Season 1 wrap-up

After working my way through Season 1, I thought I'd do a little wrap-up.

My scores

Episode 1 - Rose                               8/10
Episode 2 - The End of the World        7/10
Episode 3 - The Unquiet Dead             7/10
Episode 4 - Aliens of London               8/10
Episode 5 - World War Three              7/10
Episode 6 - Dalek                             10/10
Episode 7 - The Long Game                8/10
Episode 8 - Father's Day                     7/10
Episode 9 - The Empty Child              10/10
Episode 10 - The Doctor Dances        10/10
Episode 11 - Boom Town                     5/10
Episode 12 - Bad Wolf                         8/10
Episode 13 - The Parting of the Ways   9/10

                              Season Average = 8/10

Three episodes were 10/10 for me, which I suspect will be tough for another season to top. If it wasn't for the Godawful Boom Town, it would have been mostly killer and very little filler.

Winner

Winner

Chicken dinner

Ongoing problems

Let's see how the season fares when it comes to the ongoing issues I always go on about (otherwise known as my pet peeves). Not all of them had a showing in Season 1, but the ones we did see were the ones that annoy me the most.

Season 1 saw:

• 3 episodes featuring instances of Hunka hunka burning Doc
• 4 episodes with In-Who-Endos
• 4 episodes that resorted to Deus Ex Screwdriver

That last one surprised me the most. I honestly thought it took longer for the Sonic Screwdriver to become a crutch for The Doctor, but there it is. Interestingly, all four of those were in the latter half of the season.

I was also a bit surprised to see the Hunka hunka burning Doc start so early too. I would have sworn that didn't happen until David Tennant came in. Still, one of those three was from Jackie "upright with a pulse" Tyler and despite the odd relationship between Doctor and Companion in Season 1, the other instances of this are mostly from other females, not Rose.

Though not all of them

Season Arc

The Bad Wolf arc played our quite subtly on the whole. There were a couple of excellent hints, but there were a couple of horrible ones too. Some, like the landing chopper in Dalek seemed a little forced. To my mind, there is no reason there has to be a season arc reference in each episode, so if it can't appear naturally, why force it?

Ultimately Bad Wolf is little more than a verbal reference to the final episode. It's supposed to be a warning, but how? what did it warn them of? And whilst The Long Game technically ties in, it's not as integrated as they could be. As I said in my review, The Doctor simply neglects to ask any of the questions that he really should have asked. This is where more could have been done to hint at the arc. It's tough to have The Doctor ask questions in case he gets answers, but so long as the answers only lead to more questions, it will work well.

A solid season arc is one that has clearly been planned ahead and worked into multiple story lines, with dialogue and situations clearly (at least with hindsight) having been included to progress the arc story in advance of its dedicated episodes.

Bad Wolf doesn't feel like that, and could easily have been written last and the words retroactively added during filming. The only hints that really feel properly integrated are Gwyneth's scene in The Unquiet Dead and maybe The Doctor's realisation in Boom Town. Gwyneth shows us Bad Wolf is tied to Rose, and The Doctor's soliloquy makes the implication that the words are somehow following them. Later seasons seem to do better at progressing the arc story than this first one though.

All up a very entertaining season with some all-time classics in it.

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 - Bad Wolf

Stuff starts getting REAL as the season 1 season arc bears delicious Dalek-fruit in Bad Wolf.

Season 1, Episode 12 - Bad Wolf

Back we go to Platform 5, a century after The Doctor made his gross assumption that everything would go back to normal, only to find that it didn't. That worked well, didn't it Doctor? If only you'd asked where that Jagrafess had come from. Seriously though, I love to see The Doctor as fallible.

This time around the concept of televisual thought control is taken to the next logical step, with reality TV being the focus. As an added bonus of revisiting this episode, I also got to revisit some of the crappiest TV programming of the new millennium.

It really is a wonder this stuff didn't last.

The droids are all delightful representations of their real life inspirations, and the games work well as ways to destroy people. All except the What Not To Wear show, which really forced a way to kill the contestant. Those segments were the most entertaining though. John Barrowman plays it so well, clearly enjoying a chance to really ham it up as Jack. And did I see him grope one of the droids at one point?

Yes. Yes I did.

This episode has also given us our first Deadlock Seal to stop any Deus Ex Screwdriver. We got our first Torchwood reference too, starting that neat tradition of teasing the next season arc.

