Earth Aid review [Andrew Cartmel]

For some reason, Ace is the captain of a spaceship called the Vancouver, which coincidentally gets targeted by Metatraxi ships. What are the chances?

Where and When: At some point between Animal and The Fearmonger.

The Doctor's Case:

• A Good Quotation:
• "You let others die for you."
• "You wouldn't by any chance be telling a huge fib."
• The Doctor and Raine get some proper time alone together since... probably the first half of Crime of the Century. It's just traditional Doctor-and-companion exploration but it takes on a whole new dynamic with Raine being inexperienced. She emerges from a safe just as the Doctor did when they first met, which is a nice reversal.
• Ingrid Oliver (who would later be cast as Osgood) isn't given the most engaging of roles but she does a great job with what she's got.
• It isn't the most interesting of plots and takes a while to kick in, but at least this story has one, which its predecessors were lacking in. 

The Valeyard's Case:

• A Bad Quotation:
• "Belay that!"
• "You will know the wrath of the Metatraxi!"
• "Muuuum."
• "Yeah, we're like the three musketeers."
• The Metatraxi are an immensely impotent threat, hanging upside down and shouting empty threats. They supposedly led Raine on a wild goose chase in order to trap her in a safe and send her onto the Vancouver, but we've seen nothing to show that they can be so crafty and patient. It's safe to say that they've been an utter failure since their first appearance in Crime of the Century, not working as comic relief nor as villains. One of the most warlike races the Doctor has ever come across? Please.
• New companion Raine is wasted once again. What was the point in introducing her if Ace is going to serve the role of companion and Raine is going to do next to nothing? It isn't even as though Ace is getting great material to half-justify it. She pretends to be the captain of a spaceship (for some reason) and does a terrible job of acting the part.
• Raine's method of finding the password for the grain silo was, frankly, ridiculous. It's up there with Tosh's random leap in logic that an ISBN would open the Torchwood Hub in They Keep Killing Suzie.
• The Vancouver is saved thanks to the Metatraxi's sexism. It wasn't funny or clever when this sort of thing happened in Crime of the Century and it is even less so here, happening completely out of the blue.
• The character of Yanikov exists for one sole purpose - to point out Ace's mistakes, yet nothing comes of this until she is finally relieved of her command in part 4.

I'll Explain Later:

• Why were the Doctor and Ace on the Vancouver in the first place? Unless I missed a fleeting explanation, none was ever given.

This Reminds Me...:

• Ace is angry at how she keeps being called small.
• The Great Mother created the Metatraxi to kill her previous generation of children, much like the Giants and the Titans in Greek mythology.

The Inquisitor's Judgement: Whilst it's the best of season 27, it's not good by any means and wins by the slimmest of margins. The humour remains flat, the Metatraxi remain pathetically ineffective and Raine remains superfluous. It has more direction than the previous releases and Raine gets to play companion for a short time but there's very little else to compliment about this story. This is a poor story to end a very disappointing season. Earth Aid is very bad, and that earns it an E.

The Lost Stories (Series 2)

Animal  |  Earth Aid  |  The Elite