Boom Town
 |
 |
 |
DVD NTSC
Region 1
13-episode
box set
|
DVD PAL
Region 2
13-episode
box set
|
DVD PAL
Region 2
3-episode volume
|
|
(Doctor Who Story No. 169, starring Christopher Eccleston)
- written by Russell T. Davies
- directed by Joe Ahearne
- produced by Phil Collinson
- music by Murray Gold
- 1 episode @ 45 minutes
|
Story: Mickey Smith meets the TARDIS crew in
Cardiff, where they are all shocked to discover that
the new mayor is none other than alien Margaret Slitheen.
Margaret has been leaving behind a staggering trail of
cover-ups in pursuit of her nuclear power-station
project. What is her real agenda? The Doctor
wrestles his conscience looking for the most appropriate
way to deal with Margaret, while Rose has to face some
difficult questions in her relationship with Mickey....
|
|
Buyers' Guide Review
by Martin Izsak
|
|
(A more in-depth analysis, containing "SPOILERS" and intended
for those who have already seen the program, can be accessed
here.)
|
This little character-piece coda to the
Aliens of London story is actually a very
nicely crafted tale. Although it isn't very ambitious in itself,
it does a very fine job of intriguing the viewers and pulling them
through each twist, turn, and revelation of the plot, and seems particularly
good at making you think you know where it's headed just before pulling
another surprise out of its hat.
Russell T. Davies has said how important he felt it was for Cardiff,
England to appear on screen, since the new Doctor Who is made there. Hmmm.
Somehow I think, with this being Doctor Who, it is rather more important
for an alien planet to appear on screen, at LEAST once or twice per season.
Yet with hardly any time left in this season, we're looking at England again
for the umpteenth time. Curiously, there now seems to be a considerable
amount of dialogue indicating that our band of time travellers has been
to some amazing alien planets, and that they will soon be off to another
one. Nice try, but not satisfying enough by a long shot. I do remember
good old days like season 18, where the Earth only featured for half
of one story - HALF - plus a little 5-minute beach cameo. The galaxy
really has become a sad and smaller place.
The train makes a nice visual arrival at the station, and we soon
learn that it has brought Mickey to the scene of the action. Sadly,
nothing of the train interior is seen, but with the train being
such an ordinary Earth vehicle, it isn't really necessary today.
Mickey soon introduces us to the rest of the story's main characters,
the TARDIS, Jack, Rose, and Big Ears, and during the ensuing banter
Mickey comes out on top and rules all. Amen.
Meanwhile, Margaret Blaine has re-established herself
for the audience. You have to wonder how a camera-shy creature like herself
could hide her way into her current position.
This is an odd situation.
So the good guys brandish their weapons - cell phones. Pathetic.
There's nothing more un-sci-fi than the latest, common place,
over-hyped, radioactive, would-you-like-a-virtual-answering-machine-with-that
cell phone. Captain Kirk's communicator was ahead of its time. The
modern-day cell phone is just over-commercialized pop-culture, and this
new series has been overusing them. Stick with the sonic screwdriver
and the psychic paper, and give K9 a guest spot, but keep the cell phone
use to a minimum, please. I'm begging you.
"I've seen you fight your enemies. Now dine with them."
Character study soon takes
over for a good portion of the episode, exploring issues and philosophy
with no holds barred. Very nice. The Doctor and Margaret get the most
intense bits for sure, but Rose and Mickey have an equally interesting
session and Jack gets to throw his two-cents in from time to time.
Mickey still still remains my favourite character in the end.
Some good acting from Billie Piper, as Rose talks
about him, makes an incredible assist in boosting his character.
I'll have to save my dissection of the conclusion for the
In-depth Analysis version along
with all the spoilers you are probably trying to avoid by sticking
to this page.
Suffice it to say that the concluding beat doesn't let the Doctor act
as heroicly as is ideal, and that has been the case
in what, 7 out of 9 stories so far this season? That ratio seems
a bit too high for a show that is still re-inventing itself.
It seems improvements still need to be made.
Also, some of the ways I thought this story might easily escalate
and improve turned out to be nothing more than my imagination, to my
disappointment.
Well, Russell T. Davies' true aims with this story may have
been less grand than I had hoped for, but he does manage to hit his target
really well, and for what this is, it's of really high quality.
I enjoyed it more on repeat viewing than I thought I would, to the extent
it may cause an upset in the season rankings. Nicely done.
Not a grand Doctor Who story, but perhaps finally a little gem.
This story has become available on DVD:
|
|
|
DVD NTSC
Region 1
13-episode box set
for the North American market:
in the U.S.
in Canada
|
DVD PAL
Region 2
13-episode box set
for the U.K.
|
DVD PAL
Region 2
3-episode volume
U.K. format only
|
Note: The 13-episode box sets contain commentaries, behind-the-scenes
featurettes, and other extras.
The 3-episode volumes only feature the plain episodes.
Comments on this article are welcome. You may contact
the author from this page:
Contact page
LYRATEK.COM
|
Read the Buyers' Guide Review for the next story:
"Bad Wolf"
|