We get a bit of what I'm going to call Companion Tease, where Lynda shows an interest in traveling with The Doctor, and The Doctor shows an interest in letting her. Or is that just an interest in her. I couldn't really tell from this if there was supposed to be a romantic spark here or just an interest in travelling. Either way, this helps support Rose's "death" by making it feel like they're introducing a replacement.

She certainly seems the type.

The Controller was nice and creepy, and she was offered up as a solid Red Herring villain. Her death gave a good hint at who the Big Bad really was. We got a bit of monster vision when Rose woke up too, which again gave a strong hint. The revelation the enemy are Daleks plays out nicely, and the threat level of one Dalek established in the episode Dalek makes us understand this threat is near unbelievable.

It was interesting that The Doctor defied the Daleks when that were threatening Rose's life. I'm not sure he could have known they wouldn't just exterminate her. He did end it well though, and the closing shot of the interior of the Dalek ship was just ace, and left me hanging for The Parting of the Ways.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Well, my only real bugbear with this episode was the reality shows the crew ended up in at the start. Of all of them, I think Big Brother is the only one left on the air, so it hasn't aged well. The main issue was that the What Not To Wear show didn't have a realistic way of destroying people. This is a tough one, because those sequences were so entertaining, but I think they needed to either figure out another way to get the disintegration ray into that show, or put Jack in a different show altogether. Perhaps some version of The Bachelorette would have allowed Jack to give us some awesome Jack moments but still retain the element of elimination common to the other two shows.

Bring on part two!

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 - The Doctor Dances

The Empty Child drew me in and put me on the edge of my seat, and now it's time for a good, hard, emotional kick to the guts with the story's conclusion, The Doctor Dances.

Season 1, Episode 10 - The Doctor Dances

The dialogue between Jack, Rose and The Doctor is a particular highlight. Say what you (or I) will about Steven Moffat as show runner, the man can write great dialogue. We learn a lot about Jack and get some interesting hints at the Time Agency. Jack really had a lot of potential as an ongoing companion. Again, I didn't watch Torchwood, but Jack was a lot of fun when he showed up in Doctor Who, and I think he set a nice dynamic with The Doctor and Rose.

"Well, I've got a banana and, in a pinch, you could put up some shelves."

The In-Who-Endo continues this episode with Mr Lloyd exposed as "having it off" with the butcher, Algie is confirmed as gay and we have The Doctor's revelation of humanity's future pan-sexuality. Taken in isolation, this story is almost entirely about sexual tolerance. Not only do we have the aforementioned In-Who-Endos which juxtapose each other through how the same behaviour is tolerated across time periods, but Nancy's status as a teenage single mother and the apparent social pressure to lie about it was the cause of a lot of the trouble.

Using the euphemism of Dancing was a good choice, as it keeps the show family friendly whilst at the same time subtly introducing that theme of acceptance and inclusiveness to all audiences. As great as this message is to get out there, it doesn't need to happen all the time, Steven. I'm going to look at this episode in isolation of the future occurrences and not judge it harshly because of the In-Who-Endo.

Not Safe For Work

There's a lot of interplay between Jack and The Doctor about the Sonic, and the general consensus is that it's a fairly useless tool. Of course that's from the perspective if it being a weapon, which is fine. The Screwdriver itself is a bit inconstant throughout this story. We saw it being used as a scanner and to open locks in The Empty Child, but in this episode, whilst it can seemingly be used to reattach barbed wire (apparently by growing it), The Doctor can't use it to cut through the window bars, instead having to try to create a "resonance pattern" in the concrete.

The creepiness keeps coming, as does the witty banter, but this episode is injected with a healthy dose of heart-wrenching drama too. Florence Hoath's performance as Nancy is fantastic, and she is a huge part of the reason that this is the first (of many) Doctor Who episodes to bring a tear to my eye. The penultimate scene was masterfully crafted, with the performances, music and effects all working together to hit me right in my sense of parental protectiveness.

I've just got something in my eye.

This is yet another classic. The story as a whole is second to Dalek only because it doesn't have Daleks. Everybody loves Daleks.

10/10

Can we fix it?

