Episode #180 : Army of Ghosts / Doomsday

Rose (voice-over): Planet Earth. This is where I was born. And this is where I died. The first nineteen years of my life, nothing happened. Nothing at all, not ever. And then I met a man called the Doctor. A man who could change his face. And he took me away from home in his magical machine. He showed me the whole of time and space. I thought it would never end... Well, that's what I thought. But then came the Army of Ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the war. That's when it all ended. This is the story of how I died.

Episode 180:   Army of Ghosts / Doomsday.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         1st to 8th July 2006.

Rose and the Tenth Doctor return to modern-day London to find a mysterious epidemic of ghosts all over the world. As the Doctor searches Torchwood Tower to find answers, something sinister lurks in the building. A secret order of Daleks emerge and the Cybermen from Pete's World make their way to Torchwood Tower. As the two deadly forces fight over Earth, the Tenth Doctor realises that in order to stop the threat, sacrifices will be made.

The finale for this season was an excellent two part story that returns the Daleks and the Cybus Cybermen, along with the return briefly of Mickey Smith. The Cybus Cybermen managed to find a way to cross the void between worlds and come through to our world, presumably to escape the hunt for them that is going on in Pete's World. The Cult of Skaro and their Genesis Ark hid in the void to escape the final moments of the Time War. Unfortunately the two forces arrive at the same time in the middle of Torchwood's London headquarters. Not only do we have the explanation as to who and what the Torchwood references were but also battle sequences between the Cybermen and the Daleks. Those sequences are enough to make any Whovian squee with delight!

We finally lose Rose Tyler in this story. I don't want to be harsh towards the character but as fun as she was I am sick and tired of the love story elements between her and the Doctor. It never really felt right. She "dies" because she and her family end up trapped (rescued?) in the Pete's World universe. In ours she was counted among the dead. The final moments are nicely done but its a good riddance to unnecessary romantic baggage.

As for Torchwood as an organisation it feels unnessecary for the Whoniverse. They collect alien things and deal with extraterrestrial threats. However, isn't that the responsibility of UNIT? All this time with the Doctor on Earth and the threats faced, where was Torchwood? Anyhoo, it sets up Torchwood ready for it's own series.

At the end of Doomsday we get a preview of the Christmas special for 2006, when the Doctor finds a mysterious woman in a wedding dress onboard the TARDIS.

Army of Ghosts / Doomsday is an excellent adventure and deserves a high rating. There is a lot going on in this story however and sometimes it feels rushed or forced to cram everything into about 90 minutes of screen time.

Episode #179 : Fear Her

Dame Kelly Holmes Close resident: [To the Doctor, who is crouched on his lawn] What's your game?

The Doctor:[Turning round quickly] Snakes and Ladders? Quite good at... squash? I'm being facetious, I... There's no call for it.

Episode 179:   Fear Her.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         24th June 2006.

In London in 2012, the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler set off to see the Olympics, only to find terror in the most ordinary place.

The Doctor and Rose arrive in London in time for the 2012 Olympics. Landing in an everyday street where children are disappearing they find themselves drawn into a bizarre adventure. A lost alien entity has merged with an imaginative child and draws children into drawings to provide companionship.

Fear Her is a fairly terrible story. The concept is nice but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. I find that I cannot care for the child nor the events shown. Drawings that kidnap children and a scribble monster created from a child's tantrum scribble on a piece of paper are just silly ideas. Unlike the regular threats presented in the show, the Isolus doesn't work. You are supposed to care about what happens but I find that difficult in this case.

There is a scene in this episode where the Doctor lights the Olympic stadium fire with the Olympic torch. When the actual 2012 Olympics took place the organisers really should have had David Tennant as the Doctor light it in the same way.

I don't have a good thing to say about this story. I recommend avoiding it like the plague.

Episode #178 : Love & Monsters

Rose: [angrily] You upset my mum!

Elton: [glances at the Abzorbaloff] Great big absorbing creature from outer space, and you're having a go at me?

Rose: No one upsets my mum.

Episode 178:    Love & Monsters.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:          17th June 2006.

This is the first and I hope only Doctor Who story to get a 0 rating from me. Love & Monsters is so bad that really I should give it a negative rating. Whoever came up with this idea, wrote it and green lit it should be banned from making television programs ever again. Rant over.

