Army of Ghosts

At last В– a really terrific episode of Doctor Who from the showВ’s primary writer! Daleks, Cybermen, the return of Mickey, Torchwood and an army of Ghosts: this episode truly did pull all the stops out. And comparing it to last yearВ’s season finale, the mostly execrable Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways, is a real eye-opener; В“Army of GhostsВ” is just in a totally different league. And judging from the В“next weekВ” trailer, there is going to be significantly more harmony of plot here than in that two-parter, which was in effect one boring episode and one densely-packed story about something else altogether.

Brilliantly, В“Army of GhostsВ” managed to be interesting all the way through. From the beginning I was hooked - Rose and the DoctorВ’s voyage to an alien planet in the pre-credits sequence (a lovely and romantic special effects sequence for so short a time, as well), and particularly the Doctor practically dancing round the console operating the switches, really made me feel like I was watching Dr Who В– more strongly, actually, than anything else in the whole of the new series so far apart from the closing ten or so minutes of В“The Doctor DancesВ”!

Also brilliantly, in an episode in which ghosts roam the streets and the Daleks emerge at the end from a sinister sphere, Russell manages to show that the Cybermen are still a serious threat, and very definitely something to be afraid of. Despite their appearances being kept to a minimum for most of the running time, when they do appear to take control at the end they are truly awesome, and the DoctorВ’s line В“not an invasion В– itВ’s too late for that. ItВ’s a victoryВ” highlights the extent of the threat to the Earth as Cybermen appear literally everywhere; not only outside the Taj Mahal, but at the top of the stairs in a middle-class household somewhere in suburbia! The episode was epic in scale.

But is it a victory? Although we, the audience, all knew what was coming out of the sphere after the Dalek-gun effect in last weekВ’s trailer, the appearance of three Daleks must surely surprise even the Cybermen, who have opportunistically followed the capsule into a new universe with no real idea of what is inside. Given that Daleks-versus-Cybermen has been the secret desire of probably quite a few fans for a while, and that Daleks-and-Cybermen-team-up is a close second, I think Russell knows what heВ’s doing here, and I hope he doesnВ’t receive any stick from his new fans for pandering to the В“old guardВ” of fandom. With any luck, whichever route he goes down in the series finale next time (or even if he does both!), the scenario will be interesting to new fans of the series as well.

The portrayal of Torchwood was also sufficiently interesting. Having Chrissy from Eastenders as their chief is looking like quite good casting, as Tracy-Ann Oberman makes a quite charming villainess. Incidentally, the anti-Empire stuff missing from В“Tooth and ClawВ” surfaces here; TorchwoodВ’s motivation seems to be the creation of a British Reich. But it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been; the Doctor doesnВ’t deliver any stinging rebukes at all, which, though welcome, is rather out of character for him В– he seems to be favouring the В“IВ’ll ignore you then В– youВ’ll soon come roundВ” approach at the moment (viz. his doorstep conversation with ChloeВ’s mother in В“Fear HerВ”).

Torchwood, interestingly, is portrayed as a fairly normal organisation В– its employees even instant-message each other about being bored, while Yvonne, nominally (and actually) the villainess, indulgently ignores the romance blossoming between some of her subordinates. While this could have been inappropriate, I think this really pays off here В–Torchwood, although conceptually a bit silly (how many secret organisations/locations are there in the UK? UNIT, C-19, the Glasshouse, the Forge, now Torchwood), is not just a one-dimensional assortment of ciphers.

As for the regulars, Tennant is still on a high, totally engaging and commanding, whether trapping a ghost in a triangulation network, explaining about boots and footprints, taking a wrong turning in the corridors or making holes in plate-glass. Rose gets to demonstrate her independence and courage again, Jackie, though rather useless, doesnВ’t feel too shoe-horned in, and MickeyВ… well, he hasnВ’t done anything yet, but itВ’s nice to see him again (I was expecting him, but not in that capacity). Given that Pete Tyler and MickeyВ’s boring chum from В“The Age of SteelВ” are also putting in appearances next time round, I canВ’t help but wonder if Russell hasnВ’t taken on too much for a 45-minute episode; but we will see.

Who else thinks Jackie and Pete and Rose and Mickey are going to get together and live in the parallel universe?