My Review of Torchwood's 3x03: "Children Of Earth: Day Three"

Written by Russell T. Davies And James Moran
Directed by Euros Lyn

Prime Minister: “John Frobisher is a good man and better than that, he’s expendable. So, what do you say?”

Now we’re smack bang in the middle of this saga, here’s an episode that it a lot more talkative than it arguably should be. It’s also the very episode where the 456 have finally descended on the Earth and hey, it’s about time.

Things opened up with Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Rhys breaking into an old storage facility and making it into their new home. It’ll never be the Hub but with some sophisticated technology and some new staff members (yeah, this is where Rhys and Lois should fit in), I’m sure wonders could be done with the place.

Of course the domestic did get briefly soured when Rhys realised that he was the last to know about his wife’s pregnancy. Geez, Jack, you couldn’t keep one simple thing under your hat.

Thankfully though this isn’t something that boils over the episode as Gwen decided to use their criminal status for their own gain. In other words, someone has clearly been watching too much of Hustle in their spare time. However with the team staging scraps, being waiters and casual conversationalists, it’s no wonder they’re easy to score some finance and disposable technology to their advantage.

Ianto actually outdid himself by getting everyone else a spare change of clothing as well. Clearly the gay gene for snappy dressing is pretty existence within Ianto but with very little time before the 456 descended on Earth, was now the best time to ask for a shag?

Yeah, his little scene with Jack is cute; even if Rhys and beans nix the very thing (I guess we should be grateful for the fully exposed John Barrowman in the previous episode though). Also with two episodes left, I am sure that Jack and Ianto will get some respective time alone.

I’m glad the writers addressed Ianto asking Jack about whether or not he’s gonna be always lucky resurrection wise. The Doctor’s fixed point spiel from “Utopia” raised its head yet again. Still even Jack must wonder himself if there is a genuine limit to his immortality.

Questioning Jack’s immortality also had Johnson wondering whether or not if Alice and Steven had the same ability to boot. I have to wonder it myself but I really don’t know if I want to see Johnson given the opportunity to test it out on both Alice and Steven.

I knew from the promos that Alice would wind up being put in harm’s way. She was concerned for Jack and calling the police about him was the wrong thing to do on her part. To give her credit though, she was smart to try to escape from Johnson’s henchmen and she nearly succeeded as well.

Johnson’s ruthlessness really does seem to be going up each episode. The sheer willingness to harm Steven without a second thought is quite disturbing, even in light of the horrible things that she’s done so far. I kind of hope that her lack of morals is something that is retained throughout the next two episodes. In order words, do not redeem her.

Besides, I think a redemption arc might be something lined for Frobisher if by some miracle he does actually survive this whole debacle. As soon as the skies opened up and the 456 arrived in Thames House in that tank, it would then make sense that he’d have to be the one to interact with them.

Frobisher himself even seemed to have an awareness that the Prime Minister was setting him up for a fall. He didn’t even fight it when he was told that he was to be diplomatic ambassador for the species. If I were Frobisher, I would definitely be bricking it at this point.

The 456’s arrival isn’t the best thing from this episode. I was really hoping that at this point, we’d see the alien race in its menacing glory but I did find the interactions with Frobisher interesting. It agreed to all of Frobisher’s terms with seeming ease, including denying all knowledge to their previous visit on Earth.

Even during the last meeting with Lois and Bridget amongst others, it agreed to more conditions. However there was no way that this race was going to be that agreeable. Something had to give and the 456 demand a tenth of the kids was a very bad sign. Frobisher tried to stall giving a proper answer. I don’t know why because if the 456 want the kids that badly, they’re gonna take them anyway, regardless of what answer that they’re given.

The shocker of the episode was the reveal of Jack’s involvement with the race. Clem freaked out when he saw Jack and I would too knowing that Jack sent a group of kids as gifts to the 456. It explained too neatly why Frobisher wanted him out of the way. Frobisher even used having Alice and Steven in containment as a means of getting Jack to back off.

Why would Jack hand over the kids to the 456? Was this something in his pre-Doctor or post-Doctor life? Or was it like “Small Worlds” with Jasmine where once again, he had no choice in the matter? Either way, it really is one skeleton out of the closet after another with Jack.

Speaking of skeletons, Lois definitely has a good mark for secrecy. Any time she could’ve corrected Bridget about her relationship with Frobisher but she didn’t. It was probably easier to let Bridget believe that she was sleeping with Frobisher in order to get onto Floor 13.

The strong point with Lois is her reservations about Torchwood. They’ve got their own dodgy history and while it was obvious that she would eventually use the contacts that Gwen gave her, I suppose they had to tease out just a little more. Just two more episodes Lois and you could have a new job, provided you don’t get killed or arrested for treason.

Andy also popped up in this episode again but while Rhiannon and Johnny got to look after kids and Alice had a standoff with Johnson, all Andy had to do was get Gwen to Clem. I’m sort of disappointed that he hasn’t played a bigger part in this storyline. Maybe he will by Friday. One can hope.

Also in “Children Of Earth: Day Three”

Trinity Wells has completed the trifecta by finally appearing on this show. She’s been in various episodes of Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Johnny: “Life goes on.”
Rhiannon: “Yeah, with you making a profit.”

Rhiannon had to find out through her neighbour Max that Ianto was still alive. Nice to know, she’s got good neighbours.

Lois (to Gwen): “I helped you once and that’s enough. If anyone else finds out, that’s treason. Literally treason.”

Lois (re words): “You can see that in your eyes?”
Gwen: “It’s good, isn’t it?”

The contacts from “Reset” made their return. Unlike Gwen and Rhys, I’m not entirely convinced that Ianto has gotten to have fun with them.

Captain Jack: “I’m a fixed point in time and space, that’s what The Doctor said. I think that means forever.”

Johnson (re Alice/Steven): “Could be useful. What should we do?”
Frobisher: “Bring them in.”
Johnson: “Just the answer I wanted.”

We learned in this episode that Alice’s last name was Carter, went into protection in 1977, had parents James and Mary Sangster though her biological mother was Lucia Morretti who died of a heart disease in 2006. She was a former Torchwood employee.

Bridget (to Lois, re Frobisher): “You’re not the first you know. Don’t go thinking you’re the first.”

Steven: “It’s boring. I wanna see aliens.”
Alice: “Yeah, be careful what you wish for. Put some cartoons on.”

The 456’s pillar of fire looked similar to the fires in the skies when The Doctor tried to stop the Sontarans from choking the Earth.

Alice (re Steven): “If you harm him, I will kill you.”
Johnson: “Understood. And the knife. Certainly your father’s daughter, I’ll give you that.”

456: “You call us 456.”
Frobisher: “Yes.”
456: “Then that’s our name.”

Have we gotten a name for the Prime Minister in this? I know in the book, “Beautiful Chaos” there’s one called Aubrey Fairchild, so is that who he is. Also how come none of the government types have expressed fears about The Doctor interfering?

Gwen (to Clem): “Alright, let’s have a nice cup of tea and a hot dog. Do you like hot dogs? I bloody love them.”

Captain Jack (re 456): “Frobisher, tell me is it them? Have they come back?”
Frobisher: “Yes.”

This is the only episode of Torchwood so far to have a co-writing credit. James Moran wrote “Sleeper” and Doctor Who’s “The Fires Of Pompeii” last season.

Clem: “Who’s the queer?”
Ianto: “Oi, it’s not 1965 anymore.”

Gwen: “Then what were you doing there?”
Captain Jack: “I gave the kids. 1965, I gave them twelve children.”

Chronology: Still continuing from where “Children Of Earth: Day Two” left off.

The weakest of the episodes so far. “Children Of Earth: Day Three” has some superb moments but it’s a bit slow moving in places and it would nice if we didn’t have to wait so long to see what the 456 actually look like as well. However there are still two days left and anything could happen then.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 3x02: "Children Of Earth: Day Two"

Written by John Fay
Directed by Euros Lyn

Johnson (re Gwen): “Now do you believe she’s a terrorist?”
Andy: “She shot your wheels. What kind of terrorist shoots your wheels?”
Johnson: “A clever one.”

And we’re off with the second day of this saga. Following the Hub’s total destruction at the end of the first episode, it’s more or less confirmed that our Torchwood are alive if still in danger from the government.

Gwen herself is rounded up by some workers posing as ambulance drivers who make an unsuccessful bid to abduct and kill her. You gotta give Gwen her dues with the way she was quickly able to incapacitate them with a few swift moves. The girl literally has become an action woman within the episode.

The workers in question didn’t reveal who exactly was pursing Gwen but if working in Torchwood is anything to go by, then Gwen was smart enough to realise that whoever her attackers were would also target Rhys within the hour as well. Come on, it would’ve been a surprise if they hadn’t.

I was hoping that Andy would show up in this episode and luckily he did. Mainly his interactions were kept with Johnson and at first, he did seem eager to flirt with her. Wouldn’t bother, Andy – she would definitely eat you for breakfast and spit you out without a second thought.

Of course Andy’s role in this episode wasn’t quite as proactive as I’d hoped it would be. Instead he led Johnson to Gwen and Rhys and tried to convince the assassin that Gwen wasn’t a terrorist. Andy, the lady doesn’t care but it did make for a good line.

A terrorist might have shot at Johnson’s vehicle in a bid to blow it up. All Gwen did was shoot down the tires but still points for effectiveness have to be given out. And it also makes sure that Andy doesn’t believe that his former worker is a terrorist. Not that he would.

Gwen and Rhys trying to escape while keeping their heads low could draw some parallels to the same thing The Doctor, Martha and Jack had to do during The Master’s reign on Earth but getting out of Cardiff to London was always going to be a tricky one.

It’s a good job for Gwen that she’s married to a man who knows his shit about haulage then. It’s not like the writers are even pretending – Rhys basically is joining up Torchwood and it was his bright idea of getting in the back of a haulage truck that got them to London in the first place. I’m also sure that within the next three days that Rhys will probably come up with some more bright ideas as well.

As for the pregnancy reveal, I think the writer picked the right moment to do. Rhys’s reaction was understandably joyous but I was worried for a second that his enthusiasm would end up getting them caught. I guess luck further fell into their favour by not doing so.

Another stroke of luck was Gwen getting through to Lois instead of Frobisher. You wouldn’t have needed Lois’s powers of perception to realise that if Gwen had talked to Frobisher, she would’ve been a dead woman. It also made total sense for Lois to go and meet up with Gwen.

Gwen’s initial frostiness with Lois was something that made sense. Gwen didn’t recognise and even Lois was confused as to why Frobisher was so determined to kill off Torchwood when they’re the good guys. Now you know how Buffy and her gang must feel in the eighth season comics.

The interesting part was seeing Lois show off her potential without even trying. I could almost telegraph that Gwen was going to end up making some comment about wanting to hire Lois as a potential employee for Torchwood. Now all Lois has to do is make it to Friday in one piece and she’ll be doing some relocating.

It was also thanks to Lois that Gwen and Rhys were able to pose as undertakers to come and collect Rupesh’s body. Okay, so it was Jack they were looking for and while Johnson eventually caught the couple, victory was indeed on Torchwood’s side for a bit.

Getting Jack back was needed for this episode. Both Gwen and Ianto knew it had to be done, both of them knew Jack would survive the blast (even if there was a flicker of doubt at some points) and both were largely separately from the episode in order to carry out their plan.

I have to give Ianto’s family some props. I wrote his brother in law, Johnny as a major dick in the previous episode and wasn’t all that sympathetic when he complained about Johnson’s men raiding the Evans household but he actually shone in this episode as well.

It was him who encouraged Rhiannon to help Ianto and it was also him and some local neighbours that caused a distraction long enough so Rhiannon could give Ianto back a laptop. Then again with spies are incompetent as the ones Frobisher sent (or was it Johnson?); maybe Johnny didn’t need to bother.

I liked that Ianto had to tell his sister about Torchwood without having to explain everything. Their relationship does seem distant but she does care about him and she certainly believed him when he told her that he was working with Jack and Gwen to fix the situation with the children as well.

The rescuing Jack part of the episode was excellent. I thought when it came to Jack’s Lazarus abilities that we had seen everything. I was wrong. In this episode we saw his body ripped to shreds, flayed and then repair itself. I was glad that we only had to see flayed Jack just once. Again, the current issue of Buffy comics I’m reading has made sure that I’ve more than had my fill of flayed guys.

Johnson really is a nasty piece of work. Attacks on Gwen and Ianto aside and her callous way of referring to Jack as a thing, she almost made The Master seem more behaved by comparison. Also she seemed more than happy to taunt Jack as she had him covered in cement. So why do I like her again? Oh, right, effective villain played by good actress. Need to keep remembering that one.

Johnson succeeds where the rest of them stay uncertain. The Prime Minister is still typically spineless while Bridget seems to retain an annoying stiff upper lip quality about her and Decker is suitably creepy.

Frobisher is the harder one to figure out though. Somewhere along with his determination to keep Torchwood out of the way is a man with a conscience. He asked more sensible questions about the 456 and given that they’re supposed to be coming tomorrow (thank you, kids), what kind of a creature can survive/breathe in a tank with so many different kinds of gasses and cyanide?

As for the gang’s reunion, it’s pretty brief but I guess after being broken out of a concrete prison, Jack is going to take a while to sort things out. Either way, there’s three more days to go. It’s just a shame that Alice didn’t get all that much to do in this episode apart from trying to call her father. Something which I think will put her in harm’s way as well.

Also in “Children Of Earth: Day Two”

The Previously On bit had some clips of the first episode of course.

Frobisher (re Torchwood): “What went wrong?”
Johnson: “They got lucky but they won’t get far.”
Frobisher: “We can’t have witnesses.”

We saw Clem outside the street screaming when he realised that the 456 were coming tomorrow. I’m surprised that he hasn’t aroused attention from Home Office.

Gwen: “What are you doing?”
Rhys: “Packing.”
Gwen: “You aren’t gonna have time to read and they can track you with that.”

Frobisher (to the Prime Minister, re the 456): “That’s what everyone is asking - when were they here before?”

Did anyone think that Gwen not shooting Johnson but her tires was slightly Doctor-esque? I’m kind of hoping that he actually shows up in this story given that we know that David Tennant will be in The Sarah Jane Adventures this year.

Frobisher (to Lois, re Captain Jack): “He told you this over the phone?”
Bridget: “He always was an arrogant sod.”

Rhiannon (re Ianto): “What’s he done? Why is he bringing this to our door?”
Johnny: “We’re the only family he’s got.”

Gwen genuinely looked like she was gonna hurl in that truck full of potatoes, even though these episodes were filmed before the actress became pregnant in real life.

Johnson (re Captain Jack): It was a bag of bits when I brought it in. Get that thing out and cuff it to the wall.”

Gwen: “When have you ever known me to be travel sick?”
Rhys: “When have you ever had to travel like this?”

Gwen and Rhys got from Cardiff to London in a very short space of time.

Rhys (re pregnancy): “This changes everything.”
Gwen: “No it doesn’t. We’re at the same creek and we need a paddle.”

Rhiannon: “What kind of civil servants are you?”
Ianto: “Unappreciated ones.”

Ianto seems to have issues with his father pushing him too hard. This is the third time this series Ianto’s mentioned his father, so are we going to see him?

Lois (to Gwen, re Torchwood): “If you’re the bad guys, why doesn’t say so on your file and if you’re the good guys, then who am I working for?”

Johnson (to Captain Jack): “I will say this. If I can’t kill you, I will contain you.”

I should’ve mentioned in my previous review that Colonel Mace was relocated to Vancouver.

Lois: “I’m a PA, this is what I do.”
Gwen: “When this is all over and you want a job, call me.”

Rhys: “We’re not gonna get away with this.”
Gwen: “You really shouldn’t be here, Rhys.”

I heard the ratings for the first episode were over 5 million viewers, which is the highest for this show and good for a summer drama. Surely a fourth season has to be on the cards?

Gwen (to Kodak): “I prefer the company of dead people.”

Chronology: The next day after “Children Of Earth: Day One”.

Not as good as the first episode but “Children Of Earth: Day Two” doesn’t show signs that this plot has difficulty in sustaining itself. Blasphemy it may be but this episode kind of benefited from the lack of Jack that we got.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 3x01: "Children Of Earth: Day One"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Euros Lyn

The Children: “We are coming, we are coming.”
Gwen: “Oh my God.”
The Children: “We are coming, we are coming.”

I guarantee one thing – a group of kids chanting ‘we are coming’ should be the very thing to make grown men weep. Torchwood’s always sort of styled itself on both The X-Files and Spooks and now that’s even more so with this excellent five part season.

My biggest peeves about the new season (aside from the fifteen month wait for it) include the fact that it’s five episodes instead of thirteen, that there are no individual episode titles and also that it’s airing for five consecutive nights.

With the last one, it’s a bit annoying from a reviewing perspective but the first five minutes almost made all of those peeves disappear. Torchwood, oh how I’ve missed you so much.

In Scotland 1965, a group of children took a fatal bus trip in the middle of the night and got blinded by aliens. One young boy didn’t seem to follow and forty four years later that was something that would prove relevant.

Gwen was the first person to spot the madness as was Rhys in his van. It’s always going to be alarming seeing virtually every single child stopping on the streets and when it was revealed that it was happening all over the world, there was a bigger cause for alarm.

Having the government of sorts involved in the alien invasion (it is an invasion, right?) was fine for me. Governments are always inept, secretive, outright danger and generally incompetent and with the likes of the Prime Minister, John Frobisher and Bridget Spears and that Colonel bloke whose name I didn’t actually get, all of them ticked the respective boxes.

The alien threat in this story is something called the 456. Not exceptionally the best name for an alien threat but I’m sure the lack of a cool name is nothing compared to the damage that they’re likely to cause within the next four episodes though.

Stopping kids in the streets is one thing but when an older man named Timothy Whites was doing the same thing, there was something of an obvious connection. He had to have been that young boy from 1965 and while it took Gwen a while for him to open up about it, I liked that I was right, even if I wasn’t in a minority there.

With all these incidents happenings, having the government declare an assassination attempt on Torchwood was mind blowing. Can I just say that I love Johnson, hard core, extremist bitch that she is? I had a soft spot for Liz May Brice on Bad Girls and I think it’s brilliant that she was cast as Johnson.

The Hub blowing was certainly a spectacular moments. Gwen managed to run away in time but Ianto was going up the lift at the time and while I don’t doubt that he’ll be alive next episode, I am worried about Jack. Yeah, he can’t die but it seems that Johnson isn’t for want of trying.

She literally had him cause that explosion in the Hub after she had gotten Rupesh to betray Jack and shoot him. I actually thought that Rupesh was going to be a new team member or a playmate for Jack/Ianto, what I’m a slasher? The episode teased it with Jack and Ianto spying on him and Gwen even trying to recruit him for Torchwood.

In the end, cute as he was, Rupesh was a plant for Johnson and when he tried to scarper, she had no problem in executing him. I suppose I shouldn’t gripe about one cute guy meeting an untimely end on the show but Torchwood wise, we are destined for some new recruits.

Back in the first season, I would’ve found it hard to imagine the idea of Rhys wanting to join Torchwood. Note that I said want rather than him being capable. Rhys might be an ordinary bloke but he’s no dummy and I wanted to high five him when he wondered if the moments when all the kids stopped were deliberate. Gwen telling him that he was brilliant however just covered it.

Rhys is potentially going to be a Torchwood employee, which means he’ll have to put up with Jack’s flirty behaviour even more so. Another person who clearly looks destined for future Torchwood employment is Lois Habiba.

I had to laugh when she told Jack that she had no idea of Torchwood’s existence because at this point, everyone is aware of them. Lois did however show a natural suspicion towards Frobisher, Decker and Bridget and she had realised too late that Torchwood were going to be put out of business.

Assuming she makes it past this season alive (and signs are good, right?), Lois could be a promising addition to the Torchwood team. For one thing, she’ll help even out the gender ratio and if she’s impervious to Jack’s flirtatiousness, then her and Rhys will have something in common too.

When alien threats weren’t dominating the proceedings, another huge strength of the season premiere was the interpersonal stuff. I kind of wished that I hadn’t read spoilers due to certain scenes but regardless of that, everything that was ‘spoiled’ for me wasn’t in the sense that they didn’t lose their impact.

Gwen’s meeting with Clement ‘Clem’ MacDonald (Timothy’s real name) not only revealed that he knew about the 456 but the reveal of her pregnancy was excellently handled. It should also tie in perfectly with Eve Myles’s real life pregnancy as well. Gwen wasn’t enthusiastic when Rhys brought up the issue of kids but as soon as she got over her initial shock she warmed to the idea of becoming a mother. Here’s hoping that surviving being nearly blown to smithereens hasn’t affected her.

As for Jack, is it really a massive shock to learn that he’s got a daughter named Alice and a grandson named Steven? Not really but again, the excellent casting continued with Cape Wrath’s Lucy Cohu cast as the daughter in question. Jack trying to pass himself off as Steven’s uncle also made a lot of sense.

What I also loved was Jack discussing the idea of telling Steven the truth about himself. It made sense for Alice to be against the idea and I certainly didn’t blame her when she objected Jack wanting to use his grandson as a means of figuring out the frequency as well in regards to the 456.

It’s funny that Ianto also had the same idea in regards to his niece, Mischa as well. Wow, family really is a dominant part of this episode. We know that Gwen and Rhys have a baby on the way, we’ve met Jack’s daughter and grandson and now we’ve met Ianto’s sister, niece, nephew and idiot brother in law.

One of the best things about this episode was addressing Jack and Ianto’s relationship. They both deeply care for each other, would sacrifice themselves for the other, certainly know how to light up a screen with a kiss in the moment of danger but the label of ‘couple’ is strange to them.

Everyone seemed to comment on them being a couple. Rupesh automatically assumed they were a couple, Gwen teased them for talking like a couple in an affectionate way and Rhiannon also didn’t give up until Ianto admitted that him and Jack were an item. However the very word was hard for both of them.

For Jack, I guess Ianto’s mortality is always going to be a factor and for Ianto, he openly admitted to his sister that it was just Jack he was into, not men. I absolutely loved Gareth David-Lloyd in that scene and I also thought that Russell T. Davies wrote something very truthful and I liked Rhiannon as well. Couldn’t however give a monkey about her idiot husband and his dumbass solutions for trying to get Ianto’s SUV back when a group of Chavs nicked it.

As for the bad guys of the episode, it’s hard to get a real feel for them. I get the feeling that Frobisher might not be as evil as he seemed (and it was him who got Bridget to blow up Torchwood) but Johnson seems ruthless to the core and the Prime Minister, Bridget and Decker also seem typically bureaucratic as well. Thankfully we’ll have more episodes to develop them then.

Also in “Children Of Earth: Day One”

The opening credits were a white background and Kai Owen was promoted to series regular.

Rupesh (re Mr Williams): “There’d have to be an autopsy but I’d say his heart gave out.”
Ianto: “Brave old heart.”

Gwen’s ‘what’s occurring?’ line will only make sense if you’ve seen Gavin And Stacy and we did have Ruth Jones in “Adrift”.

Rupesh: “You’re Torchwood.”
Captain Jack: “Never heard of them.”

Colonel (to Frobisher): “As far as we can tell, at 8.40 this morning every child in the world stopped.”

Torchwood’s elevation to BBC3 to BBC1 in three seasons is good. It also follows the Five Days/Criminal Justice trend by trying to air all the third season in a week.

Gwen (re Rupesh): “You just let him follow you?”
Ianto: “Ask about Torchwood and you get pointed to the bay.”

Captain Jack: “I hate the word, ‘couple’.”
Ianto: “Me too.”

In the build up to Season 3, we had a series of radio plays such as “Asylum”, “The Dead Line and “Golden Age” to whet our appetites.

Rupesh (re the Hub): “What’s in there?”
Gwen: “Big science fiction super base. Honestly, see you later.”

Captain Jack: “You’re working for the Home Office and you’ve never heard of Torchwood?”
Lois: “I’m new. Just started today.”

Martha was mentioned in this episode (The Doctor wasn’t though). Gwen said she was on honeymoon and there were a few allusions to “The Stolen Earth”/“Journey’s End” as well.

Prime Minister: “You never told me, I was never part of it. I never knew, is that understood?”
Frobisher: “Yes, sir. Then I assume the blank page is left to me.”

Alice (to Captain Jack): “I just can’t say it, Dad. I look at you and it never stops.”

I loved that little scene where Gwen said hello to the picture of Owen and Toshiko at the start of the episode. I also wasn’t surprised that she used alien tech to confirm her pregnancy as well.

Ianto (to Rhiannon, re Captain Jack): “It’s weird. It’s different. It’s not men, it’s him. It’s only him and I don’t know what it is.”

Gwen: “You know what I think it was – aliens?”
Clem: “There’s no such thing.”
Gwen: “Those days are long gone.”

I’m guessing the flayed body that we saw Johnson with for the next episode is Jack. Reading the Buffy comics, I think I’ve had my fill of flayed dudes.

Rupesh (re Captain Jack): “He was dead.”
Johnson: “And now he’s dead again.”

Captain Jack (re pregnancy): “Oh my God, is that? How long?”
Gwen: “Three weeks.”
Captain Jack: “That’s good, isn’t it? From where I’m standing, it looks good to me.”
Gwen: “Yeah. Bloody hell. It’s brilliant.”

The DVD for the whole third season is coming out on July 27th. BBC America airs it from July 20th-24th and there’s ComicCon with John Barrowman, David Tennant, Russell T. Davies and Euros Lyn on the 26th.

Captain Jack (to Ianto): “I’ll come back. I always do.”

Chronology: It’s hard to determine though it’s believed that Rupesh might have been watching them for a long while. He admitted to being in Cardiff for 18 months.

“Children Of Earth: Day One” certainly opened things on a high but with the distance we had to wait and the reduced number of episodes this season, we needed something big and chock full of shocks and character moments. I don’t know if the remaining four episodes will sustain the storyline but things are more than off to a good start, I’ll give you that.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dollhouse's 1x08: "Needs"

Written by Tracy Bellomo
Directed by Felix Enrique Alcala

November: “We lost Mike.”
Sierra: “We save ourselves and we do it now.”
Victor: “I’m with her.”

With that line, I have to think, ‘in more ways than one’. Last week saw the Dollhouse and other raided by a drug while this week, a certain amount of Actives sort of become half themselves in something that had to have been deliberate to begin with.

It could’ve been a coincidence having five of them just glitch all together. It might have been even easier just to let it be Caroline who knows she’s herself but devoid of her memories but would that have been as fun to watch? Highly doubtful.

The opening moment is great with Caroline in her glass bed shrieking mad. There’s no way on Earth that you could complain about a response as natural as this but ensuring that Mellie, Victor, Sierra and Mike were also in a similar predicament to Caroline as well made for an interesting episode.

Every reaction was sort of established very easily. Mike, the new Doll we meet here was paranoid, Sierra knew immediately that she was blameless; Victor made heavy allusion to prison while Caroline thought the place was corrupt. It was only Mellie/November who considered the idea of maybe the place not being so nefarious.

In some ways, this episode is quite “Tabula Rasa” (which might justify my enjoyment for it) in places. Mike’s over the top reactions definitely fused a right amount of comedy but if you’re going to try and blend in with your surroundings to get a proper feel for the place, isn’t it best to act normal?

While Tango started dithering on about her breakfast, Mike went overboard to the extent that I’m surprised Caroline didn’t give him a gentle kick under the table. By overreacting the way he did, he wounded up getting his treatment earlier than expected.

It’s kind of a shame that Mike got taken out of the mix early in the episode but in retrospect this probably worked better with Caroline/Echo, Victor, Sierra and Mellie/November all by themselves. We were gonna have to get an episode with the four of them working together and this didn’t disappoint on that level.

All four of them knocking out handlers, sneaking around to change clothes was fun and all but it felt too easy, even to the extent that I’m kind of surprised that neither Victor nor Sierra cottoned on to it given their powers of perception in this whole charade.

Adelle showed a lot of insight into knowing how Caroline was going to react to the situation. It didn’t faze her that Caroline would turn around and go back into the Dollhouse and try and free everyone else. It also probably didn’t faze her that November, Victor and Sierra had their own missions to carry out with.

Unlike some viewers, I do actually sympathise with Caroline’s plight a little and I do think her heart’s in the right place. However this episode did prove that despite her good intention, she’s like Paul in some respects – she simply doesn’t think things through.

She could’ve contacted the police or even tried to do some digging on the Dollhouse before trying to free the Actives. She might have even taken heed to Topher and Adelle trying to warn her about overwhelming the Actives in their blank states by bringing them out to the real world.

Her confrontations with both Topher and Adelle had their moments. Anyone scaring the heck out of Topher and questioning his motives is fine with me. Topher really does believe that he’s actually doing the right thing, that the Actives benefit from all this. Adelle believes it too and even stated it here more viscerally to Caroline.

Eight episodes in and we’ve had very little to support their belief of the Dollhouse being good. We’ve seen no signs that actually becoming a Doll is advantageous within the slightest. All we’ve seen are the disadvantages over and over again. This episode was no different in that respect.

Sierra in particular was definitely someone who benefits the least from the Dollhouse. Being sold into the organisation all because she wouldn’t sleep with a rich jerk? My friend won’t watch this show because he can’t get past the premise of the series. It’s moments like this where I have to agree with him.

Nolan was certainly a loathsome creature. The way he spitefully told Sierra that he would occasionally rent out as a Doll and sleep with her to get back at her for refusing sex with him beforehand creeped me out (in a way that seeing a flayed Jack Harkness couldn’t).

I’m surprised that neither Victor nor Sierra snapped the guy’s neck there and then. I certainly wouldn’t have blamed them. Then again, Sierra did vow to make him pay and here’s hoping that she gets to do so.

Sierra in her blank state seemed very in charge during the course of this episode though we did seem moments of vulnerability. I guess it would make sense that Victor’s mission would be watch her back. His attraction to her could draw parallels to Paul’s fixation/attraction on Caroline but Victor’s motives seem … purer.

I know that in the world of Joss Whedon that happy couples are doomed multiple times over (after all the only stable couple in the Buffy verse is Willow/Kennedy and they don’t generate many supporters) but you’d have to have a heart of stone not to ship Victor and Sierra.

Excellent chemistry with the actors aside, I just love how they had each other’s back within the whole episode. It would’ve been nice if we had gotten some insight into Victor’s past but now that the show is coming back for seconds, I can wait a little longer.

Also, should I be shocked that Mellie/November would have a tragic backstory? No, but maybe it’s fitting for her. Learning that her daughter, Katie was dead and coping with her grief made for a powerful moment. Isn’t it interesting that both Sierra and November (and Victor presumably) have far more engaging pasts than Caroline/Echo? Maybe that’s deliberate too.

The reveal of Claire being the one to stage the whole closure was a bit of a shocker. I guess it made sense given that her concern for the Actives is more genuine than Topher or Adelle’s or even Dominic’s. That didn’t stop Boyd however questioning her actions either.

Paul on the other hand went out of his way to try and trace a bug in his house when he wasn’t fantasising about Caroline and Mellie all at once. The end scene where Caroline left him a message should help with trying to trace the Dollhouse in the next couple of weeks.

Also in “Needs”

We saw a lot of new faces in the opening scenes, including some female handlers.

Dominic: “It's easy to become attached to your assigned active. In fact, it's necessary. But don't think of them as children. Think of them as pets.”
Claire: “Is that supposed to be funny?”

Paul’s fantasy sequences with Mellie and Caroline did end up with both of them harmed. Is his actions gonna cause Mellie’s death?

Victor: “Who the hell are you?”
Echo: “Hey, I woke up in a five star floor coffin just like you, pal.”

Woman: “Good morning! We're having banana pancakes for breakfast today.”
Tango: “I like pancakes.”
Victor: “We're all gonna die.”

New Dolls in this episode had Mike and Tango and I’m pretty sure there was one named Quebec as well.

Female Handler (to Boyd): “Like Mr Dominic said, they’re pets. Every good dog needs to be put down sometime.”

