Doctor Who In America/Worldwide.

The Runaway Bride. Synopsis and Verdict by Robin Pierce.

SYNOPSIS

Mere moments after the tearful farewell between the Doctor and Rose, a woman dressed in full bridal gown appears in the TARDIS. Who is she? How’d she get there?

One thing’s for certain, she’s not to be messed with, and slaps the Doctor across the face several times. She wants to get to her wedding, and at first thinks this is a rival’s vengeful way of spoiling her big day. She tries to storm out of the TARDIS and stops at the door, looking out at the stars cape beyond. When the Doctor tries to reason with her, he finds that:

A) Frustrated brides, teleported from the aisle are notoriously hard to reason with. B) She’s not particularly receptive to the Doctor’s admission that he’s an alien. In fact she keeps referring to him as a Martian.

The Pilot Fish, those robotic Santas with the lethal brass instruments are back, in what must be a Christmas tradition, along with the killer Christmas trees (this time they’re loaded with explosive baubles). As ever the Pilot Fish are tagging along like the scavengers that they are. They’re not the real threat.

So why IS there a bride aboard the TARDIS?????

She’s an ordinary human being, as the Doctor ascertains with his sonic screwdriver before the first of two hearty slaps is delivered by Donna (the bride) "Stop buzzing me”!!!! She was about to get married to a work colleague, she was a temp in an office...he was head of human resources. He made her some coffee every day, romance blossomed. To cut to the chase - the coffee was loaded with the same type of energy found in the TARDIS; hence she was irresistibly drawn to it. The company both were working for was owned by......Torchwood. Now, the energy marks her as a target for a particularly creepy looking alien threat...The Empress Raccnoss. A spectacular half human half spider being who was there when the earth was formed (in fact they FORMED the Earth. There’s a large ship full of them buried in the centre of the planet she wants to free then and then it’s feeding time.

Explosions, flooding, a 4000 mile deep hole and betrayal all form a huge conclusion to a stunning episode. Delivering Donna home, The Doctor asks her to join him. Sadly she declines, but I personally wouldn’t rule out seeing her again. Her last words as the TARDIS dematerializes are "Find someone...won’t you?”

As the credits roll, we’re given a HUGE teaser in the form of very short clips from the upcoming season. Various chases, Shakespeare, the large head with the secret, the Doctor lunging while shouting "NOOOOOOOO" we see the new companion, Martha, what seems to he a herd of stampeding bipedal Rhinos, a quick close up of what MIGHT have been a Sontarian costume (I may be wrong, but that’s what came to mind) and best of all.....the last clip......gliding menacingly toward the camera an all his glory....THE BLACK DALEK.  

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN?

The Doctor is still deeply affected by his loss of Rose. There’s a touching flashback to her during a scene at the church. Hilariously, almost anything can be solved with a sonic screwdriver. Torchwood may not be as clear cut good guys as we thought...still haven forgotten the way they blasted the retreating invasion last Christmas. Speaking of which, the whole human race seems in denial that ever happened...nobody remembers the battle between the Daleks & Cybermen either, despite the Doctor mentioning it. It seems that as a race we have a finely honed selective memory.

THE VERDICT

Stunning. Just stunning. Unfortunately, for me, it highlights how far off the mark Torchwood has strayed lately.

They got everything in the right balance. There was still residual sadness at the loss of Rose. There was a lot of humor, the f/x was worthy of a feature film. Of particular note was a high speed car chase involving a taxi on a motorway chased by the TARDIS, gliding alongside - with the excellent touch of Bond type music in the background, adding to the whole surreal good natured silliness of the scene. The Empress was easily the best looking Who alien ever...bar none.

Donna was played by Catherine Tate, a British comedienne who played the part to the hilt. She had scenes that were both hilariously grounded in reality (well how would YOU react to her circumstances?) She also played the drama at her betrayal well. I think she would’ve made an excellent companion and as I’ve mentioned I’d be surprised if the Doctor doesn’t meet her again at some point.

However what the producers have done, ingeniously, is to fill in the gap between Rose & Martha with a one-off standalone companion so that Billie Piper’s act now won’t be as hard a one to follow and we can perhaps accept Martha a little easier having seen this episode.