As I said, there's a lot of sexual innuendo in this episode, but I'll ignore the future trend and look at that as the theme of this episode. If I was going to focus on anything here it would be the use of the Sonic Screwdriver. I'd have liked to see The Doctor explain that he was trying to create that resonance pattern in the concrete because it would be quicker than trying to cut through the bars. I'd also have liked to see the Sonic reattach the barbed wire by fusing or welding it together, rather than the wire regrowing to fill the gap. One looks like science, the other looks like magic. It's best we stay away from magic.

Either way, these are just nit-picking, and I'm happy to ignore them because the episode didn't really give me time to focus on them.

Review - The Empty Child

Season one continues to dish up the gold with the first installment of its second two-parter, The Empty Child.

Season 1, Episode 9 - The Empty Child

Of course in this, the first episode to feature Captain Jack Harkness, we have to expect a certain level of In-Who-Endo. I'm not sure, however, that all of it was necessary. That bit about red being camp? Could have done without that.

Jack's interaction with Rose is pretty full-on. We get a very clear indication of Rose's romantic intentions. I'm starting to understand her on this front a bit more as we go along. She's like a backpacker with a boyfriend back home; quite happy to put it about when she can, but still wants to keep Mickey on the bench.

Sure, we can hook up. But nothing serious. I'm fruit picking in Mildura next week.

We see the Sonic Screwdriver used quite a bit. The Doctor opens a lock with it, but then uses it to scan the patients. I suppose it could be a kind of Ultrasound maybe, but it's getting a bit Deus Ex Screwdriver.

Whilst in the hospital, we had another neat little hint at The Doctor's past and The Time War when Doctor Constantine says, "Before this war began I was a father and a grandfather. Now I'm neither, but I'm still a doctor," with The Doctor replying "Yeah, I know the feeling."

I've gotta say, "Are you my mummy?" is quite possibly the scariest line of the series. The reveal of Jamie is masterfully played out. Short and distant glimpses at the start followed by lots of voice (that line) and then when we do see him up close, he looks sort of normal. Just a boy in a mask. Sure he's creepy as hell, but still just a boy. Things only get really scary in the Hospital when we see the boy is not the whole problem, but the "plague" he is spreading.

A creepy, creepy plague

The music seemed to stand out a lot to me in this episode. Could be because there was a fair bit of tense wandering about with not a lot of dialogue. The music really helped amp up the already considerable tension.

There is something inherently disturbing about a gas mask. The blank glassy stare of the eye holes. The way the rubber meets the skin. It's entirely alien but at the same time familiar. Put one on a kid, and it evokes all kinds of terror.

Abject, pants-soiling terror

I think what I'm saying is that this episode hits horror spot on. At the same time it supports the creepiness with some nice light-hearted comedy around Rose and Jack. We are introduced to Nano Genes early and naturally, meaning the ending of The Doctor Dances is not telegraphed.

This one's a definite favourite.

10/10

Can we fix it?

Not much to do here. The only small issue is that little gay joke at the start, but other than that, it's golden.

Review - Father's Day

Rose gets a big bunch of very emotional character development wrapped up with a fairly standard time travel trope story-line in Father's Day.

Season 1, Episode 8 - Father's Day

There's not a hell of a lot of action in this episode, which is fine, it just gives it a different tone to some others. As a result, it's quite talky. Again, this is fine for me, but some others may feel it drags a bit. It's definitely a vehicle for some character development of Rose, and by the end of the episode we've pretty much caught up on who she is and a lot of her motivations. Still a little unclear on the whole "dump your boyfriend at a second's notice" thing though. Maybe she got her monogamy genes from her dad.

We got a lot of good "monster vision" before the full reveal, which really only made the reveal a bit more disappointing. We had lots of poignant shots of kids shoes, bikes, prams and so on to indicate a bunch of nastiness is going down. This reminded me a bit of that long, lingering Ewok death scene in Return of the Jedi. When we do finally see them, the Reapers did look a bit naff, but ultimately were not really seen up close too frequently so it didn't hurt too much.

Just not doing it for me

The whole "Watson, come here I need you" bit was a neat little hook. People who knew the reference could have a little smile to themselves for being clever before The Doctor explains it. The old-school mobile phone gives opportunity to both play with this, and as a tool for The Doctor to use later on. I suppose it's not completely unfeasible to use sound waves to recharge a battery, but we're sneaking into Deus Ex Screwdriver territory here. There was a lot of opportunities to laugh at the 80s though, which is nice for those of us that can remember them.