November: “I remember my life.”
Sierra: “You sure?”
November: “Yes.”

We didn’t learn November real name or surname, even when seeing Katie’s grave. Sierra’s real name is Priya.

Sierra: "What you did to me, putting me in that hell. What did I ever do to you?"
Nolan: “You said no. And nobody ever says no to me.”

Caroline (to Adelle): “Your unbearable truth lady is you’re not as important as you think you are.”

Standout music: O + S’s “Lonely Ghosts”, for its utter poignancy.

“Needs” is certainly a high point for the season but with the closure our four main Dolls received, does that automatically mean that they’ll stop glitching from now on? Probably not!

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x15: "Planet Of The Dead"

Written by Russell T. Davies And Gareth Roberts
Directed by James Strong

Christina (to everyone): “Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline! Which starts with appointing a leader.”
The Doctor: “Yes, at last, thank you, so …”
Christina: “Well, thank goodness you’ve got me! Everyone! Do exactly as I say! Inside the bus immediately.”

It’s been four months since “The Next Doctor” and now, it is really is the beginning of the end for David Tennant’s reign as The Doctor. This year might only be giving us four specials but the promotion for the first one has been every bit as widespread as if we were getting a full season.

Opening wise, things go into Mission Impossible territory, although you can obviously substitute Tom Cruise and add Nimeuh into the mix instead. There’s a nice 1000 plus cup (from King Athelstan) and Christina managed to snare the thing without barely tensing a muscle.

She even got lucky for a few seconds when the police ended up arresting some random bloke but then, McMillan arrived on the scene and he seemed determined to bag her. Okay, I know robbery’s bad and all but it did seem that early on, he had a personal reason for wanting her caught. Maybe she stole off him once upon a time.

Christina did however manage to evade capture and boarded a bus. I usually hate when taking a bus if I have a lot of change to give the bus driver almost as much as they must hate me for it. Christina however found that diamonds made for a perfect substitute when she didn’t have a tenner handy on her.

The Doctor’s introduction in the episode was predictably light. He just waved his psychic paper, chomped on an Easter egg and offered a bit to Christina. Perhaps it’s the Time Lord equivalent of foreplay but Christina was a bit too distracted to really pay any real attention to him at the time.

However with an hour’s worth of story time, Christina had the liberty of spending a decent amount of time just thinking that The Doctor was an odd little man with that tracking device of his. The Doctor can’t just take a normal bus ride, it has to be disastrous and disaster was certainly the order of the day with this particular episode.

I know a lot of people were fearing that this episode was going to turn out to be another “Midnight” but I think we can credit both Russell and Gareth for coming up with some reasonably different here. The Doctor’s little device tracked a wormhole and soon enough, everyone in the bus went through the same wormhole.

It made for a good sequence and it did generate a fantastic ‘WTF’ look on McMillan’s face but more importantly, it also meant getting UNIT on board. For those of you hoping for anything remotely involving Martha (or perhaps the Brigadier at a stretch), then you’ll be disappointed. Martha’s neither seen nor mentioned at all in this episode but we do at least have one familiar face.

Captain Erisa Mugambo from “Turn Left” resurfaced in this episode to take control of the wormhole situation from the Brixton end of things. This episode certainly gave a lot more to do than her first appearance and I have to admit that I did love her for casually dismissing McMillan. Man, was that guy annoying or what?

On a different world, The Doctor and everyone else came to a place with three suns and a savaged bus and less than three minutes before at least one of the guest cast had to actually die. The bus driver who liked Christina’s diamonds found himself reduced to bones when he tried to go back through the wormhole.

Because of The Doctor’s knowledge of well, just about everything, we at least had to have one scene where his new friends showed some mistrust. Thankfully unlike the last time he was trapped with a group of strangers, this bunch opted not to kill him but to actually trust him.

They probably would’ve followed him too but Christina thought that she would make a better leader. I have to admire her guts for dethroning The Doctor, who certainly seemed baffled by her wanting to be in charge. Christina will probably not surprise a lot of viewers as a stand in companion but she’s certainly fun for the hour.

I did like her running through a list of pointers and even for acknowledging that it would be a good idea if she allowed The Doctor to explain to everyone what exactly was happening to them. The Doctor did that but more effective however was his method of getting people to focus.

He made the effort to try and learn some simple facts about Angela, Nathan, Barclay, Lou and Carmen and then he used them to try to get them to focus on getting home rather than fearing for their lives. Perhaps he should use this method more often when in situations like this.

Another high point was him and Christina quizzing each other. I know the flirting went a bit over the top but I kind of enjoyed their sparky dynamic and Christina did evoke some reminders of the Majenta Pryce character currently travelling with The Doctor in the DWM comic strips right about now.

Christina wasn’t exactly surprised when figuring out that The Doctor knew a lot about alien stuff but his curiosity was piqued when she was able to offer Nathan and Barclay a shovel and an axe when she got them to dig the wheels of the bus out of the sand for her. Christina’s not much for getting her hands dirty at this point in the episode.

As would be companions, Christina is probably the most morally ambiguous that David Tennant’s Doctor has had to deal with. Even though The Doctor does show suspicion of her when he’s not flirting back with her, its Christina who pretty much dominates the episode and naturally enough, it’s also Christina with whom he’s captured with by the Tritovores.

As aliens go, I’m not sure what to think. When I first saw the look of them a couple of weeks, I have to admit to thinking that they looked sort of lame and it didn’t help that the press were alleging that Russell T Davies himself was comparing them to the Daleks in terms of evilness.

Of course the press were utterly wrong about that. First off all, the Tritovores do not exude menace and secondly, they’re actually harmless. The Doctor and Christina were pretty much in no danger from them and it got quickly revealed that they had come to the planet for motives that were anything but sinister.

The unfortunate part was the reveal of the sand. Apparently the actual threat in this episode – a billion swarming stingray type creatures do their lifecycle (and subsequently open up wormholes) by going to other worlds and relentless devouring in order to survive.

As villains, they might not be intentionally evil but they are obviously dangerous and I have to admit to being suitably impressed with the CGI for them. They looked and felt genuinely threatening (they even killed the Tritovores) and there was a great moment when Christina nearly got killed by one of them when she took it upon herself to nab some Anti-Gravity clamps for the bus.

The funny part about that scene was Christina actually thinking it was the diamond that The Doctor needed. Their little conversation over the comms finally had The Doctor realise that Christina was a professional thief. It was predictable that Christina had an unapologetic attitude towards her mad thieving but I think I would’ve annoyed if she hadn’t.

For a strange reason, her motives for stealing worked for the character and even myself as a viewer. She wasn’t a female Robin Hood in training and she didn’t need the cash. Essentially she’s a bored rich girl in desperate need of adventure. You didn’t need Carmen’s low level psychic abilities to tell that being with The Doctor clicked all of those buttons.

However if you’re thinking it’s The Doctor who wound up saving the day or even Christina, it really isn’t. The award for heroism really had to go to Malcolm Taylor, UNIT’s dottiest doctor and surprisingly enough, a boat load of fun. Even the threat of having his brains blown out by Erisa didn’t stop him from actually allowing the wormhole to stay open long enough for The Doctor to get everyone home.

I have to admit to having some reservations about Lee Evans but I think I enjoyed Malcolm maybe a little more than Christina. His bumbling enthusiasm, mad words to describe wavelengths all worked fairly well for me, though I can understand why The Doctor was initially overwhelmed by Malcolm.

Plus if you’re a bit of a slash bunny, I think you might have enjoyed Malcolm telling The Doctor repeatedly how much he loved him. I thought at one point Malcolm was going to actually kiss The Doctor, which might have pleased those who less enthusiastic about The Doctor/Christina kiss (which literally was blink and you’ll miss).

With the swarm creatures that did get to Earth killed, the rest of this episode neatly tied itself up. The Doctor got a standing ovation and had a nice little moment with Erisa and Christina got to steal a flying bus and evade justice, much to McMillan’s annoyance.

The Doctor rejecting Christina is something we haven’t really seen on this series but even with David Tennant and Russell T. Davies pointing it out, perhaps it does make sense for The Doctor to be travelling on his own for a bit. I like the way that his pain over losing Donna isn’t being tossed aside because I still miss the fiery temp myself.

However the best part of this episode came with Carmen’s cryptic warning. We all know that death is coming for The Doctor. We also more or less know that the person who will knock four times is more than likely to be The Master but the look on The Doctor’s face when Carmen relayed that message is enough to wipe any flaw this episode might have. Death really is coming and like The Doctor, we’ve also got to wait a while for it to show.

Also in “Planet Of The Dead”

David Tennant and Michelle Ryan’s names were both in the opening credits for this episode.

The Doctor: “I’m picking up on something very strange.”
Christina: “I know the feeling.”

This is the first episode of the new series to be filmed in High Definition. Maybe I should’ve watched this at my sister’s.

Christina: “You’re called The Doctor?”
The Doctor: “Yes I am.”
Christina: “That’s not a name, that’s a psychological condition.”

Carmen: “Something, something is coming, riding on the wind and shining.”
The Doctor: “What is it?”
Carmen: “Death. Death is coming.”

We learned that Nathan lost his job, Barclay had a girlfriend called Tina, Lou and Carmen had dinner plans and Angela was heading home. Oh and the planet was called San Helios and we saw the Scorpion Nebula.

Christina (to The Doctor): “Wait a minute; you’re the man with all the answers. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

The Doctor: “We make quite a couple.”
Christina: “We don’t make any sort of couple, thank you very much.”

This is the 200th story in the series as a whole (the bus was called 200 as well). Just make sure you exclude “Shada”, accept all of “The Trial Of A Time Lord” as one story and “Utopia”/“The Sound Of Drums”/“Last Of The Time Lords” also as one story.

Erisa (to Malcolm): “I know. We all want to meet him one day but we all know what that day will bring.”
The Doctor: “I can hear everything you’re saying.”

The Doctor: “Malcolm, you’re my new best friend.”
Malcolm: “And you’re mine too, sir.”

I noticed this was also the first episode of the new series to be scribed by two writers but then again, the next episode will also have the same feat.

The Doctor (re Tritovores): “They believe me.”
Christina: “What, simple as that?”
The Doctor: “I’ve got a very honest face and the translation’s says I’m telling the truth. Plus the face.”

Christina: “That Lordship of yours ... the Lord of where, exactly?”
The Doctor: “Of Time. I come from a race of people called Time Lords.”
Christina: “You're an alien?”
The Doctor: “Yeah but you don’t have to kiss me either.”
Christina: “You look human.”
The Doctor: “You look Time Lord.”

Also these specials are still part of the fourth season, due to their production codes.

Christina (re swarm): “Those things are gonna turn the entire Earth into a desert. So why exactly are you smiling?”
The Doctor: “The worse it gets, the more I love it.”

Christina: “How does a crystal drive a bus?”
The Doctor: “In a super clever, outer spacey kind of way. Just trust me.”

Interesting that Christina wasn’t able to understand the Tritovores after they were able to understand her. Her full name is also Lady Christina deSouza.

Christina (to The Doctor): “So, let me get this right? You need that crystal, then consider it done.”

The Doctor (re cup): “What are you doing with this?”
Christina: “Excuse me! A gentleman never goes through a lady’s possessions.”

Did we really need to see that flying bus twice? Not so pleasant reminders of “Voyage Of The Damned” And The Doctor left the TARDIS at Buckingham Palace.

Christina: “What does the crystal do?”
The Doctor: “Nothing. Don’t need the crystal.”
Christina: “I risked my life for that.”
The Doctor (re Anti-Gravity clamps): “No, you risked your life for these.”

Erisa: “Doctor, I salute you, whether you like it or not.”

Noel Clarke narrated the Doctor Who Confidential for this episode and David Tennant has done a commentary for this episode which you can listen when watching the repeat on BBC3. This episode is due for release on DVD from June 29th.

Christina: “But you were right, it’s not about money. I only steal things for the adventure and today with you; I want more days like this. I want everyday to be like this. We’re made for each other, you said so yourself. The perfect team. Why not?”
The Doctor: “People have travelled with me and I’ve lost them. Lost them all. Never again.”

Carmen: “Doctor, you take care now.”
The Doctor: “You too, chops and gravy, lovely.”
Carmen: “No, but you be careful because your song is ending, sir.”
The Doctor: “What do you mean?”
Carmen: “It is returning. It is returning through the dark and then Doctor, oh but then. He will knock four times.”

The next episode, featuring Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide will be called “The Waters Of Mars” and will air before Christmas. Did anyone notice the cloister bell music during the trailer for the episode?

Christina: “We could have been so good together.”
The Doctor: “Christina, we were.”

Chronologically, this episode was actually based in April but given that Easter was mentioned, I think everyone figured that one out.

Okay, it’s not the best of specials and it certainly could’ve felt a little bigger but “Planet Of The Dead” wouldn’t make it on a short list of awful episodes either. The hints about The Doctor’s impending death were probably a lot stronger than the story itself but the swarm were menacing and Christina worked well as the companion of the piece, even if I did prefer Jackson Lake from the previous episode.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x26: "Retreat Part 1"

Written by Jane Espenson
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Oz (re submarine): “Huh.”

After the somewhat uneven “Predators And Prey” arc and the really disappointing, “Tale Of The Vampires: The Thrill”, I think it’s fair as readers that we get something where the stakes feel like they’re being really raised. This issue is a good place to start with that.

The opening scene had Buffy and Willow disguised as a seagull and a fish in a bid to get by unnoticed. Things have definitely gotten worse if the Scoobies are reduced into go into hiding now that the public still have a massive degree of hatred for the slayer faction of the world.

There might be some amusement in Willow telling Buffy she looks a reversed mermaid on one panel but there’s a big serious threat. The world hates the slayers, slayers are being forced to hide and a fairly high tech new location is the perfect place to hide as well.

The other part is that while the last arc introduced the vilification of the slayers, all the stories were separate. It’s only here that everyone seems to be drawn together and it’s about time too. Kennedy and Satsu are in the new base along with Xander and Dawn and they’re soon joined by others.

Giles and Faith made the mistake the mistake of staying in Germany longer than they should have. I’m guessing part of their reason for prolonging their stay must’ve had something to do with helping Courtney motivate the villagers into learning how to defend themselves.

However being reduced to living underground is further evidence of how bad things have gotten for them. Faith clearly resented it and when both she and Giles came under a demon attack, she drew comparisons to them. Demons live underground, not humans.

I guess Giles was right to remind Faith that humans and their hatred for slayers were also as potent a threat as any demonic one could be. Luckily though, Giles and Faith did manage to escape their attackers before anything really bad could’ve happened to either one of them.

Andrew was then in Italy with some more slayers in an underground crypt. Needless to say, an attack on him and his group was imminent. Even more so when Warren appeared out of nowhere and tried to trick him. Some things never change.

Thankfully as annoying as Andrew might be, he has changed. He might have cared about Warren and valued their friendship at one point but finally gaining a stable moral compass and being a part of the Scoobies does mean that he can question Warren’s motives as well.

When Warren was talking about dying, I knew it had to be a trick. Warren didn’t even seem to be trying hard enough to try and dupe Andrew. Even trying to guilt the latter’s association with the slayer wasn’t much of a strategy either. Plus it didn’t help that Amy got a little overexcited and set some goat people to wreak havoc.

Battle wise, it made for a good panels seeing Andrew and his girls taking on the creatures in question but it also tied him and the slayers along with Giles and Faith both being forced to make their way back to Buffy. All roads are going to lead with that girl, aren’t they?

Even during a night of passion, Kennedy can’t get Willow to stop thinking about Buffy. Luckily Willow’s need to see Buffy had more to do with informing the blonde slayer about Giles Faith, Andrew and the surviving slayers all coming to the base.

I thought the reunion scenes were quite lovely for this issue. Andrew commenting on Dawn’s reduced size actually amused me and I loved that Buffy and Giles and Faith have seemingly settled their differences since “No Future For You Part 4”. Maybe a conversation should’ve been had but at the end of the day, I’m just glad they made up.

As for protection, it’s nice that the Scoobies are coming prepared. Willow seems to have an army of witches using telekinesis for traps and Xander also mentioned the cameras and monitors as well. However while technology and magic are good, are they really enough to keep the demons at bay?

Satsu pointed out the vast army and Faith even looked worried about the legion of monsters that Twilight has managed to accumulate. Also wouldn’t it just be timing enough that the cameras would then go down a few seconds after the Scoobies realised that they had trouble coming their way?

Having nearly all the gang ascend to the roof to see the demons coming their way was a good set up for battle. However no-one in the Scoobies should’ve sniffed at the baddies use of catapults and tanks, even if a bridge spell being dropped benefited the Scoobies.

So what exactly should a demon use in a catapult to trounce the good guys? Amy and Warren had no problems with bombs and mystical creatures to cause carnage and this lot are completely fine with using napalm grenades as their means of attack. I’ve never heard of them but damn, they’re effective.

Not only does a good chunk of the Scoobies new base get blown to bits but they are some casualties and one of Willow’s witches even gets brain fried in a nasty scene. Her body looked pretty grisly as well but with Satsu snaring one of the demons, Willow seemed too preoccupied to notice the young girl’s death.

Isn’t it interesting that the second Willow disappeared with the demon that both Giles and Faith expressed some forms of disapproval? I’m not criticising them because even I found it strange but I was weirded out by Buffy’s mute reaction, even if she was right to focus on the remaining battle in question.

Willow’s little time out with the demon though did reveal that the magic around them is how Twilight is being able to track them and send various things to try and dispense with them. Yet another addition to the ‘let’s end magic’ mantra of this season. Oh, this does not bode well for Willow.

Using the submarine to get out Scotland, the best conversation in this whole issue is the one where Buffy and Giles discuss Willow. Is Willow about to take another trip into the dark side? That whole “Time Of Your Life” four parter would suggest so and it’s discuss here.

Buffy held back telling anyone else that she had to kill Willow in the future. Giles expressed concern of Willow slipping away and Buffy found herself telling him. I loved that she told someone and I love that her and Giles are on the same page with Willow’s attitude to magic.

Relapsing is hardly an unrealistic plotline and given that Willow does have an addictive personality with magic, it makes this plot more believable as well. By using the scythe to activate so many slayers all at once, her and Buffy opened up a massive Pandora’s box and both of them are suffering the consequences for it.

However if they want to help Willow, talking to her wouldn’t go amiss seeing as I’m uncertain that trying to suppress magic, especially the same kind that is in all of the slayers as well is going to be the ultimate solution to things.

Also Oz’s reintroduction at the end was pitch perfect. I had guessed that with this arc being a five parter, he would probably appear in the last page or two, so I wasn’t disappointed when he actually did. Inevitably he’ll play a bigger role in the next four issues.

After all, he’s the person that Buffy had taken her flying submarine to see with wanting to suppress magic and his reaction to the spectacle was so within character. It’s been nine years but Oz, welcome back.

Also in “Retreat Part 1”

The main cover for this issue featured the most I’ve seen on any with Buffy, Willow, Andrew, Oz, Twilight and Warren all appearing.

Willow: “Hey look! You’re a reverse mermaid.”
Buffy: “Shut up.”

The funny thing is that Twilight might have featured on the cover but he doesn’t appear in the issue itself. Amy is also mentioned but unseen, though she helped Warren to escape.

Buffy: “Are you okay? It’s not … too much?”
Willow: “Okay, what’s up with you? You keep hovering, asking that. Why the cling?”
Kennedy: “I told you, you’re irresistible, baby.”
Buffy: “I’m just being vigilant. If we show our faces, we die here and the world has a good riddance. Best we can do right now is disappear.”
Satsu: “For how long? I mean, what are waiting for? The judgement of history?”

Faith: “I knew it was stupid, going underground. Demons live underground!”
Giles: “Well above ground, ordinary humans fear us and that could be far more dangerous.”

That flying submarine reminded me of Doctor Who’s “Voyage Of The Damned” with the Titanic ship.

Warren: “Amy is done with me. She says anyone can build bombs. She’s taking away the spell that replaced my skin, taking it away a little bit at a time. I’m in pain, I don’t have long. I wanted to see you before – I wanted to patch things up between us.”
Andrew: “Patch things up? You made me into a killer!”

Warren (re Andrew): “Amy! You didn’t let me finish tricking him.”

We got a little flashback to Jonathan, Warren and Andrew dancing as Gods from Season Seven’s “Storyteller”.

Andrew: “I bet you won’t find this too humerus.”
Goatman: “That’s a femur – ahh!”

Faith: “Seems like running away is all we do anymore.”
Giles: “Yes, but we’re out of the bunker. No more bad associations.”
Faith: “Uh-huh. A cattle car across Germany is much better.”
Giles: “At least we’re on our way to Buffy.”

Did Warren know about the First Evil using his form to manipulate Andrew? I always assumed that Amy was aware of the First Evil, given her dialogue with Kennedy in “The Killer In Me” and because of that, Warren was privy to.

Buffy: “Use your magic! Get them inside! Not the demons.”
Dawn: “Not the demons.”
Xander: “Good call.”

Andrew: “I can’t believe how much you’ve shrunk.”
Dawn: “Thanks!”

Dawn looked like she was wearing the same outfit Faith wore in “Five By Five” while Kennedy seemed a little annoyed with Willow and Faith talking.

Xander: “Siege engines … medieval tech. They think they can do this with catapults?”
Giles: “Tanks. There are also tanks.”
Willow: “Drop the bridge spell!”

Satsu: “We have a prisoner.”
Willow: “I’ll take him.”
Giles: “What’s she doing? Where did she take him?”
Faith: “No, no, no. I’m done with this kind of crap.”
Buffy: “Hey, whatever. I can’t debate battle ethics in a battle.”

I see there’s another ad for Dragon Con with this issue. I’m surprised there wasn’t one for Comic Con, seeing as Dollhouse is gonna factor into that.

Buffy: “I went to the future and Evil Willow was there and I killed her and what I’m doing now could be how she got that way. Evil. And dead.”
Giles: “I’d … I’d ask for an explanation and then express scepticism, demand to be convinced … but I don’t think we have time.”

Faith: “Hey, B., the kids are all asking. Do we know where we’re going now?”
Giles: “No.”
Buffy: “Yes. We’re going to the one guy I know who makes a living being less magic. Willow has to do one last big spell and then, that’s it. Forever.”

“Retreat Part 2” comes out on August 5th but you should check out the Dark Horse website for the three page special, “Always Darkest” if you haven’t already.

“Retreat Part 1” is one of the finest issues we’ve had in a long time. Maybe it’s because we’re drawing towards the final few arcs that things are finally being pushed forward. Oz’s return, everyone showing up together, the possibility of Willow descending into the black arts again, the world’s vocal hatred for slayers and Twilight’s army rising but either way, it’s about damn time.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x14: "The Next Doctor"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Andy Goddard

Jackson Lake (to The Doctor): “I’m The Doctor. Simply The Doctor. The one, the only and the best.”

Five and a half months since the tear jerking “Journey’s End” and a lot has happened since July 2008. First off we had to wait until September to discover the title of this episode and by the end of October; we also knew that David Tennant would be departing the series after the 2009 specials are filmed.

With a title that raises so many questions – is David Morrissey literally living up to its namesake, the episode opens on a fun note. First off all we’re in Victorian London and The Doctor gets to witness a sullen kid accusing him of being thick. Thankfully a lot more exciting stuff beyond that happens of course.

A young woman named Rosita screams for The Doctor and when he tries to help her, she sees him as a pest. It also then becomes more confusing when a confident man steps into the fray claiming to be The Doctor and together both Time Lords come to face a Cybershade.

I suppose if we weren’t going to have Cybermats, a Cybershade would have to do and they look distinctly primitive enough. They’re also pretty strong and great jumpers as both Doctors discover quick enough when being dragged up to a building by one of them trying to escape.

Showing that time period have no bearing on companions’ smartness, Rosita manages to rescue the pair of them but they’re too busy behaving like school boys to take her concerns seriously. I suppose the first case of alarm bells here is that Morrissey’s Doctor doesn’t recognise Tennant’s Doctor, despite the latter’s initial attempts to correct this error.

There are various amusing attempts from our Doctor to get this apparent Doctor to remember but we end up cutting away from that so we can actually see the Cybermen. One of my biggest hopes for this episode was that unlike “Doomsday”, the presence of the Cybermen wouldn’t be upstaged by the intrusion of another enemy or the departure of a companion.

With this episode those fears rise again given the title but I have to say, I am mostly satisfied with their treatment here. Also in terms of human allies, not only have they found someone as ruthless as Lumic but this time around, that person is both charismatic and genuinely creepy in equal measures.

Enter Mercy Hartigan, a woman so evil to the core; she might as well be Satan’s mistress. Having her largely kitted out in a fetching red dress certainly rams home the point that she’s a villain of epic proportions.

When talking to the Cyberleader, she’s casual in her tone and shows them no fear or loyalty. In fact she’s openly irritated by the Cyberleader’s very male attitude and her openly dislike men thinking they’re superior is something that is addressed throughout the entire story.

At a funeral for the unfortunate Aubrey Fairchild, Miss Hartigan causes a scene by her attire. When she defends her choice of clothing, I actually rooted for her but her evil stripes some come into formation when the Cybermen gatecrash the funeral and kill as many of the people who are there. Of course the ones who are spared are equally screwed as Mercy begins her madwoman mission for liberation.

As for The Doctors, the Morrissey one gets rid of Rosita for a bit and winds up taking the Tennant one as a companion when they break into the house of a murder victim. Without a doubt this leads to several great scenes between both David Tennant and David Morrissey, notably because our Doctor is being wary about what to reveal and the other Doctor is trying to remember where he recognises his new pal.

This also gets interrupted with the first confrontation with a Cyberman. While the fight here isn’t as intense as the one in “The Christmas Invasion”, it’s still pretty exhilarating and when our Doctor lets slip his real identity, the use of an info stamp is great in dispatching a certain foe.

More importantly, I appreciate how this episode didn’t decide to wait until the last quarter to reveal who Morrissey’s Doctor really is. Up until a few weeks ago, I was pretty convinced that he was a known charlatan who was pretending to be The Doctor in order to fill a void. Coupled with David Tennant’s imminent departure and Russell T. Davies telling all and sundry that Morrissey’s Doctor wasn’t a conman, there was a part of me that actually hoped this episode would reveal the Eleventh Doctor.

Of course the signs to the contrary were there – the broken fob watch, the hot air balloon posing as a TARDIS, the very literal screwdriver. Rosita is the only thing that really would convince you that Morrissey’s Doctor was the real deal. It’s a shame but as far as I’m concerned the reveal is genuinely satisfying.

When our Doctor is examining the other Doctor’s heart, we’re not let into the fact that he’s traced only one heartbeat and then there’s the disappearance of the mysterious Jackson Lake. With so many victims of the Cybermen, he’s the only one whose body didn’t surface and soon enough it becomes apparent as to why.

David Morrissey is revealed to be Jackson Lake and the use of info stamps do help with that process. We get to see Jackson losing his wife in the midst of an altercation with the Cybermen and Jackson himself being imprinted with the memories of The Doctor, therefore ensure that he thinks he’s The Doctor.

While I can imagine that there are going to be a fair amount of fans thinking that once again, Russell T. Davies lied to them, technically he didn’t. Yes, I know that Jackson isn’t the real deal but a conman would be someone who would be aware of posing as a certain person. Jackson doesn’t have that luxury and given what’s uncovered about his past, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to sympathise with him.

Also even if he isn’t The Doctor, David Morrissey’s performance is still excellent and Jackson does instruct Rosita to help the real Doctor when the local kids are being snatched. It’s a creepy little scene as well as rather blatant homage to the Pied Piper as The Doctor and Rosita are forced to watch the kids being snatched with the Cybershades preventing them from helping out.

It’s also amazing that we have to wait quite long into the episode before we have a proper face off with The Doctor and Mis Hartigan. Immediately it’s hatred on sight but Mercy has already established her hatred for The Doctor and even delights in trying to have him and Rosita deleted. As plans go, it fails and she has to endure a punch from Rosita.

Of course that’s not the only thing that Hartigan has to endure. Anyone who teams up with the Cybermen usually wind up being converted and nearly all the time, it’s not something they want. Even Lumic tried to wriggle his way out of it and Mercy pulls a similar stunt but fails in the process.

I made the stupid assumption earlier on of assuming the Cyberleader was the Cyberking but of course, I was wrong. Instead Mercy winds up becoming the Cyberking when she’s strapped to a chair but the delighted part is that even for someone as unbelievably ruthless as Mercy, she still has the upper hand.

Her need for emotions such as fury and passion have her destroy the Cyberleader without a moment’s hesitation and she soon revels in taking command of her new legacy. After all, she did spout off about a new Industrial Revolution and given how ambitious she is, you do have that overall sense of dread.

Aside from Mercy’s antics, there’s one more little bit of information we uncover about Jackson – he has a son called Frederick. While the information serves as no surprise, it does add to a poignancy when The Doctor rescues the boy for his new friend and there’s an excellent moment where Jackson asks what does The Doctor live for nowadays.

Given that next year is allegedly seeing him flying solo with some outsider help, it’s a good question to ask but for the time being, I’d bet the need to be the dashing hero is a good place to go. After all, Jackson certainly knew how to hype The Doctor up throughout this episode and there’s something insanely delightful in our Doctor using Jackson’s TARDIS to save the day.

So for Miss Hartigan, it’s a new revolution and given the fact that the Cyberking is a gigantic robotic ship powered by her, you would be afraid. When people refuse her, she responds by trying to crush them and when she meets up with The Doctor for the second time, she’s far from in the mood to listen to him.

If there’s one failing with this story it’s that The Doctor’s threat of taking things into his own hands doesn’t feel all that potent. I know Mercy’s emotions come back to bite her in the ass and both her and the Cybermen wind up dead but for some strange reason, the scene lacks the kind of darkness that The Doctor’s murder of the Racnoss in “The Runaway Bride” had in spades.

Of course it’s probably not helped by the fact that Jackson literally forces everyone to give The Doctor a standing ovation too. The Doctor is deserving of such one given that he managed to use a Dimension Vault to stop the Cyberking ship from wiping out everyone from below.

The last five minutes of this episode do have a bittersweet feel to them. Jackson, Rosita and Frederick are brought together as a family and for once, The Doctor actually admits that losing several companions – mostly recently Donna breaks his hearts. Plus you just gotta love Jackson for actually getting The Doctor to agree on a Christmas dinner. Only one other person was able to do that.

Also in “The Next Doctor”

This was an all male episode with both David Tennant and David Morrissey having their names in the opening credits.

Jackson Lake: “I might be in a bit of trouble.”
The Doctor: “Nothing’s changed. I’ve got you.”

The first two minutes of this episode aired on November 14th as part of Children In Need.

Jackson Lake: “You’re a very odd man.”
The Doctor: “I still am.”

Cyberleader: “Define the parameters of ‘best’.”
Miss Hartigan: “As you would say, I will operate with maximum efficiency.”

Props to Dervla Kirwan’s performance as Miss Hartigan. She was definitely one of the best femme fatales we’ve had on the series.

The Doctor: “That’s a screwdriver. How is it sonic?”
Jackson Lake: “It makes noise. Isn’t that sonic?”

Jackson Lake: “You ask a lot of questions.”
The Doctor: “I’m your companion.”

It’s great that this episode referenced the events of the void. I’m not surprised that the Dimension Vault had Dalek designs on it.

Mr Cole: “You’re disgracing this ceremony dressed like a harlot.”
Miss Hartigan: “Oh, you should know, Mr Cole.”

Priest: “What manner of men are they?”
Miss Hartigan: “Cybermen.”

Halfway through this episode it’s established that Rosita was a former prostitute. Jackson literally employed her as a companion (of the non-sexual variety) before making her his nursemaid.

Jackson Lake (to The Doctor/Rosita): “With the terrible things a Time Lord has seen, he must have bad dreams.”

The Doctor (to Jackson Lake, re hot air balloon): “You’ve never actually been up?”
Rosita: “He dreams of leaving but never does.”

