Army of Ghosts

В“WeВ’ll always be okay you and me, donВ’t you reckon Doctor?В”
В“SomethingВ’s in the air. Something coming. A stormВ’s approaching.В” В– В“Fear Her,В” Week #11.

“…you consort with stars and magic and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death and I will not allow it. You will leave these shores and will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good and how much longer you can survive this terrible life.” – “Tooth and Claw”, Week #2.

“…the valiant child who will die in battle so very soon.” – “The Satan Pit,” Week #9.

В“This is the story of how I died.В” В– В“Army of Ghosts,В” Week #12.

And so is this it? Act I, Scene I, and Rose is dead? As IВ’ve documented above, the hints have been there throughout the season, but I never really believed it. I still donВ’t, and as in the mind-bogglingly beautiful pre-credit sequence it is Rose narrating her final story (albeit from a very В‘after-lifeyВ’ looking beach) I think there may still be a glimmer of hope for our heroine. В“More of a metaphorical death,В” as my sister so sagaciously put itВ…

In terms of the stakes, Russell T. Davies has written В“Army of GhostsВ” much in the same vein as last yearВ’s penultimate episode, В“Bad Wolf.В” It starts slowly, and Davies gradually cranks up the tension until we reach fever pitch. As Billie is leaving the show, it seems only fitting that her swansong should begin back on the Powell Estate in London, effectively where it all began. I love the first few establishing shots of the episode - Rose turning up with her washing for Jackie; Jackie planting a smacker on the DoctorВ… Jackie has got used to having her little girl show up every so often with the laundry and a Time LordВ… its just business as usual. Only it isnВ’t; not this time. The Doctor and Rose turn their back for five minutes and they find that the world has gone mad. В‘GhostsВ’ are everywhere; a part of everyday life, as accepted as cars and chips and Sky digital. Only their slimline stature masks what they are - В“A footprint doesnВ’t look like a boot.В” The Doctor doesnВ’t believe that they are peopleВ’s loved ones back from the dead, and interestingly, nor does Rose.

As weВ’ve not seen that much of her this season, I was pleased to see Camille Coduri play a major part in the controversial episode В“Love & Monsters.В” I can only assume that with Rose leaving the series, the Tyler entourage will be following her through the exit (one way or anotherВ…) and as such this two-parter is as much JackieВ’s farewell story as it is RoseВ’s. In fairness, Jackie probably gets a damn sight more to do in В“Army of GhostsВ” than Rose, who for her part spends quite a while locked in the TARDIS inside the Torchwood Tower whilst the Doctor pretends that Jackie is Rose. Coduri is bang on form with her usual comic relief - В“IВ’m forty!В” В“Ah bless!В” В– but again, we get to see her more vulnerable side; her maternal side. On top of that, she gets to see a slice of this life that her daughter leads, and it doesnВ’t look like she approves for a second. The look on her face as the Doctor В‘killsВ’ the Cyber-controlled humans in Torchwood Tower speaks volumes.

“…this woman… this strange woman… walking through the marketplace on a strange planet a billion miles from earth, but she’s not Rose Tyler. She’s not even human anymore…”

JackieВ’s brief moment of reflection says a lot about her fears for her daughter. In a way, sheВ’s gone beyond fearing that Rose will die off on some adventure В– sheВ’s more afraid that her Rose will just fade away, consumed by the woman that she is becoming. She also raises some salient points that were addressed through Sarah Jane in В“School Reunion,В” about what becomes of the DoctorВ’s companions when there is nothing else В– when there is no one else В– left. Compared to those like Ace, Mel, Peri, Nyssa, Romana, etc. who were all left to very uncertain fates by the Doctor, as well as those like Roz, Adric, Sara and Katarina who actually died on their travels with him, Sarah Jane got off lightly, and even the idea of sharing SarahВ’s lonely fate terrified Rose.

В“If itВ’s alien, itВ’s oursВ… for the good of the British Empire.В”

В“Army of GhostsВ” finally introduces us to Torchwood, and I must say that it isnВ’t at all what I expected. After all the hype about Captain JackВ’s forthcoming Cardiff-based TV show of the same name, I made the fundamental mistake of thinking that Torchwood must be the good guys. After their deplorable actions in В“The Christmas Invasion,В” I should have known better. Yvonne Hartman (Tracy-Ann Oberman) is absolutely superb as the woman apparently fronting this ultra-top-secret organisation. She knows the name of every single person working under her, yet she acts like a Nazi В– she will justify almost any atrocity В“..for the good of the British Empire.В” Incidentally, I liked the little Eastenders in-joke В– the Barbara Windsor cameo, with the ghost of Dirty Den (who was murdered by ObermanВ’s character in Eastenders) showing up in the Queen Vic! Not the first link between Doctor Who and the popular soap operaВ…

В“They can shoot me dead but the moral high ground is mine.В” ThatВ’ll learn В‘em, Doc! For Doctor Who fans, the role of Torchwood in the showВ’s mythology is fascinating. During the seventies, the exiled third Doctor (and occasionally the fourth) worked for UNIT В– the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. The Doctor had access to information above top secret, yet heВ’d never heard of Torchwood. And why? Well aside from the fact that Russell T. Davies hadnВ’t invented it yet, the Doctor had never heard of Torchwood because he is their public enemy number one В– he was listed by name in the organisationВ’s charter set up by Queen Victoria shortly after her encounter with him in В“Tooth and Claw.В” Moreover, Torchwood works for the British Empire В– not the United Nations. Suffice it to say, the Doctor is more than surprised when he finds out that this organisation not only exists, but that they have built a skyscraper (Canary Wharf, a.k.a. Torchwood Tower) to reach a spatial anomaly in order to exploit it for financial gainВ… only to allow these В‘ghostsВ’ to enter our world and destabilise the whole universe!

The source of this spatial anomaly is revealed to be what the Doctor calls a В“Void ShipВ” В– a supposedly impossible vessel, even by Time Lord standards, which has absolutely no atomic mass and can travel between parallel universes. And so the question is, who is in there? Who has the technology to exist outside time and space, in the place that the Eternals call В“The HowlingВ”? I think all the hardcore Doctor Who fans watching had an inklingВ…

В“This world is colliding with another, and I think I know which one.В”

And so the Cybermen appear en masse. En masse like we’ve never, ever seen them before. The scenes of them worldwide really convey just what an invasion force this is - “Bleeding through the fault lines…”, millions of ‘em!!! As the Doctor so brutally puts it – it’s “…not an invasion. It’s too late for that. It’s a victory.” The Cybermen have conquered the Earth, and that’s only half the cliffhanger. The Torchwood scientist, Dr. Rajesh Singh (Raji James), Rose and MICKEY (how the hell did he get here?) are sealed in a room with the Void Ship – a ship that suddenly activates, and much to the older, braver, more confident Mickey’s surprise, doesn’t contain any Cybermen…

В“Mickey Smith, defending the Earth!В”

В… but instead, is full of DALEKS! And not just any Daleks В– the DALEK SUPREME no less!

Daleks and Cybermen! Talk about fanw**k. I feel sorry for any episode that is going to get compared to В“The Parting of the Ways,В” but by the looks of things next weekВ’s В“DoomsdayВ” is going to be every bit as epic as last yearВ’s action-packed season finaleВ…