All in all, I have to admit that I liked "The Runaway Bride" much more than I enjoyed last year’s "Christmas Invasion"...maybe because I had yet to be convinced that Tennant would be a good Doctor compared with Christopher Ecclestone, whose incarnation I really enjoyed. In fact, I re-watched "The Christmas Invasion" on Christmas morning, due to the gift of a season 2 box set. I preferred it the second time around, having been converted to Tennant by now.

As for season 3.....is it just me, is my nostalgia going in to overdrive....or is there some thing undeniably cool about The Black Dalek?????

Love & Monsters
                         Review by Jonah M Salih

This episode is by far the silliest of the new series to date. From the infamous Scooby Doo style chase in the introduction to the sheer crassness of the fan designed monster, this one is brimming with lunacy. The simplistic plot is really just a platform to tell the story of Elton, our lead character. After the introduction credits, it is quickly established that the entire story is either being taped by Elton or coming from his point of view.

One of the early sequences which I thought was fascinating shows how events from previous stories occurred from Elton's point of view; as we see firsthand how the shop window dummies from Rose or the Sycorax ship from The Christmas Invasion affected Elton's life. It certainly grounds the series in a more human perspective to see that the world really does have to deal with the consequences of all these seemingly countless alien invasions with which the Doctor must continually deal. This sequence, like most of the episode, is experimental to say the least, as such a thing has never been done before in Doctor Who. And indeed it can be said about much of this story that it is an experiment on many levels. One that should be taken in the utmost of levity.

The basic plot details how Elton and a group of disparate individuals, all sharing a common interest in the Doctor, come together and become friends. These "Who fans" so to speak, eventually learn that there is one other thing for which they all share a common passion: music.  Yes, that's right, music. L.I.N.D.A., as their club is so initially dubbed,  starts out as things do innocently enough and in the best of spirits but eventually their fledging musical attempts get thwarted by an pompous, arrogant, and mysterious man named Victor Kennedy. Under the guidance of Kennedy, L.I.N.D.A. begins to actively and methodically track down the Doctor. Acting as Kennedy's wolfhound, Elton scores big by gaining the confidence of Jackie Tyler and thus becoming one step closer to the Doctor. However, when Jackie uncovers his hidden agenda things sour very quickly for Elton, and unfortunately too, as he had just made a resolution moments earlier to begin treating Jackie with honesty.

Meanwhile, all the members of L.I.N.D.A. have been disappearing one by one.  It's as if the show is making fun of all the countless episodes of the past where the cast is picked apart piecemeal by some unknown threat. Shouldn't it be obvious to everyone, considering that this Kennedy character is the last to have contact with each missing person?  Coincidences anyone? The self-mockery is even apparent in the goofiness of the incidental music that plays while Kennedy quite pointedly singles out his next victim right in front of the whole group, like a teacher asking to see a recalcitrant student after class. As a final touch, nobody voices any suspicion as the hapless victim's screams are heard in the background while Kennedy is left alone with his quarry. Does this story dare to poke fun at it's own past prototypical plots, at the countless groups of dense, oblivious people trapped in some kind of base while an alien menace right under their nose and mostly obvious to the viewer slowly makes mincemeat out of them one by one? And of course, only the Doctor is wise enough, smart enough, brave enough to see what no one else can see but yet we the audience have only been given nothing but clues about all along? Nahhh...it can't be!

Unfortunately for L.I.N.D.A. (and some would argue we the viewing audience as well!), there is no Doctor here to point out the blindingly obvious for them, and he doesn't show up to perform his proverbial saving-of-the-day until things are looking the bleakest for Elton. And only then does Elton get his much sought after closure, as he finally learns that the Doctor was not responsible for his mother's death years ago.

The silliness of this one doesn't let up until the credits roll. The last scene shows Elton with his girlfriend, who is now condemned to an existence as a face trapped in a block of concrete, and it is not done until we get a speculative reference concerning their love life. Questions have been raised about the appropriateness of such oral innuendo in a children's science fiction show.  However, the phrase: "It takes one to know one." does spring to mind.

Overall, I found that this episode was entertaining and amusing. Not only that, it contained some interesting storytelling approaches that more than justify its place among the current stock of new Doctor Who. An episode of this kind, while not among the best of stories, is a breath of fresh air amongst all the standard more traditional stories that will invariably occur over the course of a show with such a prolific history and as broad a range as Doctor Who.