There’s a deleted scene on the Season Four DVD for “Journey’s End” where the Cybermen broke into the TARDIS. Jackson’s TARDIS stood for Tethered Aerial Release, Developed In Style.

Jackson Lake: “But that’s you.”
The Doctor: “Time Lord, TARDIS, enemy of the Cybermen, the one and the only.”

Jackson Lake: “I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took.”
The Doctor: “Sorry, really I’m sorry because that’s an awful lot of luggage for one man.”

This episode aired at 6pm, which is early even for this show, though we did have several episodes of Merlin air in that time slot as well. As per usual, it was also up against Emmerdale.

Miss Hartigan (to The Doctor, re the Cybermen): “Oh but they wouldn’t hurt me. They’re my knights in shining armour. Quite literally.”

Cyberman: “You are The Doctor.”
The Doctor: “Oh yeah.”
Cybermen: “You will be deleted.”

The Cyberleader in this episode had black handlebars, a black visor and a plastic cover that exposed his brain. Miss Hartigan got gold/iron type handlebars when she became the Cyberking.

Miss Hartigan: “Thank you, Doctor. Very glad to be part of your last conversation. Now delete them.”

Miss Hartigan: “But you promised me! You said I’d never be converted.”
Cyberleader: “That was designated a lie.”

This was the first Christmas episode in which we got real snow, which is a refreshing change.

Miss Hartigan: “For the love of God, have you no pity?”
Cyberleader: “Correct.”

The Doctor: “You got your son; you got a reason to live”.
Jackson Lake: “But you haven’t? God save you, Doctor.”

Nice insert of all ten Doctors in this episode. I was sceptical of this happening so I’m glad to have been proven wrong.

Stranger: “Who the hell is that?”
Jackson Lake: “His name sir is The Doctor.”

Miss Hartigan: “What do you make of me, sir, an idiot?”
The Doctor: “No, question is what do you make of me?”
Miss Hartigan (to Cybermen, re The Doctor): “Destroy him.”
The Doctor: “You made me into this.”

There were two editions of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC3 for this episode. Another based on all Ten Doctors airs January 3rd at 5.35pm on BBC1 while Doctor Who At The Proms airs January 1st at 1.50pm on BBC1.

Jackson Lake: “You won’t stay?”
The Doctor: “Like you said, you know me.”
Jackson Lake: “I don’t think anyone does.”

The Doctor (to Jackson Lake, re his companions): “They leave because they should or because they find someone else. And some of them, some of them … forget me. I suppose in the end, they break my heart.”

This episode is released on DVD from January 19th and will feature the Confidential for the episode, the Proms Concert and “Music Of The Spheres”.

The Doctor (to Jackson Lake): “Jackson, if anyone had to be The Doctor, I’m glad it was you.”

The first of the 2009 specials has the title of “Planet Of The Dead”. Assuming that David Tennant has fully recovered, filming should start on January 19th.

“The Next Doctor” certainly continued this show’s staying power with the Christmas specials and while it won’t topple my favourite special, it does come in at a reasonable second place. Both David Tennant and David Morrissey were on fine form, the Cybermen and Miss Hartigan were excellent villains and like many viewers, I’m eagerly anticipating the imminent departure of the Tenth Doctor in next year’s series of specials.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x13: "Journey's End"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Graeme Harper

The Doctor (about his soul being revealed): “What does that mean?”
Davros: “We’ll discover that together. Our final journey because the ending approaches.”

So a week is a very long time to wait for an episode of Doctor Who. Okay so it’s the season finale and the anticipation was already there but with the totally evil ending of The Doctor regenerating, it almost felt like an eternity waiting for this episode.

All week long the BBC were keeping schtum about the ending while the press were practically announcing James Nesbitt as the new Doctor. They were fortunately wrong on that score as my hope for the regeneration to be botched ended up being the truthful one after all.

The Doctor looks like he’s about to become a new man and all of a sudden, his hand in the jar soaks up all the regeneration energy. It looks like Donna won’t be seeing a new man but her reaction along with Rose and Captain Jack’s is priceless. Rose is pleased to see that her Doctor hasn’t changed after all.

Of course while a Dalek might not be enough to change The Doctor, the Supreme Dalek decides it’s time to capture the TARDIS and when the vessel itself is powerless against Dalek transportation, things really don’t look that good. The Doctor is quick to point out that the Dalek race is virtually unstoppable so they have to surrender.

The thing about the TARDIS is that it seems to have some very funny ideas of its own. With The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack surrounded by Daleks, Donna’s trapped in the TARDIS and it refuses to let her out. As usual she thinks The Doctor’s trying to protect her but even he’s confused by what’s happening.

The Supreme Dalek on the other hand thinks The Doctor is trying to pull a fast one and decides to have the TARDIS incinerated. This is one of a few scenes where The Doctor is helpless. Despite his several altercations with the Daleks, even he will still try to appeal to them in times of need.

The Supreme Daleks takes great pleasure in seeing The Doctor beg and poor Donna is inside a TARDIS that’s literally burning up. Captain Jack also doesn’t fare well when his attack on the Daleks results in him being shot and nearly incinerated. I know Jack can’t die but that seriously made me gasp. The Doctor and Rose on the other hand are taken prisoner.

Fortunately there is luck on some fronts. For instance a Time Lock saves Gwen and Ianto from being slaughtered by Daleks. On the flipside they can’t leave the hub but at least they’re safe. As for Sarah Jane, rescue comes to her in the form of Mickey and Jackie who are an episode overdue.

There isn’t really time for the three of them to start chatting. Jackie’s main priority seems to be getting Rose back and Sarah Jane is desperate to find The Doctor. Given that Mickey and Jackie’s teleport devices are down, the only thing for them to is to be taken to the Crucible by the Daleks. Given that a few moments some Daleks were gonna wipe out Sarah Jane, they’re certainly taking a big risk.

Martha’s also got some problems of her own. With Francine fearing for her daughter’s safety, Martha realises that she might have to use the Osterhagen Key after all. Harriet was pretty animated about Martha not using it and even a woman in Germany (where Martha land after using Project Indigo) tries to stop her.

That being said it would take more than a gun from a half-hearted woman to stop Martha. We know that whatever it is, it can’t be good because even Martha doesn’t seem to like the idea of using it and it’s also interesting that she’s virtually on her own while everyone seems to have someone.

For instance, instead of burning to a crisp, Donna not only survives but a part of her manages to make another version of The Doctor from his hand. Now one David Tennant is great but two of them is really spoiling us. I’m just really happy to be right about the botched regeneration.

For the last week there has been some fun ideas of Donna being a Time Lord in secret, I even though it myself and thanks to this episode, it’s kind of true. The fusing of her and The Doctor’s hand means that both she and New Doctor are half-Time Lord and half-human. Seeing them copy each other was essential comedy but we have to wait ages before they factor properly into the scheme of things.

As for Davros, it’s been 20 years since him and The Doctor have shared the same scene with each other and their confrontation here is suitably interesting. Threatening to hurt Rose is a good way to get at The Doctor but even our hero doesn’t mind teasing Davros.

For all his huffing and puffing, Davros should be afraid of The Doctor. The man has defeated him at least five times in some way or another but Davros is too busy gloating about his latest act of destruction – the destruction of everything, except obviously himself and his monstrous creations.

We get a little tease of that when the Daleks use the energy in the Crucible to destroy all the human prisoners. Jackie manages to escape around the same time Sarah Jane and Mickey meet up with Captain Jack. It’s nice to have four of earth greatest defenders there.

With Davros in maniacal form, Julian Bleach really soars in his performance. Seeing The Doctor powerless like this is hardly new but even The Doctor seems appalled at the insanity which Davros seems to have soared to. Even The Master’s great scheme with the Toclafane is tame compared to this.

As for reunions, The Doctor and Rose should feel at home. They met in dangerous circumstances, parted as a result of them and now brought back together during them. Apart from the earlier scene in the TARDIS, they’re too busy trying to stay alive and get answers from Davros.

The other thing with Davros also is the fact that he’s a prisoner too. You wouldn’t think with the way he’s able to challenge the Supreme Dalek but it seems that he’s just a means to an end. The Daleks did have a penchant for using Davros so perhaps it’s just desserts that he’s a whipping boy for them again.

Not that Davros would ever label himself as one. He got pretty annoyed when The Doctor figured that one out but he also continued to goad The Doctor. Thanks to Dalek Caan we got some more moments where The Doctor had to squirm as well as that promise that a companion will see everlasting death.

It’s also not really good for The Doctor when Martha and Sarah Jane both attempt to bargain with Davros. It seems the Osterhagen Key can be used to destroy the Earth and to make things worse; Sarah Jane’s Warp Star is also similarly destructive. Davros should be quaking in his chair but the psycho isn’t.

Instead he uses it as a ripe opportunity to demonstrate to The Doctor the destructive side of what his companions can do. Because The Doctor may never use a gun or any weapon of mass destruction, it doesn’t stop every single companion from resorting to brute force for the greater good.

This might be enough to shut The Doctor up but in all fairness, given the chaos that the Daleks and Davros have pulled, it’s not like any of them have a real choice. I know The Doctor is responsible in some ways but in actual fact, it’s Davros who has done this. None of them want to use brute force but neither of them have a choice in the matter.

Davros and Supreme Daleks then have Martha, Captain Jack, Sarah-Jane, Mickey and Jackie transported to the cells with The Doctor and Rose. Of course the best part is that New Doctor and Donna also show up and that’s when things begin to get really interesting.

While New Doctor and Donna are getting electrocuted by Davros, it looks like everything is going to disintegrate into nothing. However because Donna has rightfully dominated this season, it’s only fair that she’s instrumental in taking Davros down and Donna certainly does it brilliantly.

Martha might have emasculated The Master last year but what Donna does with Davros and the Daleks feels even more humiliating for them. Donna basically makes the Daleks unable to kill and Mickey wastes no time in threatening to exterminate Davros. Plus there’s fun to be had with every companion pushing Daleks away.

Better still, Donna uses her Time Lord knowledge and the two Doctors to help stop the chaos that’s been created. Instead of the worlds and universes dissolving into atoms, it’s the Daleks who end up going in pieces. Supreme Dalek arrives too late and only manages to get killed himself.

As for Dalek Caan, it seems going back in time and being driven insane has given him something of a wake up call. Unlike any other Dalek, he’s disgusted with the way his race has advanced and betrays Davros. Then New Doctor does something rather rash that is enough to illicit anger from both The Doctor and Davros.

With the Crucible going up in flames and Davros virtually defeated, is this the last we’ve seen of him? Compared to every other big bad in the previous three seasons he’s had a shorter time of it but I doubt that he’s actually dead. Still I do wonder whether or not he’s vindicated in blaming The Doctor in all of the destruction that is happening.

Getting back to Gwen, Ianto, Luke and Mr Smith, all four of them are useful along with K9 in helping The Doctor, New Doctor, Donna, Rose, Martha, Captain Jack, Sarah-Jane, Mickey and Jackie in bringing the Earth back to its rightful place. Seeing them all together working the TARDIS is just a freaking delight. Now this really does feel like “The Five Doctors”.

However with the world saved it’s time to say goodbye and Christ, there are plenty to get through. The Doctor and Sarah Jane have a nice moment where she tells him he’s not alone. She also tries to explain about Luke but leaves it. Not that it matters as we’ll soon be seeing her again in two months time.

Then there’s Captain Jack, Martha and Mickey. Well Jack gets his transportation privileges taken away from him again by The Doctor but the rumours of him getting new recruits for the vacancies that Owen and Toshiko have left behind come true. Martha’s our doctor and Mickey’s the computer genius. With Martha fed up with UNIT and Mickey having nothing in the parallel universe to keep him there, I can’t wait to see these two in action in Torchwood’s third season.

Then there’s Rose’s departure. Suffice to say bringing her and Jackie back to Bad Wolf Bay isn’t what the girl wants but with New Doctor proving to be a loose cannon, The Doctor and Donna give the human-Time Lord hybrid to Rose as a parting gift. I bet there are a load of fans out there who loathe this, especially when New Doctor and Rose start kissing but I honestly don’t care. It’s a good way to write Rose out and she does get a Doctor to keep as well.

However the best departure of the bunch is Donna’s. With Catherine Tate only being contracted for this season, she pretty much goes out on a high. While Russell T. Davies might have chickened out for the second time in killing a companion for real, having Donna’s memories wiped away, even if it’s to save her is still down right evil. It feels even worse than if Davros had actually succeeded in killing her.

Both Catherine Tate and David Tennant play a blinder in the last few scenes. The Doctor doesn’t want to erase Donna’s memories but literally doesn’t have a choice and just like “Doomsday”, I made with the man tears. Donna’s been so brilliant that I will seriously miss her. I still can’t believe I actually dreaded her retuning when she hasn’t put a foot wrong all season. Also if “Doomsday” was RTD’s version of Buffy’s “Becoming Parts 1 and 2”, is “Journey’s End” his take on “The Gift”?

The Doctor’s final exchanges with her and Sylvia and Wilf are great. Sylvia finally realises that her daughter really is special even after The Doctor reminds her of it. Wilf even pities The Doctor for losing all of his friends yet again. The last scene with him brooding in the TARDIS made for a change from the way the previous finales have all ended.

Also in “Journey’s End”

This episode did what every other finale did and jumped into the opening credits. That I did expect.

Sarah Jane: “Mickey?”
Mickey: “Us Smiths have got to stick together.”

Speaking of Mickey, I was a little surprised that Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri’s names weren’t added into the opening credits. They could’ve slotted them in between Elisabeth Sladen and Billie Piper.

The Doctor: “What do you think?”
Rose: “You’re still you.”
The Doctor: “I’m still me.”
Donna (to Captain Jack): “You can hug me if you want. No, you can hug me.”

Donna: “Oi, I’m not staying behind.”
The Doctor (to Supreme Dalek): “What did you do?”

There’s a funny little moment where the Daleks in Germany actually speak German. At least they’re willing to learn the language of the people they’re going to kill.

Donna: “It’s you.”
New Doctor: “Oh yes.”
Donna: “You’re naked.”
New Doctor: “Oh yes.”

Davros: “Excellent. Even when powerless, a Time Lord is still best contained.”
The Doctor: “You still scared of me?”

Because we’ll never get The Doctor/Captain Jack snog again, I have to admit to being happy to see David Tennant briefly nude. Yay!

Donna: “Oi, watch it Space Man.”
New Doctor: “Oi, watch it Earth Girl.”

German Woman: “You will not go.”
Martha: “I’ve got no choice.”
German Woman: “I know what the key does.”

Freema Agyeman noted that Martha’s plot here was slightly similar to “Last Of The Time Lords”. Martha interacted with The Doctor and the other companions the least so she might have a valid point.

The Doctor: “Leave her alone.”
Davros: “She is mine to do as I please.”
Rose: “Then why am I still alive?”

Davros (to The Doctor/Rose): “Across the entire universe. Never stopping, never faltering, never fading. People, planets and stars will become dust and the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become nothing and the wavelength will continue breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation. This is my ultimate victory, Doctor. The destruction of reality itself.”

This is the first time that Camille Coduri got scenes with John Barrowman, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman and Elisabeth Sladen.

Captain Jack: “And who do I find, Mickey Mouse?”
Mickey: “You can talk, Captain Cheesecake.”

One of the best things about this serial was Davros remembering his encounter with Sarah Jane in “Genesis Of The Daleks”. There’s no way Russell couldn’t reference it.

Martha (to The Doctor): “Who’s that?”
Rose: “My name is Rose. Rose Tyler.”
Martha: “Oh my God, he’s found you.”

Davros: “I made the Daleks, you made this.”
The Doctor (re his companions): “They’re trying to help.”

In the parallel world, Mickey’s grandmother died and Jackie had a baby boy called Tony. Loved her teasing The Doctor after he wouldn’t let her mess with the TARDIS.

Rose: “Mum, I told you not to.”
Jackie: “I couldn’t leave you.”

The Doctor: “Donna, you can’t even change a plug.”
Donna: “Do you wanna bet, Time Boy?”

This episode clocked in at 65 minutes making it the second longest episode of the new series after “Voyage Of The Damned” of course.

Sarah Jane: “Good to see you again.”
Rose: “You too.”

The Doctor: “Davros come with me now. I promise I can save you.”
Davros: “Never forget Doctor. You did this. I name you forever. You are the destroyer of the worlds.”

We got some flashbacks to some of the deaths that The Doctor couldn’t prevent such as Jabe, Lynda, Sir Robert, Astrid, Jenny and River Song to name a few. Pity we didn’t get The Master as his ‘death’ affected The Doctor deeply.

Sarah Jane (to The Doctor): “You act like such a lonely man but you’ve got the biggest family on Earth.”

Rose: “You’ll grow old at same time as me?”
New Doctor: “Together.”

New Doctor doesn’t seem to wear a tie. In the Doctor Who Confidential, Billie Piper threw some allusions to Beauty And The Beast with this plot.

Rose (to The Doctor/New Doctor): “All right, both of you answer me this. When I last stood on this beach on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me? Go on, say it!”
The Doctor: “I said Rose Tyler.”
Rose: “Yeah and how was that sentence gonna end?”
The Doctor: “Does it need saying?”
Rose: “New Doctor, what was the end of that sentence?”

Donna: “I want to stay.”
The Doctor: “Look at me. Donna, look at me.”
Donna: “I was gonna be with you forever.”
The Doctor: “I know.”
Donna: “Rest of my life, travelling in the TARDIS. The Doctor-Donna. No. I can’t go back. Don’t make me go back. Doctor, please, please don’t make me go back.”

On the Doctor Who Confidential for this episode, there was high emotions for the departures of Catherine Tate and producer Phil Collinson.

The Doctor: “Oh Donna Noble I’m so sorry but we’ve had the best of times. The best. Goodbye.”
Donna: “No. No, No. Please. Please. No. No. Don’t. No.”

Wilf: “When it gets dark and the stars come out, I’ll look up on her behalf. I’ll look up at the stars and think of you.”
The Doctor: “Thank you.”

Breaking from tradition this year we got a brilliant trailer for the Christmas 2008 episode which is untitled for the time being.

What an absolute legend of an episode! “Journey’s End” had the unenviable task of living up to high expectations of the high standard of the previous two episodes and while there are some people who might loathe the outcomes of Rose and Donna, I thought this was actually the best finale we’ve ever had in all thirty seasons of Doctor Who. Exhilarating, tense, witty, tearful, shocking, poignant, bittersweet and overall excellent, there’s very little to really criticise. It’s also easily the best TV episode of this season and I am seriously looking forward to this year’s Christmas special and the four 2009 specials.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x12: "The Stolen Earth"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Graeme Harper

The Doctor: “But that’s impossible. The entire Time War is time locked itself.”
Davros: “And yet he succeeded. Oh it cost him his mind but imagine a single, simple Dalek succeeded where emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament don’t you think to my remarkable creations?”

After the trailers we’ve seen all week, we pretty much had a good idea as to who exactly was returning in this finale. The Doctor and Donna made the discovery of the universe being in grave danger and both of them head back to Earth.

The very interesting thing is that is that when they arrive, everything seems pretty normal. The milkman’s doing his rounds and The Doctor realises that the blonde woman Donna interacted with in a parallel world was Rose. I think the words ‘bad wolf’ more or less gave that away.

The best part however sees danger coming at an alarming speed. In New York, a recently promoted Martha and UNIT are being warned about the sky while in Cardiff, Jack, Gwen and Ianto are also busy. We also get to see Sarah Jane and Luke and that no longer corrupt Mr Smith so as reunions go, this is pretty ace.

Russell T. Davies made a promise in DWM that these appearances are more than mere cameos and to give him credit, he’s actually telling the truth. Heck, Martha’s treatment in her first two scenes is better than any of her appearances this season. Also joining the party is Rose who also returned to the present time.

With an episode called “The Stolen Earth”, it’s pretty obvious that somewhere along the lines we have to see the Earth actually being stolen and it’s done in such an audacious way. One minute The Doctor and Donna are talking in the TARDIS and the next they realise an entire planet’s been stolen.

If all this can happen in five minutes or less, then you have to imagine what else can possibly go wrong. The Earth being stolen is one thing, but it’s also in a long line of planets being taken as the episode establishes. Donna’s first reaction is to fear for the safety of Wilf and Sylvia. The Doctor’s is to go and get some answers.

With the Shadow Proclamation being so frequently mentioned this season, it was one of many pay offs this episode foists on us. Speaking on their behalf is a white woman in black clothing and acting as their foot soldiers are the Judoon.

At this rate this episode is ranking up more guest appearances in a Doctor Who story than “The Five Doctors” (ironic as I watched that last night). I like the Judoon so seeing them again is a pleasant surprise. The Doctor also doesn’t have to make too great an effort in getting them not to attack either him or Donna.

As for the Shadow Proclamation, she knows that there’s an all out war brewing. Thanks to Donna for being attentive, it’s confirmed that 27 planets have been stolen and that the thing in the centre of all these planets is a space station but while it’s obvious who is responsible for this, we’re not told straight away.

The Doctor has never been one to take orders so for the Shadow Proclamation to assume that he would comply with their demands was naivety on their part. Instead The Doctor and Donna take a look at the Medusa Cascade, that little rift in time and space and believe me, it’s a gorgeous sight to behold.

As for those responsible, are we supposed to be surprised in seeing the Daleks terrorising humanity once again? Russell clearly loves using these villains more than he should but unlike their disappointing last outing in “Daleks In Manhattan” and “Evolution Of The Daleks”, at least there’s a better plan for them.

The last time we caught a glimpse, Dalek Caan was the only surviving Dalek in existence. It’s then amazing to see them en masse without Caan to assist them but I’ll get back to that later. As for the Daleks, their instinct has always been to kill and without The Doctor, the smart thing would be to dispatch of any potential threats.

They arrive in New York and waste no time in wiping up most of UNIT. Martha gets into an argument with both Jack and General Sanchez as to whether or not she should go ahead and use Project Indigo. Jack is pretty much against it and because Sanchez comes across as a bit of a dick you end up siding with Jack.

Martha however uses it anyway. It turns out to be a teleportation device from Sontaran technology and while Jack fears she could be goner, I don’t. Okay so anyone could and will probably die in this finale but surely they wouldn’t do this early into things? Besides hasn’t Martha suffered enough this season?

Rose meanwhile is scouring the streets and pretty much doing her best Sarah Connor impression, you know if the latter wore bright clothes in battle. With Daleks blowing things up left, right and centre, Rose does everyone a favour and stops one of them from killing Sylvia and Wilf. I’ve come to love Wilf and Sylvia isn’t annoying here. Plus Rose looked pretty cool when she was doing it.

However one thing that really struck me was the realisation of the Daleks. As pointed out in Doctor Who Confidential, every companion has a personal history with them but while Rose looked glum and Martha was in disbelief, it’s both Jack and Sarah’s reactions that really hit home.

Given that being killed by the Daleks helped fuel Rose into making him immortal, Jack’s fear at hearing the word ‘exterminate’ is harrowing. Gwen and Ianto are both confused so there’s a genuine feeling of doom when Jack actually embraces the two of them. The same can also be said about Sarah Jane who breaks down and cries while holding onto Luke.

In terms of danger though, the Daleks spend most of their time rounding people up on the street and killing those who stand up to them. The companions on the other hand get their closest chance to actually interact with other thanks to another person who is trying to do the right thing.

With so many appearances confirmed, it’s still amazing how happy I was to see the return of Harriet Jones. Sure we know she was coming back and apparently it was supposed to be an agent of the Daleks but the Harriet we see here is every bit the same woman we fell in love with back in Season One.

One of the things I love is how Harriet wants to do right thing, make amends with The Doctor but still feels that she wasn’t wrong in blowing the Sycorax ship. Personally I felt The Doctor overreacted with that little incident but if Harriet needed redeeming then consider this episode her redemption ten fold.

With a little bit of computer technology Harriet hooks up Martha and Francine with Jack, Gwen and Ianto and Sarah Jane and Luke as they all try to send a signal to communicate with The Doctor and Donna. Surely this has to be fan fiction and not an actual televised scene right?

As scenes go, it’s also wonderfully delicious. You’ve got Rose feeling excluded because she’s the only one The Doctor/Donna can’t see but there’s delight in seeing Gwen and Ianto cruising The Doctor, Donna noting the hotness of Jack and even Sarah Jane is flirted with by Jack. Well Jack made my day by doing that. Plus Luke’s presence raised questions from both The Doctor and Jack.

However with all this stuff going on, isn’t it about time we talked bad guys. On one hand there are two sets of Daleks – the ones we’re used to seeing and others with two guns instead of one. There’s also a Red Dalek who is the Supreme Dalek and arrogant as hell but even they aren’t as important as two other bad guys.

The reason why we’ve got so many Daleks is due to Dalek Caan going back in time during the Time War and saving Davros from being killed. It might have been a good gesture on his part but Caan pays the price by being totally off his rocker, ripped open and chained up by the very maniac he’s saved.

After The Master last year, Davros had to come back. It was the only plausible way we could get so many Daleks and spending the last two weeks watching every story Davros has been in since 1975, I have to say his appearance in this episode is brilliant. Yes we could’ve done with some more scenes but what we got was good.

Julian Bleach is a well deserved successor to the role of Davros and plays the Dalek creator with pure menace. Not once does Davros come across as a ranting bore but more the unbridled, megalomaniac that he is. It might be 20 years since 1988’s “Remembrance Of The Daleks” but there’s no mistaking that Davros is back.

The Doctor’s struck by his return. Like The Master, Davros was supposed to be a casualty but messing with time has meant he’s back. He doesn’t really explain why he’s stolen 27 planets but he does go on about the Daleks being the supreme beings to prove that he hasn’t changed.

There’s a lot of good dialogue between The Doctor and Davros in their little scene but it’s unsurprising that The Doctor decides to head back to Earth. Davros is well aware of that and decides to send a few Daleks to welcome him home. Anyone would’ve seen that coming of course.

Once they are on Earth there are lots to be done with. Both Jack and Sarah Jane leave Gwen, Ianto and Luke to their own devices to find The Doctor and Rose gets some confidence boosting from Wilf and Sylvia. Harriet meanwhile has a deadly encounter with the Daleks and Martha basically stays put.

Once again, the very scene people might have clamoured for is The Doctor and Rose to meet again. He’s an anxious boy to see her and it’s only a twisted move that when he does reunite with Rose, a Dalek also has to appear from nowhere to shoot him. It’s a good job that Donna and Jack are also there to help.

With Gwen, Ianto and Sarah Jane all surrounded by Daleks and Davros out of sight, the last scene is the strangest one yet. Is The Doctor going to regenerate, leaving David Tennant to actually exit the series or is there any truth in the rumour mill of us getting a botched regeneration and be left with two versions of The Doctor? It would be kind of evil if David Tennant didn’t see the last episode out.

Also in “The Stolen Earth”

In the opening credits for this episode we had David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman, Elisabeth Sladen and Billie Piper.

Donna: “Thing is Doctor, no matter what’s happening and I’m sure it’s bad. I get that but Rose is coming back. Isn’t that good?”
The Doctor: “Yeah.”

Also credited before producer/director credits were Penelope Wilton, Adjoa Andoh, Eve Myles, Gareth David Lloyd and Thomas Knight. At least two more people will factor next week.

Suzanne: “Just look at the sky.”
Martha: “Why? What is it?”
Suzanne: “Just look at the sky.”

Rose (to herself): “Right. Now we’re in trouble. It’s only just the beginning.”

Rose actually got a little jealous when she saw Martha on the screen. It’s a little ironic given that Martha was jealous of her during Season Three.

Captain Jack: “Ianto, there’s a time and a place.”
Ianto (re Paul O’Grady): “He is funny though.”

Supreme Dalek: “We have waited long enough for this destiny. The Daleks are the masters of Earth.”

The celebrity cameos this season were Richard Dawkins (Lalla Ward’s hubby) and Paul O’Grady. Jack is a little jealous of the latter.

Shadow Proclamation (to The Doctor): “We are declaring war Doctor, right across the universe and you will lead us into battle.”

Dalek: “You will come with me.”
Wilf: “Will I heck.”
Dalek: “My vision is not impaired.”
Sylvia: “I warned you Dad.”
Dalek: “Hostility will not be tolerated. Exterminate. Exterminate.”

It’s neat trick that for once when someone attacked the eye stalk, the Dalek was immune. Good job that Rose came though.

Rose (to Wilf/Sylvia): “You’re my last hope. If I can’t find Donna, I can’t find The Doctor. Where is he?”

Captain Jack: “I’ve been following your work. Nice job with the Slitheen.”
Sarah Jane: “Yeah, well I’ve been staying away from you lot. Too many guns.”
Captain Jack: “All the same. Might I say, looking good Ma’am.”
Sarah Jane: “Really? Ooh.”
Harriet: “Not now, Captain. And Martha Jones former companion to The Doctor.”
Rose: “Oi! So was I.”

With the TARDIS getting red last week, was it that much of a shock that it went in flames this week? This poor thing is getting exhausted.

Davros: “I warned you, Supreme one. Just as Dalek Caan foretold. The children of time are moving against us but everything is falling into place.”

Harriet (to everyone): “Tell The Doctor from me, he chose his companions well.”

I just realised that we had four Joneses in this episode with Martha, Francine, Ianto and Harriet and the latter wasn’t related to any of them. Plus Francine hardly had any dialogue either and what’s up with the Osterhagen key?

Gwen (re The Doctor): “Ooh he’s a bit nice. Thought he might have been older.”
Ianto: “He’s not that young.”

Donna (re all the companions): “It’s like an outer space Facebook.”
The Doctor: “Everyone except Rose.”

I’m surprised The Doctor didn’t make a comment about Gwen looking like Gwyneth. Also Rhys, Owen and Toshiko were mentioned while Maria/Alan was in Cornwall and Clyde was with his mother.

Davros: “Welcome to my new empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek race.”

Captain Jack: “I gotta go. I got to find The Doctor. I’ll come back. I’m coming back.”
Gwen: “Don’t worry about us. Just go.”
Ianto: “We’ll be fine.”

Davros managed to make a new Dalek by using his own DNA. He’s also got a robotic hand which looks brilliant by the way.

Rose (re The Doctor): “Right, I’m gonna find him. Wish me luck.”
Sylvia: “Good luck.”
Wilf: “Good luck, sweetheart.”

The Doctor: “Anything else?”
Donna (re Rose): “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Rose’s theme essentially played during the scenes between her and The Doctor. There was also some new music. Surely Murray Gold has devised a theme for Davros?

The Doctor: “Long time, no see.”
Rose: “Yeah. Been busy you know. Don’t die. Oh my God, don’t die. Oh my God, don’t die.”

The Doctor (to Donna/Rose/Captain Jack): “It’s too late. I’m regenerating.”

Interestingly enough we got denied a trailer for “Journey’s End”. Maybe we’re not losing David Tennant after all. At least not in 2008 anyway, I hope.

Okay so “The Stolen Earth” reeks of fan-fiction but like “The Five Doctors”, it’s such an unbridled joy to see so many characters we’ve known and loved for the past few years, that you just don’t want to criticise. It’s very easy not to as every character appearance (okay maybe not Francine’s but I did like seeing her) actually added to something. Every companion got a moment to shine, Davros got the return he deserved, some many references to past events came to fruition and that ending will literally have me counting down the hours for next Saturday. To be frank, how could you not enjoy this episode?

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x11: "Turn Left"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Graeme Harper

Rose: “What’s your name?”
Donna: “Donna. And you?”
Rose: “Oh I was just passing by. I shouldn’t even be here. It’s wrong. It’s wrong. It’s so wrong.”

Over the past ten weeks we’ve had a fair amount to get through. With clues being thrown about the darkness around in every episode, mentions of disappearing bees and planets and brief appearance from a certain woman, it’s high time to give some answers and that’s what this episode kinda does.

