Review - Doomsday

It's double the classic foes as Daleks and Cybermen clash with humanity trapped in the middle in Doomsday.

Season 2, Episode 13 - Doomsday

This episode picks up where Army of Ghosts left off, just as the Daleks escape the Void Ship. Rose and Micky stare them down as Rose postpones their inevitable slaughter by showing she has a strategic use. Meanwhile, the Cybermen begin their conquest of Earth as The Doctor stands by helpless. Of course our old friend Angry Doctor shows up again briefly as he explains why humanity is resisting.

I'm a bit cross!

As the Daleks extract Raj's brainwaves for intel, desiccating him in the process for some reason, the Cybermen move in to investigate. The resulting confrontation is one of the funniest moments in New Who. Two supremely confident murderous races in a stand off refusing to back down. Some of the lines delivered by the Daleks in this verbal fracas are a little off base. A little too blusterous and even witty. This is a bit off-putting until later when we learn from The Doctor that these Daleks are special.

The Cult of Skaro is an interesting concept, and works quite well despite being very un-Dalek. Most large militaries have similar units for, well, I suppose it's R&D. Whilst the Daleks are supremely confident of their might, it makes sense even they would want to work out better ways to EXTERMINATE! It also makes sense that such deviant behaviour be kept secret, regardless (or even because) of the benefits it offers.

After discovering The Doctor is on the scene, the Daleks begin powering up this episode's MacGuffin of choice, the Genesis Ark, as Rose and Mickey try to work out both how to get out of their predicament and why they aren't yet dead. Turns out the Daleks need a time traveller to activate the Ark because it it Timelord tech. Here's the major flaw in the Dalek plot. If Rose and Mickey weren't there, how were they planning on doing this? Fly around the Universe hoping to find a time traveller?

I was sure there was one here last time we visited.

The Doctor is held for questioning as Jackie and Yvonne Hartman are marched off for Upgrading. The Doctor is freed by a squad of dimension-jumping commandos led by some old friends from Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel, and gives a bit more plot exposition about the Void and how all this dimension jumping is irreparably damaging both universes. Hartman marches bravely to her doom, claiming she "did her duty for Queen and Country", before the death of the Cyber Commander allows Jackie to slip away.

Just as Rose is about to capitulate and touch the Genesis Ark, The Doctor rolls up, but not before Rose has a chance to drop some proper bad-assery on the Daleks, referencing the Bad Wolf arc and revealing she killed the Emperor Dalek. The Doctor rescues Rose and Mickey, managing to get a little joke about the Sonic in while he's at it.

Doesn't Kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you what it does do.It is very good at opening doors.

But Mickey messes up and accidentally starts the Genesis Ark opening. This leads to a significant battle between the Daleks and the remaining Humans and Cybermen as the Daleks attempt to exit the building. Long story short, an entire Time Lord prison ship's worth of Daleks spew forth from the Ark and begin to EXTERMINATE!

After a rather uncomfortable reunion between Jackie and Dave, The Doctor reveals his plan to suck everything back into The Void. This relies on the fact that everything that's been through The Void is covered in "void stuff." This is particularly grating, because The Doctor has already gone to great pains to describe how The Void has nothing in it, not even time. So what is the "Void Stuff" then? Also, why do Cybermen who have been upgraded in this universe also have it?

Quite apart from that, the plan works, and all of the invaders are forcefully ejected from the universe. However Rose almost gets sucked out too, only to be saved last minute by a dimension-jumping Dave, leaving The Doctor alone on this side. This leads to the scene voted the greatest moment in Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy. The emotion is turned up to 11 as The Doctor says farewell to Rose via a projected image. Despite being slightly over the top, it's a brilliant close to Rose's time with The Doctor.

This one's not exactly a favourite, but pretty re-watchable.

8/10

Can we fix it?

I'm not sure there's a lot to do here. As I said previously, making Yvonne Hartman a bit more officious would have improved her final redemption. If it was made clearer early on that duty is her main drive, her ability to retain that after upgrading would work a little better. I'd also like to have seen her more deflated when she realised there was no winning against the Cybermen.

I'm not sure if a bit of pleading would have been too much before the final acceptance, but I think a little exchange with the Cybers on doing her duty could fit nicely.

Y: I did my duty for Queen and Country. I always did my duty.
C: And that will not change.

And a slight tweak to her repeated phrase from "I did my duty" to "I will do my duty" reinforces this. It gives us a little bit of doubt on why she retained control. Was it pure willpower, or some kind of programming loophole. The tears would just add to the fuzziness.

The only other thing that needs clearing up is the Cybers created in this Earth. I think a quick line during The Doctor's epilogue in Bad Wolf Bay could tie up that loose plot thread. Something along the lines of "There were a lot of humans who had been upgraded using components from the alternate universe. It was... messy."

A good season ending and a great way to send off a companion.

And introduce a new one.

Review - Army of Ghosts

The season finale stakes are raised as not one, but two old enemies return to plague The Doctor and Rose, starting with the first instalment, Army of Ghosts.

Season 2, Episode 12 - Army of Ghosts

Right from the cold open we see this is the end of Rose. Not only does she lets us know we are about to see how she died, this is rammed home with a rather blatant shot of The Doctor asking how long Rose will be staying and her answering, "For ever." Having Rose narrate this opening gives it a touch of The Companion Show, featuring The Doctor. Of course, the reboot started very much from Rose's perspective, so her departure using that perspective is fairly natural.

