The Doctor: David Tennant
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Mr Magpie: Ron Cook
The Wire: Maureen Lipman
Eddie Connelly: Jamie Foreman
Rita Connelly: Debra Gillet
Tommy Connelly: Rory Jennings
Grandma Connelly: Margaret John
Det Insp Bishop: Sam Cox
Synopsis:
The Doctor and Rose arrive in London, 1953, just as an alien entity hatches
a plot to absorb humans via television screens during Queen Elizabeth II's
Coronation.
Last year writer Mark Gatiss penned one of the best new Who episodes, The
Unquiet Dead, so my hopes were very high for his sophomore effort. Sadly, my
expectations were too high and The Idiot's Lantern never quite worked for
me. There is enough to enjoy along the way, but the emotional beats of the
story are all over the place.
The threat comes from an alien menace known as "The Wire", who wants to
absorb humans through televisions - at a time in history when 20 million
Britons will be watching Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation. It's a fun set-up
that makes the humble TV into a villain, but the execution is just
underwhelming.
Ron Cook plays Mr Magpie, an electrical goods salesman being controlled by
The Wire and selling TV's at cutdown prices to ensure maximum viewership.
Cook is a great actor and does well with the material, as does Maureen
Lipman as "The Wire" (right), taking the form of a 1950's housewife on a
black-and-white TV screen. Lipman is excellent, and the make-up to make her
look decades younger is brilliant. She's easily the best thing in the
episode, although Gatiss' writing ensures the Rose/Doctor dynamic is back on
humorous form.
David Tennant really seems to relish this episode - maybe it's his '50s
hairstyle or blue moped that sent him into high gear, but he's full of
infectious fun. The episode also marks the first time I've noticed Billie
Piper (right) actually work alongside The Doctor in tandem; less the wide-eyed
innocent dragged along for the ride, and more the partner enjoying the
experience and participating in things more actively. A scene with The
Doctor and Rose fooling their way into a household run by the tyrannical Mr
Connelly is the best example of this interesting new facet.
The Idiot's Lantern does improve as it chugs along, but it's hamstrung by
spending too much time on the dysfunctional Connelly family and less time on
its core story. At times Jamie Foreman's clichéd shouty London dad threatens
to scupper the whole show. Thankfully the family melodrama takes a backseat
after awhile, once one of the creepiest Who images is revealed -- in the
form of victims with no facial features, just a fleshy covering.
Mark Gatiss has a smattering of good ideas and character moments in The
Idiot's Lantern, but it's not really enough to elevate the episode above
average. The pacing is wrong, the threat ill-explained and the supporting
characters two-dimensional and distracting to the central story. There are
enough choice moments to make this worthwhile and sporadically entertaining,
but there's denying this is Doctor Who treading water mid-series.
NEXT WEEK: The Doctor and Rose investigate a strange planet orbiting a Black Hole.
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:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Series 1 Boxset:
Synopsis:
The Doctor and Rose arrive in London, 1953, just as an alien entity hatches
a plot to absorb humans via television screens during Queen Elizabeth II's
Coronation.
David Tennant really seems to relish this episode - maybe it's his '50s
hairstyle or blue moped that sent him into high gear, but he's full of
infectious fun. The episode also marks the first time I've noticed Billie
Piper (right) actually work alongside The Doctor in tandem; less the wide-eyed
innocent dragged along for the ride, and more the partner enjoying the
experience and participating in things more actively. A scene with The
Doctor and Rose fooling their way into a household run by the tyrannical Mr
Connelly is the best example of this interesting new facet.
