Aliens of London
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DVD NTSC
Region 1
13-episode
box set
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DVD PAL
Region 2
13-episode
box set
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DVD PAL
Region 2
3-episode volume
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(Doctor Who Story No. 164, starring Christopher Eccleston)
- written by Russell T. Davies
- directed by Keith Boak
- produced by Phil Collinson
- music by Murray Gold
- 2 episodes @ 45 minutes each
- Aliens of London
- World War Three
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Story: Rose is put in a difficult spot having
to explain her devastating disappearance to her mum
and her boyfriend Mickey. When a spacecraft crashes
through Big Ben
into the Thames, the Doctor finds it difficult to
investigate without drawing unwanted media attention to himself.
Who are these aliens? How much does the British Government
know? Will the few available backbench members of parliament
be able to handle the growing threat until the Doctor can
come to their aid?
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In-Depth Analysis Review
by Martin Izsak
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WARNING: This review contains "SPOILERS", and is intended for
those who have already seen the program. To avoid the spoilers,
read the Buyers' Guide version instead.
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As Russell T. Davies sinks his teeth into his first full-length
Doctor Who tv adventure, we finally get to see what his writing style
is truly all about. Not only is he prepared to call the main characters
on their issues, he is also keen to call the world on its issues. Bravo.
However, his story structure still leaves something to be desired in
on-screen value and plot movement.
Yet another story opens with a proper materialization for the
police box. Things are looking up, although the throbbing lights
during this are a bit unnecessary. The Doctor, Rose, and their
one-year-time-shifted relationship to the setting are introduced
clearly and with nice impact.
The blubbering and fussing that
Mrs. Tyler then dives into is not great quality television, and
Rose develops the same bizarre inability to be truthful about the
TARDIS that we saw plaguing so many David Whitaker scripts from
the 1960's. The new millienium hasn't advanced very far. Rose,
stop supporting your Mum's false assumptions already and take her
for a walk into the TARDIS!
A spaceship crashes into the Thames via Big Ben. Nicely done.
Then we have to watch the Doctor watch tv about it, while Jackie
Tyler natters on and on. Quite a poor use of screen time.
The reporters do a fairly good job of introducing the guest cast
though. (Not as good as is done in episode 1 of
"The Daemons" (story no. 59),
thanks to the jittery style of camera work here).
Mysteries mount as we increasingly wonder exactly what kind of
aliens we are dealing with in this story, and what is going
on with the British government to make their response to the
crisis so laughable. This is very nicely set-up and drawn out,
although the piglet portion seems disappointingly wierd at first,
and still leaves an unwelcome aftertaste after we learn he's just
a red herring.
The Rise of Mickey
Mickey Smith (played by Noel Clarke) then re-enters the series and
our main characters' lives. Clarke makes him incredibly warm,
lively and likeable. Eccleston's Doctor proceeds to pick on him
for no good reason, managing to make a jerk out of himself.
When Mickey takes no crap and fires back WITH good reason,
in my mind he comes out on top. By the time this two-part
story is over, Mickey has fast become my favourite character
of the new series of Doctor Who, which is no small or easy feat.
Hats off to Noel Clarke. :-)
The extra TARDIS movements and interior scenes are also excellent
at drawing supporting characters and uninitiated viewers into an
understanding of the world and staple elements of Doctor Who,
and satisfying the long-term fan. Well done.
Just when the episode seems like it might soon begin to lag,
revelations begin, and the new series makes its first real
cliffhanger unforgettable, prolonging the awe and shock-value,
and making you desperately wonder what you will see next week.
Mass Weapons of Destruction
A little bit of clever parody may be the best element of the
second episode. The aliens are less of an invading army, and
more of a family mafia, pulling the strings of governments
and inducing war for monetary gain. Russell T. Davies earns
major points with me for bringing those elements in. Nice.
However, the second episode leaves a lot to be desired in
terms of plot action. After a bit of running around being
chased by the Slitheen - not bad, but not particularly
interesting enough to last as long as it does - the Doctor
and two other most important protagonists spend their time
up past the climax of the episode confined in one room,
with nothing more heroic to do but repeatedly use a cell-phone.
Very un-sci-fi, and unsatisfying.
Meanwhile, Mickey takes over and gets to do many of the things
one might wish the Doctor were doing. Nicely, Mickey gets his
share of credit as well, and the Doctor pays his respects to him.
Jackie Tyler finally accepts enough of the truth about the situation
to give us a few good scenes during the story's aftermath, and help
the story conclude on a very emotional note.
While there are tons of really good bits in this story, somehow
it never seemed to really gel into a conflict between Doctor and
Slitheen that I wanted to invest in, or an escalation of stratagems
countering each other that gripped me. Far more effort seems to have
gone into creating short scenes to send viewers behind the sofa,
and the first episode's cliffhanger is the only one of those that
seemed interesting. Not a bad story in the end, but still not the
great Doctor Who story I had been hoping for. Better luck next time.
This story has become available on DVD:
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DVD NTSC
Region 1
13-episode box set
for the North American market:
in the U.S.
in Canada
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DVD PAL
Region 2
13-episode box set
for the U.K.
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DVD PAL
Region 2
3-episode volume
U.K. format only
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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
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Read the In-depth Analysis Review for the next story:
"Dalek"
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