably serious science fiction TV series. I want to see a balance between creativity and escapism on the one side and accuracy and intelligence on the other. With science fiction, while the plot might well be fiction, the science should at least have a tenuous link with reality.

If I want the see the ridiculous, I'll watch MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS, THE YOUNG ONES or possibly FOX & FRIENDS.

 

[Gavin]

(2) I suspect the writer(s) are entitled to plead the "real science says" defence -e.g. bumble bees can be aerodynamically proven to be incapable of achieving flight - but this is OK because bees don't bother to read scientific papers so remain unaware of this and go right on flying.

Yeah this is a myth. Bumble bees are perfectly aerodynamically capable of flight and science doesn't say otherwise. I enjoyed the story overall but the scientific ignorance about the moon (which would have been considered ignorant a hundred years ago) makes it hard to take.

 

[Carol]

but the scientific ignorance about the moon

A fair point in relation to most adult viewers, but what about kids?

(Plus - knowing the moon isn't actually made of cheese doesn't stop me loving A Grand Day Out every time!)
(Double plus: I'm more worried about gullible adults who still think the moon landings were fake)

 

[ant-mac]

A fair point in relation to most adult viewers, but what about kids?

What about the kids?

Is there some reason they should be ignored or mislead, simply because they're kids?

In this world of fake news and alternative facts, why add more when they do a disservice to both the story and the viewers?

Times have changed, but once, DOCTOR WHO at least tried to be partially educational and informative.

Then for some reason, its makers got lazy or stupid - or both.

 

[Gavin]

A fair point in relation to most adult viewers, but what about kids?

(Plus - knowing the moon isn't actually made of cheese doesn't stop me loving A Grand Day Out every time!)
(Double plus: I'm more worried about gullible adults who still think the moon landings were fake)

Any kid over the age of 6 that doesn't understand what a ridiculous concept it is for the moon to be an egg that hatches and immediately lays an egg the same size as the one it hatched out of (and doesn't leave any sign of the eggshell) needs to be checked for mental development delay. And my (at the time 11yo) worked out that if the moon had increased in mass enough for gravity to have increased, that would have significant impacts on the moon's orbit and the earth's tides.

I don't have a problem with things like that in shows that are clearly being silly (haven't seen A Grand Day Out - will need to check it out). And while Doctor Who is clearly a fantasy show, it's supposedly set in a real universe and stepping too far outside the bounds of reality makes it hard to watch.

That's not to say that the episode is a complete write off. The atmosphere of the first part of the episode is suitably creepy and the emotional/character stuff is great. It could have been done just as easily with no increase in the moon's mass but having gravity generators in the base and not having the moon be an egg but having an egg underneath the base and the hatching process is what killed everyone in the base. The egg hatches and the creature leaves. Every other aspect of the show could have stayed the same.

 

[Carol]

ridiculous

Key word here, I think. Bonkers comedy premise. Lighten up?

 

[Gavin]

Bonkers comedy premise. Lighten up?

If the episode had been done in a comedic way I'd happily give it a pass. But the episode was heavily dramatic and emotional with no indication of comedic intention. It was clearly intended as a "serious" episode.

 

[Doctor Omega]

If there was a sequel called Kill the Writer I might feel better disposed towards this episode....

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[michaellevenson]

This episode would struggle to pass as an episode of Lost In Space. It would be on par with The Great Vegetable Rebellion as the worst one. It certainly doesn't belong in a serious show
Dr Smith " oh my god this planet is an egg ,Will Robinson we're doomed"
Robot " Never fear Dr Smith just get a large frying pan and you can have the biggest breakfast you've ever had"
Dr Smith " how dare you mock me you motorized Ninny!"

 

[Doctor Omega]

The fact that the cast were all taking it so seriously thoughout KILL THE MOON made it so much worse.

I couldn't believe they were so dumb as to hatch the moon, then replace it with a freshly laid exactly identical duplicate! (What, with ancient craters and all?) And zero repercussions from the exploded first moon. And expect us to put aside our intelligence.

It was also another nail in the coffin of my respect for these celebrity journalist fans, who so grated on me by hijacking a lot of the classic dvd documentaries with their own self-important opinions, because, believe it or not Robert Shearman loves this episode thinking it exactly the sort of daring, mad story that DOCTOR WHO should be doing, because it's supposedly "the only show that can get away with something like that".

In the same TARDIS ERUDITORUM book, Robert and the author (who agrees with him) talk about how the author of KILL THE MOON is a bit depressed over the whole thing, thinking that everybody hates the story - and was gobsmacked when Robert told him he loved it.

And while I am hurling rocks at those uber-fans who made my heart sink every time their fizzogs appeared on a Classic making of, Gary Russell, Clayton Hickman, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell and Gary Gillat can get lost too, to name just a few!

The nadir of it was Gary Russell telling us that "I am such a Virgo!" because he colour coded his cassette tapes on the Love Off-Air documentary on THE INVASION. All of that lovely animation work on episodes 1 and 4 almost went to waste as I was tempted to snap the disk in half by that point!

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!