The unquiet dead (2005)

Review
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Review

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:

Brilliant!

Gets it right in every way.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "brilliant!" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: brilliant!

More new Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston:
Doctor Who reviews: 2005

Original version of this review:
07/12/03

More about this episode

Episode guides:
BBC Episode guide

Episode reviews:
Behind the sofa
Outpost Gallifrey

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