Like last year with “Utopia”, “Turn Left” is an episode that leads into the final two instalments of this season but unlike the former it’s not so clear cut. It’s also the third Doctor-Lite episode the series has given.

The one thing I’ve loved about all of the Doctor-Lite episodes is how fundamentally different they are to each other. “Love And Monsters” weighed the pros and cons of fandom while “Blink” was all gothic and creepy and gave a potential companion in the excellent Sally Sparrow.

This episode plays with the much tested ‘what if’ that practically every TV series on the planet has either done or will do at some point in their tenure. It’s not particularly original but it’s always engaging and with this episode, it produces some pretty shocking stuff.

Things begin with The Doctor and Donna on the Chino planet of Shan-Shen. The opener is light and breezy and the two of them are engaging in fun and with the traumatised way The Doctor was in the last episode, he’s entitled just to relax and try some frothy drinks with his companion.

However it doesn’t take all that long for the two of them to get separated either. For once it’s actually Donna who gets distracted when a fortune teller tries to entice her with a free reading. I have a friend who does some of that and he’s pretty good at it but he’s also not creepy like the woman begging to see into Donna’s past.

Donna to her credit does make an attempt to get the woman to sling her hook but this is one relentless lady and when Donna talks a little about The Doctor, the woman becomes a bit more curious. Then to prove that Lucius Dextrous from “The Fires Of Pompeii” wasn’t messing about, a creature does climb on Donna’s back.

From here on in, this episode is a mixture of the movie Sliding Doors and the Buffy episode “The Wish”. Back before the events of “The Runaway Bride” Donna had two directions she could’ve taken. One was the HC Clements job and the other was a job with Mr Chowdry.

Proving that all mums on this show can be head wreckers, you’ve got Sylvia giving Donna earache over which would be the better vocation. Apparently Sylvia thinks that Donna wants the HC Clements job simply to bag a husband. Given the relentless pursuit that Donna did to get Lance down the aisle she might have a point.

In this situation, Donna is forced to turn right on the road which means she lands a job with Mr Chowdry. It also means for the time being that Donna’s got a sorted life with a promotion and spends Christmas Day out on a work do rather than battling the Racnoss with The Doctor.

This leads to two interesting things. First off all, Donna’s co-worker Alice notices that there’s something on her back and tries to warn her. Donna’s pretty irritated and doesn’t really take the woman seriously but she ends up being distracted when the Racnoss’ web star starts attacking Earth.

With UNIT out on patrol the real shocker comes when Private Harris tells his superior over the phone that The Doctor is head. All we get to see is a hand dropping a sonic screwdriver but due to David Tennant’s busy schedule on “Midnight” it’s enough. Besides The Doctor is one of many casualties in this world.

The better part however is seeing Donna’s intrigue. She might not know who The Doctor is but that doesn’t stop her noticing the sonic screwdriver either. Then out of nowhere Rose comes running down the street and asks Donna about the body. Needless to say she’s not really pleased to find out it’s The Doctor but she doesn’t stay long enough for Donna to get any answers either.

Instead we cut to Donna getting fired from her job due to problems in London. More interesting is that on the news we get to see the Judoon take the Royal Hope hospital one minute and leave it back the next. Without The Doctor’s intervention not only is everyone except Oliver killed but the likes of Martha, Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria and Clyde are also casualties.

The Doctor’s on screen death was one thing but even without seeing the others, their deaths still hit a nerve. It’s also the closest to a reference to The Sarah Jane Adventures that we’ve had and if I wasn’t any the wiser I’d be thinking that a certain journalist was on the way back.

With Sylvia not really caring about Donna’s job loss, Wilf’s belief in aliens comes into play. Even before encountering The Doctor, Wilf was something of an alien believer but neither Donna nor Sylvia really wants to indulge him. You do want to shout at them to listen but even Donna is beginning to realise that something isn’t right.

Her suspicions are then confirmed when she goes out for a walk and encounters Rose for the second time. I’m really enjoying these spooky encounters between the two of them but most of it is teasing as well. Rose is sort of vague and Donna really gets pissed off when the mystery blonde keeps looking at her back.

More cryptically Rose tells Donna to get out of town for Christmas. Like anyone person being told by a random stranger to leave, Donna wants to know why and Rose just tells her to use the ticket in Mr Chowdry’s raffle. Funny that while Donna lost a job, she gains a vacation. I’d say as revenge goes it’s a pretty sweet thing to happen. Makes me wish I had done a raffle at my last job.

Of course being pampered in a nice hotel during the Christmas wasn’t Rose’s intention. She wanted Donna out of town to save her and it paid off. Remember that spaceship named after the Titanic? Well it really did live to it’s namesake by successfully wiping out all of London.

These little change of events in previous episodes is a brilliant twist and it does ram home much The Doctor is needed. However because of the Racnoss incident, as a viewer are we supposed to believe that Donna unintentionally saved The Doctor’s life by getting him out of the Empress’ lair?

I’m going to believe so because this episode has done nothing but make it feel like Donna is key to events. Also with London obliterated, Donna, Sylvia and Wilf have to share with a few families in one house in Leeds. Donna’s shouty side comes off nicely when telling a neighbour to pipe down and then when she gets involved in a bit of sing song with her lodgers.

There’s also some really touching moment with her family. Wilf is every bit as loveable here as he has been in every episode we’ve seen him and there’s a great scene between Donna and Sylvia where they talk about Geoff’s death. Even without The Doctor factoring in her life, Donna still has her own pain.

The last effective moments though see the Adipose raid 60 million Americans and then we learn the Atmos cars are loaded with gas. To make matters worse Gwen and Ianto have been killed by the Sontarans and Jack has been taken prisoner. Talk about stripping The Doctor of every possible defence.

The best stuff of this episode is the last twenty minutes. Donna’s insect has attracted UNIT attention and instead of jumping between universes, Rose is also back to give Donna a few solid answers. The first of those would be explaining to Donna about her relationship with The Doctor.

We also got to see Donna relive her first experience of seeing what the TARDIS looks like on the inside and there’s the sting in the tail – Donna has to die! It’s been practically prophesised since “The Fires Of Pompeii” and Rose does go a good length to explain as much as she can without revealing everything.

As episodes go, this is definitely Catherine Tate’s finest moment from start to finish. If there was anyone else out there who didn’t rate the woman, then this episode should satisfy them. If not, then I hope something from the last two will but honestly, Catherine is absolutely outstanding here.

Billie Piper is also wonderful in this episode too. Rose isn’t given quite as much to do as you’d expect but after those appearances in “Partners In Crime”, “The Poison Sky” and “Midnight” it’s finally nice to have Rose back in a stronger role. Just like Martha, Rose and Donna spark off brilliantly with each other and while her dress sense has improved for the better, her accent is noticeably different.

As for saving the world in her own way, UNIT manage to get Donna to do a bit of time travelling of her own to make sure that she does go left. The only way that Donna is able to do is to allow a lorry to run her over and even though our Donna isn’t really dead, I did feel upset seeing Donna die no less.

Back in the present time The Doctor manages to find Donna and removes the insect of her back. The creature is known as a Time Beetle but interesting enough when Donna opens up about her adventures, it’s two words that really piques The Doctor’s attention. After all he’s heard them plenty of times during Season One.

With ‘Bad Wolf’ being mentioned, The Doctor soon realises that the words are spread everywhere and in a cool moment, there’s also on the outside of the TARDIS. The inside however looks like it’s been cannibalised and the ending has The Doctor wary of imminent disaster.

Also in “Turn Left”

After three brief appearances, Billie Piper’s name is back in the opening credits and like Freema; she’s billed after David and Catherine. It was also nice to have her talking on Doctor Who Confidential as well.

Fortune Teller: “Don’t you want to know if you’ll be happy?”
Donna: “I’m happy right now, thanks.”

The Fortune Teller was played by Chipo Chung who played Chantho in last season’s “Utopia”.

Donna: “What’s that on my back?”
Fortune Teller: “Make the choice again Donna Noble and turn right. Turn right and never meet that man.”

Donna: “Alice there’s a great big web star shooting at people and you’re looking at me.”
Alice: “There’s something on your back.”

I was going to ask why we didn’t see The Master in this episode or get a Saxon mention but without The Doctor, he’d been stuck on Malcassairo.

Donna: “I’m sorry did you know that man? I mean they didn’t say his name. Could’ve been any Doctor.”
Rose: “I came so far.”

Donna: “Blimey are you alright? What was that, fireworks?”
Rose: “I don’t know. I was just walking along. That’s weird.”

We didn’t really learn much about Rose in this episode except for her working with the parallel Torchwood. She’s certainly advanced in techno-babble though.

Wilf: “You’re not gonna make the world a better place by shouting.”
Donna: “I can try.”

Donna (to Sylvia/Wilf): “There’s no war. There is no fight. There’s just this.”

In a lot of the later scenes, it looks like Donna is wearing Captain Jack’s jacket. Rose’s outfit is definitely more grown up than her usual attire too.

Donna: “You’re always wearing the same clothes. Why won’t you tell me your name?”
Rose: “None of this was meant to happen. There was a man. This wonderful man and he stopped it all. The Titanic, the Adipose, the Atmos. He stopped them all from happening.”

Donna: “Who are you?”
Rose: “I was like you. I used to be you. You travelled with him, Donna. You travelled with The Doctor in a different world.”
Donna: “But I never met him and he’s dead.”

The Fortune Teller and the Time Beetle were agents of The Trickster who threatened The Doctor in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode “Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?” I love how that tied in beautifully at the end.

Rose: “Something’s coming Donna. Something worse.”
Donna: “The whole world is stinking. How could anything be worse than this?”
Rose: “Trust me we need The Doctor more than ever. I’ve been pulled across from a different universe because every single universe is in danger. It’s coming Donna. It’s coming from across the stars and nothing can stop it.”
Donna: “What is?”
Rose: “The darkness.”
Donna: “Well what do you keep telling me for? What am I supposed to do?”

Was anyone else hoping that with The Master in “Utopia”, Davros would appear at the end of “Turn Left”? I was a little disappointed that he didn’t. That being said a clip of him did appear in Doctor Who Confidential.

Donna: “I’m nothing special. I’m a temp! I’m not even that! I’m nothing.”
Rose: “Donna Noble, you’re the most important woman in the whole of creation.”

Donna (re The Doctor): “If he was so special, then what was he doing with me?”
Rose: “He thought you were brilliant.”
Donna: “Don’t be stupid.”
Rose: “But you are. It just took The Doctor to show you that. Simply by being with him. He did the same to me. To everyone he touches.”

Just like last season’s “The Sound Of Drums”, the Cloister Bell wrecked havoc when The Doctor and Donna went into the TARDIS. The constellation of Orion is also gone out.

Rose: “I’m sorry.”
Donna: “But I can’t die. I’ve got a future with The Doctor. You told me.”

The Doctor: “What two words? What were they? What did she say?”
Donna: “Bad Wolf. What does that mean? Doctor, what is it? What’s ‘Bad Wolf’?”
The Doctor: “It’s the end of the universe.”

The trailer for the next episode “The Stolen Earth” took my breath. Did anyone else squee majorly in seeing Luke, Gwen, Ianto, Harriet, Davros, the Judoon and that mystery woman?

I really want to be super critical with this episode but even the littlest of niggles are hard to take seriously. “Turn Left” is a brilliant lead in as far as I’m concerned to the finale and while the dystopian world without The Doctor is an obvious thing to do, it works so damn well. The next two episodes are going to be glorious. This season has felt a lot bigger and more ambitious than the previous three and while things are beginning to reek of fan-fiction, there’s still no other show that really sparks for me in such a way as this series does. It’s a just a pity that we couldn’t have gotten the briefest of an appearance for Davros but too much goodness happened to let that be a major problem.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x10: "Midnight"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Alice Troughton

Okay so every season with the exception of the first year has given us a Doctor-Lite episode but we’ve never really had an episode until now that was Companion-Lite. Because The Doctor will have a reduced role in next week’s episode, it’s Donna who has to take a backseat in this episode.

Both The Doctor and Donna have landed on the planet Midnight, which as names go is rather cool in my opinion. However given that the last planet two visited had Donna as a Node, the flighty woman decides to sit this one out.

The Doctor’s all too eager to take a tour around this diamond encrusted planet but Donna firmly refuses to budge. Instead she’s happy to soak up some rays, enjoy some undemanding reading and sip cocktails. At least that is what I would do in her shoes. So basically no Donna until the very end of this episode when she’s really needed.

Being on his own, The Doctor boards Crusader 50 and takes the tour solo. He might have bragged about travelling alone beforehand but here’s the first time in this series where he really is all alone. It’s quite a good move and it makes me wonder if it’s something that will occur again in the show.

Of course The Doctor isn’t alone on the tour as he’s got an array of people to share his travels with. Besides a humour deprived hostess, there’s the rather twitchy Sky Sylvestry, husband and wife duo Val and Biff with their son Jethro, Professor Hobbs and his assistant Dee Dee. All together a perfect recipe for something a little different.

With the in-flight entertainment mainly consisting of dire music and cartoons, The Doctor does everyone a welcome favour by shutting it all off with his sonic screwdriver. The meeting of happiness from everyone else was a nice touch. With entertainment this dire, you’re better off sleeping.

Then again if you’re stuck with a chatterbox like The Doctor, there’s also the option of talking. On most travel journeys unless you’re actually travelling with someone, you don’t always tend to the person next to you. Having The Doctor beat this myth is both good and bad for the episode.

It’s good in the sense that we get to know the characters a little better. After all they are our substitute for Donna and some of them are more interesting than others. Both Val and Biff are the kind of overly talkative couple who seem more than adept to holidaying in the most unusual of places.

Their son Jethro is something of a breath of fresh. He’s a sarcastic teen who never borders on annoying and given that his parents are a little annoying you kind of feel for him. He’s also one of the few people in the episode who is mostly on The Doctor’s side as well.

Professor Hobbs on the other hand is also one of those scientists who boast an assistant arguably more brighter than he is. Dee Dee seems to be more aware of what’s going but the professor she’s working for seems to treat her more as a gopher rather than an assistant.

There’s also Sky who seems to want to get away from everything. At first she appeared a little hostile to The Doctor but they soon seem to engage in a decent bit of conversation before things take a sinister turn on the shuttle. Well The Doctor was silly enough to jest about disaster to Donna and that’s exactly what he ends up with.

When the ship stops all of a sudden and Professor Hobbs makes a point into pointing out that this has never happened before, The Doctor tries to wrangle some answers from the driver and mechanic. While the mechanic spots something advancing towards the ship, things really begin to heat up.

First off all, the hostess gets pissed off at The Doctor for moving about and people are also rather worried when he takes a look at the wiring. When a knocking starts to become relentless, just about everyone freaks out. However it’s Sky that really goes into overdrive as she becomes convinced that the creature is then after her.

To be fair she might have had a point. When the lights go out and that knocking really does get scary, it’s Sky who ends up suffering. With everyone else still alive, Sky is taken over by the creature and that’s where the fun really takes place, especially as it’s an unidentified threat.

Lesley Sharp is probably one of the coolest actresses on British TV and following the cancellation of Afterlife, it’s nice that she got to appear on this show. Russell T. Davies does have a tendency to reuse actors he’s worked with before and when they are as good as she is, then you can’t blame him.

As the creature taking over Sky, the annoying habit of copying another person’s speech patterns becomes a reality here. First off all the creature copies everything The Doctor says but soon enough, no-one can say anything without it being repeated. The only person to see a funny side to this is Jethro and this episode did benefit from those little moments of inappropriate sarcasm.

Seeing as the creature is something that not even The Doctor has encountered before, there isn’t a hell of a lot he can actually do. He’s sympathetic to both the creature and also desperate to try and save Sky but sadly the creature is advancing and everyone else’s nerves are being pushed to the limit.

Copying everyone’s voices brings out the worst in people but in Val and Biff, it really brought out the worst. Although it’s understandable that they would be scared and confused, there was a little part of me that wasn’t quite as sympathetic to their plight as I should be. I can also say the same about Professor Hobbs who did grate as well.

When Jethro wasn’t trying to mock the creature, he was also a bit curious too. He got pretty annoyed with the dismissive attitude that his parents had when asking him for his views but he also tried to raise some interesting points about the creature.

Out of all the people on board the shuttle bus, why did the creature go for Sky in particular? You could understand why anyone would possess The Doctor but I don’t think there was anything powerful about Sky. Not that it matters as soon enough the creature begins to advance.

Instead of continuing to copy everyone, the creature solely then began to focus on The Doctor, predicting what he would say and eventually it began to drain him. I could heap praise on David Tennant as I do every week but really Lesley Sharp stole the show. At one point she even sounded like The Doctor.

However with so much paranoia filling the room, everyone seems to in favour of sacrificing Sky to the uninhabitable Midnight. The Doctor makes some decent attempts to try and talk everyone out of murder but with the exception of Jethro, everyone seems to be a little too eager to do it.

Sky pretending to snap out of things and making The Doctor powerless then meant that Val, Biff and Hobbs were only too happy to sacrifice The Doctor instead. If ever there was an episode that showed how savage as humans we can be when the chips are down, it’s this.

This is also one of the few episodes where The Doctor being special really does play against him. Val is resentful of the fact that he thinks he’s so clever and soon enough everyone begins to realise that he got on board in a less than straightforward way. Bigotry really is an ugly virtue and in this episode, it nearly resulted in a death.

The Doctor physically couldn’t move and even when the hostess and Dee Dee realised that he was an innocent, Biff and Hobbs still tried to kill. In fact if it hadn’t been for the hostess sacrificing herself and Sky, there’s a good chance that The Doctor might have actually died. I believe The Master once said that something like that doesn’t bear thinking about. If only he could’ve seen the near antics of this episode.

The ending then is one of the most dour ones we’ve had in an episode. The Doctor does look traumatised that he was nearly killed by a bunch of paranoid humans and hardly any of the passengers can look him in the eye. As scenes go, it’s easily one of the most uncomfortable ones ever seen on the show.

It’s a good thing then that the episode ends with a catch up between him and Donna. Obviously he recalls the whole events off-screen but the impact isn’t tarnished as Donna is naturally sympathetic to The Doctor’s plight.

Like with Rose and Martha, we’ve seen the strong friendship element that The Doctor has with Donna. She says exactly the kind of things you’d want her to say and even her little attempt to slightly joke doesn’t hide the fact that she’s visibly worried about what could’ve happened had The Doctor not actually survived his tour on Crusader 50.

Also in “Midnight”

This episode originally came about after Tom MacRae’s script was rejected for being too similar to an earlier episode.

Donna: “And you be careful.”
The Doctor: “Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight … what could possibly go wrong?”

We got another Rose appearance on the monitor of Crusader 50 when The Doctor wasn’t looking. At least Billie Piper will be back full time next week for the last three episodes.

The Doctor (to everyone else): “Tell you what. We’ll have to talk to each other instead.”

Sky: “No it’s just me.”
The Doctor: “I’ve done plenty of that … travelling on my own.”

In terms of arc stuff both Rose and Martha were mentioned as was The Medusa Cascade and several allusions to the darkness.

Jethro: “We’ve broken down.”
Val: “Thanks Jethro.”
Jethro: “In the middle of nowhere.”

Dee Dee mentioned her thesis on the Lost Moon Of Poosh. Any chance that disappeared in the same way the Adipose and Pyroviles planets have done?

The Doctor: “Knock, knock.”
Jethro: “Who’s there?”

Sky (to the Hostess): “Don’t just stand there telling us the rules. You’re the hostess; you’re supposed to do something.”

Professor Hobbs is played by David Troughton, the son of Second Doctor actor, Patrick Troughton and this was not the first time he’s been on Doctor Who.

Jethro: “My name is Jethro.”
Sky: “My name is Jethro.”
The Doctor/Sky: “Jethro just leave it, just shut up.”

Professor Hobbs (re Sky): “She’s not a goblin or a monster. She’s a very sick woman.”
Jethro: “Maybe that’s why it went for her.”

If the circumstances of this season were different or had this episode aired earlier in the run, it could’ve been likely that Jethro might have been a companion.

Val: “Oh like you’re so special.”
The Doctor: “As a matter of fact, I am.”

The Doctor (to everyone, re Sky): “This is where you decide who you are. Could you actually do it, really or are you better than that?”

Anyone else think the little torches on board the Crusader 50 look like they could actually be sonic screwdrivers?

The Doctor: I’m a traveller.”
Val: “Like an immigrant?”

Sky: “Oh look at that, I’m ahead of you.”
The Doctor: “Oh look at that, I’m ahead of you.”

I just realised that earlier on in the episode Sky made a reference to breaking up with a girlfriend.

Donna: “Can’t imagine you without a voice. Moltobene.”
The Doctor: “No. Don’t do that.”

Speaking of voices, this episode made me wonder if we’ll ever get a “Hush” or “Once More, With Feeling” type of episode. Well we know that David Tennant can sing if Blackpool is anything to go by.

Okay, I’ll admit that “Midnight” is not one of my favourite episodes but as I was writing this review I did realise that there isn’t a lot I can say against it, except that the previous two episodes were a bit creepy. This episode succeeded in it’s lack of Donna, the feeling of claustrophobia, showing The Doctor as quite vulnerable and even it’s look at how people can easily turn on each other. Overall, a success.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x09: "Forest Of The Dead"

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Euros Lyn

The Doctor (to Vashta Nerada): “Don’t play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a very safe place to stand.”

Last week gave us one of the best cliff hangers in any show and this week goes to great lengths to prove that this storyline justified being a two parter as opposed to a regular episode.

As The Doctor and River come to the horrible realisation that Donna is a Node the first thing they have to do is get away from an advancing Proper Dave. He’s still repeating the whole “who turned out the lights” spiel but the question remains – is Donna actually dead?

The Girl mentioned that Donna had been saved and clearly she wasn’t wrong. No fewer than three minutes into the episode we see The Girl watching Donna’s life unfold on the television and to be fair, it’s a decent take on It’s A Wonderful Life as you can get.

First Donna gets sectioned and then two years passes. Doctor Moon asks her if she’s still seeing The Doctor and TARDIS and before she can properly comprehend her surroundings, Doctor Moon is speeding everything up by simple stating things.

In a matter of seconds Donna goes for a walk, meets a bumbling but sweet man named Lee, goes on a date with him, gets married and has two children named Ella and Joshua. It’s the wackiest bout of speed dating I’ve ever seen on TV but the speediness is a deliberate take on most TV shows going from A to B without being married to the script so to speak.

Not to be ageist, but I can’t see this different life altogether happening with Rose or Martha. Had it been Rose, I’d expect a version of the Buffy episode “Normal Again” and with Martha, she’s probably be an abrasive UNIT soldier but this story actually plays to Catherine Tate’s strengths as an actress.

Although we know good and proper that this new life of Donna’s is a total lie we still have to believe that Donna totally buys into it. We especially have to believe that when she starts getting clues that her perfect world isn’t real.

If Doctor Moon correcting her and speeding up time wasn’t enough, then there’s Donna getting a brief glimpse of The Doctor in her living room. Of course it’s not just The Doctor that poses the threat of Donna’s world being exposed as a lie. A certain girl still isn’t quite so dead after all.

When Lee picks up an unusual letter, Donna decides to go and meet the person behind it. Doing this in the park is the strangest of all places but the person is Miss Evangelista. Death may have increased her intelligence but it’s seriously damaged whatever fashion sense she might have had too.

Dressed like a creepy Victorian lady, Miss Evangelista is making it her mission to prove to Donna that this world isn’t real. Donna isn’t exactly keen to embrace such an idea but given the amount of inconsistencies that surrounds her world, she’s not as resistant to Miss Evangelista’s warnings either.

The fact that she also still remembers key moments from the library makes it easier for Miss Evangelista but even though Donna knows the dead girl is telling the truth, she still doesn’t want to believe that Lee, Ella and Joshua are not real.

In fact she goes out of her way to try and keep her children by her side but when even Ella begins to realise that herself and Joshua only exist around Donna, there’s not much that Donna can do to stop them disappearing from them. Again while this world is totally fabricated you do feel for Donna.

Even when she’s desperately trying to keep Lee and loses him, there’s still an impact in that performance from Catherine Tate. That being said, I still want Donna in the real world as opposed to the fantasy setting she got to explore.

The Doctor meanwhile also had his fair share of problems. Without Donna, he had no choice but to trust River and even then he was still resistant to her. It even got to the point where Lux made a comment about the two of them behaving like a married couple.

That’s the thing – a part of me did wonder if River was that intimately involved with The Doctor. Judging by her reaction, while her and The Doctor might have an incredibly close relationship it would appear that they aren’t married. Still I want some answers and with the word “spoiler” being tossed around virtually every five seconds, this episode didn’t reveal all that much.

When it comes to the Vashta Nerada, the only thing we really learned was that they came from the library planet. The Doctor managed to wrangle that out of Proper Dave but the menacing creatures managed to kill both Other Dave and Anita in the story. Their creepiness is still wonderfully retained though this episode seemed to focus more on River, Donna and The Girl rather than the Vashta Nerada.

The Girl and Doctor Moon’s part in this episode comes across as the real surprise in the whole episode. Doctor Moon comes across as something so morally ambiguous that even in this episode you still don’t know if he’s trying to protect both The Girl and Donna or if he’s out to hurt them.

It seems that by distracting them, he’s out to protect them but when The Girl starts freaking out during Donna and Miss Evangelista’s conversation in the park, there’s little else that he can actually do. It also doesn’t help that the library itself suddenly becomes in danger as well.

It’s around this time that Lux actually steps up and contributes to the plot. He’s been evasive over the whole CAL thing because it’s real identity is The Girl. To be honest I kinda guessed that part and I’m also not too surprised that The Girl is related to Lux too. That being said it does make his motives for getting into the library all that more interesting than before.

With 4022 people to release, The Doctor has to be the one to do it but it seems that River has other ideas. The Doctor might have gotten the Vashta Nerada to give him one day to fix everything but his future companion isn’t quite so generous and decides to take matters into her own hands.

Knocking him out and handcuffing him to a railing, there’s a fantastic set of scenes between Alex Kingston and David Tennant. River proved earlier on that she really did know The Doctor by whispering his name and now she’s convinced that their meeting meant that he knew all along that she would have to sacrifice herself.

For a character that’s only been in two episodes and may very well never be seen on this show in the immediate future, it’s a credit to both Steven Moffat and Alex Kingston to how well River works as a character. Her sacrifice is poignant if not actually tear jerking and because of it, everyone is released.

The last few minutes of this episode has a similar harking that “The Doctor Dances” did. River might be gone but with so many people actually saved and the Vashta Nerada no longer a threat, there’s a big emphasis on everyone getting to live as well.

The Doctor manages to repay River when he figures out that her sonic screwdriver actually saved a part of her. Locked in a safer version of that alternative world, River gets to live out the rest of her days with Ella, Joshua, Charlotte, Doctor Moon, Anita, Miss Evangelista, Other Dave and Proper Dave.

Whether or not this can be construed as some form of a heaven is entirely up to you as a viewer. I wouldn’t think it is but River seemed to be happy enough at the end. She got to be a hero and she made sure that she left a lasting impression on The Doctor that precedes her own.

However there is one other thorny issue and that’s The Doctor and Donna. Donna may not have found her Lee in the real world but her conversation with River is playing on her mind. After all, River didn’t exactly state where Donna factored in the future and if I were Donna I would worry.

There is a funny moment when Donna is telling The Doctor about her perfect man and The Doctor does forget himself. Seeing them bond over something like that is great. Donna’s really come into her own as a character and her friendship with The Doctor has easily strengthened more too.

The annoying thing is both her and The Doctor had an opportunity to get some answers on that. Look Steven Moffat can be opposed to spoilers all he wants but there are some things that if I were either The Doctor or Donna, I’d want to know in advance. Some things just should be spoiled.

At the very least I was sort of hoping that even if The Doctor and Donna resisted the urge to spoil themselves, then we as viewers could get some insight as to what is happening. It’s common knowledge that Rose, the Daleks and Davros (more or less) are seconds away from re-entering The Doctor’s life. Surely we could’ve gotten just the tiniest of peeks to that, right.

Also in “Forest Of The Dead”

The original title for this episode was supposed to be “River’s Run” but Steven Moffat changed it at the last minute.

Donna: “Doctor Moon, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you for a minute.”
Doctor Moon: “And then you remembered.”

Is it me or did Donna wear the same dress when she married Lee that she also wore when she was going to marry Lance in “The Runaway Bride”?

Donna: “I saw The Doctor.”
Doctor Moon” Yes you did Donna and then you forgot.”

Anita (re The Doctor): “You say he’s your friend but he doesn’t know who you are.”
River: “Listen all you need to know is this. I trust that man to the end of the universe and actually, we’ve been.”

Steven Moffat mentioned in Doctor Who Confidential that the characters of Ella and Joshua were named after his son and the son’s friend.

River: “Doctor one day I am going to be someone you trust completely but I can’t wait for you to find that out, so I’m going to prove it to you and I’m sorry. I’m really very sorry. Are we good? Doctor, are we good?”
The Doctor: “Yeah, we’re good.”
River: “Good.”

Donna: “Is that a letter?”
Lee: “No, it’s Midnight.”
Donna: “Go see what it is.”

It’s funny that the title for the next episode “Midnight” gets so casually mentioned. Then again “Turn Left” was mentioned in “The Sontaran Stratagem”.

Donna: “How do you know me?”
Miss Evangelista: “We met in the library. You were kind to me and now I hope to return that kindness.”

River (to Anita): “The Doctor’s here. He came when I called him just like he always does. But not my Doctor.”

I should’ve mentioned this last week but River’s got the same sonic blaster that Captain Jack had in Season One. Come to think of it, she’s a bit like a female Jack as well.

The Doctor: “Can I get you anything?”
Anita: “An old age perhaps.”

Miss Evangelista (to Donna): “I have two qualities to see the absolute truth. I am brilliant and unloved.”

One of the original rumours circling the internet was that Donna did read some of the spoilers in a book. Pity we didn’t get a little glimpse.

Ella: “Mummy, Joshua and me, we’re not real, are we?”
Donna: “Of course you’re real. Why would you say that?”

Anita: “Computers don’t dream.”
Lux: “No, but little girls do.”

CAL – Charlotte Abigail Lux and one of Lux’s aunts. He did mention that Charlotte was a dying daughter of his grandfather.

Anita/Vashta Nerada: “How long have you known?”
The Doctor: “I counted the shadows. She only has one.”

River: “If you die here then it was like I’ve never met you.”
The Doctor: “Time can be rewritten.”

The Doctor Who Confidential for this episode was rather good. I liked the brief appearance from John Barrowman halfway through it as well.

Donna: “I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, never said a word. What does that say about me?”
The Doctor: “Everything.”

Next week’s episode “Midnight” is at the later time. We’re getting so close to the end now.

As follow ups go, this was perfect. “Forest Of The Dead” was a good way of resolving everything that had appeared in this episode but with the overuse of the word ‘spoiler’, would it have killed Steven Moffat to have given us a little peek of what was in River’s diary?

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x08: "Silence In The Library"

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Euros Lyn

The Doctor: “We're near the equator, so this must be biographies. I love biographies.”
Donna: “Yeah, very you. Always a death at the end.”

Of all the places to go in time and space, picking a library might not be high on my list. I do like them but I think I would’ve just gone for something more adventurous than the haven of books.

However on Doctor Who, a library is as sinister as anything else and when it’s library created by Steven Moffat, they don’t get any creepier. Also it’s not just The Doctor and Donna who get a first glimpse.

Nope, the episode beings with the viewpoint of a seemingly ordinary girl who’s telling her father and shrink Doctor Moon about a library in space that she happens to own. This library also happens to go on forever and soon as she hears a strange knocking on the door, she begins to freak out.

The knocking is courtesy of The Doctor and Donna who are barricading themselves for their own protection. The girl in the real world however is being calmed down by Moon. Clearly this is one girl with more than an active imagination and this is definitely one of the best words to describe this whole episode.