The Satan Pit.  Review by Thomas Spychalski

The conclusion to one of the three two part offerings to the second series of Doctor Who does indeed shine in various ways. What it does really well is convey the menace of the Beast in the pit, the sum of all the evil that ever was in the universe trapped forever and aching for release.

The Doctor in particular is really good in this one as David Tennant shows us at the end as the Doctor puzzles out the reasons for the entire ordeal down at the bottom of the pit.

He shows just how good he can be in this kind of situation, mixing seriousness with comedy even finding time to give Satan a raspberry.

The rest of the guest cast does quite good too, form the unselfish sacrifice of Mr. Jefferson for the lives of his fellow crew, to the decision making of Captain Cross Flane when he decides its time to abandon the base.

Billie Piper shines in this one after some lower quality efforts in The Idiot’s Lantern, bravely facing a life without the Doctor, never being able to return home, to say nothing of her action in the resolution of the menace’s demise.

The plot, continued on from the last episode keeps up with the tone and overall quality of the excellent ideas of gods and devils, and the balance of light and dark that is kept within all of us. Gabriel Woolf, who once did the voice for the mighty Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars in the Tom Baker era, does a wonderful job in the lift scene confronting the regular and guest cast with their greatest fears and secrets, and should be considered one of the better voice actors in existence.

The Ood are surely a terrific creation working well both as a scary alien legion and as the friendlier servant class of the Human race. This creature is surely a triumph for the show, as well as the more pure among us who prefer our aliens to be made of foam and latex not CGI.

All in all, this is a great episode, showing yet again the depth and character development that can be given when a excellent script is given more time then the usual forty five minute time frame in which to work its magic. The show continues to be a mixture of good and bad in the second series, but as long as we get a couple episodes of this caliber a year, it is all worth while.

The Impossible Planet. Review by Thomas Spychalski.

Much like last week with The Idiot’s Lantern, this week’s installment transported me into Doctor Who’s past, but with much better results.

The Doctor and Rose land inside a space base on a planet underneath a black hole. As the Doctor himself attests to in the pre-title sequence, Doctor Who has had its fair share of bases and habitat structures throughout its long history. This is a classic scenario and on this occasion the idea is used correctly and with a good plot in tow.

This script surely is in the top three so far for series two, and again shows the value of more screen time and two part stories. Much like Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, it allows us to get to know and care for the supporting cast, and allows us also to have at least one cliffhanger, an integral part of what I consider to be proper Who.

The plot itself is also very good, giving us ancient demons and black holes, twisting around other old Who clichés, and getting the most out of them.

The visuals and sets are right out of U.S. sci-fi films of the late nineties, but unlike last weeks turn to the sixties style of the The Idiot’s Lantern, it is a benefit to the programme rather than a burden.

The Ood are very well realized, whether as a passive slave race or as the underlings of an unseen controller who looks to be the Devil himself. They are almost something out the "Stars Wars" vein of alien life to me, but the fact that they look good enough to make such comparisons at all is a compliment to the effects departments of the show rather than a knock against the Ood. The only visual complaint I have is that poor Toby, the host for our major baddie, seems to have been possessed not only by the Devil, but also by the mischievous spirit of a felt tip pen.

The loss of the TARDIS, a plot device used in order to trap the Doctor and Rose on the base seemed a little contrived and the scene where the Doctor and Rose discuss mortgages of all things was bad to my senses but the rest of the episode made up for these small nit picks within the bigger picture.

Although I love the cliffhanger as a whole, it sadly means I have to wait a week to see the conclusion of this very well done installment.

The Idiot's Lantern.  Review by Thomas Spychalski.
  This week we are served a dose of fifties sci-fi horror straight out of  shows like The Twilight Zone, down to the musical score and the trench coat detectives, and even the monster itself  would not  feel out of place in a thousand old American drive-in movies.

The Idiot’s Lantern is the weakest story in series two by my estimation so far and right from the opening scene, it sets the tone for the rest of the silliness to come, with it’s motor scooters and it’s dialogue of ridiculous fifties slang, even going as far as giving the Doctor’s hair a reworking into something fit for the homage to the styles of science fiction’s past.