The Doctor and Rose arrive back in London in time to witness an appearance of the now commonplace Ghosts. Jackie believes one of the Ghosts to be her long dead father, but The Doctor immediately brings her back to reality, theorising that something is pressing itself into our world. The Ghost's origins are rather quickly spoiled for us viewers with some cutaways of Torchwood doing their thing, complete with a familiar face

Hello, I'm Totally-Not-Martha

Of course, they could still be actual ghosts, even if Torchwood are responsible for it, right? Well, no. We get a pretty clear shot of a Cyberman early on as they attack Totally-Not-Martha. I feel it could have been better if this was left a bit more mysterious, keeping the blurry silhouette behind the plastic. Of course the ear buds could be a bit of a give away, but all the workers are wearing them, and if subtly shot, it would work quite well as a tease for the quicker viewers.

Add to that another of Torchwood's toys, The Sphere. It has a nice chunk of exposition which was delivered reasonably well and is set up as nicely menacing. The science doesn't really work, but that actually works to its advantage.

"As a scientist, nothing scares me more than poor science."

The Doctor manages to use some doohickeys (again, not the sonic) to follow the ghost energy back to Torchwood. Having him take Jackie and pass her off as Rose was quite funny but did highlight the Hot Young Things Only Policy he seems to have. 

Their introduction to Torchwood plays out well and all of the "showing off" manages to introduce some key elements for the resolution of the story in a relatively natural way. The Doctor's reaction to the sphere, now identified as a Void Ship, shows us this is something to fear perhaps more so than the ghosts themselves. And I actually love Yvonne Hartman's reaction to The Doctor here.

Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the rights of Man.

And that's it, isn't it? It's fine when The Doctor messes about with something just because it's there, even if he doesn't know what he's doing. Nobody else is allowed to though. They are all too stupid.

Rose manages to sneak off to do some investigating on her own, psychic paper in hand. Apparently that stuff seems to work on ID card readers now. That was a bit annoying, but easily explained away, I suppose.

There's a brain in every door. 

And although things don't go exactly as planned for Rose, we get a nice little surprise with the return of Mickey, now with even more badass skills. God I love Mickey. The poor bloke had is so hard for so long. It was good to see him develop far beyond the joke he was at the start.

Anyway, as things start to predictably go wrong, we see the ghosts are in fact an army of Cybermen invading from the alternate universe seen in Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel. Mickey assumes the occupant of the Void Ship is some kind of Cyberman Leader, but in the closing moments we find out it is in fact...

Yep. Those guys again.

Overall, this has some good pacing. As I've said before, pacing is usually less of an issue in two-parters though. Apart from going a bit too early on the full Cyberman reveal we are brought through what is essentially a whole bunch of plot exposition and set-up for part two with no real padding or boring bits.

It was fun to see The Doctor put in his place a bit. He's always interesting when he's on the back foot. Yvonne was a bit weak as a pseudo villain though. Seems they tried to make her more of an officious manager than the domineering head of a secret alien-hunting task force. There were glimpses of that character there, but not really enough.

A good beginning of the end for Rose, and definitely worth subsequent viewings.

9/10

Can we fix it?

Only a few tweaks needed here. Simplest change is to lessen the initial Cyberman reveal to keep them secret a bit longer. A bit of classic monster-vision could have worked, or just the close up scream shot. The first time we should see any bit of an actual Cyberman is when they burst through the plastic sheeting in classic Tomb of the Cybermen style. This means watchers who haven't guessed from the earbuds or the sounds of upgrades are still reeling from this reveal as the invasion happens only to have that compounded by the emergence of the Daleks from the Void Ship.

Mostly I'd like to see a bit of a change in Yvonne Hartman. I feel she would have been better played as a bit of a cold-hearted bitch who slaps on the friendly façade as a "management tool". I reckon she may have been written like that but it didn't come through in the performance.

The dual personalities could easily work with little to no change in script. When Yvonne asks for hospitality to send Raj something she sounds friendly, but when she specifies "not alcohol" it's delivered as a bit of a joke. I think changing the delivery of this line to be more mean spirited would change the time of the character entirely. It goes from "get him something to cheer him up, but no booze because that could make him worse LOL!" to "get him something to distract him from the tedium of his task because that's bad for productivity, but not booze because we can't have too much fun."

There are points where Yvonne seems to drop the friendly exterior, such as when Jackie talks about using the gravity clamps to carry shopping, and when The Doctor demands they return the sphere to the void. Sadly she only gets a little condescending or snappish. It would be good to see this happen with the staff too. Maybe being a little more catty when Adeola and Gareth go off for their little liaison.

It would be nice to see that friendly mask slip more and more as the episode progresses. Eventually she is left ineffectually fuming at her loss of control, showing her as one of those bi-polar office tyrants that are your best mate when things are going well but go insane when things don't go their way.

Imagine someone like that in charge of a secret paramilitary alien hunting organisation.

Terrifying.

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.

Review - Rise of the Cybermen

Another classic Who Monster storms back, albeit with a rather clumsy retcon in Rise of the Cybermen.