Love & Monsters is a story that has pretty much nothing to do with the Doctor at all. He and Rose only appear for a few minutes throughout the entire episode. Instead it is seen from the point of view of one Elton Pope as he and some friends from LINDA (London Investigation 'n' Detective Agency) try to investigate the Doctor and eventually form a social club. When the mysterious Victor Kennedy turns up pretending to be hunting the Doctor too, things start going wrong. Victor is an alien from Clom, the twin planet of Raxacoricofallaptorius, an Absorbaloff who absorbs living beings and feeds on their mental energy.

What makes this so bad? Well, it starts off with the Doctor and Rose running around in Benny Hill/Scooby Doo fashion backwards and forwards from a Hoix. Just silly. Secondly, Victor Kennedy is played by comedian Peter Kay and he is just so not right for the part. In his true alien form he even looks stupid not to mention the faces of absorbed people still talking and thinking scattered across his body. At the end, the Doctor rescues Elton's love interest from the remains of the Absorbaloff but she is forced to be a face stuck in a slab of concrete.

The Absorbaloff was created as part of a competition on children's program Blue Peter. Children can often come up with some great ideas but this one just doesn't pan out at all.

Avoid this episode like the plague and move on.

Episode #177 : The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

"I am the rage, and the bile, and the ferocity! I am the Prince, and the fool, and the agony! I am the sin, and the fire, and the darkness! I shall never die! The thought of me is forever: in the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity, obsession, and lust! Nothing shall ever destroy me! Nothing!"

Episode 177:   The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         3rd to 10th June 2006.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler lose the TARDIS down a deep chasm, leaving themselves stranded on a space base positioned on a planet in the orbit of a black hole. Meanwhile, an entity who identifies as Satan himself, is awakening and beginning to cause chaos amongst the crew.

This is a really good adventure for our time travellers. Here we have a story that combines elements of Alien/s, the Omen, and so many other loved films. Stranded upon an impossible planet in the mouth of a black hole, the Doctor and Rose encounter scientists from the Torchwood Archives, the Ood and an ancient force of absolute evil. Slowly things go from bad to worse as the entity calling itself the Beast begins to possess the collective thoughts of the Ood and one of the scientists. Being a fan of the Alien series of films I always get a bit of giddy feeling when our heroes have to flee through air ducts to escape, and that scene seems well copied from those movies.

The Beast says that it came from a time before this universe existed making it one of the Great Old Ones, assuming it is telling the truth. Through out it's existence it has been the source of all forms of evil through the universe from Satan on Earth to the Kaled god of war. The appearance of the Beast and the possessed voice really make this story a cut above the recent ones. The question comes up however, who trapped him in there? Since the Great Old Ones are a take on the entities from the Cthulhu Mythos, are there a race of "elder gods" who imprisoned them?

This is the sort of story I would have loved to see as a three part story which would allow us some more back story, both for the Beast and the crew of the sanctuary base. The Beast seems to know of their dark flaws, weakness and so forth, and perhaps with more time that could have been expanded upon. However, one thing we get from the Beast is a revelation that Rose will die in battle setting up a not too distant episode.

If there is one thing that hinders this story it is the constant love interest elements. We get it. They both love one another but can't say it for whatever reason. When they think they have lost the TARDIS we get a few minutes of them planning their future "together". I am in the camp of fans who feels that there shouldn't be a love interest between the Doctor and his companions. It is there for modern audiences I suppose.

Episode #176 : The Idiot's Lantern

"They took her face and just chucked her out in the street. As a consequence that makes this simple...very, very simple. Because now, Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power on this earth that can stop me! Come on!"

Episode 176:   The Idiot's Lantern.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         27th May 2006.

It is 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II — but there is something hiding in the televisions of the British people. Something hungry...

While attempting to take Rose to see Elvis Presley play on the Ed Sullivan in 1956, the Doctor comes to London on the day of the Queen's coronation. Strange events lead them into an adventure against a disembodied entity within the television signal that feeds on mental energy leaving the victims alive but without a face.

The Idiot's Lantern is a nice little story with a touch of horror and just the right amount of humour. it is evident that part of the idea for this story is the old wife's tale that you shouldn't watch too much television. "Getting square eyes" it was called in my house when I was a kid.