The wire is also homage to past monsters of the genre, even the old cliché of taking over the planet via electrical cables isn’t out of reach to this poor villain. The wire tries to show true menace and the threat posed by the number of people world wide watching the coronation is realized well enough, but the wire just seemed generic as a whole, and the creature was not given enough time on screen to really give me anything to like about it at all. Even down to the eerie U.F.O. music that accompanied her, she was a flop.

There was good to be had in the episode though, the conflict of Tommy’s family was more interesting to me than the Wire’s plot and the character of Tommy’s respectable to the point of collapse father was a great boost to the episode.

 Tommy’s speech to his dad near the end was one of the best lines of dialogue for series two so far, and was a sentiment worthy of the Doctor himself.

David tenant also had some great lines, especially during moments of anger or confrontation. The “I’m not listening” line was as well played as any shutting up either Willam Hartnell or Colin Baker ever had to do.

Rose on the other hand, had a weak showing in the episode, despite having a well meant scene with Mr. Magpie discovering the alien threat. She almost goes to the extremes of stupidity with her parting shot to Tommy’s father before she leaves the house even going so far as to do little jingly shimmer shake to get off camera.

The other thing that struck me as odd about The Idiot’s Lantern is that it almost felt and played out like a Doctor Who episode from the classic series. In fact, watch again the scene with the Doctor being interrogated by the two detectives and put in Sylvester McCoy’s voice in place of Tennant’s, you might be surprised at what you hear.   

In all not the best by any stretch and maybe perhaps the worst of series two, sitting right beside New Earth and Love & Monsters in shame. The trailer shows promise though as the Tardis seems ready to leave Earth finally, parallel or not.

Rise of the Cybermen: Review by Thomas Spychalski

Too often in the history of Doctor Who, the return of a classic villain might mean a terrible plot or uninteresting design of the sets and monsters. While this is not the case in Rise of the Cybermen, there is surely room for improvement.

The opening scenes with the Tardis are nice, as are the first shot and scenes of the Parallel London. From then on, the show just builds it all up, from Rose’s dad being alive here to the secrets of John Lumic, it build us up nicely to a great cliffhanger, plus a classic Who shot as, right after we fully see the alien menace, the show disappears from our screens till next week.

The real standouts here are the regular Who cast who must changes the roles they are used to playing, and they all do a respectable job.

Lumic however just seems to be a baby Davros, the creator of the Daleks, and is not at all that convincing as the genius behind the Cybermen. 

The story itself is pretty basic and straightforward, a departure from last weeks adventure in Girl in the Fireplace, but the fact of the new Cybermen appearing makes the little things easily forgettable, as we are transfixed by the metal giants, who have clearly had a makeover, and all for the better it seems. 

The design is quite well done, you can see a lot of influences from the Troughton era designs, and the same can be said of the voices, more like the Cybermen of Tomb or Wheel in space, and much different from their deeper voiced, more ‘emotional’ cousins from the eighties, and for that we should be thankful, if not wishing just a little for a better voice

The cliffhanger is pretty good as well, glad to see they made it seem like there really were an army of them, not just five to six of them roaming around at random. The next week promises more Cybermen, Lumic as the first Cyber Controller, and also, Mickey…..well, I’ll leave that one alone, just in case you have not seen it already.

The Girl in the Fireplace: Review by Thomas Willam Spychalski

School Reunion Review: Thomas Spychalski

With School Reunion heralding the return of K9 and Sarah Jane Smith, I’m reluctant to put a bad light on it. These were my childhood heroes, and instead I’ll begin with the bright spots that I love in the furious pace of the script.

Anthony Stewart Head was perfect in his role of Mr. Finch and his chips were just as salty as they needed to be. If there was any fan rumor that I wish I could bring true, it is the Mr. Head was playing the prominent character of the Master, instead of a possibly one and done villain. His acting and menace was fantastic, as was his performance - much like Billie Piper’s Cassandra impersonation and Pauline Collins’ Queen Elisabeth character were the brightest point in their respective episodes.

K9 also begs for an affirmative response for his all too brief appearance in the show. Again an icon of the series was treated in the right way and the sounds, voice, as well as his look made me really believe I was watching a continuation of the classic series.

Sarah Jane too, made me believe that David Tennant was once Tom Baker. The South Croydon reference relating to The Hand of Fear made me feel almost sad for Sarah’s abandonment, and made use of the drama element that made series one such a breakthrough, to say nothing of the Doctor’s speech about his extended life span.