Season 2, Episode 5 - Rise of the Cybermen

From the outset we know what the monster of this episode is because, much like Season 1's Dalek, it's in the title of the episode. That said, they do a great job of hiding the Cybers until right near the end of the episode. This is a major benefit of the two-parter. You get that awesome cliffhanger reveal.

Look out! A vaguely man-shaped blob!

We pick up the TARDIS Crew as they get smashed between realities and land in an alternate version of Earth. Of course Rose soon discovers her Dad is alive in this dimension, leading her to immediately run off to find him. Micky takes the opportunity to do the same thing whilst almost petulantly pointing out that The Doctor will always go after Rose. This gives us a chance to get some rather clumsily inserted back-story for Micky which unfortunately telegraphs his eventual fate pretty clearly. Let's be honest, "he doesn't have any family left" is a rather foreboding phrase to hear uttered, on par with "I'm two weeks from retirement," or, "I think I'll wear my red shirt for the trip to the mysterious planet's surface."

Mickey gets a chance to shine in this episode though, even if it is as an alternate version of himself. Ricky is a total bad-ass, a fact that somehow redeems Mickey's portrayal as a bit of a goofy, spineless doormat. He is ripped though, a fact we are made plainly aware of. The split screen with Mickey and Ricky are well done with only a couple of poorly synced lines when they're both on screen together.

Lumic is a nice Big Bad, although he positively reeks of Davros. A crippled genius determined to expunge weakness from his race. I think it's a real shame this reboot or retcon or whatever you want to call it makes the Cybermen a bit too much like the Daleks. I find the idea of a race voluntarily moving towards a new form to be far more compelling than that of one forced or tricked into change by one man. 

He does have better teeth than Davros though.

That said, the way Lumic's plot unfolds through this episode is nice. The small-scale start which ramps up to the roll out of industrial conversion works well. I would have liked to see Cybus cybernetic technology being used in more ways than the Ear Buds. Some cybernetic arms, legs and even eyes would have been not only shown people's willingness to upgrade their weak flesh, but reinforced the differentness of the alternate dimension. You know, beyond all the airships.

Airships are huge in alternate dimensions. Airships and goatees.

Rose's conversation with alternate-Jackie was well done and gave both actors some time to show their chops. I can't help but feel Jackie's outburst at the end was there less to remind us that Rose is not her daughter and more to make her less sympathetic in the lead up to her assimilation.

All up, this is a solid episode with few of the regular issues that really bug me. Rose and The Doctor still have an odd relationship. Is it romantic or paternal? It's not really a focus of the episode though, with the threat of Cybus clear from the off. Definitely up there amongst my favourites.

8/10

Can we fix it?

There's not too much that needs doing the the overall plot here, but I feel the setup and the linking of the classic Mondas Cybermen and the new Cybus ones needs a tweak.

First off, I'd change Lumic a tad. Make him less of a genius himself and more a rich industrialist using his wealth and influence to overcome his own body's weakness. At the same time we see him reluctant (possibly even scared) to actually use these developments himself. This could be shown to raise questions from some people. Why get about in a wheelchair when your company makes cybernetic legs? Why the respirator when you could have robo-lungs? This would raise a little flag early on that there is something dangerous about the upgrades.

Second, a slight tweak to the Cybus technology. With a pinch of Terminator 2 and a dash of Dollhouse, we can flesh out the background of the rise of Cybus Industries and at the same time reinforce those parallels with our own desires to constantly upgrade.

Early on, the TARDIS crew only realise the ear buds were unusual because everyone stops dead in the street to receive an update. Seriously, that's dangerous, and therefore stupid, so let's get rid of it. Instead Rose bumps into a man in the street who turns around to reveal a very Cyberman looking visor. Rose screams, to which the man replies, "I know, right? Brand new model. Camped out all week, but I was first in line to upgrade."

As he wanders off Rose comments that they look like uncomfortable sunglasses. The Doctor tells her they're not sunglasses. After this they start noticing more cyber technology. Clinics offering cyber upgrades. Workmen with cyber limbs with built-in tools. Maybe even an advert for the upcoming Cyber Games (sponsored by Cybus).

Later when Rose and Pete are talking, we would learn that one of Cybus' early breakthroughs was a neural link that allowed the human brain to interface directly with computers. This technology is at the heart of every Cybus product, and lets the brain control the computer as well as provide additional processing power. This partnership of brain and computer worries Rose and she asks what stops the computer being used to control the brain. Pete simply asks who would want to do that.

This conversation would reinforce earlier scattered hints that this original technology was derived from something alien. Very Terminator 2, I know, but having Lumic discover parts of a ruined Mondas Cyberman avoids the odd dual origin. Weather the original specimen is from an alternate Mondas that didn't thrive, or had washed up as dimensional flotsam in a similar manner to how the TARDIS ended up there, it doesn't matter.

We end this episode on the same note, but with a clearer connection between the original Cybermen and this new breed.

Review - The Girl in the Fireplace

The Doctor learns how to "dance" with the first in a long line of female historical figures in The Girl in the Fireplace.

Season 2, Episode 4 - The Girl in the Fireplace

Yo Dawg! I heard you like time travel, so I put some more time travel into your time travel show. This episode makes extra special use of time travel. The idea of one participant in the story taking the long road whilst the other skips ahead is very interesting. Of course the episode is apparently loosely based on The Time Traveller's Wife, so we cant award too many points for that. We do get more touches of the culture shock theme, with Reinette having that same "left behind" experience. She handles it much better than Rose or Sarah Jane though.

