Planet of the Dead: Why Kitsch is Cool

In the spirit of celebrating my burgeoning sci-fi entertainment obsession, I'm going to dedicate my first entry to the ineffable David Tennant in his epic role as The Doctor in tonight's US premiere of "Planet of the Dead." First of all, hooooooly...it could not have taken longer to get here. The endless month of promos could not have made me any more edgy. (By the way, I'm a bit distracted on account of I'm writing all this while my husband catches up on Day Five of Torchwood's "Children of Earth." Another blog entry entirely, that one. I feel like I need to be respectful and cease my typing during the monologue about John Frobisher...right before he desperately, mercifully...well...Oi! NO SPOILERS HERE!)

Alright, back to it. I have to confess, after the weightiness of the weeklong brilliant disaster that was "CoE", I was beyond relieved that our beloved bastard, Russell T Davies, chose to deliver a lighter side of Who - one that would make us laugh beginning to end and truly showcase Tennant's gift for pulling off that classic casual humor in the face of impending destruction. This, to me, is Doctor Who at its best. It works because it calls us to revel in, rather than apologize for, the potential silliness of men in Dharma jumpsuits and rubber fly masks. There's a tangibility to this method, committing to stay only partially reliant on the fickle mistress that is computer generated space monsters (SyFy Originals, anyone?). It also appeals to our sentimentality - that little part of us that reflects fondly on the days of cardboardboxandsilverspraypaint approach to futuristic set design.

In short, it's the kitsch that makes Doctor Who so damn cool.

Similarly, the extras can ever be counted on for cheesetastic one-liners and textbook overacting. (Case in point, the cowering manicurist-turned-palm reader who throws back-of-hand-to-forehead and shrieks, "WHO ARE YOU?? WHAT WILL YOU BE??" from last season's "Turn Left". That scene still brings me physical pain, it was practically unwatchable.) But we overlook these moments because their delivery is so deliciously tongue-in-cheek and perfectly in line with the spirit of the show. Particularly hilarious tonight was Dr. Malcolm (played by Lee Evans) - a bumbling, watery eyed and fingerless-begloved scientific genius, who stammers in awestruck refrains of "I love you!" when faced with The Doctor in the flesh. These ancillary characters are almost always endearing and give you that old, familiar "we Earthlings are so adorably naive" feeling. Makes you all warm & fuzzy when you reflect on how much joy The Doctor divines from endlessly rescuing our helpless arses.

I confess I initially had reservations about the prominent presence of Michelle Ryan in this special. I had watched exactly 1.45 episodes of Bionic Woman before it dissolved and I was not impressed. But I was pleasantly surprised to find her a refreshing addition to the one-off Who cast. Her character was perhaps a bit too polished for the series...we're used to seeing more fallibility in our human companions. But her confident flirtatiousness and acrobatic perfection complemented The Doctor quite nicely. (Even if she did reek of Ocean's Twelve's Francois Toulour - inexplicably athletic royalty stealing priceless relics out of boredom?)

All in all, I found "Planet of the Dead" to be a beautifully fun precursor to the dark and heavy content we know must be coming in the next two specials. Enjoy the comedy of The Doctor while you can because it all comes to an end with our beloved Doctor dying, after all.