Recently there have been a lot of stories where Rose gets the centre stage and I feel the Doctor is dropped back into the sides as the guide and final arbiter of the resolution. Not long into this story Rose has her face stolen and the Doctor becomes the driving force which is far more preferable I think. With this story I think David Tennant has finally settled into the role and has become the persona that we fans have come to love.

The villainous entity called The Wire (surely not it's original name?) is portrayed by the well known British comedienne Maureen Lipman, in the style of a 1950's BBC female announcer. Nicely done.

The Idiot's Lantern is a fun story while watching it. Afterwards however, I always find that I wish there was something more to it to beef it up.

Episode #175 : Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel.

 

Rose: [surprised] They're people.

The Doctor: They were, until they had all their humanity taken away. That's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed.

Rose: Why no emotions?

The Doctor: Because it hurts.

Episode 175:   Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         13th to 20th May 2006.

On a parallel Earth, a deadly new version of the Doctor's old enemy is about to be reborn. The Cybermen take control of London and start converting the population, and the Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith become fugitives.

An explosion in the vortex drops the TARDIS and crew on to a parallel Earth where things a tad different from our own. In this one there are airships everywhere and everyone is connected to everything via an earpiece. The time travellers arrive to find that Rose's father Pete is still alive and rather successful which causes Rose to go off looking for him. Unfortunately this is the same time that the Cybermen of this universe come into being and start upgrading everyone.

I'll start off by saying that I'm not a fan of the new Cyberman designs. I find them far too clunky and robotic, but I do prefer the 1980's look and they will always be the Cybermen for me. But fair play and things change. The BBC have better ways of showing these creatures now. If only they hadn't added "delete" as a catchphrase. It is far too cheesy. Even more so than before these Cybermen remind me of the Borg from Star Trek for their conversion of people into Cybermen, which you do see through this story.

John Lumic, who becomes the Cyber Controller, is played by the late Roger Lloyd-Pack who is more famously known for the role of Trigger in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

Just as with the 3rd Doctor story Inferno, the fun aspect of this story is seeing how our regular characters are different in an alternate universe. Pete Tyler is a respectable and rich business man, and Jackie Tyler isn't so different just stuck up. Rose doesn't exist. Instead the Tyler's have a dog named Rose. Mickey has an opposite called Rickey who is a braver more criminal (number 1 for parking fines!) version of himself.

When all is said and done, Mickey decides to remain here because his gran is still alive in this universe and he feels he can help deal with the remaining Cybermen in other parts of the world. I find Mickey an annoying character at times. Far too clingy towards Rose. In hindsight though perhaps he wasn't that bad.

Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel is a good story for introducing the Cybermen to a new generation. I just wish that they weren't the only ones we see for a long time.

Episode #174 : The Girl in the Fireplace

The Doctor: Don't worry Reinette, it's just a nightmare. Everyone has nightmares; even big scary monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?

Reinette: What do monsters have nightmares about?

The Doctor: Me! Ha!

Episode 174:   The Girl in the Fireplace.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         6th May 2006.

For their first trip with Mickey, the Tenth Doctor and Rose end up on a space ship in the future that contains several portals to pre-Revolutionary France. When he steps through one of these portals, shaped like a fireplace, the Doctor discovers the even greater mystery of actual, romantic love.

The Girl in the Fireplace is a story that I find a little surreal. It features clockwork robots wearing 18th century clothing, a space ship repaired with human body parts and an underlying sense of just oddness. It doesn't feel quite right for some reason. However, it is an entertaining story.

One thing that doesn't quite work is the Doctor. We are supposed to believe that he has strong feelings for Rose and yet falls in love with Madame de Pompadour to the point of being willing to be stuck in the 18th century with her. Feels out of character. Then there is the question of when did he develop this level of telepathy that he can put his hands on a person's head and read their minds?

The overall concepts of the story work and I can forgive the few oddities because it is Steven Moffet. It looks good, there is just the right sort of interaction between the time travellers and the angst of having to explain things to someone who probably can't quite grasp the concept of time travel. Otherwise there isn't much to this adventure and it is simply typical of the direction for the new show.

Episode #173 : School Reunion

Rose: I thought you and me were—well, I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year 5 billion, right, but this... Now, this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're gonna do to me?

The Doctor: No. Not to you.

