The Idiot's Lantern

Well, what an utter delight that was. After the slightly mediocre Cyber-tale last week, we're back in the more than capable hands of Mark Gatiss. The man is a skilled, imaginative writer who loves to use the things around us and make them scary which is arguably a main staple of the show. Mark Gatiss just "gets" Doctor Who like RTD does and David Tennant "gets" the Doctor. The best episodes are always rollocking good adventures where you don't notice the direction or the writing until it's all over, and The Idiot's Lantern had this in spades.

To make television a possibly evil thing is a master-stroke. Nowadays, with every kid glued to their screens far too much, the demonisation of the familiar has chosen a perfect target. Of course, the underlying social comments are there to see for everybody - watch too much of it and it takes your personality away. Literally. Thank God for the Doctor and Rose. The first sight of Gran sans visage was shocking because it's such an unnatural thing to see - our faces are quite often intrisically linked to our personalities. It did put me in mind, however, of The Face from the Dick Tracy movie (if you've ever seen it, it was Madonna in the end, but I digress...) but this did not detract from the horror of The Faceless Ones (sorry), particularly when they advance on the Doctor in the cage.

Which brings me to David Tennant. This man can act. This man can act his socks off and shows a wonderful range of emotions with gravitas and pluck, often turning on a sixpence within the same scene. The bit where he confronts the bullying Dad and shouts at him after discussing telly with the boy is wonderful and made me realise why I fell in love with the character in the first place - he stands up to bullies big and small, be they meglomaniacs or weak shouty kings in their little castles. Perhaps this is another underlying message we could all do well to take note of. David Tennant really is the Doctor, and what's more he makes you believe it with every breath and reaction. There's no doubt about that. And for the first time since Tooth and Claw, Rose gets a better deal and is no longer sidelined or given bum lines. The focus is quite rightly back on the pair of them chiefly having fun and taking on the wrongs of the world with smile and spring in their step. Rose shows the pluck and the intelligence Billie embued her with in Rose and The Unquiet Dead. As I said last week, it's an absolute crime to underwrite for her so this week I was bouncing up and down with joy when she confronted first the Dad then Mr Magpie.

Maureen Lipman also was a pleasure to watch giving The Wire her all while treading the fine line of Doctor Who villiany without falling off one side into underplayed or the other into pantomime. She relished every single word and it showed. My parents gave wry smiles at her performance and when Muffin the Mule came up. Of course, they were born into that world and they commented on how accurate the whole feel was compared with their memories. Churchill was still PM when they born, which I'd never thought of before. You see, Doctor Who still educates! Still, it would have been nice to have seen The Wire materialise into the real world, but that's a tiny, tiny gripe and thinking about it more might have spoiled the whole TV effect of the episode.

This episode sees a marked upturn after last week, and I say Thank Goodness for that. Exciting, educating and enthralling, it was an episode even Lord Reith would surely have been proud knowing the BBC had produced it. Well done, all. Now bring on the Ood!!