We skip between a space ship in the far future that's been repaired using bits of its crew, and pre-revolutionary France. I liked the way the characters were split between the timelines. It gave Rose and Mickey a chance to prove themselves without The Doctor. This opportunity could have been exploited a lot more than it was though, as the episode was squarely focussed on The Doctor, almost the complete opposite of The Companion Show featuring The Doctor. Strangely this is almost as bad as focusing on the Companion more than The Doctor. There really does need to be a good balance.

You stay here. I've got to sort someone out.

THING!

Sort something out.

Our main monster is the Clockwork Robots, who again fit the mould of advance slowly and be creepy. They work in this story though, despite no explanation of why they are made of clockwork. I mean a teleport, no matter how short-range, must require a power source beyond mere clockwork.

As if the French aristocracy wasn't creepy enough.

The whole episode is pure Hunka hunka burning Doc though. Reinette jumps The Doctor's bones with little more than two brief meetings when she was a little girl and a five minute conversation under her belt. Moffat keeps the dance metaphor going strongly in this story, dropping a very strong implication that The Doctor and Reinette had sex.

The relationship is solidly written though, and for whatever reason I can accept this sexualisation of The Doctor more than any other instance in the show. Perhaps this is a testament to Moffat's writing. I can believe that this girl successfully got through the layers and seduced The Doctor through a combination of her natural charm and his innate need to protect. 

Not to mention being face-meltingly hot.

The pacing of this episode is spot on. The short-range teleports combined with the nature of the time windows and the Clockwork Men's mission means they can be easily fended off with little fear of them returning until much later. This gives us little bursts of action amongst the talking and flirting. It was nice to see Rose get her comeuppance though. At least she had Mickey as a fall-back.

The climax of the episode was great, with The Doctor not only risking all and stranding himself in the past (albeit with a smoking hot lover) but doing so by riding in on a white charger. Not the only fairy tale parallel in this episode, but definitely the coolest.

Of course there couldn't be a happily ever after in this situation. What we did get was perfect though.

I've just got something in my eye... Again.

Despite the whole episode being pretty much all about The Doctor falling in love and someone falling in love with him, I enjoyed it. Removing this episode from the context of ongoing instances of Hunka hunka burning Doc, it works as that one time a girl managed to turn his head. It is significantly diminished by all the other times it happens (or is implied to happen) though.

Still, a very watchable episode, with much more of an historical feel about it despite its quite solid sci-fi core.

8/10

Can we fix it?

I'm sure many would be expecting me to demand less Doctor love here, but in all honesty in the context of this episode, I'm fine with it. All of the bits with The Doctor and Reinette are great. But when you look past that the rest seems a tad light on. 

I feel if we had a bit more meat on the bones of the Rose and Mickey side of this story, we could have found out more about how the ship and its attendant robots got into the state they did.

The way I see it, the ship originally only had a small group of maintenance droids. These robots cannibalised themselves for parts first, replacing higher tech systems used in repairs to the ship with hastily manufactured clockwork facsimiles. Having used up their own parts, they turned on the crew, replacing their bits with clockwork too. A nice Tin Man parallel to go with some of the other fairy tale stuff in this episode. The clockwork is clearly a unique design, with The Doctor fawning all over it. That could be the reason why. 

This information could be revealed to Mickey and Rose through Mickey using his awesome computer hacking skills to unearth fragments of video logs from the Captain. This makes the Rose and Mickey section a bit more than wandering the halls waiting for The Doctor to get back so that they can tell him things they've seen and let him figure it out.

These recordings could also hint that the reason the crew couldn't fight the Clockwork Men off or order them to not use them as spares was because they only respond directly to the mission computer. This would be there as an early clue for the audience who realise they only respond to Reinette. When The Doctor finds out he of course puts two and two together without having to interrogate the Clockworks to get it.

We could even go so far as to hint that the original problem with the ship was limited just to the mission computer, and that the repairs made by the droids were purely to create the time windows. They cannibalised the ship to create the time windows, and cannibalised the crew to keep the ship running.

We can still leave the name of the ship as a mystery, but I think this fleshes the ship side of the story out a bit and gives Rose and Mickey something more to do.

Review - School Reunion

A couple of old favourites of mine returns to crank up the nostalgia in School Reunion.

Season 2, Episode 3 - School Reunion

We get thrown straight into this story with The Doctor appearing to be well into his investigation. It had me fearing a Go, go, go, Geronimo! situation, but in the end the pacing ended up quite good. It's obvious from the start that the Headmaster Mr Finch (deliciously played by Anthony Head) is up to something. Hell, we all but see him eat a poor orphan.

Apart from the obvious child chomping, we see the students are being used to do... something. Something with computers and crazy spinning cube graphics. It seems to involve a lot of randomly tapping at the keyboard.

We're trying to get the complete works of Shakespeare.

The Doctor and Rose manage to draw out clues about what's going on in a timely and natural way. Mickey reappears to show us all how he's not just a buffoon, at least not a total one, with his hacking skills getting stronger. And of course we get the wonderful Sarah Jane Smith return. Sarah Jane is an all time favourite companion of mine, so it would be tough for this episode to go too far wrong for me.

