Series 1 (Season 27), Episodes 4 + 5: Aliens of London & World War Three

Trouble with the Slitheen? Call the Doctor or visit the blog!

Doctor Who returns to London for its first multi-part story of the century. Following the example of its predecessor this serial introduces a new semi-regular in the form of Harriet Jones (Penelope Winton) and another soon-to-be Torchwood employee Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori). The Slitheen, who have now wormed their way into Doctor Who folklore, also debut as the serials' enemy. The episode also looks at how families (particularly Rose's) cope when their loved ones disappear off with the Doctor.

Synopsis: Rose and the Doctor return to earth '12 hours' after they left. It soon becomes clear however that Rose has actually been missing for 12 months and this sparks arguments between the Doctor and Jackie! Then, a spaceship crashes into the Thames, destroying the top of Big Ben on the way down. When the non-terrestrial craft is proved to be a fraud by another type of alien the mystery deepens into why extra-terrestrials would set the world on high alert. It soon becomes clear that the diversion of the UFO has allowed the alien family 'The Slitheen' to rise to high power in government! The question is, what do the enemy want, if not to take over the planet?

Featuring: The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper), Jackie (Camille Coudri) and Mickey (Noel Clarke)

Enemies: The Slitheen (with a cameo appearance from what has been dubbed 'a space pig')

Afterthought: Designed to scare them but also to make them laugh, smaller children must relish this episode. The only subjects keeping the attention span of the older watchers are the political remarks although Harriet Jones is definitely over the top in her first appearance.

Verdict:

Story: 2/5, The idea is promising, except for the Slitheen.

Effects: 0.5/5, The costumes were well designed...

Humor: 2/5, Slitheen aren't funny, so it's a good job the Doctor and Mickey are.

Mark Campbell: 3.5/5, Is he purposefully trying to annoy me?

TOTAL SCORE: 8/20

Elsewhere:

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_of_London and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Three_(Doctor_Who)

Official Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dp9 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dpv

You win some, you lose some. Next Time: Dalek

As the Slitheen wait for the nuclear codes they find themselves being bombed!

Series 1 (Season 27), Episode 3: The Unquiet Dead

What? A blog about us?

Mark Gatiss debuts his writing skills in Doctor Who in this episode. It also marks the first new series episode not to be penned by Russell T Davies. Recurring character Charles Dickens shows up for the first time in this episode and the actor soon to play Gwen in Torchwood (Eve Myles) makes her Doctor Who debut. This is the first time that a new series episode is set at Christmas which has traditionally been followed ever since by the Christmas specials.

Synopsis: A corpse, in the care of a small undertakers shop, rises from it's coffin before it's burial and terrified a packed theatre showing a reading from Charles Dickens by the author. However the people of Cardiff in 1869 aren't used to dead people visiting famous author's performances and the theatre becomes panic ridden! This is when the Doctor and Rose show up. It soon becomes clear that these ghosts are materialising using available gas and the spirits which to get through the rift to save their souls. Luckily, servant girl Gwyneth is here to help!

Featuring: The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper)

Enemies: The Gelth (the spirits)

Afterthought: I really like the Gelth. In my mind they definitely deserve a return to Doctor Who. This episode starts very much like a classic episode during the Victorian Cardiff scenes but I love how there is a chance for Rose to come to terms with time travel for the first time. It also reveals that this is Rose's first trip to the past so spin-off writers won't be able to take her back 'for the first time' again!

Verdict:
Story: 3/5, The beginning isn't 21st century Doctor Who enough for me, even though it is set in 1869 :) .
Effects: 4.5/5, I really do like the Gelth... until they start flying around the morgue.
Humor: 1/5, Hardly any and the Doctor's jumper does not make a funny gag.
Mark Campbell: 5/5, Wow, we are being controversial!
TOTAL SCORE: 13.5/20

Elsewhere:
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unquiet_Dead
Official Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dng
I suppose this episode was just a way of proving that everything, including Doctor Who, can rise from the dead. Next Time: Aliens of London & World War Three

The Gelth have taken Gwyneth!

Series 1 (Season 27), Episode 2: The End of the World

Cassandra and Rose watch as the earth burns... so it's a good job I transferred the blog to New Earth!

Doctor Who had begun and everyone loved it! This episode saw the first time there was a pre-credit title sequence in Doctor Who. This episode also introduces us to the psychic paper, a whole host of new aliens and more detailed information in what is soon to be known as 'The Time War.'

Synopsis: Following straight on from the end of Rose, The End of the World takes us 5 billion years into the future where a selection of the richest aliens in the universe have come together on 'Platform One' to watch the Earth burn. However, metal spiders invade the corridors of the ship and start a killing spree! With Rose caught up having conversations with 'the last human', Cassandra, it's up to the Doctor to save the guests on the viewing platform.

