Wednesday 28 December 2011

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 37

Well the Christmas special has just aired on Christmas day in the UK, but as usual I'm playing catch-up, so here are the new aliens we encountered as we bid farewell to The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Fleshkind/Metalkind










I quite liked this idea, even though I found the names 'fleshkind and 'metalkind' a little simplistic even for a kids show. But the concept of two races developing differently yet similarly and the tale of how how they drifted into endless war with each other was very well told and it was a good introduction for Sky, the fleshkind weapon who becomes another of Sarah Jane's adopted children.

Felshkind and Metalkind are two related species that diverged significantly in their development, one side (fleshkind) becoming carbon based lifeforms similar in appearance to humans, the other becoming boron based lifefoprms named 'metalkind'. Both species were able to emit powerful energy blasts and signals from their bodies, though whether this is natural or technological is unclear. The child 'Sky' was engineered to contain enough energy to wipe out the metalking in a single blast. While the crisis was averted by Sky's choice to join humanity the war still continues.

Hetocumtek









I thought this was possibly the rubbishest alien enemy in the series, which is a pity since it was in by far the best episode. Clyde's rejection by his family and friends led to an insightful and engaging portrayal of homelessness that was presented well for it's young audience, being neither overly hopeful nor direly pessimistic but showing the fight for survival that many have on the street. To bad it was ruined by a strange totem pole thing that was defeated by Clyde shouting his name at it with no explanation as to why that destroyed the monster.

Hetocumtek is the Native American name for an alien being that descended to Earth and was capable of wreaking great havokusing psychic abilities that were interpreted as 'curses' by the humans it encountered. The Indians found a way to imprison the being in one of thheir totem poles where it was imprisoned until it touched Clyde Langer. He cursed Clyde, making anyone who heard his name hate him, but Clyde retaliated with the help of his friends and broke the curse, defeating the monster.

Skullions










I really liked these little guys, at first seeming to be the villains. The story of them being slaves was cool and I absolutely loved their steampunk operating system for the hologram they operated and used to hypnotise people for their master. I really liked the reveal that there is an underground black market in captured aliens as slaves, it would have been a great plot line to follow, and I'm really hoping that some of the cool elements like the Trickster, the Captain and this trade can maybe migrate into the main show and continue.

Skullions are a technologically superior race that have fast space travel capabilities and are able to produce and control detailed holograms. One group came under the control of Serf Industries when their ship crashlanded in Asia and they were picked up and enslaved by a secret organisation that sells captured aliens and their technology to the highest bidder. They were rescued by Sarah Jane and returned to their home planet safely.

And that's it - I'll post the Christmas special soon!!

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