Bad Wolf

ThereВ’s an old interview with BlakeВ’s 7 star Paul Darrow, in which the actor talks about a certain scene he filmed for an episode of that series, in which his character had to suddenly produce a gun. Simple enough, you might think, but evidently the costume the production team had seen fit to furnish Darrow with for this particular episode was rather tight-fitting and had no pockets, meaning that there was nowhere on him he could carry the prop. As the script necessitated its appearance, there was no way around it, and a solution was sought. The problem was solved by having a scene hand crouch behind Darrow, just out of shot, and pass the gun into his hands behind his back. This В– while undoubtedly a neat solution В– had the unfortunate effect of, as Darrow put it, В“making it look as if I had plucked the thing from out of my backside!В”

I have no idea whether Russell T Davies has ever read that interview, but if he hasnВ’t then Captain JackВ’s novel way of dealing with the year 200,100В’s robotic equivalents of What Not to WearВ’s Trinny and Susannah is certainly something of a coincidence. It ought to be an utterly ludicrous moment, but somehow it works, in no small part to because of the manner in which it is played by John Barrowman. The actor has been a real treat ever since he was added to the new seriesВ’ line-up, and heВ’s at his best here В– whether it be flirting with anybody who comes into his path, playing the action-adventure type role for which he was devised, or В– in one of the finest moments of a fine episode В– screaming with rage, anger and indignation В“DonВ’t you touch him!В” to the Game Station guards as the take hold of the Doctor after RoseВ’s shocking В‘deathВ’.

Barrowman is merely one of the beneficiaries of what is without a shadow of a doubt DaviesВ’ finest script for Doctor Who to date. I do not mind admitting that when news of some of the elements of this episode leaked out В– mainly the inclusion of mocked-up versions of various contemporary reality / quiz shows В– I was less than convinced. It all sounded a bitВ… WellВ… Silly. However, perhaps that helped В– I wasnВ’t expecting a great deal, so when the episode turned out to not only be decent but excellent, I was even more pleased than I otherwise might have been. There is perhaps an issue of whether the references to various current shows will date the episode В– never mind why these shows are still going in 200,100 В– but then all TV sci-fi has a tendency to date very quickly, and the shows are very easy to make sense of in the internal context of the episode. IВ’ve never watched a full episode of Big Brother, The Weakest Link or What Not to Wear, but I didnВ’t have any trouble understanding the basic concepts and following what was going on.

ItВ’s all dispensed of fairly quickly anyway, as the Doctor and Jack make their way out with new pseudo-companion Jo Joyner in tow as Lynda, В“with a yВ”. Lynda is, as the Doctor says В“sweetВ”, and in the old series you could have imagined such a character joining up with the TARDIS crew at the end of the story. However, the modern series has been somewhat less traditional with its TARDIS crew, and as Lynda is nice, endearing and the Doctor has already promised sheВ’ll get out of Game Station alive, I am rather afraid that this has marked her down for death before the end of the next episode В– an episode I suspect is going to be something of a blood bath all round.

Doubtless soon to join that body count is Jo Stone-Fewings as the male controller, another excellent performance, although Fewings does seem to be basically playing the same character he did in DaviesВ’ 2004 ITV serial Mine All Mine. HeВ’s also made surprisingly likeable for a man whoВ’s been overseeing the deaths of thousands of people in the Game StationВ’s deadly programmes, but I suppose as the Doctor said to Rose back in The Unquiet Dead, itВ’s a different morality.

Speaking of The Unquiet Dead, we get to see a snatch of that episode as well as the various other instances of the В‘Bad WolfВ’ theme present throughout the season, finally brought to some sort of conclusion in this eponymous episode. ItВ’s perhaps not quite what we expected, but it has led somewhere В– indeed, that would be a neat description of this episode as a whole. And boy, does Bad Wolf really lead somewhere. The last ten minutes or so of this episode have an electric tension to them В– you know whatВ’s coming, and when it finally arrives you can only sit there caught up in the excitement and the tension as the whole series is cranked up a notch ready for the apocalyptic battle to end all battles that weВ’re going to get next week, if the trailer is anything to go by.

The unveiling of the Daleks as the main threat near the end of the episode is one of those fantastic, В“Yes!В” kind of Earthshock moments, both for new and old fans alike, although of course neither set of fans will have had the true Earthshock experience as we all knew it was coming. Not, just for once, simply because we old school fans always know too much from message boards and the like, but because the production team rather oddly decided to give the game away in the preview at the end of Boom Town.

Even had you not seen that, Ahearne unveils the Daleks a little early, not once but twice В– the eyestalk view with the plunger coming into shot as the Dalek approached Rose was just about okay, especially given its nice resonance with the very first view we ever had of them in The Dead Planet, but then he goes and really spoils things by showing the reflection of the Dalek which exterminates the Controller. AhearneВ’s previous reflection-based shot В– the CybermanВ’s head over the Doctor in Dalek В– went down really well with fans, but I canВ’t see this one being a similar hit. Why not save the pepperpots for maximum impact in the wonderful closing minutes, instead of emulating Peter MoffatВ’s similarly unimpressive revelation of the Sontarans back in The Two Doctors?

Really though thatВ’s a minor quibble, of course, but I need to pick holes in something as on the whole it was such an excellent episode. Elsewhere AhearneВ’s direction is well up to the standards he set previously in Dalek and FatherВ’s Day, and once again this appears to be an instance of everybody really giving it their all as they build up towards the cliff-hanger, setting up the episode to end all episodes В– well, for this season, anyway. Christopher Eccleston deserves particular praise В– we all know now how difficult the many months of shooting on Doctor Who was for him, but right to the end here heВ’s really putting everything into the character, with some terrific material to work with. As with Barrowman, his high point in the episode perhaps comes with the В‘deathВ’ of Rose in The Weakest Link game, as he runs his hand through the dust on the floor that appears to be all that is left of his best friend, shocked into silence. His confrontation with the Daleks at the end of the episode is also worthy of a mention, and he proves equally adept at the lighter material В– not that thereВ’s much of it in the episode В– in the Big Brother house near the beginning.

All in all then, another stunning effort from all concerned, making brilliant what could so easily have been embarrassing. The final battle is just around the corner В– and IВ’m thrilled to say I have absolutely no idea what happens nextВ…