The Long Game

So there I was, a month after I’d seen my last Doctor Who episode, in the middle of my overseas trip. I was incredibly homesick, I’d just been living it up at the Edinburgh Festival (a happy accident), and now I was alone in a relative’s place near Stirling. Oh, and I’d just bought a Doctor Who DVD for the first time in years. It contained four episodes, none of which I’d seen before. I felt twelve years old again. It was the middle of the day, and I couldn’t wait till tea-time, so I closed all the curtains, switched off all the lights – mercifully it was a grey day outside – and sat back to watch The Long Game.

It didn’t take me long to sit up and notice something – I’d forgotten all about Adam! It had been far too long since I’d seen Dalek. So the TARDIS crew was now back to three for the first time since 1984. (On TV, anyway.) It was a frightening thought, especially considering how close the Doctor and Rose had become by this time. Their closeness was evident in the pre-credits scene, when they played their little trick on the new kid. Of course, in Who tradition, the kid faints. The Doctor looks at him, and remarks, “He’s your boyfriend.”

Er… huh? When exactly did this happen? Doesn’t Rose already have a boyfriend? And haven’t these two kids just met? This is Adam’s first trip in the TARDIS… how long have they been travelling? And if the Doctor’s just teasing her – it certainly sounds like that in his delivery of the line – then why does Rose reply with “Not anymore”? Simple answer. Second-rate writing. The last RTD episode I saw was World War Three, which was terrifically written. (We won’t go into its predecessor.) So naturally I was a little worried when I heard this opening exchange. Hopefully, I thought, things would get better.

Mercifully, they did. When the episode properly opened, and we were introduced to Satellite Five, I got a real sense of culture shock – far more so than in The End of The World. Don’t ask me why. Perhaps the direction was better this time around… no. Can’t say that. Euros Lyn really proved himself with his two consecutive episodes. The Long Game just looks like a modernised Colin Baker story. But back to the script. Yes, things began to look up, especially with the introduction of our three other main characters – Simon Pegg’s immediately chilling Editor, plus the terrific Suki and Cathica. The first “spike” scene made me feel very much like I was watching a JNT/Colin Baker story, but I was kept interested by the cutaways to Floor 500. Kudos to Simon Pegg for this achievement. I might’ve switched off otherwise.

Anna Maxwell-Martin really came into her own when she arrived at the top floor and her true identity was discovered – suddenly this nice, shy journalist is a cold, tough freedom fighter. And when she was eaten by the Editor’s “boss”, her scream was traditional and perfect. I also loved the way that was shot. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – traditional Who elements are a breath of fresh air in this series.

Unfortunately we then came back to Adam. This guy, I recalled, had shown real promise in his introductory story. Now I hated him. Was this another case of bad writing? Probably not, actually. I just didn’t like his acting anymore. He was already annoying me more than Adric. Thankfully he then met up with the Nurse, beautifully portrayed by Tamsin Greig, who obviously relished her role. Has she been waiting for a Doctor Who gig for a while, I wonder?

The “investigation” scenes with the Doctor, Rose and Cathica were a triumph, and made me wish Cathica would join the TARDIS crew, even if she was a little sceptical of… well, everything. But isn’t that what makes the best companions in this show? And when she follows them up to Floor 500, we’ve got a nice piece of writing and characterisation – RTD hasn’t forgotten this woman is a journalist. Of course, the Doctor and Rose had to come up against the Editor at some point. And when they do, their interplay is just beautiful. I got shivers when the Editor hissed, “Time Lord.” Again, I get the feeling Simon Pegg has been after a role on this show for yonks. He’s just such a good villain. Unlike the one-joke Slitheen (or whatever their race is called), I finally found a villain I wouldn’t mind returning. And how horrible is his boss? Great effect… and great name too.

I cheered when Cathica saved the day – and Suki too, sort of. The later scenes between Adam and the Nurse helped to break up the action on Floor 500 and build up the suspense. But once the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe (just wanted to type all that out) is defeated, and it’s time for the Doctor confronts Adam, I just wanted him to throw the kid out into space. But hey, what he did do was good enough. I’m not a huge fan of Rose as a companion either, but I guess she’s the lesser of two evils. It’s too bad Rose didn’t get much to do in this story, actually, but then again, The Long Game is bookended by two very Rose-oriented stories. So I can’t complain, and neither can she.

So The Long Game wasn’t bad. Cleverly plotted, for the most part very well-acted, but it still seems like a small-impact episode compared to the epic of the Aliens Of London two-parter and the sheer beauty of Dalek, not to mention the excellence of The Unquiet Dead and The End of The World, and the unmitigated excitement of Rose. It didn’t help matters that I sat through this story eager to move along to the next three, all of which have been purported to be classics. But for an ‘in-between’ story, The Long Game could’ve been far, far worse.