The Doctor Dances

To recap the events of the previous episode, the sudden awakening and advancing of the “infected”, although similar to the cliff-hanger in “Aliens of London” was far superior and suspenseful. But then, the whole episode already had a large degree of eeriness from the start and although I didn’t spend the week forming my own explanation of how the Doctor would escape this situation, the resolution was simple yet brilliant ending with another superb line from the Doctor with regard to his last words. I am sure there can be a cheap (or expensive) cash-in out there for Doctor Who series quotable lines.

Going into this episode, I had the feeling that the fear and suspense initiated previously had been diminished due probably to my familiarity of the story. It had a feel of the last episodes of the McCoy era with long scenes with no dialogue and plenty of intrigue with no apparent explanation. The Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack and Nancy observing as the “zombies” move slowly around. But the chills had gone. Furthermore I noticed that the special effects had been reduced from that of the previous episode but this was because the big effect of Captain Jack’s spacecraft was saved until the end.

There is still a gay undercurrent in this episode. This time a reference to the father of the house, Mr Lloyd being in liaison with the butcher. I am gay myself, and initially, I found some of these homosexual undertones irrelevant to the plot. They were quite novel to start in the episode Rose but I find that there is no reason, other than political statement/correctness to insert them into continuous storylines. For the record I don’t preach or oppose gay rights, but in turn do not think it should be (to coin a phrase) rammed down people’s throats when unnecessary. However, on watching the episode again, it becomes more apparent and relevant why Nancy was “blackmailing” this character. Captain Jack’s bisexuality by contrast does seem integral to his character and becomes intriguing as the episode progresses with references to his knowledge of “Algie” and the Doctor’s quip on who he would like to dance with.

As the story progresses I did find that the fear element was still evident, especially the ghostly typewriter and the recording tape that had run out. The shivers soon returned down my spine as the repeated “Mummy? Are you my Mummy?” continued through the story.

The Doctor as played by Chris Eccleston becomes the most “human” performance in this and the previous episode, a flippant reference to a previous adventure (the bananas, “today is Volcano day”. This to date showcases MrEccleston’s ability as an actor and more importantly, a perfect personification of the Doctor. Sometimes rude, sometimes brash but always caring and fond of the human race. It definitely was the Doctor’s episode and some might say, finally. He gets to carry the episode, solves the mystery of the alien/human hybrids and then gets to initiate the “cure”. His immense joy at saving everyone’s life is both genuine and moving.

Florence Heath as Nancy is the core character in this story and I have to admit that I had guessed her involvement right from the start but this did not diminish my euphoria when she reunited with her son. Richard Wilson was noticeable absent from most of this episode but gets one of the funniest lines of the 90minutes. I must admit I was hoping for more than what amounted to a brief cameo. John Barrowman eased into his new role with aplomb, which turned out to be quite a complicated character. Billie Piper gives her best performance of the series.

I don’t usually discuss the direction of episodes but I did enjoy some of the quirky camera angles and point of view shots used by the director which enhanced the suspense of the episode. The music also consistently improving as the season goes on.

The alien hybrids were a fantastic creation and sent plenty of chills in every appearance but I would still like to see a WW2 story with Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans or Raston Warrior Robots as the big bad!!!! (Maybe not the last one)

This episode may be just a tad inferior to the opening instalment but as a pair I rate them first before The Unquiet Dead, Father’s Day, Dalek, The Long Game, Rose, Aliens/WWIII and The End of........