Things are then told from The Doctor and Donna’s perspective after the opening credits are finished. He’s taken her to the biggest library in the universe and while it’s a time honoured tradition to actually be quiet in a library, it’s a tad suspicious to discover than no-one else is around.

A quick scan from The Doctor indicates that he and Donna are the only humanoids presents but when he furthers the scan, it’s then revealed that they aren’t alone. Needless to say there are monsters about but it takes a while to meet them as such. Still, there’s plenty to be getting on with as the shadows are acting peculiar.

One of the funniest things about the library is reading biographies. What sets this one apart is that there are millions of people who Donna could read about but The Doctor warns her off with a lecture on spoilers. For a show in which spoilers are craved for, actively sought or made up in cases of boredom, there’s something delightfully ironic in that comment from The Doctor.

Worse still is that when they try to get some basis information on their environment, they are met with one of the gruesome looking creatures. The Nodes are glorified statues with the faces of dead people who only go on to tell The Doctor and Donna to run and count the shadows.

With Steven Moffat, we’ve had abandoned kids, monsters under the bed and killer statues so while a part of me wants to be jaded by what the man can conjure up, I have to admit that the idea of shadows actually being able to kill anything or pose that serious a threat is a really inspired idea.

What’s also inspired is giving us something of an ensemble cast too when a space expedition also shows up to the library. Unlike The Doctor and Donna, they’ve had a harder time getting onto the planet and in particular, Strackman Lux takes an instant dislike to The Doctor. Well guaranteed that with this amount of characters in a two-parter one or two of the humans would.

Still while Strackman Lux is something of a pain in the arse, The Doctor and Donna aren’t exactly victims either. The first thing they do is rip up a bunch of contracts that he tells Miss Evangelista to give them. The least The Doctor could’ve done was read it properly and then torn it up.

It’s also rather apparent that throughout the episode, Lux is not only resentful of The Doctor and Donna gate crashing his expedition but he’s also less than thrilled with The Doctor assuming authority at every pace. Given that Lux isn’t exactly a help in any of dangers that happen in this episode, I don’t really feel that much for him, even though I like Steve Pemberton as an actor.

It’s also interesting to note that Lux seemingly knows more about this library than he wants to tell. At one point The Doctor does get rather animated in trying to get him to reveal anything of use but Lux remains pretty tight lipped about what’s really up with this place.

Another noteworthy member of this expedition is Miss Evangelista. I know Tallulah Riley from Nearly Famous and I actually thought she was a nice piece of casting for this part. Miss Evangelista is one of those people eager to help but is rather inexperienced and given that she’s travelling with a bunch of people who don’t take to her, I can’t help but feel for the girl.

Donna also felt for her too as she didn’t seem to approve of some of the other members teasing Miss Evangelista. It’s nice to see Donna in that sympathetic, almost big sisterly role even though she’s more or less done the same things with Evelina, Jenny and Agatha Christie.

It also rather sucks that as soon as Miss Evangelista spots something of utter importance, she’s casually ignored. This almost wouldn’t be so bad if the unfair dismissal of the girl hadn’t resulted in her own death and while this show always shies away from showing blood, there’s still another way to really show a dead person.

When the gang do find Miss Evangelista, she’s nothing more than a skeleton in a ripped up spacesuit. Worse still her outcome has her defined as a Data Ghost which means that while she might be dead, her brainwaves also simulate a conversation as she dies.

This does manage to get her to note Donna’s compassion but while Donna might be nudged by The Doctor to talk to her, Miss Evangelista does kind of go into a creepy loop. Well someone had to die from the expedition and it’s not too much of a shock that Miss Evangelista isn’t the only person to meet their maker here.

The next poor unfortunate victim then is Proper Dave. He was the first Dave on the series and excluding Other Dave and some lady, he’s also not really that vocalised as a character. He’s pretty open to The Doctor and Donna but when two shadows are at his feet, he’s basically a dead man.

Even though his team don’t want to leave him, there’s no choice in the end when he becomes a Data Ghost and starts terrorising the gang. At one point he even tries to kill The Doctor but thanks to a quick thinking River, he’s not so lucky to snuff our favourite Time Lord.

Before I talk about River, the next thing I’ll discuss are the Vashta Nerada which are basically air piranhas and can leave you skinless in milliseconds. Because we can’t actually see them our imaginations have to stretch a little more and there’s something rather creepy when The Doctor points out that not only can any shadow be a Vashta Nerada but they can exist on any planet to boot.

As villains they’re successful in creating that air of menace that this episode is craving. They might even be the best original baddies this season as well and if we didn’t take them seriously before, then The Doctor showing us how quickly they can scoff a chicken leg does the trick.

Then there’s Professor River Song, who is without a doubt the most important character in this episode. Given how sexualised David Tennant’s Doctor has been in Seasons Two and Three, I have to admit I didn’t want another former lover coming out of the midst but it seems that River is a future companion.

She’s the very person who lured him to the library with a message on the psychic paper and as soon as she meets him she is overtly affectionate. Casting ER actress Alex Kingston is a nice touch as she more than holds her own with David Tennant and also proves to be a plausible leader of the expedition to boot.

Her scenes with The Doctor stirs a lot of feelings. He’s confused with how intimately she knows about him and when Donna tries to get some answers out of her, he stops her in her tracks. However while The Doctor might be against spoilers, he is stopped at one point by River from reading her book of the future.

As guest characters go, River is definitely an ambitious piece. There’s clearly so much about The Doctor and Donna that she knows/experienced but she can’t tell and given that the current situation then puts Donna in the worst of predicaments, even River winds up being stunned by the events in the library.

Donna might have been disgusted by the idea of a Node earlier on but thanks to something going wrong that’s exactly what’s happened to her. Yeah, that means Donna’s dead and either The Doctor or an outside force has managed to kill her. That being said we also know that Catherine Tate has five more episodes left, so however this little problem is resolved, either way Donna isn’t gone just yet.

As for the girl of the piece, how the hell does she fit into things? One minute she’s engaging with a TV conversation with The Doctor, the next she can’t get a signal. There’s also the rather creepy Doctor Moon, also played nicely by Colin Salmon. One minute he’s telling the girl in front of her dad that the library, the next minute he’s urging her to save everyone in it. It’s hard to figure out whether his motives are good or bad but this is such a cracking episode that the various twists and turns never feel too convoluted.

Also in “Silence In The Library”

In lieu of an episode last week, we got a brilliant mid-season trailer for the last six episodes. So basically lots of danger, Rose and Davros (presumably) is on the way.

The Doctor (to the girl): “Oh hello, sorry for bursting in like this. Is it okay if we stop here for a bit?”

When that scene is played from The Doctor’s perspective he interacts with a security camera that’s then the girl in the real world.

Donna: “Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?”
The Doctor: “I try to keep you away from major plot developments.”

The Doctor: “Donna.”
Donna: “Yeah.”
The Doctor: “Stay out of the shadows.”
Donna: “Why? What’s in the shadows?”

This episode is the first one that Euros Lyn has directed since 2006’s “The Runaway Bride”. It’s nice to have him back.

The Doctor: “Tell me you’re not archaeologists.”
River: “Do you have a problem with archaeologists?”
The Doctor: “I’m a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists.”

The Doctor: “Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they’re wrong because it’s not irrational. It’s Vashta Nerada.”
Donna: “What’s Vashta Nerada?”
The Doctor: “It’s what’s in the dark. It’s what’s always in the dark.”

River dubbed The Doctor “Sweetie” and “Pretty Boy” during the episode. She also talked about Byzantium and a picnic in Asgard.

The Doctor: “You’ve seen me before?”
River: “Doctor, please tell me you know who I am?”

The Girl: “Are you in my television?”
The Doctor: “No, I’m sort of in space.”

Was it me or did The Girl’s father and Lux look a little similar? At one point, I actually thought her father was Lux.

River: “Sorry you are not allowed to see inside the book. It’s against the rules.”
The Doctor: “What rules?”
River: “Your rules.”

The Doctor (re Miss Evangelista): “Help her.”
Donna: “She’s dead.”
The Doctor: “I know. Help her.”

Contrary to a report in DWM, this is actually the 50th episode that has aired from the new series, although the upcoming “Midnight” was the 50th one filmed.

Doctor Moon (to The Girl): “The real world is a lie and your nightmares are real. The library is real and there are people trapped in there who need to be saved.”

River (to Donna, re The Doctor): “Oh God do I know that man. We go way back that man and me. Just not this far back.”

Congratulations to writer Steven Moffat who in 2010 will be the show runner for the series’ fifth season.

Donna: “How are we safe?”
The Doctor: “We’re not. It was a clever lie to shut you up.”

Donna (as a Node): “Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.”

Is there any chance that excluding the River stuff, either The Doctor or Donna will read something pertaining to the finale?

Well this was a seriously cracking episode. “Silence In The Library” is actually the best episode that Steven Moffat has penned since Season One’s “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances” and continues the standards of the mid-season two-part episodes being unstoppable.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x07: "The Unicorn And The Wasp"

Written by Gareth Roberts
Directed by Graeme Harper

Donna (re Agatha Christie): “She’ll forget about us.”
The Doctor: “But at least we’ve solved another riddle – the mystery of Agatha Christie.”

In the last two seasons we’ve been lucky to get at least two or three trips in the past. Last season gave us Carrionites and Shakespeare in 1599, the Daleks in 1930 New York and that creepy family in 1913. If ever there was a show to make history fun, it’s definitely Doctor Who.

This season has given us “The Fires Of Pompeii”, one of the show’s darkest and dramatic episodes so it’s reasonable to assume that “The Unicorn And The Wasp” would adopt a lighter tone.

In terms of writers we’ve gotten both Charles Dickens and Shakespeare and now it’s time to get one of the most famous female crime writers going – Agatha Christie. However just like “The Unquiet Dead” and “The Shakespeare Code” there’s a sense that The Doctor didn’t deliberately choose this meeting.

Donna has a bit of fun in teasing The Doctor about whether or not he’s able to tell a particular just by the smell. For her, clapping eyes on a vintage motor is a far more efficient way of knowing what year you happen to visit in. Also Donna decides to dress for the occasion as well in a flapper outfit.

The main event surrounds a party hosted by Lady Clemency Eddison who as hostesses go certainly rounds up an eclectic enough guest list. On one hand you’ve got the Reverend Golightly who looks like he wouldn’t harm a fly, let alone apprehend two thieves in his own church.

There’s also Robina Redmond, who has a reputation of being something of a socialite. In modern terms the girl could draw a comparison to Paris Hilton but let’s be kind about her. After all she does factor into at least half of the title of this episode.

The first guest however to make a stir is a bloke named Professor Peach. The episode opens up in a traditional murder mystery style by actually having Peach discover something quite scandalous and then before getting the chance to spill the beans he’s murdered by a lead pipe and a giant wasp then appears.

In terms of The Doctor and Donna fitting into the story themselves, the psychic paper is used nicely to dupe an inquisitive Lady Clemency. Really I sometimes wonder if we’ll get another person smart enough to see that thing as a blank piece of paper. Maybe later in the season perhaps.

However the big attraction to this little get together is Agatha Christie herself and it’s Donna who has the most interesting of reactions. Given all the stuff she’s encountered this season, it’s rather to see that some things are still capable of shocking her a bit. The Doctor is similarly dumbfounded for a bit too when he meets the woman.

Fenella Woolgar who was last seen in Steven Moffat’s Jekyll series is a good piece of casting for the famous author. Agatha Christie was not only a famous writer but she also disappeared for ten days without an explanation and this episode chooses to use the day she disappeared as the basis for this episode.

When Peach’s body is soon discovered, The Doctor quickly makes up that he’s from Scotland Yard much to Donna’s initial chagrin. Apparently she doesn’t take too kindly to being called a plucky young girl. Imagine how she’d react if her Doctor was William Hartnell in this tale.

Putting The Doctor and Donna in detective mode and then separating them is a good way of moving things forwards as well story wise. The Doctor teams up with Agatha and grills every single suspect who all have the fact that none of them had an alibi for their times alone.

Well not everyone was alone. We did after all get to see in flashbacks that Lady Clemency’s son Roger was having an affair with the servant boy Davenport. They did make for a handsome couple and despite the fact that this is the very show that had The Doctor and Captain Jack once share a kiss, all these two get to do here is hold hands.

To be honest neither of these two really does come across as suspects anyway and for the longest while I am convinced that the wasp like creature called the Vespiform is the real culprit. There was no way this story wasn’t going to contain an alien threat and seeing as I have a bit of a fear of wasps, the Vespiform makes for an effective creature.

It’s Donna who has the misfortune to first encounter the creature as well. Her snooping manages to get her access into a room that Lady Clemency has locked for the past 40 years and it’s in this room that Donna nearly meets her maker with the Vespiform.

Of course a little fear on Donna’s part is nothing compared to the annoyance she expresses when both The Doctor and Agatha fail to take her warnings seriously. That being said at least The Doctor is able to take a sample from the creature prior to the death of Miss Chandrakala.

The woman was a loyal servant to Lady Clemency and unlike Professor Peach, who arguably might have gotten it easier with the lead pipe; she gets crushed by a hideous gargoyle before mentioning something about a child. What’s that I smell – oh right, that would be a secret child and given this household, it could only be Lady Clemency of course.

The murders don’t just stop with Professor Peach and Miss Chandrakala. Nope, given how much of an annoyance his presence has been, The Doctor is the next person to have a hit on him. Let’s just when making lime sodas, I fail to recall cyanide ever being a key ingredient.

What should be a tense moment is something that is strictly played for laughs. David Tennant gets to show off his physical comedy as The Doctor desperately tries to rid the stuff out of his system and both Agatha and Donna’s haplessness during the situation adds to the comedy.

For those of you who feared in the Season Four trailer that Donna kissing The Doctor would suddenly indicate that she’s developed an attraction for him, then you can breathe a sigh of relief. The kiss is to help shock him and gets played out in a similar to the kiss he had with Cassandra as Rose in “New Earth”.

Killing The Doctor however might have failed but poor Roger doesn’t make it out of the episode alive when he finds himself stabbed in the back. I’m guessing that’s one way of keeping his secret affair with Davenport from being discovered but I was actually a little sad to see him killed. Still there is sense behind his death and this show is way too gay friendly to endorse any forms of homophobia.

One of the strongest things about this episode is the way both The Doctor and Donna encourage Agatha Christie. For a woman with such a mind, it’s interesting to see that she wasn’t all that confident in her abilities. I’m not the biggest reader of her novels but I do understand why she consistently gets the props lauded onto her as well.

Donna’s way of boosting morale is to get Agatha to open up about her private life. It’s a really good moment between both the characters and actresses Catherine Tate and Fenella Woolgar and it’s also nice to see Donna open a little bit about her own bad experiences with Lance too.

Of course The Doctor makes more of an attempt for Agatha to realise that the murders are something that she herself would scribe in her books. As soon as she mentions the murderer being human, it’s like The Doctor finds the best way of getting her into the game. As teams go, these two are a lot of fun.

Rounding up everyone else in the room also gave us the chance to reveal some secrets. For those of you expecting to see the unicorn in the title, you get your wish. Robina might not turn into the creature but she is the unicorn thief and her attempts of nicking the firestone are scuppered thanks to Agatha.

Donna gets to have a bit of fun in trying to guess who the actual killer is. Personally I was banking on Lady Eddison being involved somehow into the mystery and while the reveal of her husband being able to walk is fun, I liked that the alien element of the episode was brought back into the fore.

So we know that Lady Clemency had locked herself away in that mystery room because she allegedly had malaria. The reveal of her giving birth to a child as a result of a sexual encounter in India was a more satisfying answer and at 40 years old, the only person who could be that mystery child was the good Reverend.

Yeah, I really should’ve guessed but Gareth Roberts had me fooled and on his part, it was a very good once so kudos on that score. Tom Goodman-Hill made for a seemingly benevolent presence at first but upon his reveal, he suddenly upped the nastiness quite convincingly.

What’s interesting though is how this episode then comes to its conclusion. Agatha is the one who feels responsible for all the murders that have happened and uses her hold on the Vespiform to try and stop it. It’s a noble thing to do and she is able to best the creature without dying in the process.

As for The Doctor and Donna, they leave everyone else to suppress their memories and for Agatha not to really remember what happened to her in the last ten days. There’s an interesting exchange where both of them do discuss the woman’s legacy without the cheesiness that a lazier script would’ve resorted to.

Also in “The Unicorn And The Wasp”

This episode was clearly filmed in a summer period given how bright the day scenes were.

Donna: “What do you think flapper or slapper?”
The Doctor: “Flapper. You look lovely.”

Come to think of it, isn’t it a shame that Martha couldn’t have been in this episode. The Doctor did try to tempt her with seeing Agatha Christie in “Last Of The Time Lords”.

Roger: “Some of these young boys deserve a decent trashing.”
Davenport: “Couldn’t agree more, Sir.”

Agatha: “Agatha Christie.”
Donna: “What about her?”
Agatha: “That’s me.”
Donna: “No way. You’re kidding.”

Following Rose and Martha’s footsteps, Donna had to be corrected by The Doctor for talking in a posh accent.

Donna: “Yeah but think about it. There’s a murder, a mystery and Agatha Christie.”
The Doctor: “So? Happens to me all the time.”

The Doctor: “We’ve only got your word for it.”
Robina: “That’s your problem, not mine.”

Flashbacks included Hugh getting carried away with himself, Robina with a gun, Roger/Davenport’s tryst, Lady Clemency boozing in secret and Reverend Golightly unpacking.

Donna (to The Doctor/Agatha Christie re Vespiform): “When I say giant, I don’t mean big, I mean flipping enormous.”

Agatha: “Can we return to sanity? There’s no such thing as a giant wasp.”
The Doctor: “Exactly. So the question is what is it doing here?”

Some of the things used to stop cyanide poisoning The Doctor were ginger beer, walnuts and anchovies.

Donna (to The Doctor): “This makes a change. There’s a monster and we’re chasing it.”
Agatha: “Can’t be a monster, it’s a trick.”

The Doctor: “Shock, I need a shock.”
Donna: “Right then. One big shock coming up.”

Arc wise, Donna once again alluded to bees disappearing. She also mentioned the Racnoss, which harks back to the “something on your back” warning we’ve had.

Donna: “Well we know the butler didn’t do it.”
The Doctor: “Then who did?”

The Doctor: “What does the Vespiform want?”
Agatha: “Doctor, stop it. The murderer is as human as you and I.”

There was a small bit of flirting between The Doctor and Agatha. Plus I think Roger may have fancied The Doctor, even though he openly flirted with Donna.

Agatha (to Robina): “You said you’ve been to the toilet.”
Donna: “Oh I know this. If she was really posh she would’ve said loo.”

Donna (to Agatha, re Robina): “Is she the murderer?”
Robina: “Don’t be so thick. I might be a thief but I ain’t a killer.”

There was a nice reference to “The Unquiet Dead” about Charles Dickens and ghosts and I cracked up over the Noddy reference too. Oh and we got the Cybus logo, Carrionites prison etc.

The Doctor: “Bit of a buzzing sound there, Vicar.”
Reverend Golightly: “Don’t make me angry.”

I was disappointed that at the end of this episode we didn’t get a trailer for the remaining six episodes of the season, especially given that we have to wait two weeks for “Silence In The Library”.

As episodes go, this has to be most fun episode of Doctor Who ever. “The Unicorn And The Wasp” was a light hearted, enjoyable romp and given that the remaining episodes are going to be rather heavy, this was a well timed episode. Gareth Roberts you should be so proud of yourself.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x06: "The Doctor's Daughter"

Written by Stephen Greenhorn
Directed by Alice Troughton

The Doctor (re Jenny): “Donna, will you tell her?”
Donna: “Oh you are speechless. I’m loving this. You keep on Jenny.”

Well if there was an episode that more or less stated the obvious in terms of what would be happening in an episode of Doctor Who, then this is definitely it. Yes, it’s very episode people have been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. I can’t speak for everyone else but my overall stance is positive.

Given that last week’s disappointing conclusion to the Sontaran two-parter ended with The Doctor, Donna and Martha being taken by the TARDIS, it’s amazing how little it takes for Martha to comment on the excitement of the hand. Well it was the same thing that Captain Jack kept for two years and also the same thing that The Master was able to use to his advantage so point for being worried.

Donna’s reaction is funny. Six episodes into her tenure on the TARDIS and she’s still learning more and more about being with The Doctor. As for the hand’s crazy behaviour, it soon manages to stop upon their arrival on Messaline.

Done with earth stories, it’s nice to see this episode based on a planet. Granted for the first half we’re underground but I’m liking the idea of less earth based stories this season. However the first thing that happens is that as soon as the TARDIS, there are soldiers afoot so it’s obvious that war is playing its part in this journey.

There are plenty of welcomes that The Doctor could’ve anticipated. Equally as annoying as a gun to the head, a soldier named Cline has The Doctor processed. Less icky than it sounds, the flipside is that this procedure involves tissue samples into making more soldiers.

Over the last week and a half, there were extensive theories as to what Jenny would be. Some people did go with the test tube baby theory and others thought that like The Master, Jenny might have been the real deal and clever enough to have survived the Time War. If I’m being honest, I flipped back and forth and it seems that Jenny herself could be a mixture of both options.

Her first reaction upon seeing her father is a cheeky wink but seeing as Jenny’s ‘birth’ comes at the same time a fish/humanoid race called the Hath are getting ready to fight, the girl’s first impulse is to blow up stuff. All this happens while one of the Hath manages to kidnap Martha.

One of the things I hated about the last episode was Martha having barely anything to do and to be honest I didn’t like that she was so easily captured here either. That Hath certainly didn’t waste time and Martha didn’t exactly put up much of a struggle either.

Fortunately both The Doctor and Donna are determined to get her back and Donna rips Jenny a new one when the trigger happy girl dismisses Martha as collateral damage. Yeah for me that is probably the only thing Jenny says in the episode that annoyed me. Everything else she says or does is fine in my book.

However it seems that Martha isn’t really in that big of danger. Sure the Hath might have snatched her but she’s soon fixing its arm and generally being sympathetic to the species. One thing that is establish fairly quickly is that both the human and Hath factions are as bad as each other.

The Doctor, Donna and Jenny are also making some of their own discoveries too. General Cobb is leading the humans into ending the war and finding a significant thing called The Source. Being something of a broken record, The Doctor goes off on one of his anti-war stances for the billionth time but instead of being listened to, he manages to get himself, Donna and Jenny locked up instead.

At least prison time has some advantages. While both the Hath and the humans are heading to the same temple to find The Source, Donna finds a way of continuing her amazing streak. Instead of the war factors, Donna feels that The Doctor should get to know Jenny a lot. Naturally his enthusiasm for this isn’t particularly.

The Doctor might view himself as a pacifist but Jenny uses every opportunity and every defence he has to show him that he can be quite the foot soldier when he wants to be. In fact Jenny doesn’t particularly respond well when The Doctor goes on the offensive and keeps dismissing the idea that they are biologically related.

Fortunately however, Jenny’s method of escape is a little less intense. Seducing a gullible Cline was a nice move, especially when Donna quips about her own feminine wiles. Joe Dempsie, while not actually given a lot to do in the episode is adequate in the soldier’s role and General Cobb does find Cline bound and gagged a while after The Doctor, Donna and Jenny have managed to escape.

Sadly though any sympathy for General Cobb does seem to evaporate really quickly. He’s so into this war that no amount of reasoning from The Doctor is enough to dissuade. Times like this even I wonder why The Doctor tries to reason with war obsessed sociopaths like Cobb. He would’ve been better either arresting or killing the man instead of trying to appeal to his better nature.

Still are some incredibly wonderful moments with The Doctor and Donna. While some people might find her determination to accept Jenny as his daughter somewhat moralising, you have to admit that once again, Catherine Tate is given some delicious lines. There are also a few parallels to The Doctor and Jenny that do see him warming to the idea of having a child.

For instance for all of her violence, you have to admire Jenny’s ability to literally be able to kick butt during the start of the episode and it was also rather superb with how she put her gymnastic skills to good use in order to get past a series of laser alarms. Donna’s reactions to Jenny’s skills was also neat.

In fact Donna’s total lack of jealousy is still constantly a breath of fresh. I know a lot of it is down to the lack of sexual designs she has on The Doctor but I do love much she warms to the girl and even how she compliments Jenny for being able to challenge The Doctor at every given point. It’s like she’s taking on the role of cool aunt with the girl.

Georgia Moffett is a wonderful piece of casting in the role of Jenny. Although it’s incredibly hard to ignore the fact that she’s the real life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison, the girl is absolutely electric on screen and wonderfully holds her own against David Tennant. It’s great that we didn’t have to wait too long for The Doctor to want to connect with Jenny.

In fact when he’s not telling Donna about being a parent beforehand, both she and Jenny get an edited but effective version of what happened in the Time War. Seeing Jenny reignites a lot of those feelings in the same way that seeing The Master did too. Something tells me with the continued mentions of that particular period in The Doctor’s life that we may finally get something on it.

As for Martha, well she manages to encourage a Hath called Peck to help her find The Source but sadly for her she nearly gets killed in a bog and when her life is saved, Peck ends up being the goner. Although Freema Agyeman has better material here than in “The Poison Sky”, Martha’s experiences still feel more negative.

Still at least Martha is reunited with The Doctor, Donna and Jenny shortly afterwards and then the four of them find The Source. If the generation long war only lasting a week wasn’t shocking, then The Source being a device to make Messaline more habitable is pleasant.

With all the war in this episode, it’s nice that the major thing is an object of peace. The Doctor releasing it into the air was his own way of getting both the humans and the Hath to settle their differences but if the episode has one real negative stroke against it, then it’s the ‘death’ of Jenny.

This seems to be an ongoing thing in this series. As soon as The Doctor finds someone like him (aka Time Lord), they have to die. General Cobb shot Jenny as she protected her father and while the ‘death’ scene isn’t as affecting as the one in “Last Of The Time Lords”, both Tennant and Moffett knock it out of the ball park.

It’s also nice to see Jenny’s ‘death’ produce a near violent reaction from The Doctor. I was weirdly delighted to see him point a gun to General Cobb’s head and while I knew he wouldn’t go through with it, I think as viewers we needed to see that level of impact.

You feel bad for The Doctor. Once again he’s under the impression that he’s the last of his kind and also some of this sadness plays a part when he has to say goodbye to Martha. At least her goodbye in this episode is more concentrate on than when she was in Torchwood but her warning to Donna makes me shudder a little.

As for Jenny, it seems you just can’t keep a good soldier. Her father’s barely left Messaline and she’s already scaring the crap out of a Hath and Cline by suddenly coming alive. However this doesn’t mean through regeneration and to prove that she really is her father’s daughter, the first thing she does it to take off.

Stephen Greenhorn who wrote this episode did warn that some viewers might not like it. Perhaps he meant the fact that with Jenny still around, The Doctor really isn’t the last of his kind. Then again I’m still unconvinced that The Master is dead, so that would effectively make three Time Lords still breathing.

Also in “The Doctor’s Daughter”

This episode aired at 6.45pm and from next week onwards the series is going back to its regular 7pm slot.

Martha: “Oh I love this bit.”
Donna: “I thought you wanted to go home?”

It was interesting to see Martha dressed in the same way that she usually was in Season Three – except for cream leather jacket of course.

Donna: “How? Who is she?”
The Doctor: “Well she’s, she’s my daughter.”
Jenny: “Hello Dad.”

The Doctor: “But they’ve got my friend.”
Jenny: “Collateral damage. At least you’ve still got her. He’s lost both his men. I’d say you’d came out ahead.”
Donna: “Her name is Martha and she’s not collateral damage, not for anyone. Have you got that, GI Jane?”

Donna is the very person who gives Jenny her name after The Doctor explains how the girl came to be.

Donna: “This is a theatre”.
The Doctor: “Maybe they’re doing Miss Saigon.”

Jenny (to Donna, re The Doctor): “You’re no better than him. I have a body, I have a mind. I have independent thought. How am I not real? What makes you better than me?”

Georgia Moffett was originally supposed to be in the next episode “The Unicorn And The Wasp”. She also auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler back in 2004.

Donna: “So The Source could be a weapon and you’ve given directions to Captain Nutjob.”
The Doctor: “Oh yes.”

Jenny (to Cline): “Keep quiet and open the door.”
Donna (to The Doctor): “I’d like to see you try that.”

Messaline looks very similar enough to Malcassairo in “Utopia”. It’s not the only similarity as well.

The Doctor: “Killing after a while it affects you. Once it does, you’re never rid of it.”
Jenny: “But we don’t have a choice.”
The Doctor: “There’s always a choice.”
Jenny: “I’m sorry.”

The Doctor: “Jenny, I can’t.”
Jenny: “I have to manage on my own. Watch and learn father.”

Donna uses her temping skills yet again to figure out the whole generations of the war on this planet. I loved The Doctor complimenting her on it too.

The Doctor (to Jenny): “Careful, there might be traps.”
Donna: “Kids. They never listen.”

Donna: “You’re filthy. What happened?”
Martha: “I took the surface route.”

I noticed that a good chunk of the Doctor Who Confidential dedicated some of it’s time to “Time Crash”. I enjoyed seeing Peter Davison’s reaction to finding out exactly what role Georgia Moffett was playing in this episode.

The Doctor: “We can go anywhere, everywhere. You choose.”
Jenny: “Sounds good.”
The Doctor: “You’re my daughter and we’ve only just started. You’re going to be great. You’re going to be more than great. You’re going to be amazing, do you hear me? Jenny?”

The Doctor (to everyone): “I never would. Have you got that? I never would. When you start this world of humans and Hath you remember to make the foundations of this society, a man that never would.”

Did anyone notice a lot of the music in this episode was remixed from both “Utopia” and “Last Of The Time Lords”?

Donna (to Martha, re The Doctor): “How can I go back to normal life after this? I’m gonna travel with that man forever.”

Cline: “But where are you going?”
Jenny: “Oh I’ve got the whole universe. Planets to save, civilisations to rescue, creatures to defeat and an awful lot of running to do.”

Martha landed outside of her house. I thought for a second we might have seen either Tom or her family.

Although some people are inclined to disagree, I absolutely loved “The Doctor’s Daughter”. It’s easily one of my favourite episodes of the series and while we could’ve gotten a few more arc related clues (besides a Time War mention), this episode barely stopped for breath and what are the odds that with Jenny alive, that we won’t see her in the season finale?

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x05: "The Poison Sky"

Written by Helen Raynor
Directed by Douglas MacKinnon

General Staal: “Doctor you impugn my honour.”
The Doctor: “I’m really glad you didn’t say ‘belittle’. Then I’d have a field day.”

Okay I’ll be truthful, the previous episode wasn’t exactly a stunner and unfortunately this part is actually much weaker than its opening segment. I know the Sontarans have the earth at their mercy and that there is a genuine sense of danger but this episode really didn’t do it for me.

Last time we saw Wilfred he was trapped in the car about to be poisoned to death. With Donna screeching rather than doing something assertive, it takes Sylvia of all people to solve the problem by putting an axe to the car window. This also became the episode where she began to appear less irritating.

Maybe it was the sight of her in axe-wielding mode or maybe it was the fact that this episode saw her actually be useful. Either way, it’ll make me look forward to her next appearance in the series. She still hasn’t quite gotten to the stage of realising that The Doctor isn’t all bad though.

When Wilf encourages Donna to go back to UNIT HQ with The Doctor and Ross, it’s Sylvia who pleads with her to stay. For a woman who wanted Donna out of her hair during “Partners In Crime”, the reversal here is understandable. Sylvia is aware of the dangers out there and doesn’t want a dead daughter. Donna on the other hand wants to help stop the Sontarans so she heads off.

Luke meanwhile seems to be enjoying the array of carnage that is going on. Well he did talk about how earth wasn’t big enough for him, so it’s not much of a shock that he basks in the same love for war that General Staal is also exhibiting. While Staal takes an interest in how Luke is feeling, it’s becoming clear that the lad is outliving his usefulness to this lot.

