Gridlock

In the days when I used to partake of an ale or 12 of an evening and come home with the munchies, I would scour the kitchen and deposit various (vaguely edible) objet da in a frying pan, apply severe heat, and see what the results tasted like. It was a bit hit and miss. Sometimes, it found the spot, and I prepared my application form for Ready Steady Cook. On other occasions, it set me en route to frequent conversations with the big white telephone in the bathroom. I'm getting to the point . . .

Gridlock was a bit like one of those death-or-glory fry ups - writer Russell T Davies chucked a lot of ingredients in there. But you know what? The results were mighty tasty.

I was rather ambivalent about this one pre-transmission - neither The End Of The World nor New Earth are anywhere the top of my favourite New Who episodes, so the prospect of a third trip to Year Five Billion (ish) didn't greatly enthuse me. However, as part of RTD's attempts to build a new mythology for the series, the logic of The Doctor taking new companion Martha to New Earth for her first trip into the future was sound.

It was a very bleak future, though - the TARDIS landing in a distinctly lo-tech slum, where chemically-enhanced patches were sold to the desperate few who lived there. Before The Doctor could investigate further, he faced a more-pressing matter - rescuing Martha, who was kidnapped by a young couple, to provide them the numerical requisite to speed their passage on the severely-congested motorway. To Martha's horror, she then finds out this is the traffic jam from Hell, taking years to travel a short distance in flying cars which double as tiny mobile homes. And not only that, something terrifying is lurking in the depths below the gridlock.

Meanwhile, The Doctor has also joined the traffic jam in pursuit of his young charge, hitching a lift with Brannigan, a cat person, and his human wife. Realising that there's a probability the jam never ends when he hears Brannigan has been flying this road for 12 years, The Doctor sets hopping from car to car when he encounters an old acquaintance, the giant crab creatures, the Macra, which are the monsters from the depths, devouring those in cars who venture too low. Then, The Doctor meets another familiar face, Novice Hame, the cat nurse from New Earth. Hame has been tending the mysterious Face Of Boe, and teleports herself and The Doctor to the dying Boe's side.

The Doctor learns that the inhabitants of New New York (so good they named it 15 times) had been all but wiped out by a virus, and the sole survivors were trapped below ground for their own safety. Boe and The Doctor combine to bring the motorists back into the now-disease-free city and saves Martha from the claws of the Macra.

Sadly, the effort expanded by Boe leads to his death, but not before he imparted his great secret to The Doctor - "You are not alone" . . . does that mean The Doctor isn't the last of the Time Lords?

I really enjoyed this episode, maintaining the consistently-high standard at which this Series 3 has started, and this was my favourite of the "New Earth trilogy". Of course, it was far too short to be developed properly at 45 minutes, but that's the nature of these single episodes. The pace is absolutely unrelenting, but the highlight of the episode for me was when it did slacken at the end to allow some lovely interaction between the show's stars.

In the opening scenes in the TARDIS, The Doctor is extremely cagey about revealing details of who he is and where he's from. In fact, he even goes as far as to lie when he gives the impression Gallifrey still exists. But by the close of this adventure, he has realised Martha is someone in whom he can confide, and gently explains about the Time War, how he is the last of his race (despite what Boe says) and mention of the Daleks sets up next week's episode nicely. A touching closing scene, totally in contrast to the high-octane action beforehand and beautifully played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman. Three episodes in, and Freema has barely put a foot wrong. She's been such an impressive addition to the show that the loss of the excellent Billie Piper hasn't been felt at all.

The death of Boe was also quite moving - wouldn't go as far as to say I shed a tear for old giant rubber chops, but what a great piece of work from the prosthetics team he was. Sad to see him go. Of course, his dying message has to be significant in the context of the series - and the wordage was one of the worst-kept secrets in Doctor Who history.

Guest star Ardal O'Hanlon put in a pleasing performance as a cat person, and it was a decent supporting cast. Director Richard Clark did a fine job of delivering the claustrophobic feel required inside the cars, and there was hints of Blade Runner in there, plus numerous other sci-fi genres, RTD never having made any secret of the fact he's quite happy to borrow - to be generous - ideas from elsewhere, and sourcing Judge Dredd as his inspiration for the bowler-hatted businessman encountered by The Doctor in one of the cars. Also loved the scenes of The Doctor dropping from car to car - gave a real idea of scale.

The Macra are borrowed from Doctor Who history - 1967, to be precise, and it was a nice touch to revive a little-known historical monster. The Patrick Troughton story, The Macra Terror, in which they featured, is visually familiar to few. However, a nice little nod to fans. I didn't think the Macra were quite as well realised from a CGI point of view as the flying cars, but another impressive effort from The Mill, as the bar continues to be inched up episode to episode.

Eight out of 10. Slightly the pick of the three episodes so far. Great stuff - but looking forward to getting a two-part story now, to allow the story a bit more time. And can't wait to have the pepperpots back, of course . . .