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?