Doctor Who - "Boom Town"

WHOSCALE: 6.5 OUT OF 10

In typical Davies style, this episode opens with the return of the TARDIS to modern-day Cardiff. Margaret, the cunning Slitheen has apparently survived the Doctor's last encounter with her, and is now far into a plan to make a nuclear power plant go critical and explode, allowing her to "surf" the shockwave out of the Solar System.

Mickey gets word of the Doctor's and Rose's return, and arranges to meet them in Cardiff.

I originally had mostly misgivings about this episode, but after watching it again recently, and realized that there were hints here and there of the original series, and believe it or not, this was actually some of Davies' better attempts at paralleling the Who formula established during 1963 - 1989.

The initial plotline I described above is not a bad idea, but I think the bulk of what would have made this chiefly an episode of classic Who was over-stepped so that the most of the 45-minutes could be used on character development. That's basically what this episode became. I said it in my YouTube video review, and I'll say it again - when I discuss "Boom Town" with fellow fans, I often describe it as a radio show, because that's pretty much what it was - people sitting around talking to each other for relatively 45 minutes.

Again, the things most relevant to the PLOT were omitted, like how Margaret was even able to gain a political backing after that little spat in "Aliens of London." Additionally, we saw very little of Margaret's cunning plan unfold - instead, we jump in as it enters its final stages, and while last time she was able to evade the Doctor for two 45 minute episodes, this time she is quickly captured in the street with the Doctor doing nothing more than flicking a switch on his now-all-purpose sonic screwdriver.

While Margaret softens up the Doctor and Jack in the TARDIS, we catch up on Rose and Mickey's social life - which to this day I still cannot see how the Rose/Mickey bickering scenes was in the least relevant to what made this episode "Doctor Who." As I stated earlier, what WOULD have made this episode a decent Doctor Who story was more or less overstepped so that the episode could focus on characters interacting with one another.

We then get sit through a casual dinner for two. If not for Margaret's attempts to subdue the Doctor, these dinner scenes with pauses, dramatic, subtle conversation, eye contact and exhanges of glances across the table would have looked like something plucked out of a modern-day blockbuster flick.

After a few spats between Rose and Mickey, and the Doctor and Margaret have run out of things to chat about, things finally start looking up - an earthquake shakes the ground violently, and Margaret insists on sticking with the Doctor, fearing for her own safety. The Doctor races back to his TARDIS.

Upon re-entry, Margaret's motives become clear - that she was truthfully "buttering up" the Doctor so that she could get close enough to the TARDIS console to reinstate her original plan of surfing out of the Solar System.

Of all solutions, the TARDIS itself solves this one for us, by opening up one of its console panels and showing Margaret the time vortex, she gets reduced to an unhatched egg - of which the Doctor promptly decides to return to Raxicoricofallapatorius.

The few things this episode had in its favor were the slowed pace of the episode, which was more along the speed of classic Who; and the incidental music. Ofcourse, the slowed pace in this case not being a result of production, but being a result of lack of story. The subtle "Boom Town Suite" - or the parts complimenting Margaret's scenes anyway - was also reminiscent of the classic era.

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.

Doctor Who - "Rose"

WHOSCALE: 6 out of 10

This marked the beginning of the new era of Doctor Who. It was the first episode of the revived series, as well as the first penned by Russell T Davies. An OK episode, but my biggest complaint was that Davies went a bit overboard in his efforts to casually reintroduce the series. Rather than introduce it to the sci-fi community, he started off extemely light on sci-fi so that channel surfers would buy in, too. The show was titled "Doctor Who," but instead of writing an episode introducing the lead character, The Doctor, and the chief antagonists of that story - the Autons - RTD decided to write about a girl named Rose, whose daily life takes a turn for the unusual when she bumps into a stranger calling himself The Doctor. Davies even went so far as to title the episode after what he wrote to be the main character - Rose. Lending further evidence that the episode was mainly about Rose, interspersed with scenes of the Doctor, with Autons sprinkled on top. In contrast, Autons make for great "Earth-based" DW stories, but including them in an episode mainly focusing on the characters seemed a bit obvious - that the Autons were only there so that the script could pass for an episode of Doctor Who.

Eccleston portrayed the Doctor very well, with some great scenes hinting at his past personalities - namely when he flutters a deck of playing cards in Rose's flat, when he gazes at himself in a mirror and comments on his regeneration, and when he used a deactivated, disembodied mannequin arm to wave "goodbye" to Rose. There are other memorable moments that I still recite at appropriate times, like when someone suggest pizza for supper, I recite Mickey's Auton equivalent...."Pee-Zah! Puh - Puh- Pee-Zah!"

While the episode mostly focused on Rose, overall it was good. It was too early to tell what direction the series was going in, so I patiently waited to see where the Doctor would be taking us next.