The Long Game

I came to this story with a certain degree of trepidation. The Unquiet Dead and Dalek are amongst the very best stories the show has ever produced, but the RTD scripted episodes, whilst always well-written and entertaining, have thus far been irritatingly lightweight at times. . . . and so it was a pleasant surprise that for me the Long Game was a solid, entertaining mid-season story with a nice dramatic build up and not too much frivolity in between.

The idea of media manipulation and control, the 1984 style reference to Room 500, Earth's development being impaired by an interfering malevolent alien. . . . familiar territory this but effective nonetheless.

A feature of this series whether people like it or not has been the emphasis on character development and here we have the Doctor's apparent disgust at Rose and Adam sharing the same breathing space, whilst elevating Rose even further up his personal pedestal;Adam's struggle to come to terms with the enormity of the difference between Satellite 5 and his own little world and the resultant almost disastrous consequences of his curiosity and Rose's increasing ability to adapt quickly, almost effortlessly, to whatever extraordinary situation she finds herself in. The acting of all concerned was excellent especially of course from the Editor himself Simon Pegg and the nurse played by Tamzin Greig.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that this season is a resounding success which has restored the concept of family viewing on Saturday night and drawn praise from many non-fan quarters. All concerned deserve every credit for what they are achieving here and the minority who feel it's all a load of empty childish tripe may have to take off their rose coloured spectacles (no pun intended) and realise that their views were no doubt expressed by others about the old series. Roll on the next episode.