Noel Clarke also gets kudos for some much needed laughs and being the tin dog we know he is. David Tennant also had some great lines in this story, and I wish my physics teacher just would have repeated the word physics humorously I might have passed.

However, much like New Earth and Tooth and Claw, most of School Reunion seemed rushed. Not enough time to me was spent on the motives and meat of Fitch’s plan, and the series as a whole should be given an extra fifteen minutes of screen time to get the most of the brilliant characters the series creates.

I was still surprised at the abundance of running through corridors that had to me taken over the first two episodes of series two.

Now, I’m not against running in corridors. That’s part of Doctor Who old and new and the last thing I want to do is seem ungrateful in the middle of the renaissance of the series. That said, Doctor Who’s corridor marathon works best when you don’t notice it because you’re too wrapped up in the wonderful story. The End of The World pulled this off flawlessly, much like the past classics of Earthshock and The War Games.

All in all, School Reunion was a romp through past continuity that didn’t over do the fact that this episode was likely to be preordained by the shows fans to make it into the pantheon of Doctor Who classics. It was a chance to catch up, a chance to meet old friends.

And to me is one of the best episodes that series two has to offer.

Toot and Claw Review: Jonah M Salih

What we have here is basically a werewolf story, and I would say a good one at that. Among other qualities, new series producer Russell T. Davies should be acknowledged for sticking to the basis of what made many of the classic early era Doctor Who stories entertaining for audiences of that time, and the menacing computer generated werewolf serves as an adequate modern day replacement for what used to be accomplished by lumbering actors in bulky, cumbersome costumes wearing foam rubber masks.

After a Matrix style introduction sequence where red robed monk antagonists overpower the household staff of Sir Robert's Torchwood estate, our story begins in the TARDIS with Rose and the Doctor doing the obligatory laps around the console listening to Ian Dury and the Blockheads' 1979 hit "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick".  The Doctor highlights one of the songs lyrics "It's good to be a lunatic!" as a subtle foreshadowing of the lunar induced madness that is to follow. 

Naturally, the Doctor and Rose are 1000 years off and immediately drawn into the company of none other than Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Empress of India and Defender of the Faith. A nice nod to the old show occurs with the Doctor, upon realizing he is in Scotland, taking on the identity James McCrimmon, one of his former traveling companions. Later in the story this will come back to bite him when he is called to question for losing his Scottish accent, and the deceptive nature of his character is held in further suspect by the Queen.

Queen Victoria is played by the talented Pauline Collins who had previously played the supporting role of Samantha Briggs in the classic Patrick Troughton story The Faceless Ones. At that time, Collins was offered a return role on the show as the Doctor's companion but turned it down.  A particularly fine moment in her performance occurs in a poignant scene where she relates her desire for a message or contact with the great beyond from her late husband Prince Albert. On a lighter note, her character is the center of a long running joke played fully to the hilt between Rose and the Doctor. We were not amused!

Things in this story build at a nice pace with the monks who take over the Torchwood estate revealing their antagonistic nature to the Doctor in exact timing with the werewolf's transformation in the moonlight. The uneasy atmosphere of tension, which had been slowly building up to this point, is finally destroyed as the wolf attacks and the rest of the story shifts into high gear becoming a classic "run for your life!"  

A brief exchange between the Doctor and Rose where they hug and exclaim "Werewolf!" "I know!" gives away their true nature to Queen Victoria, who will later call them to account for their flippant treatment of such serious matters.

It is nice to see some other characters other than the Doctor coming up with all the ideas as Sir Robert's wife Isobel recognizes the purpose for the monk's use of mistletoe. This realization serves as a nice clue for the topic of discussion in the next scene as the Doctor and company, appreciating a momentary respite in a mistletoe reinforced room, ponder the nature of this werewolf's powers and limitations. 

Naturally, the shorter time frame of these stories bars further than the most rudimentary explanation of background information on the werewolf. No further elaboration is provided other than the idea that the wolf crashed to Earth 300 years ago near a monastery where it would then with the aid of the monks perpetuate it's life over the years going from host to host with the eventual goal of possessing the Queen to create it's "Empire of the Wolf".