Rose: But Sarah Jane. You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?

The Doctor: I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay; you wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone that you— [breaks off]

Rose: What, Doctor?

The Doctor: You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.

Episode 173:   School Reunion.
Companions:   10th Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, K9 and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         29th April 2006.

Deffry Vale High School is haunted by strange, bat-like creatures at night. When the Tenth Doctor investigates, he finds an old friend, Sarah Jane Smith, already working undercover.

Prior to this story I think there was also some concern that the new series of Doctor Who was a reboot rather than a continuation. With the return of Sarah Jane and K9 we at last knew that we were continuing almost where we left off.

In School Reunion the time travellers have been brought home by Mickey who has reported UFOs and strange incidents around a school in London. Whilst investigating they encounter Sarah Jane Smith who is also looking into the events. After a bit of a spat between Rose and Sarah Jane, the time manage to work together to stop the evil Krillitane's from achieving a sort of godhood.

It is such a pleasure to see Sarah Jane back after so long. The writers and producers obviously recognised that she is by far the most popular companion the Doctor has had. K9's return is also cool but is overshadowed by her. Following her appearance her, Sarah Jane goes on to start in the children's show The Sarah Jane Adventures, which I will also be covering here.

There is some fantastic dialogue in this story that helps overcome it's shortfalls. The quote above is one such example when Rose realises that she is just one in a long line of companions and doesn't like the revelation. I don't think any previous companions even consider it. They all think that they will be with the Doctor forever.

The villains are the Krillitane, a race of invaders who steal body parts (not literally I assume) of the species they conquer. In this story they are attempting to break the code of the universe and set themselves up as gods using the brains of children. As a concept great, but the CGI appearance is just shocking. When you see how well the werewolf in the previous story was done, it is more than a little disappointing to see rubbery looking gargoyles with big eyes.

The story is fun and its nice to see the return of old companions plus references to the classic show. had the Krillitane been designed and implemented better, perhaps I might view it more favourably.

Episode #172 : Tooth and Claw

Rose Tyler: I wanted to say [imitating Queen Victoria] "we are not amused". Bet you five quid I can make her say it.

The Doctor: Well if I gambled on that, it'd be an abuse of my privilege as a traveller in time.

Rose Tyler: Ten quid?

The Doctor: Done.

Episode 172:   Tooth and Claw.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:          22nd April 2006.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose have to protect Queen Victoria, but can anything stop the Empire of the Wolf?

In the past Doctor Who has covered a number of "supernatural" villains from ghosts, a composite creature/Frankenstein's monster and vampires, but with this story we get the Whoniverse treatment on Werewolves. The plot deals with an alien entity that for reasons never explained transforms a host body into a wolf-like creature when subjected to moonlight. Legends of this creature came to the attention of Queen Victoria's husband who puts a plan into operation to destroy the creature but dies before it can be implemented.

Tooth and Claw is one of those modern stories that really has both a lot going for it but also seems to be lacking something that I can't quite put my finger on. I think it comes down to the issue that there is no real reason why this entity would seek to infect the royal family and transform the British Empire into some weird steampunk space travelling civilisation. There is no sense that the entity wants to go anywhere. There is also the issue of the strange Scottish martial artists who serve the entity. That isn't explained either and is very out of place.

The story sets up the start of the Torchwood Institute, named after the hose at which the events of this adventure take place. Queen Victoria sets up Torchwood to investigate the strange and paranormal, and where necessary defeat them.

This story is worth a watch just for the werewolf element. It's more science fiction than horror however, but still very well done.

Episode #171 : New Earth

Novice Hame: One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his greatest secret. He will speak those words only to one like himself.

The Doctor: What does that mean?

Novice Hame: It's just a story.

The Doctor: Tell me the rest.

Novice Hame: It is said he will talk to a wanderer, to the man without a home, a lonely god.

Episode 171:   New Earth.
Companions:   10th Doctor and, Rose Tyler.
Air Date:          15th April 2006.

In the distant future, an order of cat-nuns cure all illnesses, but the Tenth Doctor is suspicious of their methods. He must uncover the truth and save Rose from the vengeance of his old enemy, the Lady Cassandra.

