Some stories just donВ’t stand a chance. Aliens of London, after the gothic grandeur of The Unquiet Dead? Flabby, modern-day rot. The Long Game after the monument to Who history that was Dalek? Laughably flimsy runaround. And anything at all after the genius of Stephen MoffatВ’s flawless contributionВ… Well, like I said. DidnВ’t stand a chance.

And yet we present, ladies and gentlemen, in defiance of all the odds, the Little Episode that Could.

The pressures against Boom Town were unprecedented. After his introduction as a spanner in the works of the Doctor and Rose's relationship, it had to see Captain Jack cosily inserted into the TARDIS crew with all their disagreements ironed out. After an effects laden two-parter it had to be made for virtually nothing: reusing the Slitheen (never a popular monster with long-term fans anyway); set in a contemporary, undressed (for which read boring) setting; using few, simple effects and a lot of cheap (ie TARDIS) scenes. And for season-arc purposes it had to feature Mickey, thus handling an unprecedented four-strong TARDIS crew, as well as provide some crucial TARDIS backstory; paint the Doctor as dangerous and unhappy with what heВ’s become; re-open the time-rift, establish a theme of consequences and В– finally, as if that wasnВ’t enough В– talk about Bad Wolf.

To think Peter Grimwade thought he had it tough sorting out Turlough, Peri and Kamelion in Planet of Fire. At least he got to go to Lanzarote. Russell T Davies had to do it in Cardiff В– and itВ’s much, much the better for it. Because he, at least, knows he canВ’t make a sci-fi spectacular, and therefore doesnВ’t try. Instead he throws all the budget for explosions and Bugs-style chase sequences into the first opening 15 and closing 10 minutes, and spends the rest creating a tiny, intimate, personal character piece.

Make no mistake, the result is very odd. Every story needs a beginning, a middle and an end, and while this has all three, thereВ’s an ending barely a quarter of an hour in (all but literally В“I would have got away with it too if it wasnВ’t for you pesky time-travellersВ…В”), and then two or three middles in a row before the ending appears, which turns out to come from a completely different story anyway. Informed sources had promised that the reintroduction of the Slitheen would be dealt with in the first ten minutes: what they didn't make clear is that the entire plot, at least as first presented, is dealt with in those ten minutes, with only a brief encore half an hour later in order to arrange a suitably satisfying finale. Perhaps it would have been better if theyВ’d gone with Russell TВ’s alternate title, В“Dining with MonstersВ” so that audiences had expected less boom, and rather more scenes in restaurants, for their boom-town buck. ThatВ’s certainly what you get В– and when the audience is ready for it, for instance because theyВ’ve already watched it once and want to know if their initial negative impression was fair, itВ’s exactly what you need.

This isnВ’t a story about explosions. ItВ’s not a story about Mickey and Rose and Captain Jack, either, which is why they tend to get shunted off into soap-opera sideplots or locked in the TARDIS like a second-rate Nyssa. This is a story about the Doctor facing his oldest, quietest nightmares: long goodbyes; responsibilities; blame. Forced for once to face the consequences of his easy heroism, weВ’re in for just as uncomfortable a time as him, shown the stark realities of the life he leads and led to question В– quite genuinely, in fact, not the empty moralising В‘Do we have the right?В’ of the black goat Star Trek and its thousand young В– whether heВ’s actually doing the right thing.

If this doesnВ’t feel quite like Dr Who, thatВ’s not surprising. Russell T has insisted from the start that every episode should have a different tone, and for every uber-traditional Long Game and Unquiet Dead, thereВ’s a FatherВ’s Day or Aliens of London waiting В‘round the corner to surprise us. These days we never quite know what weВ’re sitting down to watch, and itВ’s one of the showВ’s greatest strengths. Who, after all, expected Dalek to make them cry? This isnВ’t a show thatВ’s going for the obvious, plodding through the same round of corridors, guns and traitors every week. WeВ’d have grown tired of that by Episode Eight, which in the classic series would have been called Day of the Fathers and involved endless running around in a crypt before the Doctor saved the day with a time-oscillator. No, Boom Town is what you get when you move away from what people expect, and it works like a charm.

