Doctor Who - "Bad Wolf"

WHOSCALE: 7.0 OUT OF 10

Davies chose to bring us back to Satellite 5 in this episode, set 100 years after the events of "The Long Game."

From the opening of this episode, Davies' attempts to link the iGen viewers with the type of entertainment Doctor Who is was extremely evident. The story is set sometime in the neighborhood of 100,100 A.D., and despite this plot set in Earth's far-flung future, reality TV shows such as "Big Brother House" and "What Not To Wear" still seem to be all the buzz.

Jack remains on board the TARDIS from "Boom Town," but as shown in a flashback sequence, the crew are suddenly separated when the TARDIS is pulled off course and the crew are yanked away by a blinding light. The Doctor awakens just as he is seated in front of a camera and is forewarned that he's about to go live, and to not swear. Probably the most fitting bit of dialogue is here, when the Doctor realizes what's going on, and looks viewers in the eye with the firm statement, "You have GOT to be kidding!" Something about that bit reminded me of his past incaranations, especially Tom Baker.

Meanwhile, Jack becomes the subject of a robot equivalent of "What Not To Wear," while Rose finds herself a contestant on a very serious take on "The Weakest Link." Davies is ofcourse the KING when it comes to irrelevant, senseless drama; and "Bad Wolf" is no exception. We have to sit through numerous scenes of panicky, frantic, teary-eyed contestants as they face their apparent demise for losing the latest round of "The Weakest Link." The situation with Jack practically goes 100% modern-day television - in fact, if not for the robotic hosts, you could probably find something quite similar on E! or MTV. Jack is shown several times stark naked, due to a conveinently placed "defabricator," and when things start to turn into a rehash of "Saw" and less of "What Not To Wear," Jack subdues his unfriendly host by plucking a concealed firearm out of his bare.......well.....let's just say the expression "pull something out of your ass" can be applied literally in this instance.

The episode's Doctor Who roots start to surface about 1/4 of the way in, when the Doctor - in traditional, non-violent, logical approaches - realizes that no ordinary game show can penetrate the interior of his TARDIS, and so he surmises that his being brought there is no accident, nor is it no coincidence. According to his Housemates, being evicted means willingly walking into a chamber underneath a distinegrator gun, and then getting blasted into atoms. The Doctor cleverly deduces that whoever brought him there must need him alive, and so like his previous incarnations often did, he puts his theory to the test - he deliberately causes damage to the house so that he can get evicted - setting up for another "TruWho" moment - when it is announced that the Doctor has been evicted, the Doctor jumps up from the sofa waving his fists in celebration. The Doctor steps into the distinegration chamber, and shouts encouragement to whomever is watching him.

When the distintegration fails, the Doctor escapes the house along with a female housemate - Lynda. As the Doctor and Lynda step out into the promenade of S5, the Doctor utters a line he has often said before, "I've been here before." From there, the episode's investigative juices get flowing, and we once again see the words "Bad Wolf" decorating the station. Jack meets up with the Doctor and Lynda shortly, and the Doctor then sets about discovering which level Rose is located on.

As the trio arrive on TWL level, Rose gets zapped by the host robot, which in turn meets its demise at the hands of Jack. At this point, all is assumed that Rose is dead, and the Doctor still hasn't the foggiest notion of what's going on, other than his actions 100 years ago at the end of "The Long Game" are to blame for the shape the human race is in now. The Doctor and his companions are arrested (presumably for breaking out of their own games and breaking into another). The Doctor, Jack, and Lynda hatch an escape plan, and then make way to floor 500 where the Doctor hopes to discover an answer to the situation, and find the one responsible for Rose's presumed death.

Jack discovers the TARDIS safe and sound, and moments later we are relieved to see that Rose is very much alive, but as she regains conciousness, a familiar ambient sound is heard in the background - the sound of a Dalek installation.

The episode ends with a cliffhanger, with the Doctor promising her rescue.

Overall, the idea was sound - that of the Doctor being thrown into a game station and after breaking out realizing that he is in fact on S5, but I think the use of modern-day reality TV shows was a bit overboard. Obviously it there so the casual viewers would have something to relate to, but as I often say, Doctor Who isn't intended for the casual viewers, its intended for the sci-fi fans.