The Doctor and Rose travel to New Earth, a replacement to the Earth that we have already seen destroyed in The End of the World. The Doctor has been drawn here by the Face of Boe who is supposedly dying. Something not quite right draws the time travellers into a scheme by the resident cat people to heal all known diseases but at the expense of created lives. New Earth is not a bad story but I feel it is let down a little in places by pacing, dialogue and lack of get up and go.

The catkind look amazing. This is the first time that I can say that an alien species on Doctor Who actually looks real rather than a person in a suit. Major thumbs up to the make up department for this. Are they are more evolved version of the cat folk from Survival? Don't know but I can't imagine that two species of humanoid feline evolved in the galaxy. I like to think that they are the same species.

Cassandra returns but not as the villain. She certainly has greed on her mind and is selfish but ends up assisting the Doctor after projecting her mind into Rose's body seeking a new life in a real body. Her appearance does seem tacked on but it is made up for by giving her a decent send off at the end.

The Doctor's personality seems to have brightened up since The Christmas Invasion and he's a much more likable character now. The beaming smile means you can't help but begin to like him.

I think the reason why I'm not so keen on New Earth is that it is yet another filler episode. While it is self contained it appears to exist purely to set up events at the culmination of a later season. I have always hated filler stories in TV shows.

Episode #170 : The Christmas Invasion

Jackie Tyler: Well, I reckon you're mad, the pair of you. It's like you go looking for trouble.

The Doctor: Trouble's just the bits-in-between! It's all waiting out there, Jackie. And it's brand new to me—all those planets and creatures and horizons! I haven't seen them yet, not with these eyes. And it is gonna be... fantastic!

Episode 170:   The Christmas Invasion.
Companions:   10th Doctor and, Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         25th December 2005.

It's Christmas Eve and high above London, the alien Sycorax are holding the Earth for ransom. The Tenth Doctor must recover from his regeneration in time to save the human race from slavery.

The first adventure for the 10th Doctor is also the first Christmas special. I don't know about you but after a while I get seriously fed up of Christmas specials for Doctor Who. It works for sit coms and the occasional drama but just how many times can the Doctor and chums arrive for Christmas?

The plot for this one is fairly simple. The Doctor regenerates from his absorption of the time vortex and slips into a restorative coma, leaving Rose and family to hold things together when a race of nasty aliens turning up seeking slaves and conquest. The story holds more family angst and quickly gets a bit monotonous. There is also some downright silliness that doesn't fit ranging from some of the humour down to unexplained robot killers and a murderous Christmas tree. Sometimes I wonder what Russell T Davis, the head producer, was thinking with the direction of the show at this stage.

The Sycorax as the villains seem fairly weak to me. There is no depth to them and they seem all too bland as a species or culture. I don't particularly like the look of the costumes either. All seems a bit cheap. However, it doesn't spoil the enjoyment for me. I'm just glad that so far they haven't returned.

We get our first proper reference to Torchwood and they seem to have access to powerful alien technology. At this point we don't know much other than a reference from Harriet Jones (yes, we know who you are). The idea of a recurring reference to Bad Wolf in the previous series was quite clever but did it really another meme in this one?

In this story I'm not overly fond of the new Doctor. You have to let an actor and his writers settle into a new role but he still comes across, as he puts it himself, as rude. Eccleston's incarnation was a miserable character a lot of the time and I remember hoping that it wasn't going to be a continuous trend.

I may seem negative of this episode but really it is what I have come to expect from new Who. The ideas and concepts that I loved from the classic show are long gone I think. Old fans have to adapt to a modern show paradigm.

Episode #169 : Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways

"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, and I just can't!"

Episode 169:   Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways.
Companions:   9th Doctor, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness.
Air Date:        11th June 2005.

Separated and with no TARDIS, the Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack have to fight for their lives on board the Game Station, but a far more dangerous threat is lurking, just out of sight. The Doctor realises that the entire human race has been blinded to the threat on its doorstep, and Armageddon is fast approaching.

We have reached the end of the first season of the new series of Doctor Who and it culminates with an absolute corker. The Bad Wolf meme is realised and explained, and we learn a bit more about the Time War. The adventure also deals with the often unforeseen results of the Doctor's meddling in things. Had he not done what did during the events of The Long Game then things might have been very different here and now. His actions caused this future.