Protesting too much? Well, perhaps. There are elements that while undeniably cool В– the hiding-place, and revelation, of Margaret's technobabble mcguffin, for instance В– don't seem to make an awful lot of sense. ThereВ’s a horrible Deus ex machina solution to the DoctorВ’s dilemma, which could be seen as rather avoiding the point. The aha-well-you-see ending, where the plot is explained after it's already happened, is considerably less satisfying than the usual kick-yourself-oh-of-course denument. ThereВ’s a feeling in the final act that Russell T is repairing a slightly shoddy plot rather than revealing a clever one. The TARDIS crew veers from the charming to the smug. I donВ’t like JackВ’s coat.

But theyВ’re not, in fact, major concerns compared with the plus-points. Margaret Blaine becomes one of the most effective enemies weВ’ve seen, even at her least powerful. Annetta Badland is simply magnificent in the role, withering, pleading, dismissive, cathartic В– a genuinely complex character. Noel Clarke finally gets his teeth into Mickey and delivers a truly affecting performance, making us question RoseВ’s actions as much as Blaine does the DoctorВ’s. The Slitheen costume, in its rare appearances, is extraordinarily effective, even moving at times, light-years ahead of its Aliens/War appearances. While the pacing is odd, almost every individual scene is an absolute zinger. (The toilet sequence in particular is tremendous: powerful, unexpected, perfect.) Arguably itВ’s one draft away from completion В– an explanation here, an intercut something-goingВ’s-wrong-in-the-TARDIS scene there В– but itВ’s still nothing short of astonishing.

WeВ’ve grown too used to the snappy one-liners, the zip-a-long plot, the emotional depth and the seamless cgi. We barely register Billie PiperВ’s perfection, or the fear and anger in EcclestonВ’s eyes. ItВ’s easy now to miss them altogether, and focus on the less-than-perfect moments. But watch again. The ghost music over the Blaidd Drwg scene. The look on EcclestonВ’s face when heВ’s told heВ’s a killer. В“LetВ’s see which of you can look at me in the eye.В” Where else are you going to see stuff of this quality on British tv?

And thatВ’s before we even reach the last three seconds.

Come on. YouВ’re telling me youВ’re not gonna keep watching? Tell that to the big bad wolf.

‘Boom Town!’ is probably the oddest episode of the new series so far, for rather than being an orthodox adventure, specifically the Doctor versus the Slitheen story I had anticipated, much of it is a philosophical treatise on the Doctor’s actions and there consequence and whether people can change. This is an interesting idea, but is it one which can sustain the interest of today’s casual viewer. I am not sure, but Russell T. Davis deserves some credit for being brave enough to risk put something as different this on primetime television.

Indeed in many ways he creates a very interesting and thought provoking episode. Should the Doctor condemn a killer, who seems to have repented to death? Is it as easy to dispose of a Monster once you know its name and have had dinner with it? These are difficult questions which the series has never really addressed in the past. I suspect there while be some hostile views towards this episode as a result of this, and everyone is entitled to a view, but I for one welcome this original approach, although that said I would not like to see a similar episode in the too near future.

There is also some very good writing and acting at work. I genuinely felt sorry for the Slitheen at times, particularly in the toilet scene where she mourns her brothers, and found her a very interesting character. Indeed until the Doctor, pointed it out I had almost forgotten that she had stolen a real woman’s body and killed her. For this credit should be given to both Russell T. Davis’ writing, Joe Ahearne’s direction and Annete Badland whose performance was superb. Indeed Christopher Eccleston is also very good in this episode which he needs to be for it to work.