The monster reveal stumbled a bit though. It was a reasonable idea to give a glimpse of the undisguised Krillatine under the desk, but it ended up being entirely too much of a glimpse. The transition as he stands up was really smooth though. 

A network cable is unplugged.

We saw a little bit of Deus Ex Screwdriver with a good old Deadlock Seal sitting there like a lump of kryptonite. That didn't end up hampering them much though. The Doctor spent more time investigating what the Krillitines were up to than he did working out a way to stop them. Hell they all spent more time gabbing than even investigating. Despite all that, it worked quite well. 

A big part of this episode deals with that culture shock of a returned companion. This was touched on in The Parting of the Ways with Rose's big emotional speech in the chip shop. Sarah Jane shows us that the displacement felt by Rose at that point never really goes away. Elizabeth Sladen really conveyed the conflicting emotions of joy and resentment a dumped companion would feel. 

Despite their common ground, Rose and Sarah Jane get to be delightfully bitchy with each other at first. Mickey seems to take particular delight in this situation. I think I would too. 

The girlfriend and the ex. Welcome to every bloke's nightmare.

Mickey also delights in rubbing it in to Rose that The Doctor seems to have a thing for traveling with young girls and then upgrading.

I'd go easy on the chips.

This is all a reasonable indication that Mickey is at least a little over Rose at this point. Rose, on the other hand still seems to be trying to keep Mickey on the bench, asking if the situation at the school was the only reason he called, and giving him the flirty eyes. Even at the end of the episode when Mickey decides to join The TARDIS crew, Rose looks really pissed off.

Hey Rose! The boyfriend and the ex. Welcome to every girl's nightmare.

This episode hit me square in the nostalgia, with a bunch of references to old episodes. It moved forward at a decent pace, and despite a lot of interplay between characters it never got bogged down or felt too "talky". Even the Bond Villain explanation of his plan by Mr Finch seemed sort of natural and The Doctor's temptation in the face of his offer seemed genuine. This one is very much a favourite.

9/10

Can we fix it?

Just a couple of tweaks to this one, I think. First up, that initial monster reveal was too much. It needed to just be a quick flash of something inhuman under the desk before the teacher stood up. Looking right at the kid and screeching was over the top and ruined the full reveal later. Just his eyes would have been enough.

Putting a Deadlock Seal in there was a bit lazy. There's several other ways they could have kept The Doctor out of the gubbins. Perhaps there was a booby trap, or breaking in would cause a feedback loop into the kids' minds. The enhanced state the kids are in could leave them open to psychic distress or something. Not hugely important, but an easy fix.

More K-9 would have been nice too, but the episode is already crammed full, so I couldn't begin to suggest where he could fit.

Review - The Christmas Invasion

After a little break, I'm back with the retro reviews, so off we run with a brand new Doctor in the first of the annual Christmas Specials, The Christmas Invasion.

Christmas Special 2005 - The Christmas Invasion

We begin presumably not long after the closing scenes of The Parting of the Ways, with The Doctor still in the throes of Regeneration. We also kick things off with one of the most laboured executions of the "Doctor Who?" line ever committed to screen. Seriously, even with The Doctor's new face, it just doesn't seem like something Jackie would say at that point. That pales into insignificance next to the outrageous In-Who-Endo she delivers in the next scene. I know I've let Jackie off on the Hunka hunka burning Doc front before, but this is just silly.

Is there anything else he's got two of?

Mickey gets to show off his newly found hacking skills, lessening his perceived uselessness in the ensemble. He has a good crack at the Deathmas Tree too. Say what you will about him, he's got guts and heart to spare.

U.N.I.T. really shine in this episode. A very slick military operation. I quite enjoyed the casual way they talked about alien life, ensuring some continuity with classic Who episodes from the Third Doctor years and onward. In many ways I'd have liked to see U.N.I.T. get a spinoff over Torchwood.

Like S.H.I.E.L.D. only with a better acronym.

Speaking of Torchwood, they are heavily referenced in this episode, with clear implications that they are a secret organisation with access to alien tech. It was a solidly integrated reference, rather than a random word thrown in. It played a part in the story, even if it was to seemingly throw Harriet Jones under the bus.

Harriet Jones as Prime Minister was a nice touch, but the catch phrase / running joke was grating from the outset. Despite that, they manage to make her believable as a strong, decisive leader. Mostly they do that by having her stick it to the US, which reminded me somewhat of Hugh Grant in Love Actually.

They were really pushing the continuity with this one though. Nine tells us that Harriet Jones PM leads Britain to a Golden Age. Then, what can't be more than nine months later, despite Jackie referencing Britains Golden Age, Jones' supposed "three successive terms" evaporate thanks to The Doctor. I guess he's not all that interested in maintaining history. Of course they could already have been looking ahead to the Season 3 Saxon arc, but I'm not sure I can give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.

The timeline is a bit iffy here anyway. I'm not sure nine months is enough time to plan, build and launch a Martian space probe, much less for it to get there. But this is a science fiction show, after all, so let's just ignore that for the time being.

This episode has a case of Too many monsters, with the crew facing the "Pilot Fish" Santas and the Deathmas Tree which are both quickly discarded when the Sycorax turn up. None of the monsters are particularly threatening and don't have a chance to shine. The Santas are just Auton clones and the tree, whilst the most physically threatening of the three, was gone as soon as it appeared. The Sycorax themselves were a bit lame. If the Earth could be defended by a sword fight, there are plenty of humans who would have done as well as The Doctor. Of course it took him to know he could challenge. 

