Dreamland

"Some men are born great; others have crates thrust upon them."

Writer: Phil Ford

Format: TV animation 

Broadcast: 21st - 27th November 2009

Series: 4

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis 

During a visit to a local diner, the Tenth Doctor stumbled upon a mysterious alien artefact that leads him on a mission to rescue Rivesh Mantilax from the threat of the Viperox and the clutches of the US military. 

Verdict 

Dreamland was an excellent feature length animated special! I like how quickly after The Infinite Quest we were given another animated special (I say special as I watched the feature length version on the DVD, not the original six parts it was split into), and I certainly think that this was an improvement. The animation sequences were perhaps questionable and nothing up to the standards of the animated reconstructions of missing Classic stories such as The Reign of Terror and The Ice Warriors, but it did its job I guess. David Tennant gave a magnificent performance and for him it would have been like recording an audio adventure so with the recent Big Finish announcement of a new UNIT series based within the revival period, surely it'll pave the way for stories to actually feature the Doctor as well. I bloody well hope so! David Tennant would be magic on audio, I guarantee it. I loved his performance in Colditz and that was some time before he was even cast as the Tenth Doctor! Georgia Moffet appearing as Cassie was very welcomed as she performed so well as Jenny in The Doctor's Daughter! I still maintain that the daughter of the Doctor should still return in some form or fashion. She's played by a stunningly good actress who has more than one connection to the series and surely her being the Doctor's daughter is enough to warrant a return? Even if it's in audio, prose or comic strip! I demand that it happens. Playing a much different role here, Georgia filled in nicely as the lite co-companion for the story along with Jimmy. The relationship between the pair was very good throughout and I liked how it blossomed into a full blown relationship. It was nice how the Doctor could see that. His reference to humans and Time Lords being different due to an accident in dimensional geography was superb! He's acknowledging wonderfully the similarities between himself and humans and even throws in a football reference when Russia are referred to as the Reds. I must dispute his thinking that the Reds referred to Manchester United when everybody knows that the official Reds are Liverpool! Five times, Doctor. Five times. The Viperox were intriguing enemies and I thought the idea of a Queen Viperox was very good. The concept of hatching robots had me baffled I must admit but she looked impressive! The Doctor's reference to having a bad effect on royalty was marvellous, especially with it being this incarnation! Tooth and Claw and The Shakespeare Code back up his remark! The setting of 1958 in Area 51 is questionable due to the compound's construction but the idea was there and that's what is important. Colonel Stark was a good head of the base and I liked his typical American bravado in trying to dominate the situation and ignore anyone who can obviously help. The U-turn of the Viperox on the US government was good and set up nicely for the climax. I liked Mr Dread and his alliance and the inclusion of Jimmy's grandfather was great. The shooting of robots was very good and I liked how well the sonic screwdriver was utilised in this episode. The love story of the captured aliens we saw pre-credits was nice and overall, a superb little animated episode! David Tennant the massive standout star. 

Rating: 8/10