Review - The Impossible Planet

We get set for a nice little trip to Hell in another top two-parter as The Doctor and Rose visit Krop Tor, The Impossible Planet.

Season 2, Episode 8 - The Impossible Planet

The cold open of this episode was quite delightfully handled, with the Ood set up as a monster in the cliffhanger before the opening titles, only to reveal it as a fake-out. The introductions after The Doctor and Rose's arrival were well handled, with the research crew filling all basic tropes nicely, and the basic exposition felt reasonably natural. In particular the Ood and their plot-integral empathic field. I suppose this is a benefit of the two-parter, in that you can take a little longer setting things up, thereby avoiding the whole Go, Go, Go, Geronimo! thing.

It's always fun when The Doctor loses the TARDIS, as he inevitably needs to do things a little differently. The unique situation had he and Rose assuming it was all over, which we, as the audience, know is not true (regardless of how contrived the scenario in which it eventually returns). But instead of lamenting her lost life on earth, Rose seems more interested in locking in a new one with The Doctor.

I think this episode is where we really start to see the solidification of the relationship between Rose and The Doctor. It wavered a lot until this point, most likely because Mickey was technically still around. Now that he's supposedly stuck in a parallel dimension, that frees Rose up to love The Doctor without guilt. You know, if she'd had any guilt to start with.

This story is essentially classic survival horror along the lines of Alien and The Thing. An isolated team being slowly picked off by an insidious threat from within. It could be part of why I quite liked this episode. Our resident archaeologist Toby doesn't take long to get himself possessed, and start wreaking havoc through the facility. You can tell he's possessed because he's got red eyes and crazy tattoos.

Damn it! I said one small butterfly on the neck!

We see possessed Toby fairly early, and he fits my profile of an Agent Boss, even though he's not consciously aware of his involvement with the Monster Boss. The real Big Bad is revealed in a neat series of flickering images on background monitors. As brief and subtle as the flashes are, it's pretty clear what we're dealing with.

Santa!

No... Wait... The other guy.

In a way, the possession of the Ood throws in what could almost be seen as an unnecessary extra monster type. Of course, the possessed Ood have a significant role in part two once the party is split, so we couldn't really drop them, could we?

Overall, this was a well paced opening to a good story. It used a tried and true horror structure and pulled it off nicely. This one's definitely up there.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Interestingly, I think this story could have worked reasonably well without the possessed Ood. The Beast would end up possessing different people. This would have provided some good tension, as the characters didn't know when they may turn on each other. Of course that could have been difficult to handle without it being an obvious "I win button" for The Beast.

That said, because of how the Ood fit into part 2, this would require more rewriting, and would probably just be change for change's sake.

Review - The Idiot's Lantern

We touch on themes of domestic violence and women's liberation in post-war Britain in The Idiot's Lantern.

Season 2, Episode 7 - The Idiot's Lantern

As I said above, this story touches some interesting topics beyond the main storyline of a parasitic energy being from outer space. Mr Connolly is clearly a nasty piece of work, mentally and physically abusive of his family, not to mention the kind of bloke who spies on and rats out his neighbours.

In many ways it feels as if Mark Gatiss is speaking to his own father with many of the lines here. It certainly seems to have it's basis in reality. Or maybe I'm just relating to it on some deep level. Either way, these kind of smaller, human problems intermingling with the larger intergalactic menaces make for far more engaging stories in my opinion. They show The Doctor doesn't just fix the big problems, but helps fix people too.

He does this by getting angry

This particular intergalactic menace is The Wire, a very hungry creature who is giving people cheap TV in order to suck their faces off and create a new body during the Queen's coronation. The Doctor first realises something is wrong when he notices all the TV antennae around. I'm not sure if the shape of the aerials was symbolic, but if it was I can't think what they could be getting at.

Something about license fees, maybe.

The Wire is a nicely creepy Big Boss, and its evil plot is solid, but the goons are yet another zombie style monster. The one thing that saves it is the fact that whilst the faceless people are slowly revealed in the same manner as a monster, they are in fact the harmless victims of the real monster. It's actually quite a nice red herring for The Doctor to follow, and plays out well.

Good thing these suit trousers are brown.

Interestingly, the basic premise of a disembodied entity stealing people's essences was recycled in the much poorer episode The Bells of Saint John. Having re-watched this episode, it further highlights the deficiencies in that story, which suffered major pacing issues as well as from having a stupid monster.

None of my usual gripes appeared in this episode, apart from a hint of Deus Ex Screwdriver when The Doctor uses it to scan for brainwaves. It's a bit sad that I'm desensitised to the Sonic being used like this now. Ah well.

So yeah, this is a solid episode that offers a multifaceted story. The Torchwood reference was subtle, and the whole thing moved along nicely to a happy ending for most of those involved.

8/10

Can we fix it?

No, not really. It's not going to be a fan favourite, but this is a solid plot with no major weaknesses. I'd probably leave it as is.

Review - Age of Steel

Continuing on from Rise of the Cybermen, we wrap up the return of this classic enemy with Age of Steel.

Season 2, Episode 6 - Age of Steel

We rejoin the chaos of the Cybermen uprising as the shiny suited monsters assault the Tyler mansion and humanity is rounded up for the final upgrade. With an army of Cybermen on the loose it is only a matter of time before that giant tree of foreshadowing from last episode bears fruit in the form of a brand new Ricky-shaped hole in the alternate dimension. And who was recently established to have nothing left for him in the regular dimension? A pity really, as I thought Mickey added to the group dynamic really well in the past two outings. He deported himself really well in The Girl in the Fireplace, and I think he could have been very interesting if he stayed for a bit longer.

DELETED!!!

The great factories of Cybus industries begin churning out masses of Cybermen, as the mind-controlled citizens of Earth march themselves to the upgrade chambers. Of course Lumic gets shafted by his henchman and is forced to upgrade into the Cyber Controller. I'm a bit mystified as to why the Cyber Controller sits in a cyber wheelchair. Surely with his weak flesh gone, he can ambulate for himself? Maybe it's just a status thing, like the little brain window.

And with a brain like that, why wouldn't you show it off?

Our intrepid group of freedom fighters plan their assault on the Cybus factory. In the belly of the beast they start to see the full horror of what's going on. We get some nice tension as the Cybermen in the tunnels begin waking up, as well as some emotional kicks to the guts when we have a run in with a converted bride and a newly made over Jackie Tyler.

Pictured: Jackie Tyler (probably)

Mickey ends up being crucial, which I was quite happy about. That guy got the rough end of the stick for a long time. He deserved to have a moment in the sun. Why is it that messing with any kind of robotic humanoid's programming makes their heads explode? A question for the ages, I suppose.

Overall this was a solid conclusion to an entertaining story.

8/10

Can we fix it?

As I've said before, the only real gripe I have with this story is the dual-origins of the Cybermen. With the changes I outlined for part one of this story, we can build a clearer picture on how these Cybers connect with the Mondas ones.

My proposed conversation between Rose and Pete towards the end of part one would have shown us the potential for the Cybus tech to take over the conscious mind. It is because of this potential for the computer to take control that Lumic has always been reluctant to use the technology himself, something we would see during his eventual transformation into the Cyber Controller.

Lumic - I can't be sure I will retain control. 

Cyberman - You will control all.

Once Lumic becomes the Cyber Controller, we can get some hints that he is now channelling some kind of overarching cyber network. His rhetoric swiftly changes from strengthening humanity to galactic conquest, maybe even with some hints at traversing dimensions.

The rest of the story could play out the same way, but these couple of changes just tidy up the dual origins situation a bit.