In fact it was kinda obvious from the get go that the Sontarans were using Luke for their own means and given that the kid has sociopath tendencies, it’s not like they had to make a great effort to get him on side.

Luke’s arrogant enough to think he’s a major player in the Sontarans’ plan to choke the earth and he’s even more arrogant when he gathers his fellow child prodigies and tells them of his new plans. Fortunately these bunch of geniuses have enough sense to tell Luke that his plan is insane.

Luke did make a good attempt to persuade them but seeing as he behaved like a megalomaniac it was fantastic to see these kids rebel against him. However it did look like at one point that Luke was gonna go trigger happy on the poor kids. Thankfully he isn’t that homicidal.

However failing to round more willing idiots to help the Sontarans only meant that General Staal could brag about having no further use for him. I know Luke is a genius but he really should’ve seen this betrayal coming. In fact Luke’s total ignorance regarding the Sontarans is part of his downfall but at least he’s sly enough to avoid execution.

The Sontarans plans to choke the earth however seems to be working arguably a little too well. You’ve got the gas breathing out of everyone’s cars and people being forced to barricade themselves inside their own home. The Sontarans also have the advantage of getting the Martha Clone to do some sabotage inside UNIT and of course, the buggers manage to nick the TARDIS with Donna inside.

Getting to the UNIT part, if The Doctor was annoying with his anti-gun stance last week, then he might test your patience with the way he attempts to derail UNIT from every idea that the come up with this time. In some ways The Doctor has a point but I have to the fact that Colonel Mace doesn’t exactly have that many options either.

Sending in a bunch of unprepared UNIT soldiers to battle with invading Sontarans perhaps wasn’t his best move but what was the alternative? The Sontarans have no interest in peaceful means or reason so I can see why trying to defend the earth via soldiers was a plan for Mace. Just a pity that the Sontarans basically kill everyone in sight.

That leads to the other thing. With so many characters in this two-parter, deaths were expected and while hardly any of them are really extraordinary, I did hate that our first killing happened to be Ross. The Doctor was also upset enough to use the lad’s death against Mace too. Not sure The Doctor was right in doing that.

If soldiers weren’t a strong enough idea to combat the Sontarans and the poisonous gasses in the sky, then setting the earth on nuclear was another failed idea. It’s didn’t take Martha’s clone long enough to work out the logistics in stopping that particular plan.

With the real Martha largely absent from this episode, Freema Agyeman was on full evil as her double caused a reasonable amount of havoc. I was hoping the moment when The Doctor realised that she was a clone would be stunning but if I’m being honest it actually lacked bite.

I wasn’t surprised that he knew all along and was getting Martha’s clone to do his own agenda but the moment where she brags about having a gun is enough to be pro-arms. Martha’s own reaction to seeing her double however was a little better. Shocked as she may have been it didn’t stop her from trying to get some answers about the Sontarans’ overall plan for earth.

Appealing to the clone’s better side (before it died) both Martha and The Doctor realised that the Sontarans planned to use the earth to breed more of their kind. Well I understand how essential that would be but even still, it basically blows as a plot. It’s also why I just can’t take this lot seriously as villains.

Fortunately afterwards we were getting some progress in defeating the Sontarans. UNIT were clever enough to put the Valiant from last season into good use with sorting out the air but it was The Doctor, Donna and Martha’s team up with a betrayed Luke that got the right results.

Giving the episode some real drama, The Doctor said a poignant goodbye to both of his companions before giving the Sontarans the option of surrender or extermination. With the amount of times the bad guys tell The Doctor to shove his ultimatums, you’d think The Doctor would just blow them up.

Harking back to “The Parting Of The Ways”, Staal can see that The Doctor is unlikely to act on his threat and enjoys goading him. It doesn’t help that The Doctor really does look like he’s having trouble keeping his word. Thankfully Luke is able to redeem himself by taking The Doctor’s place and blowing both himself and the remaining Sontarans in oblivion. Um, good riddance on both counts!

With the Sontarans and the earth safe from poison gasses again, I think I should take a look at how Donna was in this episode. Given how weak this whole affair really is, it’s moments like this that Donna coming into her own really stop this episode from becoming a chore to watch.

We’ve seen both Sylvia and Wilfred’s opposing attitudes towards her partnership with The Doctor and both of them came to light even better during an intimate phone conversation that Donna had with both members of her family. I’m glad Donna chose to listen to Wilf more than her mother though.

She also proved her own strength and bravery when trapped in the TARDIS by knocking out the Sontaran to get the teleport system back online. Granted The Doctor did need to encourage during those moments but it doesn’t undermine what Donna still had to do. I might not be able to take the Sontarans seriously but luckily this entire two-parter made the conscious effort to try and make them into serious threats.

The funny thing is also how Donna reacts to The Doctor putting himself in serious jeopardy. Both her and Martha try and stop him from going on a suicide mission but when he comes back in piece, Donna feels more comfortable in slapping in the arm while Martha is at ease with hugging him.

The last part is checking in with the family. With Donna’s family nearly getting killed in this story, she could’ve decided that The Doctor wasn’t worth the risk and stayed home. However Wilf still encouraged her to go and that’s exactly what she did. My only grievance is that she didn’t fully explain the alien thing to Sylvia. After what happened here, the woman did have the right to know.

However I am pleased to say that this episode probably has the best ending of an episode so far this season. With Martha refusing Donna’s offer to join her and The Doctor, isn’t rather delicious that the TARDIS chooses to act up and drag the three of them off to a distant planet.

Martha’s fury over the whole thing is quite interesting but given how disappointingly underused she was here; perhaps the next episode will actually give Martha an interesting storyline. Plus I do actually enjoy this show a tiny bit more with two companions rather than one.

Also in “The Poison Sky”

Like certain episodes of Torchwood, the previously on bit for this episode was a tad too long for its own good.

Luke: “This is it, isn’t it? Oh man, this is war.”
General Staal: “And how does it feel boy?”
Luke: “Magnificent.”

The other UNIT member we met in this episode was Captain Marion Price, who got to snog Colonel Mace during the episode too.

Donna: “Yeah maybe we can get sentimental after the world’s finished choking us to death.”
The Doctor: “Yeah, good idea.”

The Doctor (to Martha’s Clone): “I’m stuck on Earth like an ordinary person. Like a human. How rubbish is that? Sorry, no offence but come on.”

Because the episode really couldn’t avoid it, I cheered when Colonel Mace mentioned that The Brigadier was in Peru to The Doctor.

Wilfred: “It’s the scale of it. How can one man stop all this?”
Donna: “Trust me, he will.”

The Doctor: “Any ideas?”
Martha Clone: “How should I know?”

When The Doctor was talking to Martha’s clone, he mentioned Captain Jack. He also mentioned “Are you my Mummy?” to Colonel Mace.

The Doctor: “I’m sorry but you’ve got to go outside.”
Donna: “But there are Sontarans out there.”
The Doctor: “Sontarans.”

Martha Clone: “You’re not going without me.”
The Doctor: “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The end credits of this episode had Billie Piper credited. Rose appeared briefly on the TARDIS monitor when Donna was alone.

The Doctor: “Am I supposed to be impressed?”
Martha Clone: “Wish you carried a gun now?”
The Doctor: “Not at all.”

Donna: “You know that coat... sort of works...”
Martha: “I feel like a kid in my dad's clothes.”

Towards the end of the episode we got Martha in a leather jacket and her hair back in its pineapple glory.

The Doctor: “Planning your own trip, were we?”
Luke: “They promised me a whole new world.”

Martha: “Just send that thing up on its own, I don’t know, put it on a delay.”
The Doctor: “I can’t.”
Donna: “Why not?”
The Doctor (re the Sontarans): “I got to give them a choice.”

Originally in the episode, Donna was supposed to hit her Sontaran with a shoe rather than a hammer and how nice was it to have Elisabeth Sladen and Colin Baker talk about their own experiences with the Sontarans in Doctor Who Confidential.

Martha: “What are you doing?”
Luke: “Something clever.”

Wilfred (re Sylvia): “I won’t tell her. Best not. Keep this our little secret.”
Donna: “Yeah.”

The trailer for the next episode looked stunning. All that slow moments and creepy music.

Much as I love this show, I have to admit that “The Poison Sky” is definitely the worst episode we’ve had this season. Slow moving in some parts, not that great a scheme on the Sontarans part and sorely under using the real Martha, here’s hoping that the next episode will wash away the disappointment of this two-parter.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x04: "The Sontaran Stratagem"

Written by Helen Raynor
Directed by Douglas MacKinnon

Martha: “Doctor, it’s Martha and I’m bringing you back to Earth.”

Four episodes into the fourth season and we’ve hit a series of fours. With the start of this episode we’ve got our first two parter of the season but mostly importantly we’ve also got the returns of Martha Jones, the Sontarans and UNIT to contend with as all of them have been greatly advertised.

The episode opens up with a rather creepy note as a journalist named Jo finds herself being thrown out of Rattigan Academy, which is owned by child genius Luke. Apparently she’s suspicious of the chaos that Atmos has been causing and Luke is more than evasive with her.

The fact that Luke also looks he’d tried to knife you for change probably doesn’t help with that either. However while Jo might not have gotten any answers from the lad, it doesn’t stop her from deciding that a trip to UNIT HQ is her next best step. If Luke won’t give her answers willingly, then force is a good plan B.

Sadly for Jo, Luke’s a hell of a lot cleverer than she thinks and upon commands from his own superiors, Jo gets a nasty surprise when her own sat-nav directs her car straight into the nearest river. I know it might be a tad silly but I’m wondering if I can use this moment the next time someone asks me why I don’t drive to further explain why I plan to stay a pedestrian for another while.

Still Jo isn’t the only person who feels that Atmos have something to hide. UNIT do as well and what better to bring The Doctor and Donna back to earth than a phone call from Martha? Well she did give him a phone with the specific intention of calling him again and let’s just say the girl doesn’t break her promises.

Looking as radiant as ever, Martha’s return is without a doubt the best thing to occur in this episode. As much as I’ve enjoyed her antics in Torchwood, I really wanted to see how much she really has changed since walking out of the TARDIS at the end of “Last Of The Time Lords”.

Okay to get the obvious changes out of the way, we’re reminded again that she’s a fully qualified Doctor working for UNIT but now her mystery man is not only revealed to be Tom Milligan but she’s also engaged. It would take Donna of all people to figure out that Martha has managed to get hitched.

Now the dynamic between The Doctor and Martha feels just right in this episode. Because she’s done a fair amount of growing up, that doe eyed innocence is out of the picture but while Martha may no longer fancy The Doctor she still respects him and it’s a delight to see good feeling among them as well as a little tension.

One of the things that I was looking forward to in this episode was the how both Martha and Donna would interact. Given that both of them are two very different types of women, they could instantly clash. In fact judging by his experience with Rose and Sarah Jane in “School Reunion”, The Doctor’s first reaction was to tell them not to fight it out.

In all fairness he need not have bothered. Martha may have looked a little taken aback when Donna stepped out of the TARDIS but she soon changed her tune when Donna accepted her with open arms. Although Martha did look a little surprised when Donna started making with the conversation.

To be honest I was rather relieved with that and it is rather funny to see Donna emphasise to Martha just how much she doesn’t fancy The Doctor without making such a huge effort. I’m going to enjoy these two for the next two episodes. It also bodes well when Donna will get her chance to interact with Rose.

Of course we do get to move away from the soapy stuff when Martha brings The Doctor and Donna up to speed on what’s been going on. The Doctor might have been glad to meet up with Martha but he isn’t exactly glowing with enthusiasm over the idea of having to deal with UNIT.

Taking a big leap into the future, UNIT may have been around in both Seasons One and Three, but it’s only now do they actually factor significantly into the storyline. They’re determined to use military means in order to find how Atmos are causing so many deaths at the same time and The Doctor isn’t best pleased with their methods.

I have to admit that for once I actually sided with UNIT a little. Given the extreme behaviour they had with Toshiko in the Torchwood episode “Fragments”, them turning over the Atmos factory is hardly the worst thing they’ve ever done. Plus The Doctor might not like guns but even now and then they do come in handy, especially when the baddies of the episode are an army with a major hard on for war.

This leads to our other great big return of the episode, which is the Sontarans. Last seen back in 1985’s “The Two Doctors”, this lot were just another of the old series’ original baddies that were destined to return. I’m pretty ambivalent about the Sontarans in the sense that I’ll credit them with being smarter than they would appear but at the same time they don’t invoke the same “wow” factor that the Daleks, Cybermen, The Master or Davros do.

That being said, at least they aren’t exactly wasting time upon their return and a part of me is relieved to have an old race back on the show that The Doctor didn’t think was long dead. It didn’t take much to realise that this lot are also responsible for the Atmos deaths and are also the same bunch that are controlling Luke’s little operation at Rattigan Academy.

It’s also quite interesting to see that for once we do see some actual cloning going on. When two of UNIT’s not so finest soldiers Harris and Grey find an underground cloning chamber at the Atmos factory, the silly pair then end up becoming hypnotic slaves for the sullen, war-obsessed General Staal.

Their fates are bad enough but it also doesn’t take long for Martha to get suckered into the brunt of things when Harris and Grey kidnap her. Martha might be able to take pleasure in the fact that Commander Skorr doesn’t see her fit for hypnosis if the alternative didn’t involve her being cloned. Well it’s one of those things that we haven’t seen on this show and I’m all for the idea of two Martha’s even if one of them is evil.

It’s also great for Freema Agyeman who is not wonderful in reminding viewers why Martha was so brilliant in the first place but seeing her being able to act a little evil as well is also fun to watch. Not that the Martha clone does anything more than blatantly lie to Colonel Mace about the progress of the investigation.

However before Martha had the misfortune to get kidnapped and cloned, there’s also another illuminating moment between her and Donna. Clearly detecting Donna’s affection for The Doctor, she warns the fiery red head about getting too close to him. This was of course after the awesome moment where Donna was able to point out to everyone the suspect manner in none of Atmos’ workers missing a day.

It’s a good piece of advice and the fact that Martha is quick to mention the way The Doctor and devastation can also impact your family means that Donna has to reconnect with hers. After all, Donna hasn’t really thought about either Sylvia or Wilf since she left with The Doctor.

When Rose left with The Doctor a whole year had passed before she clapped eyes on Mickey or Jackie and Martha missed half a day without seeing Clive, Francine, Tish and Leo. For Donna only a few days have passed but there’s something deliberately poignant about her walking down her neighbourhood and the hug she shares with Wilf when he spots her.

Wilf so far has to be my favourite member of a companion and I absolutely adore his devotion to Donna. He asks some reasonable questions about The Doctor and when he actually catches a glimpse of the man, he behaves more like a fan boy rather than a suspicious relative. I wouldn’t worry because Sylvia’s reaction is more hostile, although it’s not quite as intense as Francine’s.

As for the other reunion, what can I say if the idiot UNIT soldiers had a hard time taking the Sontarans seriously, then The Doctor is only too happy to mock them as well. Well I’ve never really taken the Sontarans that seriously so I guess I can’t totally object to The Doctor’s childish response.

Using his knowledge of everything that Sontarans stand for is a good way of getting General Staal to lift his visor but it’s even funnier to see soldier boy Ross Jenkins point out that Sontaran does resemble a giant spud. Makes you wish that Donna had been included in that little scene.

That being said for all the jokes that are being made, General Staal does have the great ambition of poisoning the earth and having every car loaded with a special gas that gets released into the air is a wonderful way of wiping the smirk of The Doctor’s face. The Doctor might have been able to avoid death by sat-nav but he might not be so lucky in stopping the Sontarans from choking the earth.

The stakes here got upped with Wilf trapped in a poisonous car but even without that moment, the threat is still powerful enough. It also doesn’t help that you’ve got Sylvia blaming The Doctor for everything as well. Any chance that Donna’s successor can be an orphan or can have two gay fathers?

Another thing about this episode I liked was that the Sontarans mused over their history with The Doctor but if I’m being honest, Luke is a thousand time creepier than any Sontaran. His colder than cold response over earth’s imminent destruction followed by his participation in the Sontaran victory dance ended the episode on a chilling note.

Also in “The Sontaran Stratagem”

I’m not surprised to see that Freema Agyeman’s name is back in the opening credits. It does make sense to bill her last though.

Donna (re the 1980’s): “What am I gonna do, put a dent in them?”
The Doctor: “Well, someone did.”

I have to admit that after enough viewings, the UNIT soldier look does look very well for the year 2008. Martha particularly carries it off well.

Donna (to Martha, re The Doctor): “He is too skinny for words. You give him a hug and you get a paper cut.”
The Doctor: “Oh I’d rather you were fighting.”

Donna (to The Doctor, re Martha): “Is that what you did to her? Turned her into a soldier?”

Martha’s operation was called “Blue Sky”. The only UNIT people who were vocalised were Colonel Mace, Private Harris, Private Gray and Ross Jenkins.

Martha (re UNIT): “They’re dying to meet you.”
The Doctor: “Wish I could say the same.”

General Staal: “Is that a reference to my height?”
Private Harris: “Short answer; yes.”

Donna had flashbacks of the Adipose, hanging on for dear life, destruction of Pompeii and the Ood when she was going home.

Martha (re The Doctor): “I can see why he likes you.”
Donna: “Uh-huh.”
Martha: “You are good.”
Donna: “Super-temp.”

Martha (to Donna): “You know The Doctor. He’s wonderful, he’s brilliant but he’s like fire. Stand too close and people get burnt.”

Martha told Donna about what The Master did to her family without mentioning his name. The Doctor also told Donna he planned to take her to the Medusa Cascade.

Sylvia: “What were you going to tell me? What don’t I know?”
Donna: “Nothing, just nothing.”

The Doctor (to Luke): “Don’t call Ross a grunt, he’s nice. We like Ross.”

Isn’t it still a bit silly that UNIT would still have Atmos sat-navs even if they were suspicious of them? It’s not like they are the only company in Britain that make sat-navs.

General Staal: “We stare into the face of death.”
The Doctor: “Yeah, well stare at this.”

Luke: “How do you tell each other apart?”
General Staal: “We say the same of humans.”

General Staal is played by Christopher Ryan who played Lord Kiv in the Sixth Doctor serial “Trial Of A Time Lord”. This series does love to recast all the time.

Martha (looking at the creature in the cloning tank): “What is that?”
Commander Skorr: “Soon that will be you.”

General Staal: “War can never come too soon. Take a last look, boy.”
Luke (regarding Earth): “It was never big enough for me.”
General Staal: “I like your ambition.”

Atmos might be this year’s Archangel network as everyone seems to have it and it automatically puts everyone in harm’s way.

Wilf: “You must be one of those aliens.”
The Doctor: “Well yeah but don’t shout it out. Nice to meet you properly Wilfred.”

Chronology: Apparently a few days has passed for Donna since “Partners In Crime”.

Although there is a lot to recommend about this episode, I have to admit that even though I did mostly enjoy “The Sontaran Stratagem”, it is by far the weakest episode of Season Four so far. The Sontarans do have a good scheme and Martha’s return is a joy to behold but it’s quite tepid compared to the previous two episodes. Perhaps next week’s episode will pick things up.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x03: "Planet Of The Ood"

Written by Keith Temple
Directed by Graeme Harper

Keeping with the tradition of last season, the first two episodes consisted of a contemporary earth based saga and a period piece but instead of the look into a dystopian future, we get treated to past antics on a planet to contend with.

One of the first few things we knew about Season Four, besides Donna’s return as a full time companion was that we were going to get a second helping of the Ood. As someone who enjoyed their debut in “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit”, I was all for seeing this lot again.

Putting aside the trauma of Pompeii’s destruction, Donna’s in full happy mode to see her first planet. I mean getting to see the past last week did impress but stepping foot on an alien planet is apparently a bigger draw to her of all things. The Doctor is also suitably happy to oblige in this as well.

As planets goes, Ood-Sphere (hardly original but it does the trick) is a sight to behold. Mostly made of mountains and vast amounts of snow, Donna goes from listening to The Doctor philosophically ranting on to grabbing one of her coats. Well the woman did bring a lot of suitcases so witnessing Donna’s practicality in the cold weather conditions is smart of her.

We don’t exactly have to wait that long into seeing the Ood either. There was one of them who killed that guy at the start of the episode and The Doctor and Donna stumble upon him dying in the snow. Donna’s reaction to the Ood’s physical features is an example of the writers constant stressing that she’s like one of us.

The good thing is that Donna doesn’t focus on it too long and instead devotes her energies into comforting the dying Ood. The Doctor manages to get the fact that a circle must be broken before the poor thing dies. Given that every episode is supposed to feeding us clues about the Big Bad looming around the corner, is it safe to assume that this along with the Ood’s song are worth noting?

With a dead Ood and a curious TARDIS team, The Doctor and Donna then head to the Ood-Sphere to get some more information. If the start of this episode amused you with the way the Ood were being promoted as slaves, then guaranteed the rest of the promotion won’t.

You’ve got a PR named Solona hyping the Ood up to being the best house servants you have. For 50 credits, the poor things can do all the menial chores you command it to do and it doesn’t take Donna very long to figure out that there’s something not quite right with using another race as a servant.

As much as the writers might like to go on about Donna reacting like us, it should be stressed out that back in Season Two when Rose encountered the Ood, she had similar feelings of disgust about the race being used as slaves. In that regards, Donna is far from unique but that doesn’t stop her from being a hell of a lot more vocal in her overall disapproval of the Ood’s fate.

Maybe it’s the events of her previous aliens’ encounters that stop Donna from being taken in by the PR angle that Solona uses to lure customers into buying the Ood but either way, she and The Doctor don’t waste time in trying to get some decent answers off their own bat. They know Solona isn’t going to tell them what they need to know after all.

There’s also a fun little moment as Donna tries to connect with an Ood by asking it questions about its origins. While the Ood might not grasp the concept of freedom, it still manages to ruffle Donna’s feathers by suggesting that she may be single. Donna’s indignation is a little hilarious, especially given that earlier she stressed that her and The Doctor would never ever be together.

Unfortunately there are more problems with the Ood than just slavery. Well first off all, the red that we’ve seen in their previous adventure is going off more and more, which means people are winding up dead and some of the Ood are even becoming rabid as well.

It also doesn’t help that CEO of Ood Corporation Mr Halpin is an absolutely vicious piece of work. Played brilliantly by Tim McInnerny, Halpin not only cares for profit by selling the Ood but he’s more than happy to kill those who are causing trouble and he also has a few tricks of his own to keep them in line.

As for The Doctor and Donna, heading to Warehouse 15 is good for getting those answers but even better for landing them in trouble. With plenty of Ood chiming that the circle must be broken, Donna’s comment about things being creepy is a little too spot on.

It’s also not that long before Donna finds herself locked in with a load of Ood in a container and The Doctor gets menaced with a giant claw. If there’s a person viler than Halpin in this episode, then it has to Commander Kess. His utter pleasure in killing Ood and trying to kill The Doctor is quite surprising but at least when the Ood start making with attacks, The Doctor and Donna are able to escape momentarily.

There are a lot of attacks in this episode and midway through, the Ood do seem to have a hell of a time killing as many humans as they possibly can muster. Unlike some episodes, the human body doesn’t consist of sympathetic people. I can’t say I felt an overwhelming amount of sadness in seeing an arrogant salesman, Solona or Commander Kess being killed by the Ood. In fact there was something rather sweet in the way Kess happened to be killed.

So the big question is why are the Ood the way they are? It’s pointed out a few times (mainly by The Doctor) that a race as submissive as the Ood could never have evolved but yet they have and even now, the company is doing something to keep them in line?

Finding a bunch of confined Ood in a prison cell was a good way of showing viewers just how surprising this race is. Seeing a secondary brain in the palm of the unprocessed Ood was unexpected. I mean, I knew something had to be in those balls they carried but I didn’t think it was a brain.

Because the episode seemingly is in need of an emotional moment, The Doctor then tunes Donna into their song of captivity. Naturally Donna isn’t all that pleased to hear such distress and there’s a moment where she begins to question whether or not she made the right decision in travelling with The Doctor. We’ve seen both Rose and Martha have similar qualms so it makes sense that Donna would too.

Sadly though, Halpin is a lot faster on his feet and manages to have The Doctor and Donna tied up while he goes on about his grand plan. Donna, who more or less told a bunch of scary priestesses in the previous episode to bleep off, is even faster with her tongue in pointing out how much of an idiot Halpin is. I like the principals of her rant but the word “sadist” would’ve been a more apt description of Halpin.

Bondage jokes aside, at least The Doctor and Donna are smart enough to get the Ood onside. David Tennant and Catherine Tate really go for the comedy when constantly repeating why exactly the Ood shouldn’t kill them. Hey if I were an Ood, The Doctor would be living on the account that he’s brainy and sexy and Donna because her unbridled sarcasm is a joy to listen to.

As for the secret weapon of Halpin, two brains are enough but a third big one connecting the Ood in song? If anything this episode was brain overload, visually rather than intellectually. Then again if Time Lords can have two hearts, I suppose there’s no reason why the Ood can’t have three brains.

It also brings to the circle itself. The big brain is surrounded by a circle and it seems that while Halpin may be an evil little turd, he’s also got the misfortune of having two traitors in his mist. The least interesting one is Ryder but his reveal about being a Friend Of The Ood is a nice little reveal. Just a pity he gets killed before he gets to lord it over Halpin.

The second traitor is that nice Ood Sigma. Now there are many ways to get revenge of a cruel man like Halpin but the one thing about Ood Sigma is that he is really innovative. Killing him is clearly too cliché for this Ood’s taste so it’s a fantastic moment when Halpin realises that the hair tonic he’s been taking is something else.

Because Ood Sigma doesn’t seem to be into murder, seeing Halpin turn into an Ood is rather twisted, given his brutal treatment of the Ood. It’s also interested that Sigma seems to be more interested in rehabilitating the Ood version of Halpin. I will credit Keith Temple for not only adding more intrigue to the race but also for his solution in dealing with Halpin.

This then leads to the end of the episode. With the Ood free from slavery and then singing their little hearts out, the interesting moment is when they tell The Doctor his song might come to an end. Okay I’ve known about that little bit for days and some people have speculated that this means a regeneration of sorts.

I won’t dismiss the idea because on this show literally anything can happen but I also think it could signal something else too. Possible theories include a major death (Donna perhaps?), the return of Davros, other Time Lords – just about anything really. Either way, things keep on getting interesting.

Also in “Planet Of The Ood”

If you look at some of the posters for the Ood in that office, wouldn’t they remind you of the cover of U2’s “Pop” album?

The Doctor: “Are you alright?”
Donna: “Terrified. History’s one thing but an alien planet is another.”
The Doctor: “I can always take you home.”

The Ood had darker suits in this episode than they did in “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit”.

Donna (re Ood): “He sang as he was dying.”
The Doctor: “His eyes turned red.”
Donna: “What does that mean?”
The Doctor: “Trouble.”

The Doctor (to Solona): “We’re not married.”
Donna: “We’re so not married.”
The Doctor: “Never.”
Donna: “Never ever.”

Donna came up with the pseudo name Noble Enterprises instead of relying on The Doctor to lie. Nice seeing her take the lead.

Ood: “I do not understand Miss.”
Donna: “Why’d you say ‘Miss’? Do I look single?”

Ood Sigma: “I have no opinion.”
Mr Halpin: “Well, say hello to Daddy.”

Solona showed that the Ood can be activated with different voice responses including “D’oh” from The Simpsons.

The Doctor: “There we go, safe and sound.”
Donna (re Ood): “Never mind about me, what about them?”

The Doctor: “That’s their song.”
Donna: “I can’t hear it.”
The Doctor: “Do you want to?”
Donna: “Yeah.”

There was a mention of the Sensorites in this episode, who are a race that have some similarities to the Ood.

Donna (to The Doctor): “I spent all that time looking for you Doctor because I thought it was so wonderful out there. I wanna go home.”
Donna: “Well do something. You’re the one with all the tricks. You must have met Houdini.”
The Doctor: “These are really good handcuffs.”
Donna: “Well I’m glad of that. I mean, at least we’ve got quality.”

In terms of arc stuff so far, we’ve had Rose’s brief appearance, Medusa Cascade mention, something on Donna’s back, planets disappearing, Gallifrey mentioned again, The Doctor’s song coming to an end and bees disappearing. What the heck is this going to add up to?

Donna: “It’s weird. Being with you I can’t tell what’s right and what’s wrong anymore.”
The Doctor: “It’s better that way.”

Chronology: This episode takes place before the events of “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit.”

As returns went, “Planet Of The Ood” certainly was able to deliver the goods. A lot of the stuff regarding the Ood took me by surprise, the humans were genuinely nasty in this episode, there are more intriguing hints about upcoming events and Donna continues to be awesome. I won’t lie in saying that I love the stroppy big sister/show off younger brother dynamic that Donna and The Doctor have.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x02: "The Fires Of Pompeii"

Written by James Moran
Directed by Colin Teague

Donna: “I’m here in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is weird. Everyone is dead.”
The Doctor: “Don’t tell them that.”

After starting off the season with a light episode, the next episode was going to have to be a more serious affair and this week certainly made sure of that. If ever there was an episode on this show that raised an ethical debate, then surely this one would be it.

The premise of this episode has been around for ages. Thanks to the press, it was well documented that The Doctor and Donna would go to Pompeii on the eve of its destruction and that The Doctor would be forced to allow history to take its natural course.

One of the concerns that I had is why on earth would The Doctor take Donna to a time where so much devastation would emerge and then have to tell her that he couldn’t do a thing to stop it. It would be an incredibly bad error in judgement if ever there was one to be had.

Fortunately their trip to Pompeii is an error of sorts. The Doctor intends to take Donna to Ancient Rome, not the destruction of Pompeii. Things started off rather funny when Donna embraced the idea of TARDIS allowing her to understand Latin. Donna’s attempts then use Latin on a stallholder had her being mistaken for a Welsh person.

To prove that Donna isn’t the dunce of the classroom, it’s her who actually comes up with the deduction of their whereabouts. It’s also then The Doctor’s first reaction to leg it which under the circumstances was the best thing he could’ve done. It’s just too bad the stallholder Donna had previously tried to talk to in Latin sold the TARDIS.

However it isn’t just the TARDIS being missing that is the source of The Doctor’s problems. First off there’s a creepy sisterhood who have foretold about the TARDIS’ arrival and then there’s the fellow who it got sold to that also have to be dealt with.

One of the things about this show that continues to get better and better is the casting of guest characters and having The Thick Of It’s swear master Peter Capaldi in the role of Caecillius is one of many wise casting decisions among this episode.

Caecillius is a sculpture and someone who is determined to gain further social status but he is also a surprisingly more benevolent guy that I thought he would be. His family then consist of wife Metelia who seems more ambitious, a drifter son in Quintas and more importantly, a psychic daughter in Evelina. All in all, they are significant to the episode and stand out brilliantly as a family in peril.

It didn’t take either Donna or The Doctor to find them and when they do, we get a case of the travellers being mistaken for a couple. I guess using the same name didn’t help matter either but I like how Donna seems to irk at the idea of people thinking she’s romantically linked to The Doctor in any way. I just hope the writers don’t overly emphasise this in later episodes.

Of course, while The Doctor might be enthusiastic to get the hell out of Pompeii, Donna is determined to warn Caecillius’ family about the imminent danger that they are going to face. You can’t blame Donna for her reactions and also can I point out that if Rose and/or Martha had this experience in their second episodes, I’m pretty sure that they would react similarly.

Donna doesn’t seem to mind standing to The Doctor on the issue too. We know that he’s not being malicious and that it’s hard for him to have allow so many people to die because of history but he should understand why Donna isn’t going to consider that as a reason not to help.

Thankfully before the two of them can really get into there’s the arrival of Lucius to contend with. Another good piece of casting here with Phil Davis, Lucius is an absolute pain in the arse as a prophet who commissioned Caecillius’ to sculpt a circuit for him.