I suspect many fans will think B plot with Rose and Mickey was out of place, but I had no real objections to it. Indeed it is giving the series a realism it has never had before, outside the audio plays and the novels, and I wonder if in the next two weeks the Mickey Rose relationship and its apparent breakdown here is going to be very important. In a similar vain the Doctor’s realisation that the phrase ‘Bad Wolf’ keeps recurring, is obviously important, and I suspect his brushing it off, is a bluff to protect Rose or major mistake…

While there are many good things about this episode, there are some things about this story I did not like. The reliance on the TARDIS to solve the story is annoying and looks like lazy writing. However I am prepared to be proved wrong about this if Davis is, as I suspect setting up the mysterious properties of the TARDIS for a future story line. However this does not excuse the continuing overuse of the sonic screwdriver, and the fact Davis gives Jack far too little to do. I also felt the scene in the restraint with the poison was too slapstick, and spoiled a good scene. Then there is plot of the rift opening and causing destruction. It feels as if it was tacked on to provide a spectacle, and as for this being Margaret’s plan B, well it feels unconvincing. I also question the fact rose mentioned going to other planets on unseen adventures, which to me draws attention to the fact we are not seeing stories on alien worlds, presumably for budgetary reasons.

Thus this is overall quite a good story, but perhaps it could have done with another couple of rewrites to iron out the flaws. In the final analysis I wonder if it will prove a welcome change of pace before what promises to be a memorable season finale.

My, my, my... what a fascinating experiment Doctor Who in 2005 is turning out to be. For better or worse, what Russell T. Davies has presented is Doctor Who re-imagined, not as a science-fiction or adventure serial, but as a mainstream drama dressed up in the guise of escapist fiction. Classic Doctor Who (like most other В‘sci-fiВ’ series) is a predominantly plot-driven affair, where the big ideas dealt with in each story tend to be of the В“what ifВ” variety: В“What would happen if (humans/likable aliens) in the (future/past) were doing (insert futuristic/historical activity) and (monster/villain/disease) X turned up?В” In contrast, the Doctor Who of 2005 seems much more interested in asking the questions В“What would it feel like to be one of those people, and just what are the emotional implications of living the life of the TARDIS crew?В” Plot is not the driving force of RTDВ’s Doctor Who, but rather exists to serve the character introspection.

Nowhere in the series so far has this been as obvious as in Boom Town, where he all but lets the disguise drop. What little plot there is here is thin in the extreme, and is essentially a parody of fan expectations. Returning villain Margaret Blaine, the female Slitheen, has miraculously survived her apparent demise at the end of World War Three and has cooked up a typically apocalyptic mad scheme(TM). Davies even ups the fanboy quotient by gratuitously referencing a further piece of continuity in the form of the time rift from The Unquiet Dead. Make no mistake, Davies has done this deliberately (consider how the episode was promoted in the В‘Next Time...В’ clip the previous week).

With his audience primed, Davies proceeds to purposely dash all these expectations. Instead of the dramatic reveal of the villain to the TARDIS crew halfway through the episode, she turns up on the front page of the local newspaper just a few minutes into the episode. (Why didnВ’t she choose to hide in some other body that wouldnВ’t be recognised? Because itВ’s funnier this way.) A nosy newspaper reporter unearths the plan and seems to be headed to an early death when she confronts Margaret (and come on, the evil villain is named Margaret!), but instead ends up having a heart-to-heart with her through the door to the loo. The traditional Doctor Who runaround is turned into a 30 second chase scene punctuated with another ridiculous use for the sonic screwdriver, the DoctorВ’s all-purpose plot device. The obligatory exposition and technobabble speeches usually given to the Doctor are ironically put in the mouth of new companion Captain Jack. The evil villainВ’s inevitable escape attempt makes for a 10 second gag over dinner. The plot is finally resolved at the end with an admitted deus ex machina, complete with a post-resolution explanation which is repeated twice, once by each of the companions, just to make sure you know itВ’s a joke. Even the now expected В“Bad WolfВ” reference is perverted. Instead of being subtly hidden, itВ’s blatantly brought to the forefront, and then ironically tossed off as a simple coincidence.