The Doctor and Rose's relationship has some ups and downs here, with The Doctor pretty much dumping Rose near the start, and having a go at her a couple of times throughout. Ultimately though he does try to save her some hurt by looking for an alternate solution to the one he know's will work. That particular solution was telegraphed almost from the start though. It did remind me a little of the Red Dwarf episode Tikka to Ride, in which President Kennedy has to assassinate himself in order to stop history from changing.

Not nearly as interesting to conspiracy theorists though

All up this episode was pretty much all about Rose, but not in a The Companion Show featuring The Doctor kind of way. If you're not that into her (like me) you may find your mind wandering (like me), but I think it's important to have these kinds of episodes every now and then. It makes the companions more than just pretty faces who love The Doctor (I'm looking at you, Amy Pond).

7/10

Can we fix it?

This is a tough one. I don't think we could improve my score for this episode without changing the core of the story. There were some elements that weren't really explained very well, like the TARDIS key and how The Doctor could rematerialise the TARDIS just by hooking it up to a battery. It was either under-explained, or just not thought out. In the end it was unimportant, as it played no part in the eventual solution. Maybe it was just there to show us The Doctor was trying to save Pete. I'm not sure if I'd drop it or not. My gut is saying not.

I'd have liked a better design for the Reapers too. It's my understanding that this wasn't what the original concept called for, but I think they could have created a creature that had more of a resemblance to the Grim Reaper than just a scythe blade on it's tail. Something that shared more of the overall silhouette. That way we could have had some distant glimpses of them looking like death, with the implication being it was THE Grim Reaper come for Pete. This parallel is kind of lost with big black bats attacking a church.

It will never be a favourite, but still worth a watch.

Review - The Long Game

There's nothing much wrong with The Long Game, apart from having to follow the perfection that was Dalek.

Season 1, Episode 7 - The Long Game

Off we jaunt to the far future of Earth with young Adam Mitchell trailing behind. Its interesting to see this new dynamic develop with a second companion. With The Doctor and Rose decidedly not interested in each other, The Doctor seems to become more paternal with Rose, even  sort of helping her impress Adam.

The concept of Platform 5 and its floor-based hierarchy was an interesting one. The environments were well realised, with that oh so slightly Blade Runner-esque used future feel to them. It had a realness that many other Sci-Fi shows (even other episodes of Doctor who) often fail to achieve.

Simon Pegg was, naturally, brilliant as The Editor. He gave the perfect balance of over-confident Machiavellian genius and simpering lackey, depending on who he was talking to. Very well played.

Always a winner.

The idea of the media controlling humanity is an interesting and frankly terrifying one, but I feel this story may have had more impact in the 80s or 90s, before the Internet and social media began pushing back against (and even feeding) traditional media sources. Still scary though because we can see attempts at it now.

The Jagrafess was a bit of a disappointment. The design was okay, but It looked plastic. I think the glossy sheen all over it was supposed to be moisture, but it didn't really work. I get the feeling they could have achieved a better result with a puppet. Even the explosion (another one?) was a bit poor and could have benefited from some practical effects.

And how is it attached to the ceiling?

Overall, it was a solid episode with little to complain about from my usual list. I was a bit sad they dumped Adam so quickly. There was potential there for a good group dynamic. of course, with The Empty Child coming up, that will be remedied soon enough.

8/10

Can we fix it?

As I said up front, there's not a lot wrong with this episode. If I were to tweak something it would be the mystery around the Big Boss. There are a bunch of questions raised that should have at least been addressed. How was The Jagrafess able to appear and mess up the progression of human history? This should have been the first question The Doctor asked it. Maybe then we could have had some nice foreshadowing of the season arc, which of course relies on The Doctor failing to follow any of this up. As it is, it seems a bit odd to me that The Doctor would happily let things will get back to normal without at least exploring the origins.

Not a big deal, but it just seems a bit wrong.

Review - Dalek

A classic and much loved foe returns in Dalek, an exemplary episode from season one which is, not to put too fine a point on it, everything Doctor Who should be.

Season 1, Episode 6 - Dalek

Here we have the first real attempt to globalise the New Who, bringing the setting out of England to a "near future" (at least then) America in the year 2012. The episode ticks along nicely with well constructed plot exposition. We learn that Henry van Statten is the typical eccentric billionaire genius who views people as disposable tools for him to use towards his goals. His torturous examination of The Doctor seemed a little unnecessary considering all he did was scan his chest and see he has two hearts, but hey, maybe that's just how he rolls.