The whole thing was very Doctor light too. He spent most of the time unconscious and when he was awake he put a lot of effort into making sure we all knew he didn't know who he was. To a degree this is for the benefit of newer fans who aren't familiar with Regeneration, but it's almost as if they hasn't worked that out themselves yet. With such little screen time The Doctor is given no chance to show us who he is now. I'm left feeling that who The Doctor is, is angry.

Angry Doctor.

Get used to this sight.

So, a reasonably entertaining episode, albeit with a few flaws. Not a favourite, but still re-watchable.

7/10

Can we fix it?

I think the first fix here has to be the monsters. The idea of the Santas being like pilot fish was interesting, but ultimately made little sense in the context of the Sycorax being the shark. The Sycorax were drawn to Earth by the Mars probe, not The Doctor's regeneration energy, which created a disconnect between both races. Ideally the Sycorax should be demanding Earth hand over the source of the energy, unaware that it is The Doctor, perhaps thinking it's the TARDIS. They would still take the Martian Probe, allowing the whole blood control thing, but realisation of where the energy is coming from would only come when The Doctor regenerates his lost hand.

This opens up some interesting options for The Doctor to realise that whilst he may save the Earth, he is also endangering it. We could even have Harriet Jones use this as justification for using Torchwood to destroy the Sycorax.

"You brought us to this, Doctor. I was defending us from a threat you brought down on us."

Shooting someone in the back is one thing, but shooting them in the back and then blaming someone else is another thing entirely. Especially when your words have the ring of truth.

Resolving the timeline issues is tougher, but could be fixed by bumping the timeline forward a fraction more. It would be hard to jump an additional 12 months, but that may make things easier to swallow with regards to Harriet Jones. Another option would be to simply not have her as PM yet. Nothing said she needed to begin her reign immediately after World War Three. Of course with all that happens in the resolution of the Saxon Arc, that causes all sorts of other issues. That said, if Jones was still PM at the end of this, the Saxon Arc could play out entirely differently, with Saxon battling Jones for the top job using his knowledge of the future. That could have been fun.

The timeline stuff I could live with, but the changes to the monster situation would make it a much more cohesive episode.

Review - The Parting of the Ways

Season 1 comes to a dramatic conclusion, as does Christopher Eccleston's all too short tenure as The Doctor in The Parting of the Ways.

Season 1, Episode 13 - The Parting of the Ways

We pick up this story with The Doctor and Captain Jack flying off to rescue Rose from the recently revealed Dalek armada. Here I get a little confused as to why all of the sudden the TARDIS is apparently defenseless. I thought it always had some kind of shielding, but I could be somewhat confused. After bodging up a shield using the Extrapolator we get treated to a nice long conversation with the Emperor Dalek, wherein we learn it has a God Complex and it loonier than usual.

After The Doctor, Jack and Rose escape, there was an awkward bit of sexual tension back on the Game Station between The Doctor and Lynda. I thought they were hinting at that in Bad Wolf, but wasn't sure until the weird, kiss-no-hug-no-shake moment. Very strange, and possibly one of the few Hunka hunka burning Doc moments with Nine.

As the Doctor begins enacting his plan to foil the Daleks (not really using the Sonic Screwdriver much if at all), he forcibly evacuates Rose back home using Emergency Program 1. Rose then has a significant culture shock freak-out. Her speech about how The Doctor teaches you to lead a good life was inspired, and very well delivered. It really dug its claws into me for some reason. Maybe because I sort of feel that way about The Doctor myself in a way.

The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. You know, he showed you too. That you don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say, "No." You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away...

I loved the classic flying saucer design of the Dalek ships, and the flood of Daleks pouring out of them was a fantastic sight. We also saw our first specialist Dalek of New Who in the form of a blowtorch wielding one. We also got to hear some classic Dalek lines:

"I cannot see! My vision is impaired!"

Then the big companion tease with Lynda is ended with a silent, "Ex-ter-mi-nate!" You can't hear the Dalek say it, but you know what each flash of those lights means. Little details like that are always appreciated here. When Jack's time came, he copped it sweet, and it would have been a perfect ending for him if things went differently.

Captain Jack Harkness. Dying, like a BOSS!!!

There's a lot of ethical agonising over killing all life on Earth to destroy the Daleks, and you could see the conflict in Eccleston's face as that scene played out. The Doctor chooses not to be that man again and to face the consequences of that decision. Rose channeling the Time Vortex gives a handy out to that problem, and if she'd showed up a couple of minutes earlier, we could have been in for a repeat of the end of Boom Town. I was glad the Doctor made his choice before Rose's return.

I can't work out if I liked Time Vortex Rose or not. Was she nailing the performance, or failing badly? In the end I just went with it. I'm confused as to why absorbing the power of the Time Vortex was fatal to The Doctor, but not to Rose. She had the power for much longer and suffered no ill effects beyond passing out. I suppose this is likely a symptom of Eccleston suddenly leaving the program though. And quite why The Doctor had to kiss the Time Vortex out of her, I can't begin to imagine.

