The Idiot's Lantern

I personally don't believe that there is such a thing as a 'perfect' Doctor Who story. And that's fine with me. Call it 'the Hand of Sutekh effect'. Or maybe 'the Magma Creature syndrome'. Doctor Who can be brilliant, great, good, average and occasionally well dodgy...but it is seldom dull!

So I like to refer to the stories that *really* work for me big time as "nigh on perfect." Ridicule is nothing to be scared of, so I'd give 'Enlightenment' as an example here. I loved this story on first viewing as a kid and many subsequent viewings have not withered it's appeal for me. Perfect? No. Nigh on perfect? For me, absolutely.

Well, add another story to the list, because I thought 'The Idiot's Lantern' was sublime. Where to start? Well, as it's called 'Doctor Who', I'll start with the Doctor. I've found David Tennant hugely appealing so far, and I would say that this was his best performance as the Doctor to date. At the start of the episode, we see his humour and his infectious delight in his travels, even when he's got the wrong time and place...again. As the story progresses, we see extreme anger, sadness, warmth and a strong determination to 'sort things out'. A quirky hero who *obviously* has a betamax video recorder. 'Course he does. Great stuff, Mr Tennant.

I've said before that I think the programme works particularly well when it is confidently mixing 'light' and 'shade'. I loved the sequence where the Doctor furiously shouts down Eddie (who is clearly happier bullying women and children), then we see Tommy's faceless grandmother (shivery echos of 'Sapphire & Steel') and then the Doctor typically tries to talk himself out of a tight spot...and gets one heck of a right hook before he can really begin. Dramatic, creepy, funny...my kind of 'Who'.

The most outstanding scene for me was probably the one with the faceless Rose; beautifully acted, scored and directed (welcome to the elite of superb 'Who' directors, Euros!) Tennant's portrayal of anguish and fury is great here, and this image of Rose was arguably the most disturbing moment of the new series since 'The Empty Child'. Bet it scared the kids...I found it pretty horrible myself.

So, Mark Gatiss has 'done the double'...I was impressed by 'The Unquiet Dead', but would rate this higher. The atmosphere of an austere post-war Britain was evoked marvellously, and the performances were excellent. Ron Cook in particular stood out as the rather tragic Magpie and Maureen Lipman was great as the Wire. Lovely enunciation! (Blimey, even the dog on the sofa was spot on!)

Lovely details abound. Like the DI with his name written in his collar; Like the policeman curiously wrapping his hand around his elbow; like the fact that 'Magpie Electricticals' becomes a, ahem, little shop of horrors. ("Feed me!) I thought it was also the best Rose story of the season so far.It's Rose that figures out a lot of what is going on here, and almost as spine-tingling as her featureless face was the scene where we see her stuck inside a television, mouthing "Doctor!" You see the Doctor's devastated face reflected onto the screen here, and suddenly, after weeks of Reinettes and Sarah-Janes and Mickeys, you see their bond back as strong as ever. Well played again, Billie Piper.

I liked the scripts generosity of spirit too. Of course, Eddie is the titular 'idiot', but Rose knows about parental loss and nudges Tommy (another nice performance here) in the right direction at the end. After all, these events might possibly make Eddie a better person...

So...nigh on perfect. (I do wish they'd kept Mark Gatiss' line about the Doctor being nervous of transmitters because he "fell off one once", though)

That'll be a 10/10 from me then...