The Daleks are back, as is the Emperor Dalek last seen way back during the time of the 2nd Doctor. I doubt it is the same one but you never know. The Daleks here are different from those we know. In order to rebuild the Dalek race, the Emperor was forced to take human dead and create new Daleks from their remains. Nothing new there as we saw this in Revelation of the Daleks. In this story however, the events that allowed the Emperor to survive coupled with creating impure Daleks has driven them all somewhat insane. They now believe that the Emperor is a god and that Earth will be their new paradise. The only downside to them here is that I am now sick of seeing levitating Daleks!

Jack dies, along with pretty much everybody else and the Daleks, but is restored by Rose as the "Bad Wolf" using the power of the time vortex. This would have serious repercussions as he is now effectively immortal and reanimates minutes after death. Because of this, and we learn why much later, the Doctor abandons Jack on the space station. I really like Jack as a character, and he does go on to lead Torchwood, I would have liked him to remain longer as a companion simply because New Who seems intent on having just female companions.

After just one season, the Doctor regenerates. I don't know whether this was planned from the start or not, but it is a real shame that Eccleston didn't do at least one more. It does feel like a waste of a regeneration. Every other Doctor, barring the 8th as he only made the movie episode, did at least three years.

I may not have liked the persona very much but Eccleston did a grand job in bringing the character back to the TV screens for a new generation. What I disliked the most was the negativity and passive-aggressive approach. It may have fitted the character at the time but looking back this incarnation doesn't feel like the Doctor of old.

A great ending for the season and an excellent story. From here on things do get a lot better.

Episode #168 : Boom Town

Margaret Blaine: Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?

The Doctor: You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet.

Margaret Blaine: Apart from that.

Episode 168:   Boom Town.
Companions:   9th Doctor, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness
Air Date:         4th June 2005.

The Ninth Doctor, and his companions, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey. There, they discover that their "enemy", Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, is very much alive, if without an easy escape route from Earth, and is willing to rip apart the planet to ensure her freedom.

Boom Town is a sequel of sorts to Aliens of London / World War Three, as we learn that one of the Slitheen escaped at the end and is now hiding out in Cardiff plotting to escape the Earth, destroying it in the process. It is a very well thought out story that touches on the morality of the Doctor. Is he willing to kill, even second hand, a relatively "harmless" enemy? This plot element would never have come up before though it becomes fairly common throughout the new series.

Other than dealing with the Slitheen survivor, the adventure sets up the heart of the TARDIS for the season finale, and the Cardiff rift again for Torchwood. References are made back to The Unquiet Dead about the rift. It's a good fun episode but does feel more like a filler to set up future elements. I had the same issue with The Long Game but at least Boom Town has a self contained story and isn't so bad.

The time travellers get their first direct impression of the Bad Wolf meme in this story. The name of a local nuclear power plant is Welsh for Bad Wolf. Blon says that the name just came to her and the companions ignore it afterwards.

Boom Town has some interesting moral instances that we don't see previously. Does the punishment fit the crime if the punishment is going to be death? Can you take an individual back to their home world knowing full well that a painful execution awaits them? I'm not sure I could and you do see the Doctor and his friends wrestling with that question.

Episode #167 : The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances

"Are you my mummy?"

Episode 167:   The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         21st to 28th May 2005.

Chasing a metallic object through the Time Vortex, the Ninth Doctor and his companion, Rose Tyler, arrive in London during the Blitz. While Rose meets "Captain Jack Harkness", the dashing Time Agent responsible for bringing the object, the Doctor finds a group of homeless children terrorised by Jamie, an "empty" child wearing a gas mask.

I love Doctor Who when it attempts horror, and with the production values of the new series the BBC can do some absolutely fantastic ones. This particular adventure is the first horror themed story of the new series and it is a gem of the first series. What makes it work is the strange psychological reaction we have towards something disturbing that involves children. The repeated cry of "are you my mummy?" certainly sends a chill down the spine.

This adventure introduces Captain Jack Harkness, a former time agent now working as a con man throughout time. He starts off as a criminal type with a heart of gold and grows to be a braver man and future companion. As we know he will eventually go on to lead the remains of the Torchwood institute but for now he is a great new companion, probably my favourite of all the new series companions.

