Doctor Who - "Aliens of London"

WHOSCALE: 6.0 OUT OF 10

The fourth episode of Eccleston's year returned us to modern day Earth, but not before a quick montage of clips from the previous Earth episode, "Rose." Personally, I'm not sure what the purpose of that was - it was likely any viewer tuning into this episode had likely seen the previous three.

As with most Whovians, my biggest shock was the farting aliens. Don't get me wrong; the Slitheen themselves were actually well-designed in appearance I thought, but their frequent farting sounds and fart jokes made it extremely difficult to take this story seriously. Classic Who was always about a serious tone on whatever the plot might be, proposterous though it may be. An example would Terror of the Zygons, in which the Loch Ness Monster was used as a tool by the Zygons to aid their takeover of Scotland. As silly as the notion was, it was taken seriously, and we were taught to "make no bones about it."

However in the case of the Slitheen, RTD treated the threat of alien takeover lightly, taking full advantage of the modern day setting, inserting as much modern-day smeg as he could into the 45 minutes.

The episode's few saving graces were that because it was spread over 2 episodes, it allowed the plot to unfold slowly and naturally as with classic Who serials. Unfortunately, rather than put the additional time to good use by making relevant contributions to the overall plot, Davies instead filled in the "holes" with irrelevant scenes with Rose, Jackie, a detective, Mickey, Harriet Jones, etc. While Jones had a crucial role in the story, many of her first scenes contributed nothing to the plot. Neither did the scene of Rose, Jackie, The Doctor and a detective at Rose's home. The other saving grace being the re-introduction of the cliffhanger ending accompanied by the "sting" of the Doctor Who theme music.

While the Doctor is frequently known for missing a particular time/location by a few years/miles, the fact that the Doctor and Rose arrived exactly one year after her departure seemed to be more of a drama device than anything else. As with most of RTD's plots, the episode was usually first about Rose, then about the Doctor, then about the Doctor AND Rose, and then about the initial plot. Resolving irrelevant domestic issues became primary, and the resolution of the overall plot often became secondary.

An OK episode, but not one of RTD's better attempts. The plot of a hostile alien takeover in Doctor Who usually works best FOR THE EPISODE if it's set in a rural village of sorts, but RTD often set his alien takeovers in the heart of London so that scenes of nameless, frantic, panicky people could be shown running and screaming - all of the sake of making it more dramatic.

While the incidental music was more in this episode than the last three, it still was subtle enough I thought to fit the mold of a classic Who score.

Doctor Who - "The Unquiet Dead"

WHOSCALE: 8.9 OUT OF 10

The third episode of the revived Doctor Who, this was without a doubt one of the best of Eccleston's run. Set in Victorian Cardiff, the episode paid enormous homage to the Tom Baker episode "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." Some of the scenes in this episode were practically parallel to scenes from Talons. Such scenes as the shots of the onlooking audience listening to Mr. Dickens on stage. Another large reminder was the design and setting of the theater in which Dickens was performing. It looked very similar to Henry Gordon Jago's theater in Talons.

Another wonderful scene is the conversation between the Doctor and Dickens as they rock from side to side riding in the carriage.

Eccleston once again portrays the Doctor very well, with some very memorable dialogue, such as the Doctor urging Rose to change clothes before she steps out of the TARDIS, noting that her 21st century attire would "start a riot." Another great moment is when the Doctor runs onstage with Dickens moments after the ghost appears, and he introduces himself...

The Doctor: "I'm the Doctor by the way!"

Dickens: Doctor?! You look more like a navvy!"

The Doctor: "What is wrong with this jumper?!" as he tugs his v-neck undershirt.

Yet another well-written scene is when a now teamed up Dickens/Doctor duo visit the funeral home at a late hour and are told "we're closed," Dickens abruptly replies, "Nonsense! Since when did funeral homes keep hours?! The dead don't die on schedule!"

As with any great Who episode, and frequently the case with classic Who, the story tried at best to spread the characters' activity evenly over the entire episode, so that the episode wasn't solely about Dickens' point of view, nor was it from the Doctor and Rose's point of view. The story was told as it really was, and the viewer was positioned "outside the box," seeing the plot unfold from both sides evenly. Namely the scene of Dickens brooding in his dressing room prior to his curtain time, before the Doctor and Rose had even discovered that something was wrong or even arrived at the theater.

I had few complaints with this one. In fact, my only issues were the scene with Rose and Gwyneth talked one on one (which I suppose was necessary to introduce the first hint of the "Bad Wolf" story arc element), and the CGI ghosts. Once again, the incidental music was subtle, contributing to a sense of realism and historical accuracy. Particulary during Dickens' performance - we listened in a silent theater as if we were actually there.

Overall, well written and well produced, and by far the best we had seen yet from the revived series.

Doctor Who - "The End of the World"

WHOSCALE: 7.5 out of 10

This was the second episode of the revived Doctor Who, and was also penned by Russel T Davies. This episode plunged us into the distant future, at the time of the sun's expansion and the natural destruction of our planet. This episode was overall well written and well produced, from a classic Who standpoint. The Steward alien was well-conceived and well-designed, reminding me of a classic Who character from the Colin Baker title, "Timelash."

The tree species were also neat, which being new to Rose, worked well for a later scene, when Rose was alone on the observation deck, and she attempts a conversation with a small plant, then tells herself, "I'm talking to a plant." There was little orchestral music used, and the music usually only complimented scenes without dialogue - another mark of the original series. Music-less dialogue scenes allowed us to listen, focus, and absorb what was being said, without being distracted by the scores. Additionally, the moods were not forced, so viewers were free to feel whatever they wanted to feel from the dialogue. Later episodes frequently used touching scores to accomodate "tear jerker" scenes, forcing viewers into a corner of emotional upheaveal.

I often said, however, that my biggest complaint with this episode was the obvious attempts by Davies to "dumb down" the stories so that channel surfers wouldn't be disgruntled by entertainment they couldn't understand. Some of the more obvious "dummy marks" were elements to help non-science fiction fans relate to the episode, such as a planet Earth below looking the same as it did when Rose lived on it, and the explanation being a gigantic company opted to move continents back to the way they were in the 21st century, merely for the sake of the planet being destroyed. Choosing 21st century Earth as "classic Earth" seemed a bit too conveinent. Other elements were the relics from Earth - all of them being from iGen's past. The 50's jukebox, referred to as an IPod, the songs heard - Softcell's "Tainted Love" and Britney Spears' "Toxic."

While Cassandra certainly made for a cunning villain, it was obvious what Davies intended her to be - a futuristic diva, with all of the traits of a 21st century diva.

I was pleased with the final scene in the episode, where the Doctor offers Rose one last chance to hop off - stressing that, "You've seen how dangerous it is..." The scene played out well in that the question of whether or not Rose wanted to continue based on her experience thusfar was quickly forgotten with the smell of chips filling the air, and we are left with the Doctor and Rose grabbing a quick bite to eat, and then off to the TARDIS for more adventure.

The End of the World remains one of my favorites of the new series, and still some of Davies' better attempts at a genuine Doctor Who plot.