The Doctor prescribes 200 CCs of Lurve.

So, all told this was a solid episode, and a great way of ending the season despite the quite literal Deus Ex Machina ending. It was also a reasonable send-off for Eccleston, who, as I've said before, was woefully under-rated as The Doctor. If we'd have had another season or two with him, I think more people would appreciate Nine.

9/10

Can we fix it?

Not really, no. I know I haven't given this one a straight 10, but I can't really pick where it could be improved. Perhaps the way it ended makes it feel a bit rushed. Rose is able to deal with the Dalek threat in a literal instant, making The Doctor's 20 minute struggle to get the Delta Wave generated seem a bit of a waste fo time. A bit of explanation on how Rose survived the Time Vortex but it caused The Doctor to regenerate would be nice. All it needed was a throwaway line during the Regeneration sequence.

Minor tweaks, anyway. Still totally re-watchable.

Review - Boom Town

After wearing out the edge of my seat over the past two episodes, I was able to firmly plant both cheeks on it for the rather ponderous Boom Town.

Season 1, Episode 11 - Boom Town

There was pretty much no reveal in this episode, which is understandable considering the villain. We know Margret's face from Aliens of London / World War Three, so there's no real reason to keep the Slitheen hidden. Strange how the farting seemed less of an issue in this episode. We get a few early on, but not one during the date. Perhaps Margret was holding it in. I suppose we've all been there on a first date.

Jack continues to prove a valuable addition to the cast. The dynamic is great with the three of them. Sadly Mickey, who gained ground in the competency stakes in Aliens of London / World War Three is set up as the stooge of this episode. He's specifically shown in a shot for shot comparison to not match up to Captain Jack, and I think overall he is once again, unfairly treated.

Things get a bit philosophical in parts. There's lots of deep back and forth which all boils down to nature vs nurture. We get a bit of a theme of new beginnings here, both for Blaine and for Mickey. I was so happy to see Mickey give Rose a serve here. God knows she deserved it. And it was a sweet serve too:

We were nice. We were happy. And then what? You give me a kiss and run off with him and so make me feel like nothing, Rose. I was nothing.

Just what needed saying.

This episode had a lot of tie-ins to the season arc. The Doctor actively recognised the Bad Wolf connection, and although he supposedly brushed it off as a coincidence, we all know he's worried about it. We also get introduced to The Heart of the TARDIS, cutting down on the exposition needed there. Of course, the TARDIS having to refuel sort of goes against the established background of the Eye of Harmony which reappears to contradict this again in Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.

Of course, the In-Who-Endo keeps coming with Jack still around. Even The Doctor got in on it, implying he'd give Jack some sugar if Jack bought him a drink. Mickey at least pointed it out, calling Jack "Captain Innuendo". I do think Blaine's line to The Doctor, "Dinner and bondage. Works for me" was a step too far.

...aaaaand we're back to horror.

We also get another instance of shocking Deus Ex Screwdriver, with The Doctor "de-teleporting" Blaine several times. How is that even supposed to work?

Sadly, the whole episode drags horribly. There's a lot of talk, which in itself is well played out and touches some interesting themes, but unfortunately the actual threat is underdeveloped. The ending seemed a bit rushed, with anything really threatening happening in the last 10 minutes.

We've been talking for half an hour and the kids are losing interest.Quick, make something explode!

It was a bit of a cop out, really. Quite literally Deus Ex Machina, with the TARDIS acting as a Genie to grant wishes and make everything all right again. I'd have preferred to see what The Doctor would actually have done with Blaine.

This isn't one I'd go out of my way to re-watch.

5/10

Can we fix it?

This would pretty much require a total re-write. All we can really do is minimise the damage by cutting out the big-ticket problems.

The de-teleport gag was only mildly amusing, and not worth giving the Sonic Screwdriver more power for. I'd have dumped it altogether, or have The Doctor come up with some other way of interrupting the teleport signal and looping it. It could even have come out funnier if The Doctor didn't seem to actually be doing anything until he pulls out a small device, revealing it to be a "short-range teleport interference loop" or similar.

Much of the meat of this episode deals with the moral dilemma The Doctor should be facing. It really feels like the audience is being ripped off by having that dilemma neatly taken away. I just can't think how else to end the story though. I'd like to think we could have been introduced to the Hearth of the TARDIS without the egg ending, but also then have The Doctor show mercy despite Blaine's actions, warning her he'llbe keeping an eye on her.

It still wouldn't be a great episode, but I'd have less to complain about.

Review - World War Three

Following on from Aliens of London is the second installment of the Slitheen saga, World War Three.

Season 1, Episode 5 - World War Three

Being part two of a story, this episode launches into things quickly. In classic Doctor Who fashion, we were left with the ominously menacing aliens fresh from the full reveal bearing down on The Doctor and friends. Of course The Doctor manages to do something not fully explained to subdue them all and allow everyone to get away.

There was a good attempt at drawing out plot exposition, delivering new information in dribs and drabs, but it does drag a bit in places. Where the first part of this story chugged along reasonably well, this one feels a little padded out. A prime example was the initial chase scene in Number 10. It just seemed to go on a little long.

<Insert Benny Hill Theme here>

On that note the juxtaposition of the Slitheen suit and the computer generated version was quite jarring. Where the CG looked like the agile, swift hunters they are clearly supposed to be, the suit continued to look like Barney the Dinosaur.