As well as being a scary story, we also get a lot of humour in this one which at last actually begins to feel right. New Who certainly likes to be more amusing than it's classic predecessor. At the time of transmission I found this somewhat odd but have grown to see it as a necessary addition for modern family audiences. But this is the first adventure where it fits perfectly.

The Empty Child episode does not contain a Bad Wolf reference. Instead, it appears in the second part, written in German on the side of a bomb dropped during the air raid.

Episode #166 : Father's Day

"Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man - that's the most important thing in creation! The whole world's different because he's alive!"

Episode 166:       Father's Day.
Companions:      9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:             14th May 2005.

Pete Alan Tyler, the father of Rose and husband of Jackie, died on November 7 1987, the day of Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clark's wedding. Rose was just a baby at the time, Jackie told the young Rose that nobody was there for Pete when he died and that the hit-and-run driver was never found...
Now grown up, Rose asks the Ninth Doctor to take her to see him alive, but on a whim, ends up changing his fate, not realising the consequences of such a paradox. After all, the Doctor has saved so many lives...what could the real consequences be over a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before?

Father's Day deals with the concept of what happens when you go back and make a major change to history. The concept of paradox is nothing new to the show but this is the first time that it occurs on such a scale. It is hinted at that this sort of thing didn't happen when the Time Lords still existed. It also sets up the back story to the Tyler family in preperation for future stories involving Rose.

Once again the Doctor turns nasty in this one. At this point the whole "stupid ape" attitude is getting old and tired. We get the point already. On the flip side, it is a story for Rose and we see how she could react when the opportunity presents itself. It never happens again so either Rose learns her lesson or the story element is somewhat of a throw away.

The story is ok, but is all too slow in it's pacing. It is only the interesting paradox elements that give the story any real body. Even the back story for Rose's family doesn't really help float it very well. It really needed something else to give it a kick up the backside. That's not to say that the story is in any way bad, but it is lacking something.

Episode #165 : The Long Game

"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is: planet Earth at its height. Covered with megacities, five moons, population 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species. With mankind right in the middle."

Episode 165:   The Long Game.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         7th May 2005.

New companion of the Ninth Doctor, Adam Mitchell, takes his first trip in the TARDIS. The ship materialises in Satellite 5, a space station that broadcasts across the entire Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. However, the Empire's attidude and technology is backwards, those who are promoted to Floor 500 simply disappear, humanity is possibly being manipulated by the news, and who exactly is the sinister Editor's employer?

At the end of the previous adventure the Doctor and Rose pick up Adam Mitchell, a former worker at the facility where they encountered the Dalek. On his first and only trip in the TARDIS they come to the far future where mankind seems enslaved by the media. Hundreds of channels beaming news out from all around the human empire.

In the story Adam tries to be naughty and bring back future knowledge so that he can profit from it in the 21st century. Surprised that no one else has tried that to be honest, but the Doctor does overreact and feels somewhat out of character in the way that he handles it though it is probably in keeping with the current personna.

Bad Wolf is referenced this time in the form of the Bad Wolf news channel.

The problem with this story is that it is part filler where nothing really happens and exists just to set up the story at the end of this first season. As such I find it all rather dissapointing.

Episode #164 : Dalek

 

The Doctor: They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you! Ten million ships on fire! The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!

Dalek: You lie!

The Doctor: I watched it happen! I made it happen!

Dalek: You destroyed us?!

The Doctor: [somber] I had no choice.

Dalek: And what of the Time Lords?

The Doctor: Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost.

Episode 164:   Dalek.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         30th April 2005.

The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler arrive in 2012 to answer a distress signal and meet a collector of alien artefacts who has one living specimen. However, the Doctor is horrified to find out that the creature is a member of a race he thought was destroyed: a Dalek.

Dalek is both our first look at the new Dalek design and a deeper explaination of what happened in the Time War. We learn that the Time Lords and the Daleks were destroyed, wiped out it appears by the Doctor himself. Filled with regret and anger at what he has done, this is why his demeanour in this incarnation is as blunt and abrassive as it is. As the story progresses we see that underneath it all the Doctor is still the same person, but one having to live with what has happened and what he did.

Way back in Remembrance of the Daleks we saw that the Daleks could levitate up stairs and once again we see that here. No more jokes can be made about escaping the Daleks by going upstairs. In this story it shows that the Daleks have had a bit of a nifty redesign. They have the same old appearance but now look a lot more menaching by the addition of a more solid metal design.

