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Aug 08 2008
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Dan Owen reviews
Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday April 16th, 2005
Director:
Screenplay:
Cast:
Russell T. Davies returns to write his third episode of the four now aired, and confirms his own particular vision for his new Doctor Who series is... knowingly cheesy. I hated the first Davies-penned episode of the series, "Rose", so quite alarmingly "Aliens Of London" begins with a recap of those events (best forgotten, if you ask me) before starting a new story where The Doctor returns Rose to her own time just 12 hours after she left - well, actually 12 months, which means she has some explaining to do! However, a fortunate diversion - in the form of a massive UFO slicing Big Ben in half, before crash-landing into the Thames - means Rose is soon torn between joining The Doctor's new adventure and healing rifts with her mother Jackie and ex-boyfriend Mickey.
"Aliens Of London" is entertaining, but in a pretty naff way that harkens back to the old-age of Doctor Who. Chances are, fans who embrace past-Who silliness and children under-10, will lap up Davies' style. Personally, I much preferred last week's Mark Gatiss story set in the Victorian era, with a firm-footing in pulp realism. That said, "Aliens Of London" is saved by some agreeable moments - the sublime crash-landing of the spaceship is by far the series best use of special-effects (despite lacking a sense of speed). Davies can also be counted upon for some humorous dialogue - however often it elicits groans instead of laughter! Thankfully, the trappings of Rose's family are actually quite an asset this time around. For the first time the series actually addresses the companion's own life - and the problems her situation time-travelling with The Doctor actually presents. This new slant wasn't implemented very well back in episode 1, but here it's actually quite refreshing and well played.
As usual, Billie Piper proves herself the greatest asset of the new series - being both recognisably teenaged in the face of everything her "new life" with The Doctor presents her with. Christopher Eccleston continues to do too much gurning, for my liking, before turning overly-stern in the face of danger... but what else can you do when the episode leaps from family comedy drama to chasing an "alien pig" down a corridor! Yes, you read that right - this episode actually features a pig dressed in a spacesuit. Thankfully, this actually turns out to be a nudge at the ludicrousness of past Doctor Who creatures (and explained away quite well) but it's indicative of the style Davies hopes to capture with his new take on the show. Well, at least with the episode he's written, anyway...
The direction is fairly pedestrian from Keith Boak - whose past credits tend to involve lots of identikit British drama, so it's often quite restrictive and formulaic. Boak also seems very keen on using that terrible incidental music that crippled episode 1, so bring some ear-plugs whenever anything dramatic begs to happen. I would love to see some fresh British talent given a chance on the show - instead of directors so obviously used to filming cops and nurses... Overall, "Aliens Of London" was a diverting episode with good moments and bad moments. Unfortunately, the bad tends to stick in your mind - particularly aliens using "human skin suits" to pose as members of Parliament and Army officials.. who can be identified by the fact they fart a lot. Yes, this probably aroused laughter for the under-10's, but it just doesn't sit well with me. Next Week: the adventure continues, in part 2 of this story, "World War Three", with the alien Slitheen continuing their diabolic plot against mankind...
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.E-mail Dan Owen
The following is a list of all the Doctor Who content reviewed to date : 2008 Series 30, Episode 13 - "Journey's End", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 12 - "The Stolen Earth", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 11 - "Turn Left", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 10 - "Midnight", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 8 - "Silence in the Library" (part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 7 - "The Unicorn and The Wasp", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 6 - "The Doctor's Daughter", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 5 - "The Poison Sky" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 4 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 3 - "Planet of the Ood", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 2 - "The Fires of Pompeii", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 1 - "Partners In Crime", by Dan Owen And the Audio CDs : 2000 04: The Land of the Dead 2000 06: The Marian Conspiracy 2000 10: Winter for the Adept 2000 12: The Fires of Vulcan 2000 14: The Holy Terror 2000 15: The Mutant Phase 2001 16: Storm Warning 2001 18: The Stones of Venice 2002 28: The Chimes of Midnight 2002 30: Seasons of Fear 2002 31: Embrace the Darkness 2002 35: ...Ish 2002 39: ...Bang-Bang-A-Boom!
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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