Eventually the puzzle set forth by the story is solved, as the true purpose of Victoria's Koh-i-Noor diamond is revealed to be part of a weapon specifically designed for fighting the werewolf and built into Sir Robert's house by his more intellectually leaning father with the help of Queen Victoria's late husband Prince Albert. After another harrowing chase, life or death rests on the Doctor's skill of the toss.

As we can guess, the Doctor's luck in clutch situations once more proves superior and the werewolf is vanquished, yet it is revealed that Victoria may have been scratched by the werewolf in the ensuing climax.  After knighting the Doctor, Queen Victoria does an about face on him delivering a scathing appraisal of the nature of his life before banishing him from her Empire.  A fascinatingly hypocritical character, Victoria pines for a message from the beyond, yet when confronted by the very man who possesses the powers to see into the beyond, has him banished from her world.

In the end, our favorite couple returns back to the TARDIS engaged in a lively, animated conversation concerning werewolves and the Royal blood lineage. Shortly thereafter, a potentially historic moment in Doctor Who mythos follows as Queen Victoria declares the foundation of the Torchwood institute, a paranormal research and defense organization solely for the British Empire who counts the Doctor among it's enemies.

All in all a fun and entertaining story for a new generation of Doctor Who geared around a faster paced story dynamic. This tale provides a satisfying enough balance of plot exposition and action in the brief time allowed by 45 minutes.  Davies may not be a genius, but he's capable enough of understanding and successfully implementing some of the B-movie necessities that classic Doctor Who stories were able to provide in the form of visually scary monsters that send children everywhere diving for the backs of couches, while maintaining the modicum of thought provoking storytelling necessary to justify such visual excess. 

The Christmas Invasion Review: Thomas Spychalski 

With the Daleks defeated, the Doctor takes the Tardis to Christmas in Cardiff, but all is not what it seems this merry holiday, as the Sycorax have come to take over, and give us the gift of slavery.

The Christmas Invasion has the pleasure of being both the first Christmas special in the shows history, and also the first post regeneration story for the new series.

The opening pre credit sequence is just excellent, giving you a small disorientated taste of what we are in for with the new Doctor. The story moves to the fate of the Guinevere one space probe, on its mission to broadcast pictures of Mars on Christmas day, which is intercepted by an alien spacecraft.

Meanwhile the Doctor is resting in the Tyler flat, recuperating from his regeneration.

While Christmas shopping, Rose and Mickey are attacked by killer Santa’s, and after rushing home to protect the suspected target, the Doctor, and return to the flat to find a Christmas tree has been delivered, which becomes animated and attempts to kill them all.

The Doctor has a brief moment of lucidity and saves them, and before losing his consciousness again, tells them that the Santa’s are only the first wave of attackers, and ‘something’s coming.’

While this goes on, we see Harriet Jones form the series one episodes The Aliens of London and World War Three, now Prime Minister, coping with the danger presented by the alien ship, which is on a direct course for Earth. These scenes are also finely done, with a mood of movies like Independence Day, to which this special owes a lot in its plotting and ideas.

The Aliens are revealed as Sycorax, and alien race intending to gut the Earth and make humanity its slaves. When the world refuses to surrender, the Sycorax make use of a blood sample placed on board the Guinevere one, taking control of all the humans with A positive blood, making them climb to the highest place they can find, and threatening to make them jump if the world does not surrender.

This too is some excellent footage, with monuments and tall buildings the world over covered in people standing on the edge, awaiting the order to take their own lives.

The Doctor, Rose, Mickey, and Jackie meanwhile take refuge in the Tardis, with the Doctor still not able to be of any help.

Harriet Jones and a few others are taken on board the Sycorax ship, where the ultimatum is given; surrender or the A positives die.

The Sycorax are wonderful creations, warlike beings with no thought but of conquest. It is a shame they were not looked further into in the script, and much like the Doctor himself are only really present in the final part of the episode.

After Mickey tries to use the Tardis scanner, the Tardis is transported onboard the ship as well, and Rose and Mickey find themselves in the Sycorax lair, and while rushing out to save rose Mickey spills a thermos of tea.

