This is virtually a remake of 1982's widely unloved "Time Flight", only with a bigger budget and a worse Doctor. Too wildly lit, underwritten, paced for an audience with an 8 second attention span, too noisy, too much emphasis on quirk over character and too talky from the massively over-rated David Tennant and that damned sonic screwdriver! - so, pretty much par for the course for a post revival Dr Who. Russel Davies seems love peppering the series with cartoonish fanboy dialogue and seems, by this point in the series to be ruling it as a personal fiefdom much the way John Nathan Turner did in his reign. The new Dr Who as always unoriginal and more marketing oriented than quality driven, and by this episode, that had become tedious.

'Planet Of The Dead' was the first of four 'Dr.Who' specials broadcast in 2009 in lieu of a full thirteen-part season. By this time, the news of David Tennant's impending departure was public knowledge, and his successor - Matt Smith - appointed. Written by Russell T.Davies and Gareth Roberts, this was clearly intended to be a light starter before the heavy main course later in the year. The Doctor, investigating a possible wormhole in time and space, climbs onto a London bus - the 200. Seated next to him is the beautiful Lady Christina de Souza ( Michelle Ryan ), a bored aristocrat who loves stealing valuable things. In her bag is a priceless cup dating back to medieval times, freshly stolen from a museum. The wormhole opens in a tunnel, spiriting the bus and everyone on it to a far-off desert planet. Nearby is a crashed spaceship piloted by creatures which resemble flies. The 'sand' is in fact the remains of what was once a thriving civilisation. A swarm of stingray-like beings can be seen on the horizon. They consume matter, destroying any planets they encounter. The Doctor has the tough job of getting everyone home without bringing these things along at the same time...Like I said, this is a fun romp which makes no attempt whatever to be Hugo award winning material. The jokes work most of the time and there is some good action stuff. The Doctor does not appear to be worried by the danger he and his friends are in. At one point he even says: "The worse this gets, the more I love it!". Tennant had the ability to take an average script - such as this - and make it into something special. There's no villain as such, not unless you count the stingrays. Lee Evans, one of my favourite modern-day funny men, has a small role as a dithering scientist whom the Doctor is in constant communication with, and U.N.I.T. gets to indulge in some good old fashioned Pertwee-style gun-play. As 'Lady Christina', Ryan exhibits more personality than she ever did as the star of the flop 'Bionic Woman' revival. Her character may or may not have been inspired by the proposed new companion intended to replace Sophie Aldred's 'Ace' had a series been made in 1990. Ryan's no Billie Piper but streets ahead of the wooden Karen Gillan. The story climaxes with the Doctor hearing the now-famous "He will knock four times!" prediction. The look on his face on realising his present incarnation is nearly over is simply heartbreaking. The flying bus attracted the usual, predictable criticism from rabid anti-R.T.D. zealots. What was the response from these very people to the even more ridiculous flying shark seen in the 2010 Christmas 'Special'? Deafening silence, that's what! 'Planet Of The Dead' is not classic 'Who', but looks better with repeated viewing. Which is more than can be said about Season 5 as a whole.

Well, David Tennant is pretty much going through the motions these days, and it seems Russell T. Davies is doing the same.Nothing really catches your eye in this 30 minute episode needlessly stretched out to an hour. Even the monsters don't make much of an effort; just a bunch of flying alien stingrays, and not a Steve Irwin joke in sight.If your birthday is after 1998, then this might just keep your interest, but that's about it.I'm keeping my fingers crossed there are better things to come, and that Matt Smith (the new Doctor Who) will not be the 21st century's equivalent of Sylvester McCoy and end up killing the franchise for another 15 years.

As I write this, Russell T Davies turn the job of head Who writer over to Stephen Moffat. If "Planet of the Dead" is anything to go by, this change could not come too soon.The script shows no flair whatsoever, and the episode has practically no plot. This is made worse by the intensely annoying characters, with Lady Christina being particularly irritating. She is basically Jenny from "The Doctor's Daughter" with black hair. The Swarm,when revealed, are relatively impressive, but do little for the episode. The humor is based on cheap one-liners and slapstick. There is nothing to make this episode memorable, even to fans of the show.The episode left me disappointed and I hope Moffat can bring back the qualities that made previous series so excellent.