Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars (2009)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Sorry, this movie sucks

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The Doctor lands on the red planet, Mars 2059. He stumbles across the first Space Colony led by the charismatic bud domineering Adelaide Brooke, Bowie Base One. On site they have a massive garden on board, their very own Eden. One of the gardeners is quickly infected with something, and becomes quickly disfigured. A worried Doctor tries to escape but is encouraged to stay and help. Another gardener, Maggie, is discovered unconscious and placed in isolation, soon after something happens to her and she too becomes infected, as does yet another member, Tarak. Water begins streaming out of all of them and their skin becomes disfigured. The crew try to take off back to Earth, but the infected humans have other ideas. The Doctor has two choices, to leave the crew to their intended fate of death, or to intercede.I have to mention Lindsay Duncan, as a huge fan of hers from her many Stephen Poliakoff dramas i was overjoyed to see her guest in Doctor Who, she did not disappoint, she was fantastic. I enjoyed her discussion about seeing a Dalek.After the nightmare that was Planet of the Dead, this was a much better episode. The hour long format is good, it allows a great development of story and characters. A far more scary episode, this time there is real menace from the infected beings, the scene of Andy infecting Tarak is quite a nasty one. Much faster paced and more dramatic, there's a real feeling of danger and threat. A slightly sour ending, the Doctor's getting a little cocky, he's starting to play God. 7/10 (on the right day maybe an 8)

Could be. If not as an episode (although it's right up there with the best, IMHO), then at least as a performance. Knowing for quite some time at that point that these would be his last few performances as Doctor Who, Tennant takes the character to new places in this episode - an episode that delves more deeply than any of those that preceded it into what it means to be the Last of the Time Lords, the unbearable burden and the unimaginable power. There is one line in particular, near the end, which I would nominate as the single most exhilarating and at the same time scary moment of the series so far: "The laws of time are mine, and they will OBEY me!". But apart from all that, "Waters Of Mars" is also a riveting, suspenseful stand-alone episode, in the tradition of "The Satan Pit" and "42" (both among my favorites as well), while the enemy - the water - is reminiscent of brilliantly simple ideas such as "the shadows" of "Silence In The Library". The supporting cast is excellent, and when the Doctor steps out of the Tardis at the start you really do feel like you're on Mars! There is one incident near the end, also involving the Tardis, which could have been better timed, but that hardly alters the essence of the story. ***1/2 out of 4.

"The Waters of Mars" is the third episode of what most call 'series 4.5' and is definitely the most interesting of the 4 episodes (or 5 if you count the End of Time Part Two as a separate episode, which some do). Its plot is, well, passable, although nothing brilliant. The Doctor lands on the red planet on November 21st in the year 2059, which happens to be precisely the date of a very important event in history of what would eventually lead to human kind entering the realm of space travel. No inclination is given as to why The Doctor showed up at such dashing timing, but what can you say; it is Doctor Who. Anyway, so the Doctor stumbles across a station on mars not far from where he landed and, due to him being the Doctor, has to check it out. Of course, some shenanigans ensue and we have our hour long special. Now something quite surprising happened with this special, and with series 4.5 it was a quite singular thing for this one story (atleast for this reviewer); I never once felt the time. As I said, the special is an hour long and it kept me interested the whole time, moving at a brisk pace, whilst not sacrificing the time it needs to get acquainted with the episodes central characters, and managed not to overly annoy me too much with anything. (Well, there was this one scene when the Doctor was recognizing the crew of the station, and this rather annoying file on a computer kept showing up and presenting a small bio on each character, and would zoom in on a specific part of each file for ALL of the members, which was totally overused and annoying--after awhile I was like "We get it!") Now, and this may be a bit of a !!SPOILER!! but it turns out this base is under siege, as members of the crew are infected, and taken over by wa…water? A bit odd, yet quite effective choice that for the most part works quite well, and at times even presents us with a rather frightening villain. The story pits The Doctor, and the uninfected crew, against the water and its desire to get to Earth. Doesn't sound like much of a plot, and it really isn't, but its The Doctor's dilemma in the story that makes it work..When it comes to the series 4.5, this episode was pretty darned alright, especially when compared to an episode like The Next Doctor, oh then it was sodding brilliant, but I don't know, I just didn't feel it the way I should have. There was some good action and suspense, and I liked how the Doctor kept telling himself he should go but, being that he is Doctor, kept staying. That was entertaining, and I enjoyed seeing him fight between his time lordy don't break the rules type attitude, and Doctory not being able to just leave the people to die. Also liked the little 'Ice Warriors' reference in there. But I don't know, it just felt kind of bland. Kind of how '42' felt bland too, even though it was a good episode and really shouldn't have. Perhaps it's poor directing. The ending was interesting and a bit frightening, as he was leaving the stations the Doctor takes an interesting character turn (you who've seen it know what I mean), I liked the look on Tennants face, butI really didn't enjoy the little collection of thoughts, though. Again, seemed a bit overkill where it was endlessly saying things about time-lords. Just a bit over the top to the extent when I was just like "I get it, mate, that's enough" (just like with the computer thing earlier on). I liked Adelaide, as well. Nothing much to say there, though. I also liked that they brought the Ood back, there in the end, although I wasn't fond of how the Doctor behaved seconds before that. I respect the angle they were going for, it's a just a personal opinion of me not liking to see The Doctor like that. It made me think of Matt Smith's comment to Rory in series five ("I need you beside me"). It really marks the under current that flowed through series four of how much the Doctor needed someone (i.e. Donna) to keep him on the straight and narrow, and now that he's alone, he's gone far from where the Doctor should be. Had this (kind of) series been stronger this could have been a very interesting topic to explore, but the specials, apart from this serial, didn't really do enough with it, and when they tried too it seemed a little too much, and without enough buildup.All in all, better then both of its predecessors, and definitely better then it's successor(s). But compared to most episodes it was not something to write home about, and again a disappointment. ~6 of 10~ A bit below par for the series, but more than par for the specials.

All the publicity for this one off episode suggested that it would be scarier than most Doctor Who episodes and I think it was... I'm sure it will have had some children hiding behind the settee just as their parents did in the seventies.The episode opened in an easy going manner with The Doctor arriving on Mars and going for a stroll, his walk takes him to a small base. It isn't just any base though, nor is it any day... it is the first ever human base on Mars and it is the day it is destined to be lost along with all its personnel. At around the time The Doctor is captured outside the base two of its staff are harvesting the first crops to be grown there, something is wrong though, as soon as one of them bites into a carrot something strange happens, he starts to drip water and the area around his mouth appears cracked giving him a scary appearance. It is clear that they must be kept away from the rest of the people there at all costs and that anybody who gets the water on them is lost.Unusually The Doctor is keen to leave them to their fate, not because he is afraid but because he believes it is a pivotal moment in time and they must die if humanity is to fulfil its destiny and explore the stars. As the people there prepare to evacuate The Doctor tells Adelaide Brooke, the leader of the base personnel, what her destiny and why he can't help.I feared that we were going to get a cop-out happy ending but with a nice twist we got an ending that was both dark and showed The Doctor in a bad light.. it will be interesting to see where this leads in the next special. David Tennant once again does a great job as The Doctor, he will be missed when he leaves the role, he was ably supported by a good cast including Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide Brooke.