Having relegated the В“plotВ” of his episode to about 10 minutes, Davies fills the rest of the time in an extended examination of life in the TARDIS. The real focus of the episode is not the abortive plot, but rather two parallel conversations about consequence, one between Rose and Mickey and one between Margaret and the Doctor. Mickey breaks the stereotype of the spurned jealous boyfriend and actually seems to understand that Rose needs to be with the Doctor, however much he may hate that fact. Crucially it is also shown that Rose still cares deeply for Mickey (which was not at all apparent in AoL/WWIII), and the obvious joy she feels traveling with the Doctor is now tinged with regret for the (perhaps irrevocable) damage that her absence is causing to her old life. She might be able to go back home to London, but itВ’s clear that things will never be the same. Meanwhile, Margaret pleads for forgiveness from the Doctor, while confronting him with the idea that heВ’s not so different than those he fights. (A chilling reminder of the darker side of the Doctor that surfaced in The End of the World and Dalek, and presumably a setup for the next two episodes.)

Ultimately, however, I think Boom Town doesnВ’t quite hold together but, unlike some reviews IВ’ve seen in the OG Forum, I donВ’t think this is due to the plot, or lack thereof. In fact, this is at least the third essentially plotless episode of the series. FatherВ’s Day also had a razor-thin plot, and remove the fannish drooling over the resurrection of everyoneВ’s favorite pepper-pot and Dalek is really just three long conversations as well (albeit with a pretty high body count). However, where both Dalek and FatherВ’s Day succeed by keeping a consistent tone and fully committing to their emotional sentiments, the drama in Boom Town is undercut somewhat by the self-conscious irony which is thrown into the mix. The lighter tone to this story may help support the balance of the series as a whole, but doesnВ’t help the story stand on itВ’s own. One could worry that Davies seems to have set himself up for the same problem next week, which again looks to balance ironic parody with the darker drama that the return of the Daleks is sure to bring with it. On the other hand, he managed a similar balance quite well with The End of the World (still his best script to date) which began rather light, but gradually darkened and ended on a very somber note indeed.

So, in the end, I think Boom Town ends up being a bit less than the sum of itВ’s parts, with the juxtaposition of the parody with the drama just a little too jarring, making it difficult for the viewer to commit to either. On the other hand it does contain some important character development, particularly between Rose and Mickey. In the end, it may turn out to work better in the context of the season as a whole than it does as a stand alone.

"Boom Town" was possibly more aptly named than intended.

Stories by Russell T Davies have certainly caused a small division in fandom. Regardless of RTD's success in bring Doctor Who back to strong form, his style of writing for Doctor Who has been a cause of concern for many fans.

So with fans from both camps, for and against RTD, anxiously waiting to be proved righteous as to whether he can deliver anything en par with "The Empty Child", "Father's Day" or "The Doctor Dances", "Boom Town" has a burden of expectation that it could probably do with out. Is this episode in which Doctor Who self destructs, derailing it's past success? Well, no. In fact, it's a mixed affair, a messy one at that. One could argue it offers strong evidence to either side of the divide. There is good and bad here.

"Boom Town" is very much a character story hidden within a plot-orientated affair. As such, it offers an odd mix of direction and pacing. Unfortunately this feels far from intentional. While it may have been hoped that the intense plot dialogue about a nuclear facility being placed in Cardiff as part of an attempt for a Sithreen to escape Earth by destroying it (and breathe..) would form a good red herring to the actual direction of the story, it simply feels messy.

The biggest problem with "Boom Town" is it tries to do too much when the premise is strong enough to work in a far simpler format.

This is the biggest surprise from RTD. Whether one likes his humour or general light drama approach to his stories, his tales are always well paced and easy to digest. With the story both trying to be an action tale and a character tale at once, this is certainly not the case with "Boom Town".

Which is a pity really as there are some great moments in “Boom Town” which would make any RTD, nay, Doctor Who fan, proud. Christopher Eccleston is given a wonderful mix of serious and humour based scenes to work with. What makes his role even stronger is that for the first time in a while, he's not focused on Rose. We get to see the Doctor rather than the DoctorRose symbiote. While Rose is a good companion for the season, the Doctor's dependency on her weakens his character. Here we see a Doctor who isn't fawning over his companion or overtly worrying about her. In fact, this feels very much a Doctor/Companion relationship of old.

