Army of Ghosts

Pride comes before a fall, they say. How ironic that on the day that England bowed out of the 2006 World Cup, Yvonne Hartman has the gall to assume the British Empire will rise again, Rule not, Britannia! The series has constantly tapped into themes of nationalism and identity formed in the crucible of the post-war decline of Britain as a world power and the timing of this episode was truly bizarre - we were beaten by the Portugese and then invaded by Cybermen AND Daleks. How much more can the countryВ’s psyche take!

From the opening pre-credit sequence through to the nerve-shredding cliffhanger, this episode in particular closes the circle of narrative started in В‘RoseВ’. The opening narration is a clever and moving summary of entire development of Rose as a character. Complete with buses, chips, majestic alien landscapes and the two Doctors so dear to her heart. But this relationship with the sorcerorВ’s apprentice of time and space is showing its age, cracking open just like the fault lines in the universe so wonderfully illustrated in Torchwood HQ. That direct narrative, so Bergmanesque, is telling us that Rose Tyler will die. But is this going to be a physical death? Or rather, the death of a soul, RoseВ’s soul, as the journey comes full circle.

Once again, we have Graeme Harper giving us that agonising slow burn approach, gradually ratcheting up the tension and astutely relieving it with some lovely bits of comedy business. His direction was quite superb, especially with the reveal of the Cybermen. There were echoes of В‘Tomb Of The CybermenВ’ and В‘EarthshockВ’ visually as he went into a frenzy of editing as they burst through the polythene walls. He used the plastic to obscure their figures in a lovely cross reference to the В‘almost like a military displayВ’ blurred figures of the ghost-shift. Lots of big close-ups too В– with faces and objects looming out of the screen. Visual tips of the hat to В‘Evil Of The DaleksВ’ (TARDIS on a truck), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (TorchwoodВ’s alien archive), Men In Black and James Bond movies (the design of Torchwood itself).

Narrative nods to the past withYvonne using the energy of the В‘ghost-shiftВ’ echoing Professor StahlmanВ’s desperate search for alternate energy sources in В‘InfernoВ’ and the various В‘energy crisesВ’ often featured in the classic series. And we all know there will be a price to pay.

The important scenes, apart from the moody pre-credits, included the DoctorВ’s В‘horrificВ’ reaction to JackieВ’s observation of families coming back home as В‘beautifulВ’ and the brief scene where Jackie predicts RoseВ’s future with the Doctor. She sees a figure who В‘isnВ’t Rose TylerВ’ В– В‘not even humanВ’ in 50 years time. Both scenes reinforce many of the themes that have been running through the series as a whole. The Doctor doesnВ’t do В‘domesticВ’ and is horrified at the thought of families being reunited. Does he think the dead should stay dead? And is Rose now effectively dead to her own mother? Jackie canВ’t recognise this woman Rose has become and doesnВ’t even think she is human. Has RoseВ’s humanity already started to drain out of her because of her desire to be with the Doctor (and not with her family) В‘foreverВ’? Again, the narrative arcs back to В‘Parting Of The WaysВ’ in that this is the perhaps the pay-off for Rose getting ideas above her station and having airs and graces. Class mobility on a galactic scale seems to be a running theme. And one scene that should imprint itself forever is the В‘no escape at the top of the stairsВ’ Cyberman assault on Joe PublicВ’s two up, two down in deepest, darkest Home Counties Britain. The Cyberman at the top of the stairs should leave most children dreading bed time!

And only Russell T Davies could take the В‘mother-in-lawВ’ gag to new heights. Tennant and Coduri have a field day in some very amusing interplay when Jackie becomes Rose for a day! JackieВ’s lip-curling as Yvonne shows off TorchwoodВ’s assets is priceless and the DoctorВ’s horror at the thought of Torchwood recording his adventures in time and space with Jackie in tow was very amusing. Again, Davies also roots the story in the culture of the day with the brief TV cameos В– the best being the scenes from В‘EastendersВ’. They were perhaps a little self-indulgent and didnВ’t quite help the pay-off, particularly the scene of the Cyberman strangling TV host Alastair Appleton which although funny seemed too much of a stretch for me.

As the pressure cooker build up advanced, Murray GoldВ’s music really came into its own here. I donВ’t think he put a note wrong and the interlocking Cyberman and Dalek themes at the end were a fitting crescendo to the cliffhanger.

Thematically, we have an instance of the positive regression phenomenon all the way through the narrative; it is about going back over the same ground in order to go on, back through the layers of the unconscious in order to mature. Certainly for the Doctor and Rose this is the case В– a re-match with the Cybermen and the Daleks and loved ones from the parallel Earth reappearing В– indicates that this is the closing of a narrative in order to take stock, change and move on.

The Dalek sphere, denoting the В‘voidВ’ and В‘absenceВ’, is surely mirroring aspects of their being. They are void of pity, have an absence of compassion and humanity. But the sphere is also perhaps a reflection of humanity, is it our own nature being reflected back? Are the Daleks representative of our darkest unconscious drives, some of which are expressed in the hubris of the Torchwood agenda?

The ghosts (people who are not actually present) also provoke strong irrational outbursts of emotion, as if their invisible presence is felt long after they have left the room or are far away e.g. Grandad Prentice. Rose could also be viewed as a В‘ghostВ’ in relationship to her mother. The ghosts represent an aspect of the invisible psyche buried in the unconscious of which the ghost is only an image, representing that inner force. The ghosts are our own loss, our own guilt personified and this is really manifested when the in-human Cybermen materialise in their place. The Cybermen are a symbol of the institutionalised В‘loss of humanityВ’. And guilt personified comes in the form of brave Mickey Smith В– defending the Earth. He is still an important cog in the machinery of RoseВ’s life, reminding her of her humanity in contrast to the void at the centre of the Lonely GodВ’s unsettled journey through time and space.

A quick word about the regular cast - Tennant perhaps the best he's ever been here after some ups and downs throughout the series and Piper on the mark as ever. I felt that Camille Coduri got sidelined after the hilarious 'mother-in-law' routine and ended up standing about saying little for too long. Tracey Ann Oberman was suitable arrogant and haughty as Hartman. You could see her comeuppance a mile away but it was delicious all the same. And the bets are off it seems for Freema to be the next companion.

And so the episode concludes with every eight year oldВ’s fantasy В– Daleks and Cybermen in the same episode and ready to commence battle.Is this a wise move, I ask myself? Will the DoctorВ’s greatest foes be drained of their impact as they battle it out on Earth? Only В‘DoomsdayВ’ will tell. Let us just be content with perhaps one of the greatest cliffhangers in the seriesВ’ history.