The story itself is basically a reintroduction of the Daleks for a new generation who probably only knows of them as a pop culture reference. Here the Daleks certainly come across as a lot more fearsome than before. However, in Dalek, the titular entity is restored by Rose Tyler and begins to develop human emotions mixed with the Dalek hate, eventually being forced to destroy itself because of it's corruption.

The Bad Wolf reference in this story is the call sign of a helicopter landing at the hidden base where the episode takes place.

Dalek is a good introduction to the backstory of the show for new viewers but I think could have perhaps been done better. The "human element" does detract slightly for me as it goes against the Daleks that we know from old.

Episode #163 : Aliens of London / World War Three

"Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?"

Episode 163:   Aliens of London / World War Three.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         16th to 23rd April 2005.

Rose returns home to discover that she has been missing for a whole year, although for her, it's been a couple of days. However, before she can explain her absence, a spaceship crashes into Big Ben, causing a worldwide catastrophe. Worse still, the Prime Minister has mysteriously disappeared... The Doctor's investigation puts him in the spotlight with the British government, as his long history of defending Earth finally catches up with him. But there are sinister goings on at 10 Downing Street, and politician Harriet Jones' quest to get some answers brings her into a brave new world... of aliens. Meanwhile, Rose finds trouble closer to home, as her past mistakes threaten to tear her family apart.

This story introduces a concept that hasn't been seen before, dealing with the repercussions of what happens at home when a companion takes off with the Doctor. A fair chunk of the first part is taken over by this plot element. It is well done and nice to see that a plot element that has been long in coming.

Aliens of London introduces a new villain, the Slitheen family, unscrupulous aliens seeking to make a profit from the destruction of the Earth. This is first story of the new series to combine CGI and the classic "man in a suit" style creatures. I remember being oddly pleased with this adventure when it first aired for continuing to have the "man in an alien costume" approach. I had feared that we would not see that again. What makes the Slitheen stand out is the childish farting that they do. At first it is amusing but soon becomes all too silly even though within the story it is explained.

We are also introduced to new characters who would reappear later on, Harriet Jones (MP for Flydale North), and Toshiko Sato who we learn later on is part of an organisation called Torchwood. UNIT appears for the first time in the new series though the name has changed to the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. The reason for the name change is because the real world United Nations did not want to be associated with the show. I find this really odd as there is no better program to be associated with in my opinion.

Bad Wolf appears in this story as a graffiti spray painted onto the side of the TARDIS.

Aliens of London / World War Three is a fun entertaining romp though it falls into the childish at times.

Episode #162 : The Unquiet Dead

"I saw the Fall of Troy! World War Five! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party! Now I'm gonna die in a dungeon...  in Cardiff!"

Episode 162:   The Unquiet Dead.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         9th April 2005.

The dead are roaming the streets of 1869 Cardiff when the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler arrive, just in time for Christmas. Teaming up with Charles Dickens, the TARDIS team encounter the Gelth, creatures sucked through the Cardiff Rift from the other end of the universe, their home lost. Surely inhabiting dead bodies is wrong, though! Can both sides be helped, or are these gaseous creatures not to be trusted?

The Unquiet Dead is an excellent story that focuses on a horror element to good effect. I've always enjoyed the horror stories in Doctor Who but the new series does it so much better. Here we have a story based featuring Charles Dickens, aliens spirit creatures animating the bodies of the dead and another reference to the Time War. Three episodes in and finally I think the new show has found its new roots with this one.

We get more interaction between the Doctor and Rose as they discuss the morality of allowing these entities to use dead human bodies to continue existing. It is a tough question and is handled well here within the confines of the story. Ultimately however the Doctor continues to come across as a little arrogant here and it is hard to like this incarnation at times.

The Bad Wolf reference here comes from the serving girl Gweneth, who has the psychic gift, who sees into the future for Rose and mentions the big bad wolf. Gweneth is played by Eve Myles who would later appear in Torchwood, which ironically is based around the very time/space rift that the alien Gelth use in this episode. I do wonder whether Torchwood was first thought up around this episode and then much later transferred into it's own show.

The Undead Quiet is a very good episode, of much better quality than the previous two. I don't think there are any faults to this one at all though more of the Gelth might have been interesting.