Part of this has to be attributed to Captain Jack. Jack is a great addition to the crew, diluting the Doctor/Rose dynamic and offering a new element to the crew. It's nice to have a companion that doesn't serve as an interface for the viewer. Sometimes Doctor Who suffers with three crewmembers. The show doesn’t need two companions both asking “What’s going on Doctor?” for the sake of explaining plot to the viewer. You only need one companion to use that phrase. If one is to have two companions, they both have to offer something different to the mix from each other. Like Turlough and Romana, Jack is more on a technological wavelength of the Doctor, which means the show has another character to motivate the more sci-fi elements of the story. Jack makes a nice medium between Rose and the Doctor and I really hope he stays in for a good few more episodes.

The character plots primarily revolve around the nature of the Doctor and Rose's relationship with Mickey. To my surprise Mickey really pulls these scenes together. His frustration and exasperation is a credit to the actor and the writing.

The Doctor's restaurant scene is wonderful also. It is a totally different atmosphere to the Rose/Mickey scenes, but just as emotionally charged. Credit to both Eccleston and Annette Badland for their strong performances and again to RTD for the solid script.

The failure for Boom Town is it doesn't really go anyway. It doesn't really feel like it resolves the issue of the Doctor's destructive lifestyle or his culpability for the damage he causes. Not that there is probably a sufficient answer, but the questions RTD asks are ones not really considered prior to this series. He paints the Doctor as a man who almost murders through intent to interfere who then rushes before the dust falls. We see very little evidence of that in the show so it does seem a rather odd proposal. Certain the character seems to feel there is a hint of truth there - which is fair enough. People who can carry responsibility and power often have high expectations of what they can do, I don't see why the Doctor shouldn't have those same high expectations of the good he wants to achieve and the guilt he feels for failing the few. That said, the script almost makes the hypothesis feel like fact, rather than maybe an issue simply plaguing the Doctor and that doesn't really sit right. I think one is very hard pushed to make such comparisons between the murderous Siltheen and the Doctor nevertheless the script tries.

So it's the lack of resolution that makes Boom Town feel most confuddled. The ending just pops up out of the blue and resolves just as fast. The power of the TARDIS jars for the same reason. It's importance in the story resolution has no hint earlier on and so comes out of no where... that seems a little odd in terms of story writing. If you don't present the audience with some hint of what the means of resolution in an earlier chapter, it can leave viewers feeling cheated.

So the story is a mix of pros and cons. There are some great scenes and dialogue, but a story that feels rough around the edges. It has a good set of characters, but lacks any real cohesion between their roles in the tale.

I would say this is way above average, but certainly the most inconsistent story so far. “Boom Town” is certainly more interesting than “Rose”, but feels as if it needed another draft. In that respect, perhaps the first story to be akin to the old series ... how many of those stories do you want to pick up the script and give one final rewrite?

Despite the most wafer-thin and implausible ostensible plot possibly ever in the series (alien disguised as MP plans to set up nuclear power station in Cardiff town centre), one which makes a bus full of Adventure-Game-style aliens traveling to a 1950s Welsh holiday camp (Delta & the Bannermen) look comparatively believable on paper, this peculiar episode managed to shake off initial absurdities and Rent-a-Ghost-style shenanigans (Margaret going back and forth via the DoctorВ’s sonic screwdriver-cum-transmat device) relatively early on В– thankfully the SlitheenВ’s gustatory problems were restricted to just a stomach gurgle this time round. Scatological elements thankfully toned down since the atrocious Aliens/War III, we were however still treated to one scene in which the Slitheen, fully revealed and far more convincing in its tangibility (courtesy of a mask rather than CGI), sat on a toilet as it talked through the door to a woman and wept on her mention of being В‘with childВ’ В– strangely this scene was actually fairly well done despite its lavatorial location (is RTD going to finally reveal what Davros has been sat on in his Dalek seat all these years?). What ensues in this episode, finally, after all the token faffing around between the Doctor et al is finished with, is a quite engaging face off between the Doctor and the Slitheen in a restaurant. Annette Badland gives a genuinely powerful performance in this scene, delivering her probing of the Doctor on his dubiously catalystic lifestyle with impressive intensity and gravitas В– this performance of BadlandВ’s is a far cry from her pantomimesque portrayal in Aliens/War III. We get an equally intriguing steely glint from EcclestonВ’s eye in this scene too. The rest of the episode continues this moral examination of the true nature of the Doctor and his time traveling pursuits and more particularly on the general philosophical question of crime and punishment, more specifically capital punishment, and the responsibility of those who assist the administration of moral law В– quite interestingly and unexpectedly, the Doctor brushes off MargaretВ’s protests with a curt В‘Not my problemВ’, placing himself in a position of moral impunity from the inevitable result of his transporting his prisoner back to her home planet; his speech about the caprice of the psychotic mind (in terms of the SlitheenВ’s doing good or evil simply on whims) is a convincing and incisive stance, and indeed this meditation on the God-like power of giving or taking life is contrasted nicely by Margaret deflecting the issue onto the DoctorВ’s own exercise of power through time travel. Another good touch was the Doctor re-educating the audience on the nature of the Tardis and how the chameleon-circuit got stuck as a police box in 1960s London.

