Doctor Who - The Vampires Of Venice

This weeks Doctor Who episode started with a stag party and The Doctor jumping out of a cake instead of a stripper. Sounds a bit rubbish, but it made me chuckle and I really like the new snappy dialogue. The idea is that The Doctor needs to pick up Rory, Amy's fiancée and take them on a date, to take her mind of him and put it back with her bloke.

Hence, Venice. Some of the shots looked a bit CGI, but generally the episode was quite stylish, with palazza's and bridges and canals. They even managed to keep away from the clichés, with minor use of a gondola.

It would probably have been more interesting if the Vampires turned out to be real Vampires, rather than fish from space, but at least the build up was handled okay. The execution of the aliens was, as in general, a bit rubbish. Much better were the aliens in human or vampire form. I particularly enjoyed the conversation between The Doctor and the head alien (Rosanna?), with her knowledge of Time Lords and The Doctor's past. It seems that The Doctor can never escape what he did in the Time War.

Also very enjoyable was the dialogue in this episode, as in all the other episodes. Fast, snappy, witty and never feeling forced. There were many moments that made me laugh, self referential nods and winks, and ANGRY DOCTOR. He shouts, he's angry, he's The Doctor. He never even gives you a warning, he just flips. I liked him telling Amy what to do, and letting her understand in no uncertain terms that she was there for the ride and he was the boss.

The plot resolved itself in a rather mechanical way, but I can live with that (for the moment) due the shinyness of everything else.

Still great fun.