| ALIENS OF LONDON / WORLD WAR THREE by Russell T Davies |
| Story 4 Synopsis: The Doctor takes Rose home, but accidentally arrives a year late. Soon after, an alien spacecraft smashes through Big Ben before crash-landing in the Thames. Its pilot is taken to Albion Hospital. The Doctor takes the TARDIS to get there, and finds the pilot was a pig in a spacesuit. The mass panic is just a distraction to bring many top alien experts together in 10 Downing Street, where they are confronted by the Slitheen. The Doctor sends the Slitheen into confusion, but Acting PM Joseph Green claims the Doctor killed the alien experts. He saves Rose and a female MP, and they take refuge in the Cabinet Room. Green claims in a press conference that a huge alien spaceship is poised to strike, and they need access to the codes to the nuclear arsenal. The UN acceed. Mickey calls Rose, and the Doctor uses him to hijack into the Royal Navy systems, and launch a missile at 10 Downing Street. It destroys the Slitheen, whilst the Doctor and co are safe inside the Cabinet Room. The female MP emerges to speak to the press, and the Doctor tells Rose that she becomes the new PM. Mickey decides not to go with the Doctor and Rose. |
| Review:- Back on Earth in the present day - but all is far from well. Firstly Rose has been away longer than she thinks, then a spaceship crash-lands in the Thames... Soon the world is facing up to alien invasion, but the crisis at 10 Downing Street is more crucial than the identity of the pilot of the downed craft. Forces are working to bring Earth to its knees, with misdirection proving their strongest suit. Can the Doctor save the world from them? It is a long time since inter-series continuity reached this level. Arguably not since the heady heyday of UNIT have characters recurred at this level. Rose's family background is as important as hob-nobbing with the famous and important. But it does allow for some convenient tension at short notice. The initial sequence where Rose returns after a year reintroduces characters who seemed less than effective back in Rose. Now, though Jackie is still a selfish middle-aged woman, she has reasonable motives, from her concern for her lost daughter. Better still, Mickey manages to improve his status immeasurably, being a vital link in the chain of the Doctor's work. After initial conflict between them, he and the Doctor come to an accord, which is part of a general softening of the Doctor than the slightly offhand alien we first met. He apologises to the dead secretary, and is aghast when the pig is shot dead. Rose takes a bit of a back seat, and the Doctor and Jackie squabble over her, although the Doctor is more effective in leading her towards the decision to strike out on her own and rejoin him on his travels, despite Jackie's wishes. She also gets to prove she's capable during her troubles in 10 Downing St with Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North. Not that this sort of character thing would have been impossible with previous companions, but here the time has been taken to let it happen. Her final scene, with her promise of coming back in "ten seconds" is predictable, but very emotional. The Slitheen are brutal and calculating evil monsters, adept at physical violence as well as skilful planning. The use of a decoy spaceship to draw attention away from their takeover is a clever and hard way to show what they are willing to do to achieve their aims. Their plan for getting the nuclear codes is subtle, and their idea of sending an advertising signal illustrates the width of their scope. It is interesting that they are given the depth to provide a weapon against them (vinegar), and that Slitheen turns out to be a surname, not a race name. But pride arguably is their downfall. Harriet Jones is guest star of the week, as Penelope Wilton plays it straight as a faded backbencher in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is a nice touch to show that some MPs are not creepy money-sucking gits, and that just because someone is not glamorous, it does not mean they are worthless. Her simple decency in fetching the overworked secretary chap a drink of coffee is a lovely moment of character for them both. Her wisdom is knowing that vinegar was instrumental in Hannibal's success also shows her value as brains. As soon as the Doctor starts wondering where he knows her name, it's clear what her fate will be, and despite protesting she is not suitable, she goes out and talks herself into it anyway. There are problems with the story, to be fair. There has been much comment about the bodily functions gags, as the Slitheen adjust to their human shells. Since this is at least justifiable in the script, I can live with it. What I am less happy with is the resolution. With the Doctor trapped voluntarily in the Cabinet room, he uses Mickey to hack into the Royal Navy, and launch a missile at 10 Downing Street, which helpfully kills all the Slitheen, except the one which attacked Mickey & Jackie, for which a less drastic, though no less effective solution was found. Unfortunately, I cannot square this answer with the question. Perhaps I was expecting further vinegar-based inventiveness, but splatting your enemies with a missile is seriously dodgy. It also creates a sense of anti-climax, and scarcely makes it seem that the Doctor bothered at all. Overall, it was a fun story with imagination and good character ideas. But that finish really lets it down. |
| Disclaimer: I have watched this story. |