Featuring: The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper) and Jackie (Camille Coudri)

Enemies: Robot Spiders, Adherents of the Repeated Meme and Cassandra.

Afterthought: People made a big fuss about the Moxx of Balhoon which I don't quite understand. Russell T Davies evasion of the word 'Gallifrey' surprises me as old fans would welcome it and new fans would be intrigued! Apart from the Face of Boe and Cassandra no other aliens featured in this episode have ever been seen again, which is, to be honest, a shame.

Verdict:
Story: 2.5/5, While a nice way to introduce Rose to aliens the climax with the Doctor and the fans could have moved much faster and a death could have been avoided.
Effects: 3/5, Exploding Cassandra is gruesome but the damage in the walls as the heat rises? The Robot Spiders are obviously CGI.
Humor: 3/5, Funny moments placed when needed.
Mark Campbell: 1.5/5, Apparently the aliens are 'unconvincing' and the interiors are 'obviously terrestrial'!
TOTAL SCORE: 10/20

Elsewhere:
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_World_(Doctor_Who)
Official Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dmp
The world ends but Doctor Who does not. Next Time: The Unquiet Dead


Platform One watches as the Earth prepares to burn...

Series 1 (Season 27), Episode 1: Rose

Mickey enjoys the new blog!

On the 26th of March 2005, 9 years since any 'proper' Doctor Who had been on the telly, this episode called 'Rose' arrived on our screens in stunning style. A whole new era of fans got introduced to the Doctor and some old fans had the pleasure of getting to meet him again. We also get to meet new companion Rose who will stay with us for this series and the next along with making multiple cameos in following series. So here it is, a new blog and the beginning of a new era for British television!

Synopsis: Rose works in Hendricks the department store, she has a boyfriend called Mickey and leads an average life. Then one day she gets locked in the store basement and the window dummies, in storage, start to come alive and attack her. Then the Doctor shows up, rescuing Rose but leaving no clues as to who he really is. When Rose decides to research the mysterious Doctor, everything she thought she knew gets turned on its head...

Featuring: The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper), Mickey (Noel Clarke) and Jackie (Camille Coduri).

Enemies: Autons and the Nestene Consciousness.

Afterthought: The episode was definitely an excellent way to kick start the revival of the show and it's a good job Russel T Davies missed out the regeneration from Paul McGann to Christopher Eccleston because
a) It would have alienated new viewers and
b) It would have messed up Steven Moffat's future plot points.
The only other thing which would have been nice might have been if Clive (the Doctor obsessed, internet theorist) hadn't died. He could have had a little back story where he keeps bumping into the Doctor (and it could have got especially funny after the regeneration)!

Verdict:
Story: 4/5, A successful way to restart a much loved series.
Effects: 2/5, The Nestene and the 'shop window dummies' are good but the bin and plastic Mickey are just ridiculous.
Humor: 3/5, Some moments that make you 'giggle'!
Mark Campbell: 4.5/5, Surprisingly, Mark seemed to enjoy seeing the series being revived (although he didn't like the autons)!
TOTAL SCORE: 13.5/20

Elsewhere:
Wikipedia  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_(Doctor_Who)
Official Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dlv
Doctor Who has truly been revived! Next Time: The End of the World

Rose joins the brand new Doctor in the TARDIS.

How It Works...

The Doctors!

I always knew reviews were something I'd wanted to write, but now I'd like to explain in some detail, before the first review is posted on this here site, how my reviews are going to work.

1. Summary of Current Events - I'll tell you a little bit about how the world feels about Doctor Who at the time of broadcast.
2. Synopsis - A short summary of how the episode starts to pan out. Don't worry though, I won't be giving away any spoilers.
3. Featuring - Which recurring characters feature in the episode and the actors they're played by.
4. Enemies - Which enemies feature in the story.
5. Afterthought - Anything I think is interesting to point out about the episode, especially if slight changes could have affected the future of the show!
6. Verdict - How did the episode score overall? I score on the basis of the story (how good was it?), the effects (how 'effective' were they?), the humour (how funny was it? Although I will try and put this in context of what the writer was trying to do with the episode) and Mark Campbell's verdict (taken from his book Doctor Who: The Episode Guide. Mark was part of the reason I wanted to do reviews because I felt some of his reviews were very critical.)
7. Elsewhere - Comments from other websites concerning the episode.
8. Next Time - What I'll review in my next post!

Enjoy the reviews! :)

Everything's Going to Change!

You're probably wondering what happened. The answer is that I deleted my four posts. This blog wasn't going the way I wanted it to so I've replaced its original purpose with a new one. From now on this is my Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who Blog where I'll be discussing and reviewing lots of aspects of Doctor Who. Although there's nothing here right now there will be soon. In the mean time you can go here and download yourself my list of everything Doctor Who ever from slightly earlier in the year. If you know of anything that needs adding to the list please leave a comment!