"No, it doesn't HAVE to hurt, but where's the fun in that?"

The Doctor's initial contact with the Dalek in the cage was one of the finest moments in the history of the show. Eccleston shifts fluidly from concern upon his initial contact with the as yet unidentified creature, to sheer, abject brown-trousers-time terror upon discovering what it was, and then to seething hatred when he realises it is harmless. This scene is not just testament to great writing by Robert Shearman, but to Eccleston's totally under-rated portrayal of The Doctor as a broken man still haunted by untold horrors.

The Dalek is a fantastic enemy because it is quite clearly a real danger. First of all, if The Doctor is that scared, we should be too. Then we see it absolutely destroy a small private army with zero damage. Of course then we get a nice little play on the old stairs gag where we think a weakness is found, only to have our hopes dashed with a single word.

E-LE-VATE!

Of course in the end the unstoppable killing machine is destroyed by itself. Or more precisely, by absorbing those weaknesses Davros had tried so hard to remove. There was something a little bit War of the Worlds about it.

After all the previous deaths caused or at least not prevented by The Doctor in the past five episodes, here's one we can understand him pushing for. And yet, here we finally see Rose stand up in moral outrage at The Doctor's behaviour. She had a couple of halfhearted attempts to stand up to him in The End of the World and The Unquiet Dead, but here she finally manages to turn the mirror on The Doctor and let him see what he's become. I think this becomes a turning point in their relationship.

Rose finally gets some hand.

The Doctor and Rose seem now to have decided that they are not romantically attached, but sadly Rose immediately latches on to a new bloke. Poor Mickey. Again.

I can't praise this episode enough. It has all of the classic elements of a good story with none of my usual gripes. If I wanted to get really picky I could complain that the Bad Wolf reference was a bit ham-fisted but hey, I can totally ignore that.

10/10

Can we fix it?

No. There is nothing to fix.

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?

Review - The Unquiet Dead

After action in the present and the future, we complete the time travel triumvirate with a trip to the past; specifically Victorian Cardiff in the delightful Dickensian romp, The Unquiet Dead.

Season 1, Episode 3 - The Unquiet Dead

Right from the cold open, this episode ticked along at a reasonable pace. We're immediately confronted with a murderous zombie and an undertaker for whom this is all just an annoyance. What is going on? Then we get smacked up side the head with Charles Dickens, show-stealingly played by Simon Callow. Seriously, Dickens owns this episode.

What the Shakespeare?

Gwyneth was an interesting character, and helped to draw out some of the season arc hints without being too obvious. I think this was the first "Bad Wolf" reference of the season, and it was subtle enough to leave you wondering what it meant without taking over from the current story. Eve Myles played that scene really well.

I was pleased to see The Doctor kick a door in rather than use the Sonic Screwdriver. Much quicker and certainly much more manly. In fact, I don't recall the Sonic coming out at all this episode.

The Gelth were a reasonable foe, highlighting more of the impact of the Time War. Of course even on my first viewing of this I knew The Gelth would turn out to be evil, but The Doctor was blinded by his own guilt about their predicament.

They're evil? How can you tell?

The Doctor and Rose had their first real lover's tiff here too, when Rose demanded The Gelth not use corpses, and The Doctor essentially told her to STFU. Coming on the back of The Doctor's treatment of Cassandra in The End of the World, it's hard to see why Rose wanted to stick around.

Overall though, I feel like not a lot actually happened in this episode. We had a couple of zombie attacks and a séance, with everything culminating in a big climactic confrontation of sorts, but it seems in retrospect to be more of an exposition piece, revealing more of the Time War and setting up the season arc. The talking was broken up with action at appropriate moments though, so it never got bogged down.

7/10

Can we fix it?

Not really. The Unquiet Dead is just an example of a wordier, less tense episode. It's structure reasonably well, but The Gelth never really felt like much of a threat. Perhaps if some zombies had escaped the morgue and started killing and possessing more people it would have been more tense, but that would have required a different solution.

I'd probably just leave it alone.

Review - The End of the World

Continuing on with the retro reviews, we move on to The End of the World, or as I like to think of it, Let's See How Far This BBC Budget Will Stretch.

