Planet of the Dead was okay-ish, but what really stood out for me was the badly modelled CG bus that looked dreadful when you put it against real backdrops.
I expected the Mill to produce higher quality modeling than that even on their budget and time constraints. It made Thomas the Tank Engine seem real in comparison.
Hell, even the visual effects of the new Red Dwarf: Back to Earth "mini-series" is better – with better quality visual effects provided mainly by volunteers, and on a budget far less, I'm sure, than Planet of the Dead.
Is the BBC beginning to get a bit stale?
It didn't help that the script was pretty flat to boot.
I'm also getting a bit fed up of Doctor Who's campy monsters and the silly masks from Neil Gorton and his team, whom I know can do better work than that. It's getting back to the Space Precinct days. Why can we, the British, not afford quality science fiction drama like the Americans and Canadians produce? We do have the money to do it, I'm sure, but why aren't we commissioning decent home-made stuff?
Look, I know Doctor Who is technically a kids show (but then again, what would you call the Sarah Jane Adventures – a show for toddlers?). However, it'd just be nice to have a proper mainstream sci-fi show just for adults. I don't particularly think Torchwood can be considered that. It still gets too campy at times.
I actually thought the close up CGI was quite good, but the mid to long distance things (such as the bus) were poor quality. I thought it was the case the close-to-the-camera intricate work was the more difficult of the two to do!