The next fifteen minutes are a joy to see as the Doctor awakens because of the  effect of tea on his synapses, and goes into a great speech that makes you wish he would have been lucid for the whole special. The Doctor challenges the Sycorax leader to a fight for the planet, after calling the Sycorax bluff about the blood control. The Doctor wins the duel and the captives that remain are all sent back to Earth, but after arriving Harriet Jones calls upon Torchwood to destroy the Sycorax ship as they are heading back to the stars. The Doctor makes sure that Harriet Jones is no longer in charge, and then the Doctor and Rose are set to return to the stars as well.

The episode is well written, with the lack of the Doctor and the aliens the only real problem that hinders your pleasure in viewing it. That is the special at times seemed to be a mish mash of other science-fiction films, including the aforementioned Independence Day and Star Wars (Duels with swords or sword like objects and losing a hand in the deal as well.)  Despite these things (The episode is called The Christmas Invasion after all, and would call upon all the former tries at this a bit even without trying.), the episode was just wonderful and you can also at episodes end let out a sigh of relief knowing that the Doctors future is secure with David Tennant playing the Timelord.

Note: This review is a bit longer then the ones will appear here regularly, due to the kick off the new series in America.

New Earth Review: Thomas Spychalski 

The Doctor and Rose arrive on New Earth in the year five billion, and quickly arrive at the conclusion that something is not quite right…….

This episode kicks off the second series of Doctor Who, and opens with a great visual of the Futuristic skyline of New New York, with hover cars flying to and from the city. It’s a great effect, and I hope to see more of this kind of visual, as it really shows what can be done to create an effective alien environment.

Then we are reintroduced to Cassandra, last seen in the series one episode The End of the World. She is hiding in the basement of a hospital, where by chance the Doctor has also been summoned by a message on his Psychic Paper.

When we enter the hospital, not only are we shown the excellent cat nurses, a sure triumph of the visual effects department, but also a lovely, funny sequence with the hospital elevators and some rather odd disinfectant methods.

Now, this is where the episode goes into its main plot, as Rose is diverted to a meeting with Cassandra, while the Doctor discovers that the person who asked him to come is the Face of Boe, another character from The End of the world episode from last year.

Meanwhile, Rose is taken over by Cassandra, who has been hiding away in the basement of the hospital, assisted by her clone servant Chip. At this point only one thing strikes me as strange, and that is why is Cassandra watching an old film of herself on a an old time movie projector, surely this were gone by the year five billion?

From here the episode goes into a mad dash to a furious finish, as the Doctor tries to figure out why the hospital can cure almost any disease, including ones not supposed to have a cure until years into the future.

The highlight of this furious pacing is Billie Pipers performance as Rose taken over by Cassandra. The actress does an excellent job in bringing her to life, and should be applauded for her efforts.

After the Doctor discovers that the cat nuns were breeding and infecting cloned humans with every diseases to research cures, and finds out Cassandra has taken over Rose’s form, Cassandra releases the clone guinea pigs from their enclosures, and a wild chase begins, one partly reminiscent of a million old zombie flicks. Now Doctor Who’s past is steeped in stories that take their inspirations from a number of genres and mediums, but this time the plan, in my eyes, falls a bit short.

The pace of the script is the main problem, as no sooner are we reunited to Boe to he disappears till the story’s conclusion, and an interesting sub plot of the cat nuns vows and reasond for their research methods is related in just a few lines of dialogue, and the majority of the time left is spent in a wasteful, yet admittedly humorous fiesta of Cassandra’s personality jumping from Doctor to Rose and back.

After the running is finally over, we are also subjected to a somewhat dubious ending, with the Doctor mixing a ‘cocktail’ of medicines into the elevator disinfector, and passing on the cures to the clones, with an ending feel not totally unlike one of last years episodes, ‘The Doctor Dances.’

After this comes for me the real highlight of the episode, the Face of  Boe revealing that he has a message to impart to the Doctor, but not yet, and they will meet again for a third and final time.

After this, Cassandra leaves Rose’s body and into her willing servant Chip, who then begins to die, being only a half life clone. Cassandra all too quickly accepts death at this point, and is whisked away by the Tardis to see herself one last time, before dying in her own arms.

This episode showed the potential in the new Doctor and rose, as well as some interesting effects and some foreshadowing of  future on screen events in the way of the Face of Boe’s message, but, all in all, it was a very poor start in my opinion to the second series of Doctor Who, despite some truly great moments within its story line, if only it had a bit more time to explore them.