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| The Doctor has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Again. |
2 episodes: Aliens of London, World War III. Approx. 87 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: Keith Boak. Produced by: Phil Collinson.
THE PLOT
The Doctor returns Rose to her London council flat, present day... er, ish. A mix-up with the dates has him delivering her 12 months after they left rather than 12 hours, which makes Rose's homecoming more than a little awkward. Before there's much chance to try to smooth things out, something much bigger happens. An alien ship appears in the sky, smashes through Big Ben, and finally crashes in the Thames.
With the city in disarray, the streets blocked off, and the Prime Minister nowhere to be found, the government falls into the hands of an obscure Member of Parliament (David Verrey) - whose first act is to cancel the airlift of the rest of the leadership, declaring that they would "only get in the way." Meanwhile, when an alien body is pulled from the wreckage, the Doctor discovers that the alien corpse is actually an Earth pig, altered to appear alien.
The crash has been faked. But the technology is unquestionably alien. So the question, so succinctly put by Mickey, is why aliens would fake an alien crash-landing...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: I enjoyed Christopher Eccleston's giddy enthusiasm after the crash. The Doctor is excited at being there for the moment at which the human race realizes that aliens genuinely exist, and the scene in which he practically gushes to Rose about humanity "growing up" is quite a charming character beat. Another good scene comes later in Part One, when the Doctor looks over the body of the pig that has been altered to fake the alien landing and becomes quietly furious that a frightened animal has been made into "a joke." We also see some of the Doctor's less likable tendencies. His winding up of Mickey, referring to him first as "Ricky" and then as "Mickey the Idiot," is almost totally unwarranted, and probably a way of marking his territory with his relationship with Rose.
Rose: For what I think is the first time in Who's history, the show actually pauses to show that there are consequences to someone running off with the Doctor. Rose returns home to find that her choice to step into the TARDIS has had an impact on both her mother (who was horribly worried) and her boyfriend (who was questioned for her disappearance). It's a no-brainer. Of course if a young woman vanishes - which has ultimately been the case for the bulk of the Doctor's companions - there are going to be family members left to carry the burden of that, and there are going to be questions. But it's also something that's never been addressed before, something that viewers have been actively encouraged to not think about or consider. That in itself is a praiseworthy move on the part of this story and this incarnation of the series.
Mickey: Thankfully, the cartoon Mickey has been replaced by a more believable character. He does still get introduced with a pratfall, but the rest of the 2-parter gradually moves him on from that. He conducts himself very well at the story's climax, effectively saving the day. I also appreciated there being a sympathetic character who refuses to go in the TARDIS, knowing that he just isn't up to it. By the end of this story, Mickey has transitioned from a joke ino a real character, something which will pay dividends in his future appearances.
Jackie: Jackie's characterization shows the same kind of improvement as Mickey's. Her reaction to Rose's reappearance is believable: shock, relief at seeing her alive, anger that she didn't call, rage at the Doctor for taking her away. It all tracks perfectly. When she discovers the Doctor is an alien, she reacts first by running away in fear, then by calling the police out of concern for her daughter's safety. Her actions are a complication for the Doctor - but they're also rooted in reality, making her at least somewhat sympathetic this time.
THOUGHTS
To get it out of the way up-front: Yes, the farting Slitheen scenes in Part One go on too long. The flatulence does set up a genuinely eerie moment at the episode cliffhanger (the policeman's stomach gurgle) and is justified within the context of the plot. But that one scene midway through Part One, in which the Slitheen stand around farting and giggling for comedic effect, tips over into embarrassing viewing - particularly when Annette Badland exclaims, "I'm shaking my booty!"
It's far from an episode-killer, though, taking up all of about 2 minutes' screentime. Complaints that compare it to Battlefield's "BOOOOM!" are pretty much spot on, though not in the way the complainers believe. Both scenes are bungled moments that make the viewer wince. However, both scenes are over very quickly, with their impact on the overall stories greatly overstated by fandom. If you're enjoying the story, the brief bad moment is easy enough to overlook; if you're not enjoying it, chances are that one scene wasn't what ruined it for you.
Not that Aliens of London is going to go down as a series classic. It's fairly slight, and the Slitheen simply aren't very sinister. Director Keith Boak returns from Rose, and again seems uncertain as to whether he's directing a science fiction thriller or a science fiction sendup. Fortunately, this is a better overall story than the nearly-plotless Rose was, and there is a lot to enjoy. But a lot of it is overlit and overly jokey, and the balance of the comedy moments with the suspense would feel a lot more organic if surer hands than Boak's had been on the tiller.
One thing that proves to be a consistent strength within the story is Penelope Wilton's Harriet Jones. With farting aliens in fat-suits and a lot of running about and shouting (particularly in Part Two), it's refreshing to have a guest performance so grounded. The story does a very good job of elevating Harriet from a person of no importance to a person who gradually becomes comfortable with her own, newfound authority. By the time she is talking to the Doctor as "the only elected official in this room," she is sharing the stage equally with Eccleston, both performer and characer having earned that status.
As is typical of multi-part stories, the first part is noticeably better than the second. It's just a natural dramatic progression, I think. First parts are always about raising questions and establishing a threat. That's much more inherently dramatic than answering the questions and defusing the threat. World War III isn't a bad episode. But with the action almost entirely confined to Downing Street, it feels smaller than the more sprawling first part. Also, there is a sense of just a bit too much running from the Slitheen - as if there wasn't quite enough story left for a full episode, leaving around ten minutes of padding to stretch out the running time.
But the new series' first 2-parter is still very enjoyable, probably moreso than fandom often gives it credit for. A few directing glitches (from a director who fortunately would not return) and a bit of padding aside, it's decent popcorn viewing. Judged on that basis, I would rate it a success, even if it's well short of being a triumph.
Rating: 6/10.
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