The downsides to Boomtown? Well, being an RTD script, one has come to expect inevitable troughs among the all-too-few peaks: the ludicrously inappropriate banter in the Tardis at the beginning, chiefly the Doctor saying to Jack when he complains of not getting a hug from Rose, В‘Give me a drink and you might get oneВ’, or something similarly puerile; the stupid run-around after Margaret in the non-descript streets of Cardiff (they might have at least found better locations such as the old arcade there or the castle grounds); the irritating and inept banter of the Tardis crew in a completely non-descript cafГ©; and the ludicrous suggestion by Margaret that she and the Doctor are on some sort of date. There are other annoyances but I canВ’t be bothered to list them В– lifeВ’s too short.

Summing up В– customary RTD irritations aside, Boomtown is a surprisingly В‘all rightВ’ episode by and large, with some fairly deep meditations on morality which in places are reminiscent of the far more sublime meditations on the darker side of Gallifreyans in Edge of Destruction, the third story in the original cannon. In terms of script and execution this is in my opinion RTDВ’s best contribution to the series so far, having the edge over The Long Game by a whisker; and this did come as a surprise for an episode I was absolutely dreading.

Once again, it had been a while since IВ’d seen a new Who episode В– I was still reeling from the sheer brilliance of CornellВ’s FatherВ’s Day and MoffatВ’s Empty Child extravaganza. Like the first Slitheen story, IВ’d heard practically nothing but bad things about this episode, even from the most forgiving of fans, and the last RTD-penned episode IВ’d seen had been the passable but still forgettable Long GameВ… so suffice it to say, I was a little worried. Especially when the episode began with a cringe-inducing recap of Aliens Of London. Great. The last thing I wanted at this point was to be reminded of that thorn in this seriesВ’ side.

But thenВ… six months later. And Margaret Blaine is again in a position of power, eating the threats to her master plan. But thereВ’s a difference this time around, which is evident from the start. And thatВ’s Mr Joe Ahearne, he of Dalek and FatherВ’s Day. Ahearne has achieved what I thought to be impossible. HeВ’s made the Slitheen scary. And, it seems, heВ’s made Cardiff look interesting, even from the establishing shots of Mickey arriving. Okay, itВ’s not Paris, itВ’s not New York, but at least itВ’s not sodding London again.

When Mickey knocked on the TARDIS door, it was flung open by a guy I didnВ’t recognise until I heard his accent. Oh yeah, thereВ’s a new companion aboard! And as far as I could remember from the last story, he was terrific! Well, he was still pretty good, and his banter with the Doctor was brilliant, butВ… well, I guess I preferred him in a WWII setting. Too bad he didnВ’t keep the outfit. Or the haircut. Oh well. This scene is saturated with playful banter, continuity and exposition. I was oddly reminded of the early days with William Hartnell and his crew. Not such a bad thing.