Season 1, Episode 2 - The End of the World

After the solid, if Companion-heavy relaunch episode Rose, we see the sow start to find it's feet in more ways than one. There is clearly more money invested here, with lots of costumes and better CG effects. The aliens in this episode seemed reasonably well thought out; a definite step up from some of the ones seen later in The Rings of Akhaten. The effects on both the Spiders and Cassandra were certainly much better than the old Wheelie Bin of Death from Rose.

We saw a bit of Hunka hunka burning Doc with Jabe, but it was expressed that he had been "intimate" by giving her air from his lungs, so maybe we can let that slide. Rose didn't seem to know whether to treat The Doctor as a boyfriend or a boy friend. At one point she's ribbing him over his kind-of-sort-of-flirting with Jabe, the next she's referring to him as a bad date. I think I'll put the latter down to just playful joking.

The scene where Rose essentially takes a step back and realises she's run off with a stranger was good, and set up the later argument and The Doctor's eventual sharing of his past. Whilst a good development of their relationship, I still feel this was a bit glossed over or rushed though. Sure, The Doctor shared some hints at his past, but he's still a virtual stranger to Rose.

There was a nice "Red-shirt" moment with Raffalo the plumber. The only way it could have been better was if she mentioned being two weeks from retirement. Still, you need someone to die to show things have just gotten serious, and it's better if they are a bit more of a fully fledged character.

When things did get serious though, we hit one of my pet hates. Why does the computer have to repeat everything multiple times? We don't need an audio cue that the sun filter is descending every five seconds. The burning line of sunlight moving down from the top of the screen does well enough. It would have been better said once each time something changed. If it had to be repeated a warning to exit the room would have made more sense. A tad picky, yes, but it's one of those things that annoys me.

The Sonic Screwdriver was again mostly only used to open doors or panels. The Doctor actually shoved it into the guts of the machinery at one point, which I liked. It makes it feel much more like a tool than just randomly waving it over the panel, which makes it feel like a magic wand. Even when he upgraded Rose's phone he actually put something into it, rather than just wave the Screwdriver at it.

The spiders had a great design. They had a real Golden Age Sci-Fi look to them. You'll note The Doctor didn't use the Sonic Screwdriver to disable or reprogram them, which I suspect he would have done had this episode been made in recent years. The spiders were a solid Monster Goon; numerous, clearly threatening, but easily dealt with in themselves.

That awesome retro-futuristic look

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme were a good red-herring villain and the reveal of Cassandra as the big bad was reasonably well executed. Having seen this episode before, it's hard to judge objectively though, as of course I already knew the twist, but I don't think it was telegraphed too badly.

The Doctor's callousness in letting Cassandra dry out and explode (why explode?) was out of place. At the very least I could see him preferring to have Cassandra tied up in court and disgraced (if possible) than let her die quite horribly, no matter how many trees she inadvertently caused to catch fire.

Rose's emotional turmoil when essentially faced with her own mortality was well played. The ending was sweet, even if there was maybe a bit too much intimacy between The Doctor and Rose for people who had effectively known each other a few hours. There had been a lot of sharing, so I suppose some closeness is to be expected, but in the end I was left feeling sorry for poor Mickey again.

Overall, a better balance between Doctor and Companion than the previous outing, but in the end felt a bit boring. Perhaps there was too much focus on developing that relationship between The Doctor and Rose than telling the story at hand.

7/10

Can we fix it?

Again, not a lot to fix here, and what I'm about to say will just be slight niggles. First and foremost, The Doctor should have listened to Rose when she asked him to help Cassandra. Having him come to his senses and save her would be much more Doctor-like that essentially torturing her to death with the throwaway line, "Everything has to end". It also would have made her return in New Earth easier.

This would also mean that Cassandra wouldn't explode. I mean, why? Why does drying out cause her to explode? And it was a sloppy explosion too. When she was drying out. How does that even work?

Why?

I'd have liked to have seen Rose still be a little wary of The Doctor at the end. She'd heard about his past, and seen his ability to do good, but she'd also glimpsed his darker side when he was prepared to let Cassandra dry out, and was frankly a bit of a jerk about it. After he revealed his past, Rose should be feeling more open to him, but not to the point of walking off arm-in-arm to get chips.

Other than that, yeah, it's a weaker story, but still entertaining.