His stance on women is misogynistic too and he grimaces in disgust when Metelia brags about Evelina being psychic herself. However there is an absolutely stunning moment between the two of them of when both The Doctor and Donna’s presence tingles their suspicions.

In a moment that will obviously be foretelling as the series progress, both Lucius and Evelina are able to predict the death of Gallifrey, Donna’s origins and The Doctor’s own dark secrets as the promise of a returned girl. In fairness after last week, this could be Rose but Martha is also a viable possibility. However given the creepy way Lucius said, it’s most definitely Rose that he was pointing towards.

Donna meanwhile decides to be assertive in spending time with Evelina. Asking her questions about what she does in her social time is nothing new, nor is Evelina given a response that basically highlights her lack of independence. In “The Unquiet Dead” Gwyneth was happy to serve her employer and here Evelina is content to be promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood.

Donna is also quick in discovering that not only is the girl suffering with skin irritation that is rock but also that Evelina is unable to actually predict that a volcano is about to engulf Pompeii. If that doesn’t raise a question about Evelina’s abilities as a seer then what does?

However Donna trying to warn the girl about Vesuvius ready to erupt also put her in harm’s way. Those creepy sisters are able to eavesdrop on Evelina’s conversation and when The Doctor is good and distracted, they snatch Donna for sacrifice. Being nearly killed would be the least of Donna’s worries though.

The Doctor on the other hand has been doing some snooping of his own and proves that Quintas is useful too. He figures with all the circuits that Lucius is making some kind of energy converter and even manages to escape the nutter by pulling off his arm. Like Evelina, Lucius is also rock addled; only with him it meant an entire arm of it.

After doing battle then with a rock creature and rescuing Donna (who even when she’s threatened with is still a mouthy piece of work) from the sisters, The Doctor decided to get some answers from their High Priestess. Unlike the sisters, at least the HP didn’t object to a man in the room.

However just like our previous two sight seers, the High Priestess is just nothing but rocks. I mean the poor bint looks something out of Tales Of The Crypt and she is reluctant to tell The Doctor what she has become. Of course he pushes at her so hard that she ends up screaming that she’s a Pyrovile.

Given that this episode is all about fire, a Pyrovile is an appropriate name for an alien threat on the series. The idea of it using Vesuvius to build a new race through human is an innovative as Donna is convinced that by stopping the Pyroviles, thousands of deaths can be prevented also.

I can see why she came to the conclusion so the reveal about The Doctor then having to allow everyone die so that the Pyroviles can be defeated certainly packs a punch. Evelina even predicted that The Doctor would have to make a horrible choice and here he really did.

When the Pyroviles actually did get defeated and Vesuvius erupted, this episode then hit an ambitious scope. Seeing The Doctor and Donna flee the streets only for scared and devastated to perish really hit home. Donna herself had an incredibly hard time heading to the TARDIS as Caecillius and his family were in danger.

Which leads to the shocker of the episode – Catherine Tate’s acting. Yes she’s a good comic actress but seeing as I’ve only seen her in a limited amount of things, the big question was whether or not she would be able to handle the heavy emotional that even a show still dismissed as being childish and silly by some? There’s a simple answer – Yes!

Her performance as Donna rages at The Doctor for allowing people to die really impressed me. Talk about knocking out of the ball park. I thought my reservations about Donna dissipated after last week. Now it’s like I’m ashamed I ever once doubted Catherine Tate’s casting whatsoever.

The sickening thing however is that she’s probably gonna deliver even stronger performances as the series goes on and still many of the critics who don’t like her because she’s not Billie Piper or Freema Agyeman probably won’t relent. As for David Tennant, he’s always good but Catherine really does deserve much praise for this episode.

We’ve had it plenty of times that The Doctor can’t interfere with the course of history and that he would save his own people if he could. I think Donna did take this on board but her persuasion of him to at least save Caecillius and his family allowed for one small victory without violating history completely.

Having the catch up later with Caecillius’ family was great. One of my friends recently pointed out how much she loathed The Doctor always apologising for events that weren’t his fault. I think she raises a good point because volcano day here still wasn’t The Doctor’s fault.

I also liked the dynamic with The Doctor and Donna at the end. He more or less admitted last week that he wanted someone in his life and right now, Donna is that person and if this episode is anything to go by, then her influence can only be good for The Doctor.

Also in “The Fires Of Pompeii”

Unlike last year’s Dalek two-parter, all the actors actually got to go to Rome to film this episode and used the same studio to film one of my favourite shows.

Caecillius (re TARDIS): “What do you think?”
Metelia: “You call it Modern Art; I call it a waste of space.”

I noticed the stallholder is Phil Cornwall from Dead Ringers. That show has done some great Doctor Who skits in the past.

Caecillius: “And who are you?”
The Doctor: “I am Spartacus.”
Donna: “And so I am.”

Lucius: “The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the men folk have the capacity for true perception.”
Donna: “I tell you where the wind’s blowing right now mate.”

Another thing that Lucius predicted involved something on Donna’s back and the Medusa Cascade. The Master mentioned the latter last season and I’ll be interested in finding out what it means exactly.

Quintas: “Don’t tell my Dad.”
The Doctor: “Only if you don’t tell mine. Pass the torch.”

Donna: “Then what can you see happening tomorrow?”
Evelina: “Is tomorrow special?”
Donna: “You tell me. What do you see?”

Can I shout out praise to Sasha Behar (aka Mad Maya from Corrie) for her role as the lead sister? I thought she was brilliant.

Donna: “Listen sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands but you'll have eyes on the back of your head by the time I'm finished with you. Let me go!”
Lead Sister (to Donna): “This prattling voice will cease forever.”
The Doctor (interrupting): “That’ll be the day.”

High Priestess: “Your knowledge is impossible.”
The Doctor: “You’ve read my mind. You know it’s not.”

The timeslot this season is rather erratic. I don’t give a toss about I’d Do Anything; just put this show back into a 7pm slot.

Lead Sister (to High Priestess): “You lied to us and yet this was meant to be.”

Donna: “How many people died?”
The Doctor: “Stop it.”
Donna: “Doctor! How many people died?”
The Doctor: “Twenty thousand.”
Donna: “Is that what you can see, Doctor, all twenty thousand? And you think that’s alright, do you?”

I’m starting to get used to the new theme, I might even start to like it and at least the trailers for the next episode are a reasonable length.

Donna: “You can’t just leave them.”
The Doctor: “Don’t you think I’ve done enough? History’s back in place and everyone dies.”
Donna: “You’ve got to go back. Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back. It’s not fair.”
The Doctor: “No it’s not.”
Donna: “But your own planet. It burnt.”
The Doctor: “And that’s just it. Don’t you see Donna? Can’t you understand if I could go back and save them I would but I can’t. I can never go back, I can’t. I just can’t, I can’t.”

The Doctor: “You were right. Sometimes I need someone. Welcome aboard.”
Donna: “Yeah.”

Some really good but familiar score work from Murray Gold this week. The music was pretty perfect.

This was certainly a rollercoaster. James Moran made a brilliant impression on Torchwood but with “The Fires Of Pompeii” his impact is a lot stronger. This is a delightful episode that is unafraid at looking at the ethics of the series and not fobbing off the audience with an easy answer. I’m impressed with the way this season has started and next week also looks amazing.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 4x01: "Partners In Crime"

Written by Russell T. Davies’
Directed by James Strong

Donna: “You don’t want me.”
The Doctor: “I’m not saying that.”
Donna: “But you asked me. Would you rather be on your own?”

Fresh from seeing poor Owen and Toshiko getting killed in the Torchwood finale “Exit Wounds”, I was looking for something a little on the frothy side of things. For the most part that is exactly what the opening episode to Season Four offers.

In the last two months, we’ve been bombarded with trailers, consistent press coverage and thanks to Radio Times, we know the basics of every episode and we’ve even gotten close to knowing to who the big threat in the finale is. Of course instead of looking forward, I really should concentrate on the present.

Donna Noble – of the all the potential would be companions to bring back, I will openly admit that she wouldn’t have been on my list at all. Although I had softened to her halfway through “The Runaway Bride”, I just didn’t feel the need to see anymore of her.

The great thing about nine months since it was announced that Catherine Tate would be back full time is that I’ve had a chance to get used to idea of Donna around for a full season. In fact judging by the adamant promises from everyone that Donna would harbour no romantic designs on The Doctor, I’ve come to the decision that she could be a lot of fun to have around. Oh and this episode just goes to confirm my good feelings about her as a companion.

Since her encounter with The Doctor, Donna made the vow to go off and enjoy her life. Like many things, it was easier said than done as she’s unemployed and living with her mother. Plus there’s also the fact that she has to deal with both Lance and her father’s deaths, it’s fair to say that Donna has had a bit of bad time lately.

The only thing that is worse than drifting and feeling down is then having people state the obvious and bombards you with unhelpful advice. I know Donna didn’t exactly tell her family what really happened on her not a wedding day but Sylvia’s lack of sympathy did suck. At least Jackie and Francine (as super critical as they were) showed just concern for Rose and Martha. Sylvia just basically treats Donna as an imposition.

But then again, it’s not like Donna is actually useless either. She admits later on in the episode that her eyes have been opened and she also seems to be actively seeking The Doctor. If there weren’t later scenes to suggest otherwise, you could believe that Donna did have a romantic interest in The Doctor. The reality is that she just wants to go travelling again.

Better than that is her conversation with her granddad Wilf. He was the vendor from “Voyage Of The Damned” and I personally think it’s great that the writers have found a way to use him in the series. With Geoff dead, it’s nice that Donna has one male figure in her life that has a good influence on her.

Wilfred not only provides welcome relief from the nagging that is Sylvia but his belief in UFOs make him the best candidate for Donna to tell someone about The Doctor. There’s something rather touching in the way these two do interact with each other and you can only hope for some of that during the season.

Another good point about Donna is that not only does she believe in the bizarre but she’s actively seeking it out. Okay it’s in a bid to get to The Doctor but points for assertiveness no less. It’s also because of this that Donna gets caught up in the big nasty of the episode.

In every season premiere, we’ve had something relatively different. We’ve had the Autons for “Rose”, Cassandra and cat nun nurses in “New Earth” and in “Smith And Jones”, there was brilliance of the Judoon and the Plasmavore. Here is no exception as the company Adipose Industries is up to no good and it’s not just Donna and The Doctor who can sense that.

Nope thanks to the rather shrill and calculating owner Miss Foster, a journalist called Penny also seems to be interested in what really is going on with this place. Okay so you’ve Miss Foster bragging about the fat walking away because her special pill is the best thing someone with obesity can use but I’ve always been suspicious of diet pills, so I’m with Penny on this one.

Seeing both The Doctor and Donna trying to investigate Adipose but missing each other continuously for the first half of the episode was silly. However I wanted light hearted and this was where the episode delivered. Pretty inventive how they managed to miss each other when they were in the same building and neighbourhood doing the same thing.

Donna’s turned into a bit of a Sarah Jane with the investigation lark. She was able to pose as a Health and Safety worker (she had actually quit two days prior) to get a client list and even managed to get talking to one of Adipose Industries victims Stacy. Okay, The Doctor did the same thing and talked to a guy named Roger but he’s got way more experience so it looks clever with Donna doing it instead.

As for Stacy, this show could’ve gone for a grisly outcome with the consequences of her taking those pills but settled on something more differently with the fat from Stacy’s body morphing into an Adipose creature. Worse still things got so bad that her entire body ended up becoming loads of them. Certainly not a good way to die.

The Adipose themselves however are the cutest little things this show has ever done. I mean seriously you want to pick one of those things up and keep it as a pet but given that they come from fat and are under the care of ice queen Foster, the odds of them being entirely benevolent aren’t that high.

With both The Doctor and Donna then heading back to Adipose Industries, the episode does begin to progressively speed up some more. Donna’s more than happy to put herself in mortal danger than having to deal with her mother and hiding in the bathroom at Adipose Industries is an okay enough plan to try and get some more information.

However I did think for a second that she was screwed when Miss Foster rounded her guards and invaded the bathroom. The thing with Penny was a little bit of a cop out but given how cynical Penny was about the diet pills, it makes sense that she would in turn go snooping.

The funniest sequence of this episode however is how The Doctor and Donna end up reunited so to speak. With Miss Foster basically telling Penny every part of her plot, both our heroes spend time trying to communicate with each other via separate glass windows. It’s moments like that show why Catherine Tate has done so well for herself in the comedy field.

Even funnier is Miss Foster interrupted their exchange when the evil bint cops on that she’s being spied. After then waiting a good deal of time, it’s nice then to have Donna interact with The Doctor. If he was hoping that she would’ve calmed down since he last saw, he can think again.

Donna’s first reaction to see him is a rather cheeky one but she doesn’t hold back on being glad to see him. She might not have enjoyed adventure two years ago but now she’s game for it. That doesn’t stop her blaming The Doctor when Miss Foster nearly has them killed on the outside lift but the camaraderie these two have is brilliant.

Even Miss Foster is a brilliant villain. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Sarah Lancashire but she’s pitch perfect for this role and oozes enough nastiness without going into panto mode. It’s also interesting that the motives for the Adipose are for once not quite as ambitious.

Miss Foster has no real interest in killing humans or destroying earth, she’s basically just a glorified nanny who’s been paid to produce as many of the Adipose kiddies as she can muster. Naturally she doesn’t take too kindly for The Doctor trying to stop so there’s some predictability in her trying to kill have him and Donna killed.

As for the invasion of the Adipose kids – that’s something that has to be seen to be believed. Okay it is frightening to see a few people die in order to become these things but their little march is hilarious and on the cute side of things as well. Plus while The Doctor and Donna actually stop Miss Foster from producing more, he doesn’t have any intentions of killing them. Even Donna takes notice of that.

Miss Foster on the other hand isn’t so lucky. She might not get to see a jail cell or The Doctor’s wrath up close and personal but thanks to her contractors; she does get to be dropped from a great big height. Perhaps every now and then, maybe a villain on this show should listen to The Doctor, if only to avoid getting killed.

Donna meanwhile has her own decision to make. Instead of being asked by The Doctor whether or not she can travel with him, she insists on it. When The Doctor does show some reservation, I have to admit I did feel bad for Donna. Her excitement over the idea of travelling in the TARDIS is contagious.

Given his previously bad experiences with companions, it is good that The Doctor is being wary. He points out to Donna that he did treat Martha rather badly and there’s some genuine remorse in his voice too. He also points out that Rose is still gone as well but when Donna does challenge him about being alone he accepts her onboard.

It’s a good thing for him to do and it’s even better to see Donna and The Doctor wave at Wilf at the end of the episode. I liked that while Wilf wasn’t envious of Donna, he did applaud her for doing exactly what she wanted to do. Donna found her Time Lord but it wasn’t the only thing found on this episode.

For months, it’s been well documented that Rose Tyler was returning to the series for the last three episodes but to see Donna pass Rose by and tell the girl to pass on a message to Sylvia was a big case of “WTF”? It doesn’t help also that a large chunk of this season will have to pass by before we get any continuity on Rose, nor it is explained how she also faded at the end. But it’s an amazing way to reintroduce the character.

Also in “Partners In Crime”

The new credits look a little better than in the previous episode. It’s Catherine Tate who’s added back in as well.

Miss Foster: “Oh Penny. If cynicism burned up calories, we’d all be thin as rakes.”

Anyone else the introduction of this episode was a reverse of “Smith And Jones”? Given that Donna is supposed to be nothing like her predecessors it does make sense.

The Doctor: “What’s that?”
Claire: “My telephone number.”
The Doctor: “What for?”
Claire: “Health and safety. You be health and I’ll be safety.”

The Doctor: “The thing about cat flaps is they don’t just let things in, they let things out as well.”
Roger: “Like what?”
The Doctor: “The fat just walks away.”

Although it isn’t subtle, it did take me a while to realise that Miss Foster was dressed like Supernanny in the episode.

Wilf (re Venus): “That’s the only planet in the solar system named after a woman.”
Donna: “Good for her.”

Wilf: “You seem to be drifting sweetheart.”
Donna: “I’m not drifting, I’m waiting.”
Wilf: “What for?”
Donna: “The right man.”

Donna ran away when she was six after Sylvia refused to take her on holiday. I wonder how Sylvia will react when she realises that Donna’s further away now.

Sylvia: “It’s my turn for the car. What do you need it for?”
Donna: “A quick getaway.”

Sylvia: “Why are you whispering?”
Donna: “I’m in church.”
Sylvia: “What are you doing in church?”
Donna: “Praying.”
Sylvia: “Bit late for you madam.”

I think this is the first episode in which we’ve seen that tracking device of The Doctor’s.

Penny: “You can’t tie me up. What sort of country do you think this is?”
Miss Foster: “Oh it’s a beautifully fat country and believe me I’ve travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale.”

Miss Foster (to Penny): “I’m surprised you never asked me about my name. I chose it well. Foster as in ‘foster mother’. And these are my children.”

Originally instead of Donna, we were supposed to get a companion named Penny with a lot of Donna’s characteristics but instead we just got a character called Penny.

Donna: “This is all your fault. I should’ve just stayed at home.”
The Doctor: “I won’t be a minute.”

Penny: “Is anyone going to tell me what is going on?”
The Doctor: “What are you, a journalist?”
Penny: “Yes.”
The Doctor: “Make it up.”

Yet another bondage theme this week. First Torchwood are anti-bondage (well just Jack) and now Doctor Who are pro-bondage (given how much Penny is tied up in this episode). And I thought this was a family show?

Miss Foster (to her guards): “Tie her up.”
Penny: “Oh you are kidding me.”

The Doctor: “I had this friend, Martha Jones. She was brilliant and I destroyed half her life. But she’s fine now. She’s gone.”

Donna cracked me up when she dubbed Martha “mad”, “blind” and “charity”. I’m really looking forward to seeing how these two interact in the next three weeks.

Donna (re Adipose family): “What are you going to do? Blow them up?”
The Doctor: “They’re just children. They can’t help where they come from.”
Donna: “Well you’ve changed since we last met. That Martha must have done you good.”
The Doctor: “Yeah, she did. She fancied me, you know.”

Donna (re alien stuff): “Some people just can’t take it.”
The Doctor: “No.”
Donna: “And some people can. TARDIS. Come on.”

All the bags that Donna packs definitely showed a practical side. It also means that there’s no excuse for Catherine Tate to wear the same outfit for the first half of the season as well.

The Doctor: “I just want a mate.”
Donna: “You want to mate?”
The Doctor: “I want a mate. A mate.”
Donna: “Well you’re not mating with me sunshine.”

There’s no specific chronology, so I don’t know the distance between this and “Voyage Of The Damned”. On the music front, there was the “Doomsday” score when we saw Rose and the Donna theme is quite lovely.

I won’t lie. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my now favourite show and thanks to “Partners In Crime”, I’m now totally convinced that The Doctor/Donna team is gonna be every bit as brilliant as the ones with Rose and Martha. The humour was fantastic, the Adipose were cute, Rose’s brief appearance made me jump for joy and overall, I’m ecstatically thrilled that this series is back. Not too sure about the early timeslot though.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Dexter's 3x11: "I Had A Dream"

Written by Lauren Gussis And Chic Eglee
Directed by Marcos Siega

Dexter: “What did you say in your bachelor party speech? Friends are always honest.”
Miguel: “Friends forgive. Friends forgive.”
Dexter: “But I don’t forgive you. And I don’t get to have friends.”

Okay, was there anyone who thought that maybe for a nanosecond that Miguel would make it out of this season alive? Yeah, didn’t think so. That being said, I did think that it would be in the finale that Miguel would meet his untimely end and not the episode before it.

The opening scene of this episode is wonderful in it’s tension. Dexter genuinely thinks that with him being tied up in the trunk of a car that Miguel has won. The interesting part is that without the Harry bit, we really should’ve seen it coming. How else would you get Dexter to go to his bachelor party?

It’s probably not best to kidnap the groom, especially when the groom in question has a highly impressive body count that you’ll never see on his resume. I did laugh when Masuka got punched in the face, proving that some good deeds can get you punished for a lot.

Miguel at Dexter’s bachelor party had some defining moments. Both men were desperate to keep up appearances but as soon as Miguel started talking about friendship and forgiveness, I just knew that he was trying to appeal to Dexter’s better nature.

Miguel might have the Skinner in his pocket but he knows that Dexter’s a killer and he also probably knew that Dexter was going to end him. Trying to appeal to Dexter’s better nature was pointless. Even I was cheering on Dexter talking about killing Miguel and yeah, I’m aware that that’s somewhat disturbed.

Miguel however is a deserving victim for Dexter. He had no reason other than pettiness when he killed Ellen Wolf and he made some serious threats to Dexter and the few people that Dexter cared about. Plus if Miguel hadn’t been bumped off this week, then it might have been Maria.

Maria certainly has come leaps and bounds from the vapid woman she was in the first few episodes of Season One. She had already figured out that Miguel had killed Ellen and spent this episode siding up to him so she could evidence. In other words, Maria was being competent.

It’s usually when Maria acts like a professional that someone like Captain Matthews comes down and bulldozes her. Surprisingly the writers actually avoided doing that. Instead they actually wrote some delightful scenes between her and Dexter, the kind that make you hope that the fourth season will give you more.

Dexter isn’t particularly friendly with Maria most of the time. I don’t think he hates her but he never seemed to be as friendly with her as he is with everyone else on the series. Because of their mutual in bringing Miguel to justice, they bonded and it was interesting.

I liked seeing Maria confiding in Dexter about her fears with Miguel and even telling him that the psycho AD was Ellen’s killer when Dexter was able to prove it. At one point, Dexter was even gonna provide her with more clues. Instead he saved her life and she’ll never know.

Miguel’s plan to use a drunken Ramon as an alibi wasn’t the smartest one he could’ve thought of. I loved how Dexter was able to trick Miguel into falling straight into his trap. As death scenes go, Miguel’s is certainly interesting.

There’s no overt emotiveness like there was when Dexter had to kill Brian/Rudy but like Lila, Miguel did teach Dexter a lesson – he can’t have friends. Telling Miguel that he killed Oscar was a touch spiteful so it’s a good job that Miguel is definitely dead. That being said, Dexter should probably watch out for Ramon who isn’t above a little torture himself.

If you want an emotional link in this episode then it came perfectly with Dexter telling Deb about Harry’s affair with a CI. He didn’t specify that it was with Laura Moser but he better not be surprised when Deb pieces that bit herself. I loved Deb’s reaction to Dexter about secrets. It’s so perfectly in character for her.

Also touching was the fact that Dexter asked Deb to be his best man. I know there are probably some viewers out there who wondered why he didn’t do that in the first place but it felt rather earned here. Deb is probably the closest person that Dexter can be honest with. Maybe not about his killing tendencies, especially if you’ve read the books but she’s pretty close.

Speaking of Deb, anyone else feel like shedding a tear when Anton told her about the true extent of his ordeal with the Skinner? I certainly did. Anton might not be perfect but him and Deb are a good pairing and he does genuinely care for her. She also seems to feel the same way given her lack of enthusiasm of carpooling with Quinn.

Quinn’s another character I can’t figure out. Both him and Deb have had a love/hate relationship all season long and it’s easy for that to translate into a sexual one. He’s clearly not a bad person but I’d rather Deb with Anton than Quinn. I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment.

In terms of the other relationships, how interesting is it that Masuka has finally found a woman who likes him? Hey if he can get lucky, there really does have to be someone for everyone out there after all. Angel and Barbara also maintain a level of sweetness that only a genuine sourpuss would scowl at.

Rita however just seems to be constantly in wedding mode but I did like her comments about Miguel and bringing Dexter some bagels, given that it’s usually him delivering food to all and sundry. Will she still do that when they’re married?

Also in “I Had A Dream”

I’m gonna go on a limb and say that this episode isn’t named after a certain ABBA ditty, right?

Dexter: “So this is how it ends. I pictured it a thousand ways but never like this, me bound in the trunk of a car. I’m so fucked.”

In regards to this wedding, are we actually gonna see any of Rita’s family (excluding Cody/Astor of course)?

Miguel: “Friends are always honest with each other. They can see past their differences. When they have a conflict, friends are there to forgive. A true friend whom to bury the hatchet because friendship is a sacred bond built on trust and Dex, I have learned so much from you about trust.”

Masuka: “Ow, what am I, the Morgan family punching bag?”
Deb: “Thanks for not inviting to me to Dexter’s party you ass.”

As fitting as Deb would’ve been at Dexter’s bachelor party, shouldn’t she have been at Rita’s hen night along with Sylvia?

Dexter: “Dad, I got it. Miguel dies, people notice.”
Harry: “Which means you can’t just make him disappear.”
Dexter: “So I’ll pin it on someone else.”

Anton: “Debra, I could hear it, y’know? The sound of the blade cutting into me. I didn’t, the sound of me screaming like it was somebody else and I remember thinking, ‘that guy screaming is gonna die’.”

Can we please get back that woman who Deb went to get files on all of Harry’s attractive female CI’s for next season? She was a lot of fun.

Masuka (re Tammy): “The problem is she likes me. I mean, there’s gotta be something wrong with her, right?”
Angel: “I’ll let you know when the server is up.”

Maria: “Do you ever get a voice inside nagging at you?”
Dexter: “I’m aware of the phenomenon.”

It turns out that Masuka donates sperm as his way of giving back to society. Won’t someone think of the children?

Masuka (re Tammy): “That means she’s got issues, so she’s not out of my league.”
Angel: “Happy to help.”

Dexter (re Harry/Laura): “I didn’t know if I -”
Deb: “- Should tell? Yes. Whenever you have an earth shattering, ball crushing, mind fuck of a secret you should tell your fucking sister.”

Quinn got one seriously nasty slash to the face from the Skinner. I’m surprised he wasn’t as damaged as he looked.

Miguel: “I accept you. I accept you, Dexter, like a brother.”
Dexter: “I killed my brother. I killed yours too.”

It was interesting that Dexter not only had a picture of Ellen on display but also one of Maria as well. It also made sense given what Miguel was prepared to do to Maria.

“I Had A Dream” delivered punch after punch after punch. Full of excellent tension, beautiful character moments and while I’ll be surprised if the finale is a genuine cop out, I’m wondering how Dexter finishing off the Skinner is going to have the same impact given how impersonal the villain has been.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x13: "Exit Wounds"

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Ashley Way

Owen: “We never did get that date you and me. We sort of missed each other. It was my fault. I didn’t notice until it was too late. I’m sorry.”
Toshiko: “Me too.”

Well having to wait two weeks for a new episode, it was time we got down to the season finale and this time around; there is actual devastation in the wake of things. No cheap resets are going to be surfacing in this episode, that’s for sure.

Captain John returned in quite manner with his scheme to blow up the gang and it’s enough to get them on red alert to his activities. The funny thing is not many of the gang take an interest in the fact Gray also happens to be alive either. That’s an error in judgement especially seeing as they saw the holograph.

John has been a busy boy as well with the setting up of rift activities in at least three different places. With Gwen and Rhys at the police station, Owen heading for the hospital and Toshiko and Ianto at Central Service, it’s obvious that John wants some alone time with his ex-boyfriend.

As ex-boyfriends go, John also doesn’t seem to be letting go so easily. While it’s a nice revelation that the bomb weren’t intended to kill Jack’s gang, John’s anger over being cast aside in favour of Gwen, Toshiko, Owen and Ianto is rather chilling. Good job that Jack doesn’t actually keep any pets around or else he’d be getting served a rather unpleasant stew.

John however is acting pretty erratic by the way he’s apologising to Jack one minute and then tying him up the next. Okay I’ll take my mind out of the gutter but you have to admit that something isn’t quite right with this picture. It’s like John actually doesn’t have control over his actions and is in trouble himself.

That might sound rather contradictory when he goads all of the gang to watch as he blows up Cardiff into a right state but like I said, something isn’t right with this picture. Visually seeing Cardiff blown up is a delight. This episode wants to be dangerous and it’s certainly going the right way to make you feel the danger.

Both the hospital and the police stations are crawling with monsters. Owen gets to deal with the Hoix creature seen in “Love And Monsters” and the police station is crawling with a lot of Weevil. Seeing Rhys and Andy’s reaction to these creatures is priceless.

However to be serious, with Jack as a hostage, it’s Gwen who instantly steps into the role of leader and she’s not only getting the rest of the gang to get on with their jobs but she’s also motivating the police to protect the streets. That would be a lot easier if there weren’t so many Weevils crawling around the place though.

Rhys is also particularly made of awesomeness as well as he effectively tries to build Gwen’s spirits. Gwen might be good with the speeches but even she doesn’t believe that she stands a chance against Captain John. Her reaction to Rhys’ show of support was heart warming though. I did chuckle when she asked him to marry her again.

As for Captain John, when I said that things weren’t right with him, I wasn’t kidding. John might have a thing for carnage but something tells me that it’s more on a smaller scale than the explosions in Cardiff. One of the first things he does after teleporting Jack in time was to apologise.

Not that I would blame Jack for refusing to believe John. No one would believe John’s pleas of innocence under the circumstances. Still it’s kinda relieving to know that John was an unwilling participant in all the carnage that is going on. The real culprit is Gray.

Well John did brag about finding in “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” and we did briefly see Gray at the end of “Fragments” so it’s not entirely unbelievable that Gray would be the real baddie of the piece. Of course Jack’s first reaction upon seeing his brother is of utter joy. I felt bad for Jack here because I just knew that Gray was going to stab him, even literally.

Sadly though, Lachlan Nieboer who plays Gray is a bit of a disappointment. He’s not exactly bad but some of his scenes do feel a little on the wooden side and that’s not really good when his first scene is supposed to emotionally heavy and sinister. Good job that John Barrowman and James Marsters are more reliable.

Jack apologises until he’s blue in the face for losing his brother but all Gray feels is hatred for his older brother. The fact that Jack also happens to be immortal adds to that hatred and soon enough John gets forced into burying him alive. It’s telling that Jack doesn’t struggle but it’s also more telling that John drops in a very handy ring when burying his former lover.

Of course John having to deal with Gray isn’t the only obstacle as a return to the hub also has Gwen ready to end his existence. Its fun to see Gwen in pure anger mode but it’s more interesting to see that John literally had a bomb attached to him. And they say that lightening doesn’t strike twice? One of these days John will probably be on the ouch end of a bomb. However it’s not going to be today.

Because he loves Jack so much, he’s willing to help Gwen track down his grave by feeding Toshiko and Ianto co-ordinates and even helps put away some of the Weevils after Ianto and Toshiko injure them during an attack in the hub. Again, I love the use of the weevils.

Not only did we have them in the streets but Owen uses his control over them to get to the power station before Toshiko and Ianto went back to the hub. Ianto’s over protective attitude and his threats to kill John if Jack was dead was also a sweet touch. This is the closest to a gay love triangle we’ve had on this show and it’s rather cool. Both of them care for Jack but only one of them is really suited to Jack. I’ll let you decide who that is.

Sadly though Gray is still around and he’s one determined bastard. As if having his brother buried alive and getting John to go nuclear on Cardiff wasn’t bad enough, he also decides to ruin the other vital aspect of Jack’s life – his team mates. This is the exact point where any sympathy I might have had for this guy goes out the window big time.

First off all he manages to trap Ianto, Gwen and John in the cells with Weevils which is bad enough but there’s one thing he does that is unforgivable. Toshiko is doing her best to help Owen at the nuclear factory and Gray shoots her instantly. More annoyingly he begins to ask her what death is like.

It’s this part of the episode that two weeks prior to its transmission, I wish I had resisted reading spoilers for. Because this episode does exactly the opposite of what “End Of Days” did with Rhys, Toshiko actually ends up dying and believe me, not only does it suck that no-one gets to her in time but she isn’t the only casualty of this episode. Nope, Chris Chibnall is really happy to hurt us twice over.

With Owen, he’s been more or less dead since “Reset” so the writers had to make a decision to either restore him or finish the job and they ran with the latter. Worse still, Owen’s being the hero and trying to save the day, only to be presented with the grim reality of the radiation in the power station decomposing his body.

