‘I am talking!’ In principle, I really like the idea of a Doctor Who story that throws together a melange of images and influences from classic telefantasy: Quatermass sci-fi; Sapphire and Steel faceless people; Nineteen Eighty-Four style informants and TVs that stare back. Even the Wire feels like it’s referencing old series monsters, like Eldrad: ‘They executed me. But I escaped in this form and fled across the stars.’ The reason why Doctor Who stands out is because it can juxtapose all of these styles with entirely different genres, creating something new from the alchemy. The problem with The Idiot’s Lantern is that it doesn’t have anything to catalyse its influences and homages, and so nothing new emerges. Instead, we get something even more straightforward than The Unquiet Dead.

Continue reading →

‘Rose, I’m coming to get you!’ Mickey saves the day through dogged determination, computer skills and refusing to live down to the Doctor and Rose’s expectations. In a curious way, he’s grown more than Rose, from useless comedy sidekick to heartsick tin dog to action hero. No wonder he chooses to stay behind in a universe that shows some appreciation for him, where he’s able to make a difference as his own man, not the Doctor’s assistant. It’s pretty much the only time in the new series a companion makes that choice to grow beyond the Doctor (usually there’s some terrible reason why they can never see him again), and it works so effectively that RTD pretty much repeats the trick with Martha (let’s skip over that very unfortunate coincidence).

Continue reading →

‘We are Human point two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us.’ This has aged well. At the time, knowing it was inspired by Marc Platt’s Big Finish play Spare Parts, there was a vague expectation we’d get something apocalyptic and haunting. But, like Dalek, this is more a reimagining than an adaptation, and it has to be suitable to broadcast in an early evening slot on a Saturday. As it stands, the horrific moments (especially Mr Crane listening to The Lion Sleeps Tonight as the homeless are butchered for Cyber-parts – surely a conscious echo of the Dalek Emperor’s appropriation of future Earth’s homeless in The Parting of the Ways) are very horrible indeed, but are understandably kept offscreen. No-one wanted a repeat of Attack of the Cybermen.

Continue reading →

‘There comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance.’ This one won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation – fittingly enough the same prize as the very similar Star Trek episode The City at the Edge of Forever. Both feature the hero jumping through a time window and falling in love with the woman they save on the other side, only to tragically lose them. I can certainly see why this episode might be very popular, although your mileage may vary depending on whether you think Captain Kirk is a good analogue for the Doctor.

Continue reading →

‘You know what the most difficult thing was: coping with what happens next.’ RTD’s ongoing obsession with what the Doctor leaves behind bumps up against Toby Whithouse’s bread and butter alien plot, a fairly flimsy thing that’s too wobbly to support the first direct crossover between the classic and new series.

Continue reading →

‘And should I trust you, sir? You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent?’ This is much stronger than New Earth, with a plot built around one of RTD’s vertical chases, an impressive guest star, the kind of monster that the show’s never been able to carry off before, and an obvious launchpad for this series’ “arc”. It’s also the audience’s first chance to properly see the new Doctor and Rose adventure together.

Continue reading →

‘The lady’s moving on. It’s goodbye trampoline, and hello blondie.’ A story that seems to exist in two minds literally and metaphorically. While Cassandra hops between Rose, the Doctor and Chip, the Doctor can’t quite make his mind up whether he enjoys the impossibility of the Face of Boe living forever or thinks that Cassandra has ‘lived long enough’. The notion of bringing back the Year Five Billion to provide some familiar reference points as the audience get used to Tennant is sound, but it plays into the idea that Series Two is much more cautious than its predecessor. It leads to my least favourite bit of the episode, as Rose suddenly declares, ‘Oh, I love this. Can I just say, travelling with you, I love it’ almost like she’s begging the audience to agree with her. It’s as if RTD has realised what he’s doing halfway through carrying a priceless vase across a polished marble floor and is suddenly stepping much more carefully.

Continue reading →

‘Reckon you could hack it as my companion?’ This is a lovely, basic interactive game pitched at a younger audience that lets the player take the role of the 10th Doctor’s temporary companion (Rose is at an ABBA concert in 1979), and gives viewers their first proper glimpse of the fully-regenerated Doctor at the controls of the TARDIS, dashing about as you, the player, use your TV remote control (linked to the sonic screwdriver) to locate the Graske’s victims, track the evil alien through time and break into its cryogenic vault to free its captives.

Continue reading →

‘The Doctor wouldn’t do this. The old Doctor, the proper Doctor, he’d wake up. He’d save us.’ The Christmas Day special has been the last bow for the past three Doctors, but I prefer this. Sneaking in the new Doctor like a present under the Christmas Tree and giving us a chance to unwrap and enjoy, rather than just a tantalising glimpse. RTD leans into this, gleefully, with an episode that’s replete with all the festive trimmings, given an Avengers twist: (killer) trees, (deadly robot) Santas, a (cancelled) Queen’s Speech and a tangerine.

Continue reading →

‘Can you change back?’ A charming bridge between The Parting of the Ways and The Christmas Invasion which serves mainly to trail the new Doctor. He’s faster, spikier, full of energy, darting about while the last version might have been watchful and, in a sort of safe version of the fifth regeneration, has a manic episode that puts Rose in danger as they speed back towards 2006 Earth and Christmas Day.

Continue reading →