The scene with Margaret and the reporter, Cathy Salt, was beautifully done. True, weВ’ve already seen one monster suddenly get human emotions in this series, but Annette Badland is just wonderful. And the image of a Slitheen weeping on the toilet, though it should be hilarious, is incredibly touching. Another masterstroke by Joe Ahearne. Meanwhile. the TARDIS gang has found out sheВ’s around, and theyВ’re out to get her. And they really are the TARDIS gang, the four of them. It felt a lot like Buffy, or the Davison years. I guess sometimes a crowded TARDIS can work. The chase around the building was handled really well, a great blend of slapstick and suspense В– I was reminded of World War Three. Of course, she got captured, and we discovered her evil planВ… but hang on! Barely twenty minutes have passed! What about the second half of the episode?

Well, this is a Russell T. Davies script, innit? So naturally, in among the 21st-century references and the cheeky jokes, weВ’re in for a bit of rumination on the nature ofВ… stuff. Stuff thatВ’s been lingering in the background of Doctor Who for years, but has never been fully explored. This time itВ’s about what happens to the monsters after theyВ’ve been foiled. What if the Doctor canВ’t just run off without watching them burn? What if heВ’s stuck with them until their sentence is carried out? When I heard the plotline for the 1996 TV movie, I was intrigued В– the Doctor is carrying the MasterВ’s remains to Gallifrey, after all this time; how will he deal with that emotionally? В– but in the end, that wasnВ’t even mentioned. So now RTD is tackling the issue head-on В– the Doctor has to bring his captive to dinner. And yes, their В“dateВ” is peppered with witty banter and sight gags and the like (I loved what he did with the breath-freshener!), but primarily this scene illustrates the difficult ordeal faced by both the Doctor and his captive. The Doctor must finally look the monster in the eye, and even socialise with her. The monster must beg for one last chance at redemption.

Meanwhile, Rose and Mickey are off on one of their Rose-and-Mickey scenes. I expected this. In fact, I wouldВ’ve been disappointed not to see a scene like this in an episode where Mickey featured. Their storyline has progressed in a realistic way, from RoseВ’s abandonment of Mickey, to her sudden reappearance a year later, to the DoctorВ’s eventual acceptance of В“RickyВ”, to her decision to stay on as a companion. And Mickey is always waiting for her. And we know he always will. I donВ’t know if weВ’ve ever heard him say it, but really he doesnВ’t need to, because itВ’s obvious. He loves her, very much.

But thereВ’s no time for that В– the Gelth rift has torn open, and the TARDIS is going to be at the centre of CardiffВ’s destruction. Surprise, surprise, В“MargaretВ” is behind it all, and plans to use her extrapolator to surf along the shock wave to safety. (IВ’m not sure if I liked the idea of a cosmic surfboard, but hey, there was that question-mark umbrellaВ…) Suddenly, the TARDIS console opensВ… what the? This has never, ever happened before. WhatВ’s that light? The heart of the TARDIS? Better idea than the Eye of Harmony, anyway. And it regresses the Slitheen back into an egg. People have criticised this deus ex machina ending, but I feel it works quite well. A second chanceВ… whatВ’s wrong with that? Rose seems to agree. And of course sheВ’s talking about Mickey. Somehow we know their story isnВ’t over.

So there you have it. Boom Town. A quiet muse about the implications of the DoctorВ’s actions. Some great В“TARDIS teamВ” antics, a brilliant turn from Annette Badland, the continuation of the Rose-and-Mickey soap, and a bit of sci-fi drama at the end. All in all, a good little story, a terrific script by Mr Davies, and another masterstroke of direction by Joe Ahearne. Something occurred to me when the end credits rolled past В– there were only two episodes to go. I was going to miss this. The Ninth Doctor, Rose, even Jack. Such a superb team. I knew theyВ’d be gone soonВ… and I wasnВ’t ready to say goodbye just yet. So IВ’ve decided to go all the way back to the beginning, to the first episode, and watch it all again, before I get to my final two reviews. I want to get a clear view of the series as a whole before I bid it farewell. ItВ’s going to take a while, but I have a feeling I wonВ’t be disappointedВ…