Dan Owen reviews

Episode 4: "Aliens of London"

Director:

Keith Boak (Holby City, The Royal, The Knock)

Screenplay:

Russell T. Davies (Bob & Rose, Casanova, Children's Ward, Cluedo, Doctor Who, The Grand, The House of Windsor, Linda Green, Mine All Mine, Queer as Folk, Revelations, The Second Coming, Springhill, Touching Evil)

Cast:

The Doctor: Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Mickey Smith: Noel Clarke
Jackie Tyler: Camille Cadouri
Margaret Blaine: Annette Badland
Harriet Jones: Penelope Wilton
General Asquith: Rupert Vansittart
Sgt. Price: Morgan Hopkins
Oliver Charles: Eric Potts
Joseph Green: David Verrey
Assistant Commissioner Strickland: Steven Speirs
Dr. Sato: Naoko Mori
Indra Ganesh: Navin Chowdhry
Chinese Man: Basil Chung
Chinese Woman: Fiesta Mei Ling
Himself: Andrew Marr
Reporter: Jack Tarlton
Reporter: Lachele Carl
Alien: Jimmy Vee

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...

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Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.