Killer huntress from beyond the stars.

Fast food mascot.

The Slitheen's motivation was well rounded and their scheme was exposed nicely, but I'm unsure on the science of irradiating the earth and then using it as fuel. That said, I'm happy to suspend disbelief on that front.

The Doctor's threat to triplicate the flammability of the alcohol was a good use of the Sonic Screwdriver as a bluff. Strangely enough, something tells me that wouldn't have been a bluff with the Eleventh Doctor's Sonic. The eventual solution itself was well executed, with the Doctor requiring outside help to get things done, but that makes four out of four enemies defeated by killing them or at least allowing them to die. The Doctor's racking up a fair body count already.

I think Aliens of London kept things moving with the character development. Sadly that was a little light on in this installment. What we did see between The Doctor and Rose felt almost like an abusive relationship. He pigheadedly refused to do what Rose wanted and have dinner with Jackie, and then essentially laid down an ultimatum. Come with me now, or I'm gone.

And of course she drops everything and runs to heed his call despite the protestations of her loved ones. Jackie pretty much begs Rose not to go, saying she'll change all sorts of things about herself if it will mean she'll stay. Rose doesn't care. It's really quite harsh.

Now get back here and make me a sandwich!

Finally we get an invite for Mickey to come along, but why does The Doctor hate him so much? There's no reason for it except for jealousy. Of course The Doctor has softened towards him by the end of this episode, and is actually quite nice when he protects Mickey's honour.

All up, slightly disappointing after the stronger start of Aliens of London, particularly on the character development front, but still a solid episode.

7/10

Can we fix it?

Most of the issues here are the same as with Aliens of London, chiefly the design of the Slitheen. As we get more of a feel for them being hunters, their weird baby faces are particularly odd. Yes, the huge claws indicate predator, but they have tiny mouths with no visible teeth. The overall body shape could work as a speedy predator despite the belly, but the head seems out of place.

I'd have liked for The Doctor to explain why electrocuting one Slitheen's compression device shorted all of them, but I can live without that. Mostly I'd have liked for Rose to put more of a fight up with The Doctor about him not coming to dinner. Even if he didn't end up going, some more explanation as to why he didn't want to would have been good. Anything to make him seem less of a jerk at that point.

Review - Aliens of London

We get to break free of the constraints of the 45 minute format for the first time since the re-boot with Aliens of London. Because this is the first episode of a two-parter, it has a longer build-up than other episodes, which is quite refreshing.

Season 1 Episode 4 - Aliens of London

The effects were reasonably good except for the electrocution effect at the end, which just looked kinda flat. The Slitheen suits were a bit average, looking very much like something from Yo Gabba Gabba, but I'm still happy to overlook these things if they're not too jarring. They're still not as bad as the Wheelie Bin of Death, which will forever be my yardstick for crappy CGI in this series. I suspect the ship impacting with Big Ben was a good old-fashioned model shot though, which was nice.

Old-timey effects. Get it?

I liked the clever use of TV reports to progress the story early on. It was no doubt a nice cheap way of doing it and it felt quite natural. There was a good use of stock footage too, which helped give a global feel to the incident without a silly montage showing people in national dress in front of famous landmarks.

The main monster reveal was done quite well. We get an earlier tease with the unzipping of the forehead, but the full reveal doesn't happen until the end of the episode. I suppose this is a benefit of the two-part structure. The Pig-Alien was a great red herring villain, because it allowed us some tension and cheap scares in the morgue scene and kept The Doctor distracted for a while, even if we audience members could see the Slitheen doing their thing.

The fart jokes may be a little grating for some, but I think it fits reasonably well in the context of Doctor Who being a family show. It's something for the kids, really. Contrast that with the political satire in the form of Rose saying she has no idea who is Prime Minister because she's missed a year (a year is a long time in politics), and the jab at politician's private lives, which I'm going to call the first instance of In-Who-Endo.

"I quite liked being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress and a young farmer. God, I was busy."

Again, I am left with nothing but sympathy for poor Mickey. He's been harassed and persecuted for a year and nobody seems particularly sorry about it. Rose and The Doctor continue to act as though they have been told they are boyfriend and girlfriend, and are still trying to work out why. At least there appeared to be some residual feelings for Mickey. I liked that he made it clear that the main reason he hadn't moved on was because people thought he'd murdered Rose, rather than that he'd just spend a whole year pining for Rose. He did, however, spend the year extensively researching the man who stole her away, which may as well be the same thing.

So, a solid outing and really highlights how a two-parter can effectively achieve a slow-burn on the build-up and monster reveal.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Like most of these early episodes, there's little to be done. They may not be masterworks, but they are solid episodes.

Perhaps a better design for the Slitheen would have helped, something that translated better to what they could produce as a suit, but that's just being picky. Most of the episode was exposition, as it's a two-parter, but I think the pacing worked well and the episode didn't drag.

Harriet Jones is somewhat annoying, but I suspect she was supposed to be. That said, she gets worse in later appearances, so I shouldn't complain. easing up on that Gods-awful catch phrase when she introduces herself would be nice, but again, I mostly say that with hindsight of how it gets flogged again in future appearances.

It all needs to be taken in the context of the story as a whole I suppose, so we'll see what the next review yields, shall we?