Day 752 - 42

What a confusing title for a blog entry that is! Yes this episode is called "42" which is play on the popular tv series 24. Just as 24 is set in real time, this episode too is set in real time (sort of) with the action taking place over the 42 minute length of the episode.

The basic plot is that Martha and the Doctor find themselves trapped in a spaceship which is 42 minutes away from plummeting into a sun. It sounds like a really exciting idea for a story but I've always found this episode to be the weakest one of this series and as such it took a lot of effort to watch.

There are some "sun creatures" who possess a couple of the crew members who then go round lazering people to death with heat rays from their eyes. It's all a bit "meh". They become a little more interesting when one of them possesses the Doctor leading to a horrible scene where Martha has to try to freeze the creature out of him by forcing him into a cryogenic chamber.

Martha and one of the crew members attempt to get through a series of locked doors which can only be opened by answering some pub quiz style questions.. for some reason. Luckily the Doctor has just updated Martha's phone allowing her to call her mum to get some of the answers. She doesn't tell her mum she is actually on a spaceship in the future which I guess is understandable. However this is where there is a least some intrigue in the plot as at the end of the episode we see a sinister woman recording the phone conversations. Martha's mum has been persuaded to work for the mysterious Harold Saxon.

Apart from that bit of excitement, this one was all a bit dull really. The last couple of days have been really tough for some reason and my motivation to watch an episode each day has been waning. But I must not give up now!