07/12/31

The last Dalek and the last of the Time Lords enter. Only one of them leaves.

Doctor Who: Dalek

This episode was first broadcast on April 30, 2005. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: the last Time Lord and the last Dalek enter. Only one of them leaves.

Season one is my favourite of the three new Doctor Who seasons that we've had so far, and Dalek is my favourite season one episode.

That doesn't mean that the episode is flawless. To get my biggest gripes out of the way:

• Henry van Statten, owner of the museum where the action takes place, is a bit of a cartoon cliché
• his assistant Adam Mitchell is a dweeb and taking him on as a companion is a bad idea, even if it is only for one episode

But on to the good news:

• it's an excellent story with great performances from the Doctor, Rose and, surprisingly, the Dalek
• and the most important part: unlike other great stories like 'The unquiet dead' or 'The empty child / The Doctor dances', this story could only ever work as a Doctor Who story. The Doctor's history with the Daleks that started back in 1963 with the second William Hartnell serial is an integral part of this episode, and yet the episode manages to take the 'the Doctor versus the Daleks' story line into an entirely new direction

My verdict:

A must-see.

More reviews of 'classic' and new Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews

The latest version of this review:
Dalek (2005)

07/12/07

The two-parter that everyone loves to hate.

Doctor Who: Aliens of London / World war III

This two-parter was first broadcast on April 16-23, 2005. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: there are aliens in London, and at one point they're ready to start World War III.

A couple of good things about this two-parter:

• the two episodes are a roller coaster ride with rarely a dull moment
• though the story has its weaker points (more of which below) it is very well-written, with often funny dialogue and a clever mix of action, characterisation and further development of the relationships between the regulars
• I've grown quite fond of Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North

The not so good news:

• fart jokes. I don't mind these that much but there are too many of them and they do get old. On the other hand, I rather like the 'we should be naked'... 'your body is magnificent' gags
• warning, spoilers ahead - we get an alien spaceship crashing into Big Ben and eventually ending up in the Thames! Piloted by a pig! A pig controlled by robot technology! Alien robot technology! The Doctor and Rose are called to 10 Downing Street! To a super-secret meeting of super-secret experts! And there's a super-secret Internet site that contains all the information that you ever wanted to know, and you can also use it to fire a missile of your choice at a destination of your choice! And you can access it from the comfort of your own home with one, easy to guess password! And, while I'm at it, they're doing fart jokes! Lots and lots of fart jokes! On prime-time BBC television! And they're getting away with it!
  What I'm trying to say here is that there's a certain hard to describe 'wow, look at meeeee... isn't this cool...' quality to the story that starts to grate after a while

And what I really don't like:

• the aliens. They keep telling each other that their bodies are magnificent, and I wish they were. Unfortunately, apart from the blinking eyelids, the aliens never look either interesting or convincing, which is especially a problem when - mild spoiler ahead - we see them stripping off their human-suits

My verdict:

Tough call. It's either at the upper end of 'quite good, actually' or at the lower end of 'nice!', really.

More reviews of 'classic' and new Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews

The latest version of this review:
Aliens of London / World war III (2005)

07/12/03

A Gothic horror story with a twist.

Doctor Who: The unquiet dead

This episode was first broadcast on April 9, 2005. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: Cardiff, 1869. Charles Dickens reads from 'A Christmas Carol' and the dead are getting restless...

Wedged in between the spectacular-looking 'The end of the world' and the somewhat controversial 'Aliens of London / World War Three' two-parter, this little gem of an episode is easy to overlook.

Which would be a pity, since the episode gets pretty much everything right:

• it's a period piece, and it turns out the BBC still does these really, really well
• it's a Robert Holmes genre bender in the best tradition of 'classic' Doctor Who and an excellent story, even if - very mild spoiler ahead - the 'science' in the science fiction part of the story doesn't quite convince
• the acting is great all around

My verdict:

Gets it right in every way.

More reviews of 'classic' and new Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews

The latest version of this review:
The unquiet dead (2005)