The Empty Child

How many kids on Monday morning are going to wander round the playground at school saying "Mummy!" Time to get back behind the sofa kids! The Empty Child was billed as the most horrific episode of Doctor Who ever. A genuine sense of fear and foreboding permeated this episode, with a bizarre almost X-Files like plot. Plus we get a new male companion.

After the rather ineffectual Adric, sorry Adam, we get Captain Jack Harkness: Part space hero, part flash git! John Barrowman certainly has the matinee idol looks and charm, so much so I started to feel jealous of him snuggling up to Billie Piper! Nice work if you can get it John! Seriously though, Jack is a character who could’ve easily been unlikeable and annoying as Adam turned into. The difference is we’re are invited not to trust Jack right from the start. Knowing that he’s in for the rest of the season (and beyond?) its reassuring that Barrowman plays the part well and makes him likeable and more textured than the usual bad-boy-turned-good stereotype.

Florence Hoath as Nancy played yet another strong and believable female character. With her character acting as a surrogate mother to homeless kids on the streets of London, I'm guessing she’s been named after Nancy in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist? The scenes between her and The Doctor were touching and very well played. Richard Wilson was superb as Dr Constatine. Never once did I think he was going to lapse into Victor Meldrew and go "I don’t believe it!" I can’t believe he was only in it for about five minutes, but nevertheless his performance was sinister, sympathetic and tragic. And as for his extremely grisly fate…

Like many great Doctor Who episodes, The Empty Child was made memorable by some wonderful little moments that make Doctor who unique. The comedy and character moments which one would expect from Steven Moffat. The look of comic despair as the Doctor realises when he is. Rose exclaiming "Ok maybe not this T-shirt!" as she hangs from the barrage balloon. The Doctor’s interaction with the kids around the dinner table. The bizarre image of Jack and Rose dancing to Glenn Miller on an invisible spaceship tethered to Big Ben… oh, and "its a real pleasure to meet you, Mr Spock!" Priceless!

Then you had the behind the sofa elements. Who would have thought the image of a kid in a gas mask cryng "Mummy!" could be so freaky and unnerving. And the sequence as Dr Constantine’s face morphs into the gas mask was as horrific as you could possibly get for the time slot. In general, the special effects were excellent as usual, and the design of London in the Blitz was largely authentic, although the lighting probably was too bright for a blackout. Gosh, imagine that, an episode of Doctor Who where the lighting was too bright! The episode culminated in a wonderfully edited cliffhanger of close-ups of gas masks that was genuinely chilling! I can’t wait for next weeks episode and I’ve so far resisted the temptation to watch the preview that was sensibly put after the credits, thank you BBC!

Believe the hype, this is Doctor Who at it’s scariest! Mind you, as I type this, I’m watching the Norway entry in the Eurovision Song Contest which is even scarier! Imagine a nightmare-inducing hybrid of Bon Jovi, Marilyn Manson and The Village People…

"I want my Mummy!"