There are some bits of gore I don’t want to see and it was wise that Owen’s death wasn’t graphically shown. Not that I’m squeamish or anything but it might have detracted from the sadness if Chibnall had gone for gore instead of emotion and the real belief that Owen and Toshiko were dead.

Hats off to both Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori who are just brilliant in their final scene. Only able to communicate through their devices, Owen knew that Toshiko had been injured and Toshiko had to watch another person she loves die while knowing that she was seconds away from death herself.

Owen’s reaction to knowing he was officially a goner was a raw moment for the series. I had difficulty watching him screaming frantically about not wanting to die, only for Toshiko to tell him to stop because it was breaking her heart. Never has a piece of dialogue on this show been so utterly perceptive. Even if you loathed Toshiko and Owen, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be gripped by those scenes.

Even with the spoilers I still got a little teary towards the end. Jack’s reaction to knowing his friends had died was superb, even one of Barrowman’s best performances yet and I liked seeing how it affected Gwen, Ianto and even Captain John. Killing off one main character is risky enough but two at the same time when you’ve only got five regulars, is really risky.

With Toshiko and Owen being utterly dead, there is an obvious question – will it just be Jack, Gwen and Ianto for most of next season (assuming there is a third season) or will we be getting replacements, like Martha and Mickey? The latter seems to be a popular belief and in terms of medical and technical abilities it would complete the team but in terms of character, I don’t think Owen and Toshiko can effectively be replaced, regardless of who their successors turn out to be. We’ve just lost two fantastic characters and actors in Burn and Naoko.

Seeing Jack dealing with survival is the eye opener of the episode. Gwen and Ianto looked like they couldn’t go on but despite Toshiko and Owen’s deaths, John’s exit and Gray having to be frozen; Jack is determined to keep going on. How the gang will go on is going to be an interesting to see. As for Toshiko’s little video at the end, sweet doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Also in “Exit Wounds”

The amount of promos for this episode have been significantly less than the ones for Doctor Who. I didn’t see that many all week.

Captain John: “Come on, sing song. It’s our song.”
Captain Jack: “We don’t have a song but if we did, it wouldn’t be this.”

This is the second finale in a row that Jack’s wound up in chains. Maybe his appearance in Season 4 of Doctor Who will make it his third.

Captain Jack: “This is a little extreme, don’t you think?”
Captain John: “Oh what, you’re anti-bondage all of a sudden?”

Captain Jack: “I’m sorry.”
Gray: “Sorry’s not good enough.”

Gray didn’t seem to reference Jack by his real name but then again neither his mother in the flashbacks either.

Rhys (re Gwen): “She’s bloody impressive.”
Andy: “She is that. Lucky sod.”

Rhys: “You’re a bloody hero Gwen, so keep going because we need you.”
Gwen: “Will you marry me again?”

Did anyone else jump for joy when Toshiko mentioned the space pig from “Aliens Of London”? All she had to do was mention The Doctor and that would’ve been great.

Gwen: “On your knees.”
Captain John: “Honestly, it’s just sex, sex, sex with you people.”

Ianto (to Captain John): “If anything happens to Jack, I’ll kill you slowly.”

Rhys asked if the Time Agency was based in Cardiff when he learned that Jack and John were a part of it.

Nira: “It sounds more dangerous out there than in here.”
Owen: “I’d say it’s pretty much even.”

Gray (to Toshiko): “I’ve heard people say death is such a waste. I’d imagine it’s more of a relief. Tell me what it’s like.”

Toshiko’s video had her confess to loving Owen and wishing that she didn’t die for something silly. Her thanking Jack for saving her was sweet.

Toshiko: “Just remember how to get out.”
Owen: “Yeah, I think I’ll remember that bit.”

Captain Jack: “Thank you.”
Captain John: “Least I can do.”

We got a flashback to Torchwood in 1901 with one of the Victorian lesbians and a mystery man. Please tell me we’ll see more of them soon.

Owen: “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t keep bloody screaming?”
Toshiko: “Because you’re breaking my heart.”
Owen: “I’m sorry.”

Captain John: “You didn’t struggle when I was burying you. It’s like you were welcoming it.”
Captain Jack: “It was my penance.”

Standout music: The song “I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper” more or less stood out for me.

Toshiko (via recording): “I love you. All of you. I hope I did good.”
Captain Jack (reacting to it): “Now we go on.”
Gwen: “I don’t know if I can. Not after this.”
Captain Jack: “You can. We all can. The end is where we start from.”

It’s funny that the BBC haven’t announced a third season. Please tell me that there is going to be one?

Well that was certainly something alright. “Exit Wounds” made sure that both Chris Chibnall, Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori left the series in an unforgettable manner. Season Two has been so consistently good that this episode, despite it’s tragic consequences is a stunner. RIP Owen and Toshiko – you will be missed.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x12: "Fragments"

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Andy Goddard

Owen (to Jim, regarding Katie): “I am losing her. I don’t know what to do. Please. What’s the point of me doing this job if I can’t help my own fiancé?”

One of the many things that I wanted to see in Season Two was one episode dedicated to see everyone beside Gwen’s journey into Torchwood and now that the season is coming to an end, that’s exactly what is given with this episode. All I’ll say – it’s about damn time you guys.

To start with the flashbacks we needed an event in the present and Jack, Owen, Toshiko and Ianto all heading to a warehouse is a good way of starting that event. For once Gwen is out of the picture and we get a taste of what the gang were possibly like before she joined Torchwood.

The warehouse stuff seems mundane and not the kind of thing that would have 80% of the gang investigating all at once but at least when four nicely timed bombs go off, there’s a suitable feeling of danger. However it was a bit stupid for everyone to just look at them before they went off. I would’ve at least tried to have run out of there.

With all of the gang separated and seriously injured, the first flashback period that we hit up is Jack’s. Had this Buffy or like the episode “Restless”, he would’ve been the last person we’d see but in all fairness while his flashback is enjoyable, there are stronger ones in this episode.

With Jack, it’s in the late 1800’s and he’s stuck. Jack doesn’t exactly deal with it well as he seems to spend most of his time boozing, getting into scraps, failing to die and generally ranting. I’m guessing at some point though he did use his more positive attributes but here he is slightly annoying.

Of course being unable to die means that he attracts the attention of Torchwood, in particular two very tough cookies who feel Jack could be of use to them. Jack doesn’t realise he’s basically screwed and when he tries to use the charm offensive, well the result has Jack gagged and knocked out by the devious pair.

Jack might have many abilities but back in the 1800’s charm certainly wasn’t one of them. The lesbian duo enjoys torturing the hell out of him before telling him to join Torchwood or become an enemy. They also weren’t that particularly impressed with him not being helpful in tracking down The Doctor either. Jack’s rant about wanting to kiss and kill The Doctor felt right however.

Becoming Torchwood’s butt monkey though had some interesting moments for Jack. We got see him captured that Blowfish creature from “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” but the ladies ended up dispatching of the damn thing in the end. It’s good to see Jack actually voice his own oppositions to the way that Torchwood happens to run things.

More interesting however was the return of Faith from “Dead Man Walking”. Still as creepy as she was in her first episode, the girl did reassure Jack that he would meet up with The Doctor again. It might have helped if she had warned him about The Master too but hey, it must be tough to be a psychic. The look on Jack’s face when he realised that he would have one hell of a wait is great though.

The last significant part of Jack’s flashbacks then lead up to New Year’s Eve 1999 where his boss Alex reacts to the impending darkness by killing every single person in Torchwood Three as well as himself. Well at least Jack didn’t have to sleep his way to the top but even still, it serves as a continuous reminder that Torchwood as an institute does more harm that actual good.

However as many hiccups as Jack might have had with his entry into Torchwood; he manages to be first outshined by Toshiko. For those of you who have been sick to the back teeth of this woman getting nothing to do in recent episode, this is a God send of an episode. Not only does Toshiko play a vital role but we also learn much more about her too.

In the present day, she’s practically in agony as Gwen and Rhys, along with Jack attempt to remove the debris from her but in the past, things are more intense. Toshiko’s always been a bit of a loner and here, it’s not surprising to see her be the last one to leave her place of work.

Of course it’s not just the fact that Toshiko is a hermit and a work crazed person that’s her motive for staying behind. No, she ends up stealing some secret files and then leaves to work on an impressive little device known as a sonic modulator.

For anyone thinking that Toshiko might have villainous intentions, it seems that she’s working on this object solely so she gets her mother back. Some nasty types have her mum hostage and are forcing Toshiko to help them in some unclear scheme. Toshiko does it unwilling but begs for her mother’s release.

Instead Toshiko and her mother nearly get killed by that sonic modulator and if that wasn’t crappy enough, UNIT storm the place and arrest Toshiko. Man, that girl certainly gets crapped on more than anything. She’s stuck in a small cell, denied all of her rights and isn’t even interviewed about why she stole secret files. Has UNIT always been this harsh?

Luckily for her, at least someone cares enough to make sure she isn’t locked away forever and that’s Jack. He’s the only one who has copped on to what a technical genius Toshiko happens to be and his offer of five years serving Torchwood is damn more alluring than UNIT cells any day of the week. Naturally Toshiko takes the job.

After false imprisonments and captive parents, Ianto’s one is something more a cheat. Here would’ve been an opportunity to have shown us his place of work within Torchwood London before and during the events of “Army Of Ghosts” and “Doomsday” but instead Ianto is stalker mode.

Ianto has never struck me as a doormat and it’s always been heavily suggested to us as viewers that there’s more than meets the eye with him as a character and his flashback plays up to that very well. I mean, something tells me he was watching Jack and the Weevil fight for a while before he stepped in to help his future boss/lover.

Apart from a metal bar, Ianto wasn’t exactly well armed but he was able to take on that Weevil without too much of a sweat. The dialogue between him and Jack is a delight. You know that there is an attractive but here it’s Ianto who is pursuing Jack. Granted Lisa’s cybernetic state at the time is the big motive but even still, there’s some freaking hot chemistry between Gareth David-Lloyd and John Barrowman here.

When Jack refuses to give Ianto a job, it’s wonderful to see Ianto not take it lying down. In any other series, Ianto’s stalking of Jack (which includes him getting straight into Jack’s face with a cup of coffee) would annoy the heck out of me but it’s cute. Wrong in other ways too but essentially cute.

Ianto might have been using Jack to get a place into Torchwood to help Lisa but by the time the two of them are catching Myfanwy the pterodactyl and falling on top of each other at one point, it can be clearly seen that Ianto is also beginning to fall for Jack, despite his best intentions to help Lisa.

After those three different but excellent looks at Torchwood, I was hoping that Owen’s would maintain the excellence so far but his only went and became the best one of the bunch. Yes this is coming from a fella who wanted to kill Owen throughout most of Season One and began to felt for him this season.

Owen might have been a womanising jerk but there was at least one woman that very nearly got him up the aisle and that was Katie. Seeing Owen in pre-marital bliss came across as a surprise but Katie’s seeming Alzheimers was a bigger one to be honest. Owen raised a valid point with his doctor friend/boss Jim when he said that if he wasn’t able to save Katie, then what is the point of him doing his job?

The actress who played Katie was also terrific as well. She thought she was losing her mind and kept apologising to Owen, who was clearly devoted to her. Worse still is that instead of Alzheimers it turned out to be an alien that inside her brain and the aggressive bugger killed her and the doctors who were going to operate on her.

As if losing your fiancé wasn’t bad enough, Owen then had to deal with Jack being all very Torchwood on him. Instead of getting answers the outcome has Owen gagged and knocked out by Jack who then has everyone thinking Owen is a nut. Best way to win future employees – have everyone think they’re insane and ruin their lives. Only goes to show how easy Gwen has had it in comparison.

I’m not even sure if Owen got to bury Katie properly but at her graveside he does get a chance to royally punch Jack into the middle of next week before he decides to work for Torchwood. The link with all four people is that they seem to be drifting or stuck in horrible situations. Jack and Toshiko were viewed as traitors and both Ianto and Owen lost lovers. It makes think that Torchwood purposely preys on people who lack stability in some shape or form.

With everyone getting their flashback, I won’t lie in saying I was slightly disappointed with the lack of Suzie. This would’ve been a perfect episode to have brought back Indira Varma and while I appreciate that she is at least mentioned, a brief appearance really would’ve made this episode just that little bit more amazing.

However with everyone managing to get out that building alive (even Death Becomes Him Owen doesn’t seem to have anything broken), there is one more sting in the tail – Captain John, who orchestrated the whole thing.

I just knew this guy would show up at the end of the episode and just like The Master, he’s insane to the core. Not only did try to kill the gang here but he’s made a big vow to ruin Jack’s life, despite sounding like a crazed ex-boyfriend and the fact that Gray is also here doesn’t make things look good for the gang.

Also in “Fragments”

This is the latest timed episode we’ve had with it being on at 10:30pm on BBC3.

Torchwood Woman: “Why aren’t you dead yet?”
Captain Jack: “I’ve been trying to figure out that myself.”

Jack’s been killed at least 1392 times before his recruitment into Torchwood. Surely not all of them can be deliberate.

Torchwood Woman (to Captain Jack): “It’s good money, Captain. How else are you going to earn?”

Captain Jack: “It’s going to be okay.”
Alex: “No, it’s not. It’s really not.”

Jack’s clothing in the 1800s with the sideburns made me think they were vying for the Angelus look.

George: “When are you going to let me whisk you away from all of this?”
Toshiko: “As soon as you clear it with you wife and grandchildren.”
George: “Always an excuse.”

Toshiko: “Who are you?”
Captain Jack: “Nobody. I don’t exist and for a man with my charisma, that’s quite an achievement.”

Toshiko’s mum had the same cut to her head here like the way she did in “End Of Days”. I’m not sure why Jack didn’t want Toshiko to see her mother though.

Ianto: “Lucky escape.”
Captain Jack: “I had it under control.”
Ianto: “You think? Looked pretty vicious.”

Ianto: “You checked me out?”
Captain Jack: “You knew what a Weevil was. Thought I might have to deal with you.”

Ianto’s birth date here was confirmed as August 19th 1983 but in the Torchwood Magazine they had him down as December 2nd 1982.

Ianto: “You smell au naturally?”
Captain Jack: “51st Century pheromones. People have no idea.”

Ianto: “I should go.”
Captain Jack: “Hey report for work first thing tomorrow. Like the suit, by the way.”

Ianto had a conviction for shoplifting and Jack openly admitted to him that he was from the 51st Century.

Katie: “I’m sorry Owen.”
Owen: “What have you got to be sorry for?”
Katie: “I don’t want to put you through this.”

Owen: “I don’t know what happened to Katie. I don’t know who you are but there are no such things as aliens.”
Captain Jack: “You think?”

Owen and Ianto had something of a clothing reversal. Ianto went from casual clothing to smart and Owen went from smart to casual clothing.

Captain Jack (upon seeing Gray): “No, it can’t be.”
Captain John: “Been a while since you’ve seen your brother.”

Quick Note: BBC2 are airing the finale on April 4th, the day before Season 4 of Doctor Who begins on BBC1.

This was by far my favourite episode of the season. “Fragments” gave satisfying and often amazing insights into every single character with Owen and Toshiko’s tragic backgrounds and Ianto’s dubious nature. Jack’s felt the lightest of the bunch and while the John/Gray revelation might have felt a bit rushed, there’s no denying the brilliance of this episode.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x11: "Adrift"

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Mark Everest

Andy: “You’ve got hard.”
Gwen: “Yeah, maybe I’ve had to.”

After a spooky affair last week, the supernatural is given the heave ho in favour of a traditional type of episode. Okay its episode 11, so you get the feeling that this one is going to a standard bottle episode but it’s something more.

Things starts off with single mum Nikki Bevin waiting for her son Jonah to arrive home. Despite the fact she’s able to see him from her window, that doesn’t stop Jonah from disappearing. One minute he’s there and then after some light flashes he’s gone.

We then take a jump seven months later and Gwen is brought on the case by her old pal Andy. Yes, this is the same guy who has only appeared in four episodes (this one being his fifth) prior and even though Andy has good reason to involve Gwen, she’s more preoccupied with something else.

Remember that I thought it was funny that Andy didn’t attend Gwen and Rhys’ nearly not a wedding in “Something Borrowed”? Well even Gwen noticed Andy’s absence and she doesn’t waste time in trying to get an explanation from him. Sadly it’s not a great one.

Not only does Andy have issues with Rhys but it also turns out that he fancied/still fancies Gwen. I don’t mean to sound like a kill joy but with the exception of Ianto, why does every bloke on this show fancy Gwen? Yes I will admit that she isn’t ugly but it’s still trite. Couldn’t Andy’s reason for not showing up to the wedding solely have been because he didn’t like Rhys?

Then again, it’s not exactly a revelation that diminishes Andy as a character. Gwen clearly has made it crystal clear that he stands no chance with her and throughout the episode she does enough things to irritate Andy that his crush really doesn’t get a chance to get a look in.

So what could Gwen possibly do to annoy Andy? Well there’s the fact since she has joined Torchwood, Andy now thinks Gwen has really become harder as a character. Clearly he didn’t watch during episodes like “Day One”, “Random Shoes” and “Sleeper” when he came to that deduction.

In the twenty four episodes that we’ve seen with Gwen, there’s nothing to really suggest that she has hardened as a person. If the writers are constantly banging on about how Gwen is supposed to be the heart of Torchwood, then her less than cerebral way at dealing with certain cases more or less would contradict Andy’s theory.

That being said it does take some persuading from Andy for Gwen to actually pay Nikki a visit. In Season One, Gwen probably would’ve done off her own bat but here she does need that little nudge. Maybe spending too much time in Torchwood has hardened just a tiny bit.

Casting the role of distraught mum Nikki is a testament to the series on the other hand. The excellent Ruth Jones from Saxondale and Gavin And Stacy is perfect. Its human cases like this where Gwen does get to excel and her scenes with Nikki are something that work only too well.

Nikki’s optimism about Jonah, despite the gnawing possibility of him actually being dead is believable. She wants for her son to be alive and it’s this hope that probably kept her physically going all the more. There are plenty of parents who lose children who adopt this dynamic and it’s completely plausible.

The little things she would do to keep Jonah’s memory were interesting. I liked that she questioned her ability as a mother. From what we briefly saw of their relationship, Nikki seemed like a great mum to Jonah. Then there’s also the support group, which again is a completely believable course of action.

It’s amazing that some towns don’t seem to have certain important kind of groups and I also liked that Andy has an emotional involvement to. He cares about the way Jonah’s disappearance has affected Nikki and thanks to his persistence, Gwen also cares too.

If Nikki’s plight didn’t convince Gwen (which it did), then seeing over forty different people showing during that meeting really nailed a point home. The best thing about Andy is that he can give Gwen the reality she needs and believe me, he’s not the only one who can do.

There’s also Rhys, who has got the issue of babies on his mind. He wants to be a father and in a surprising moment, Gwen lashes out the impracticalities of them being parents given her vocation. However Rhys has been so great this season and it doesn’t stop here when he brilliantly tells her to sort herself out and keep her work separate from home. Gwen might have had a point but I did enjoy Rhys laying into her.

The thing about Jonah’s disappearance is that Andy got footage of Jack at the scene of the crime, which makes you really think that something isn’t right. It doesn’t help that once again Jack chooses to be evasive. I just knew he was lying at the start and even Gwen wasn’t convinced with the way he casually dismissed his presence after a big event. See, Gwen isn’t really stupid – she only acts it at times.

Because Gwen doesn’t believe Jack, she decides to rope in Toshiko’s technical skills to prove a point. Although Toshiko still doesn’t get much to do in this episode, there are two positives about her presence here.

The obvious one is her not mooning after Owen but the other is the joy of her and Gwen as a team. Pity it’s only a rarity with the two of them because a part of me would like to see Gwen and Toshiko have an actual friendship. That shouldn’t be too much to ask for, right?

Toshiko also points out something interesting about the rift too. All this time, it’s been assumed that the rift only drops things but because of the plethora of disappearances in recent times, it’s now obvious that it can take things too. Does that also mean the rift is going to cause more trouble in the next two episodes?

Even though these two are genius, Jack still makes an ass out of himself by telling Gwen to let go. No offence Jack, you may be leader but you’re not exactly proficient in getting any of your team to drop something just because you want them to. Just be glad Gwen didn’t decide to go postal on you like Owen in “End Of Days”.

However the best part of Gwen trying to get evidence is her walking in on Jack and Ianto. After all the prick teasing we actually something that comes close to resembling sex session (both men are near naked), is actually both alluring and funny and also has some passionate man on man snogging with John Barrowman and Gareth David Lloyd. It certainly took Season Two long enough to deliver on that one.

Of course Gwen would have to interrupt this little scene (damn that woman has crap timing) but what’s more interesting is that Ianto openly betrays Jack to help Gwen by giving her a GPS device. If I didn’t actually side with Gwen anyway, I’d be a little peeved with Ianto but what the hey?

However that other thing Gwen does to piss off Andy would be to leave him behind when she wanted to go the island. I don’t really see why Gwen didn’t take Andy with her. He has a fair idea of what Torchwood does (he even asks for a vacancy) and it was him who helped her out for most of the episode too. You can’t blame him for being resentful of Gwen’s behaviour when she does things like this.

Clearly Gwen has never watched Lost or The Island Of Doctor Moreau because she’s only too happy to go into potential danger without backup. So far visiting an island is actually the closest we’ve had to getting away from Cardiff if not Wales itself on the show and it’s an island full of surprises.

Okay so there are no polar bears or grade A irritants like Locke or Ben but its creepy enough and the underground hospital where Gwen heads to after spotting Jack could easily be mistaken for one of the may hatches owned by The Others on Lost. Heck, there’s even a little community out there that could be like The Others when Gwen discovers all her missing people, including Jonah are there.

So why would Jack lie? Well it wasn’t going to be for malevolent reasons. Witnessing an aged and disfigured Jonah, it turns out that some people who fall into the rift are damaged and need protecting from the outside world. Both Jack and Gwen come up with equally convincing arguments as to why Nikki should or shouldn’t see her son but its Gwen who wins out.

It’s moments like this I actually feel for Gwen. She might be infuriating in her own right but she does mean well and she thought that Nikki seeing her son would be cathartic. Sadly it wasn’t as Jonah also suffers from madness and Nikki’s so distressed by the truth that not even her illusions are enough to get her through things.

More telling is the end scene where she begins to pack up Jonah’s things. I guess to Nikki, Jonah might as well be dead. It’s also fantastic that Rhys allows Gwen to tell him about Nikki and Jonah when he sees that it’s affecting her so much. It’s been a while since a case has actually affected Gwen.

Also in “Adrift”

BBC3 put a warning about the swearing in this episode. Apart from maybe one incident, there wasn’t exactly a lot of swearing here.

Gwen: “Anything strange on the case.”
Andy: “Like you don’t know.”

This is the last episode that airing on a Wednesday. The remaining two episodes are destined for Fridays. What’s up with the days being changed?

Nikki: “Do you think I’m mad?”
Gwen: “No. I think you’d make a great policewoman.”

Rhys (re Andy): “Poor sod.”
Gwen: “Oi. I’m a very sexy lady and you’re very lucky to have me so don’t you forget it.”

If certain rumours about next season are true, then can we please have Andy maybe join Torchwood after all? I wouldn’t mind seeing more of him.

Toshiko (regarding the missing people): “Oh my God. There are really this many?”
Gwen: “Now we tell Jack.”

Owen: “For a lovely girl, you’ve got a very dirty mouth.”
Gwen: “Yes.”
Owen: “I’m with Jack.”

Owen really does seem to be accepting of his dead status. I was kind of hoping he would side with Gwen but Ianto and Toshiko did have her back.

Captain Jack (to Gwen): “We could’ve used you an hour ago for naked hide and seek.”
Ianto: “He cheats. He always cheats.”

How exactly do you cheat at naked ‘hide and seek’? Also Jack was pretty accepting when he realised that Ianto helped Gwen out.

Helen (re Captain Jack): “He’s supposed to warn us about visitors.”
Gwen: “Law unto himself, isn’t he?”
Helen: “He knows we’ll always forgive him.”

Gwen: “I am so sorry for what’s happened to you.”
Jonah: “I trust you to tell the truth. Am I really whole?”
Gwen: “Yes, you are really whole.”

Other patients that Gwen found were – Earl, Saeed, Alice and Caroline. Jonah also looked into the heart of darkness and it’s why he howls so erratically.

Andy: “You’d never recommend me for Torchwood, would you?”
Gwen: “No.”

Gwen (regarding Jonah): “I thought you wanted to know what happened to him.”
Nikki: “I did. I was wrong. It was better when I didn’t know.”

Standout music: KT Tunstall’s “Otherside Of The World” and Hard-Fi’s “Hard To Beat”.

Rhys: “Apology, is it?”
Gwen: “Tonight we talk about what you want. Kids. The future. Anything you want.”

Chronology: Well it’s definitely 2008, given Jonah’s birth date but when isn’t really specified.

There was something rather apt about “Adrift” as an episode. At it’s heart, it’s an emotional episode and given the recent rise in missing people, particularly children, I did wonder if this episode was intentionally trying to be topical or not. Definitely one of the strongest and engaging episodes this season, no doubt.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x10: "From Out Of The Rain"

Written by PJ Hammond
Directed by Jonathan Fox Bassett

Gwen: “It’s the same picture over and over again.”
Owen: “Yeah, come on let’s go.”

And here’s myself thinking ‘damn, I should really go and see a decent movie’. I like the cinema, it’s just that I don’t go as much as I should and thanks to this episode, I’d drag the first person off the street just so I wouldn’t be alone.

With last week being more farcical than usual, this episode is back to creepy territory that this show has become quite adept to. The first thing we see is a travelling carnival and a young girl being scooped up while her devastated mother looks on. It’s a good way of setting the mood.

The previews for this episode showed that Jack some travelling circus connections and the first sign of this was having him listen to a faint tune that Toshiko couldn’t hear. I know I should find the faint tune thing intrigue but I couldn’t help but notice that this might be the first time this season Jack and Toshiko have had a scene alone together. Pity a bit of small talk couldn’t have been added between them.

Ianto on the other hand gets to drag Owen and Gwen to the Electro cinema. Giving Ianto scenes outside of Jack does work. He has a great dynamic with both Owen and Gwen (Owen more so) and having him open up about a love of old movies in fitting for the character. In fact having any character on this show display some kind of passion, pastime or hobby is something that needs to be encouraged.

Owen is his usual sarcastic self but thankfully doesn’t overdo it. Maybe it’s the inability to screw any girl he wants that fuels his motive for spending outside time with Ianto and Gwen but either way, I applaud it. Gwen also comes off rather well being in a scene with Ianto that has no bearing on either of their feelings for Jack.

Electro is one of the old cinemas that seems determined not to crumble to pieces and having a movie depicting the history of the place and its progress/change in society is interesting. Of course it was always going to be interesting with the creepy stuff surrounding Jonathan’s difficulty in getting the film simply for public viewing.

Seeing some old stuff is great but it’s seeing Jack that immediately grabs Ianto’s attention. Owen and Gwen are clearly not the refined and spend most of the time looking bored out of their brains. Again congrats to Eve and Burn for not overplaying those kind of scenes.

The funny thing is that neither Owen or Gwen really believe Ianto when he claims to see Jack. It’s hardly the most improbable of things Ianto could’ve come out with but then again, Toshiko didn’t really believe that Jack heard a tune in the background either. That might be something the gang should work on – listening to their team mates hunches, even if they do sound a little out there.

Ianto also had to deal with seeing various shadows in the background as well. This really did add to the creepy factor of the episode. This is certainly one movie you wouldn’t want to see without someone there to hold your hand.

As for the circus folk, you’ve got a ringleader called the Ghost Maker and his beautiful accomplice named Pearl. Julian Bleach is suitably nasty in the role and seeing the pair of them dehydrate a girl before taking her soul is definitely enough to give you chills.

The question then becomes – why are they doing it? There’s an ongoing commentary about how cinema killed the demand for travelling shows and the Ghost Maker and Pearl are combating this by getting unwilling audiences. So technically it’s worse than having Louis Walsh snatch an entire school and have one of his more dire acts perform for a lengthy session.

Jack mentions this most and it is actually quite crucial to the episode but what is more interesting is that he is quick to also mention his past with the travelling folk. If this was Season One, the gang would practically have to torture it out of him but here after Ianto simply mentions seeing him in the film, Jack is pretty forthcoming with the information.

He might not tell them why he was with a travelling circus but it poses no shock that his role entailed using his immortality to an advantage. I was kinda hoping he was more of a Houdini type of attraction with more chains on him. Gwen and Owen make some pretty funny little jests as well. This episode might be creepy but it’s certainly not devoid of humour.

It’s also not devoid of surprise either when Ianto realises that the film he viewed at Electro and then at the hub with Jack and the gang is different. To be honest I really didn’t notice the difference myself but I’m glad Ianto did point that out. Ianto is pretty amazing in this episode but he’s been amazing since “Everything Changes”, so why change a successful part of the series?

As for the Ghost Maker and Pearl, those two are certainly a busy bunch. They go from a girl at the bus station, to a waitress to an entire family pretty damn fast. I guess when you want to survive as much as them you really can’t afford to be slow, huh?

More interesting was Pearl. She caused every victim to be dehydrated and look how quickly she drained an entire pool? She also came across as being a bit more loopy than the Ghost Maker, almost as if she was channelling Cassie from Skins or Drusilla from Buffy. The actress pulled it off well in my opinion.

It was also Pearl who came up with the idea that it shouldn’t be just her and the Ghost Maker. Sure the two of them are a good threat but an entire gang of these travelling folk pose an even bigger threat and it was pretty obvious that bringing more of them would be the plan. It didn’t help that the trailer kinda gave that away too.

At least the gang were kind of efficient on this one too. Toshiko got all the readings about where certain victims were and thanks to a random nurse, Jack and Ianto were able to talk to one person lucky enough to actually escape having to travel with that freaky circus.

Jack and Ianto seem to do well interrogating old ladies even when they are in a psychiatric hospital. Christina helped give a name to the creepy Ghost Maker and she was perceptive enough to figure out that Jack doesn’t belong here. However everytime someone says that, it feels like the writers are trying to justify the way Jack can isolate himself from others.

Now that we know about the Ghost Maker, his travelling shows and how he wants to stay alive, the only thing really left to do is solve the mystery. Bringing back Jonathan to have a non fatal encounter with Pearl is a nice way of speeding up things. Heck, Jack even realises that filming Pearl and company is the best way of stopping them too.

Once the gang are in the cinema and Jonathan’s parents have become the latest victims, it’s here where things get a little disappointing. Sure this lot are still terrifying but it’s like the last few minutes and their ‘defeat’ is rushed. Perhaps we shouldn’t have had some much exposition stuff or maybe the episode should’ve been a bit longer.

Really what we get here is Owen trying to stop the Ghost Maker and being called useless. Then there’s both Gwen and Ianto getting physically hurt before Jack’s film technique actually work and the Ghost Maker and his creepy lot are gone. Even then you just know that there might be a repeat performance.

Jack even states that to Ianto despite the hunky office boy admitting to burning the reels. Jack and Ianto do have a good rapport in this episode. It’s nice to see Ianto’s more emotional side and Jack works better as a character too when his fear actually comes into play. Jack might be immortal but he’s not impervious to being vulnerable and seeing that helps me care more for him too.

It’s also interesting that besides one of the children, pretty much all of the victims in this episode died. I guess PJ Hammond likes his bittersweet twists but it’s one that works pretty well too. Jack holding onto the Ghost Maker’s soul flask could have a potential use either later on this season or perhaps next season.

In the end though, not much really is really forwarded from last week. There’s no Jack/Gwen lust crap to deal with and Jack/Ianto while getting some nice scenes, they don’t really do as much as you want. Toshiko is also once again surplus to requirements while Owen’s status is still being used in fun ways. There’s advantages to being dead after all.

Also in “From Out Of The Rain”

Isn’t it rather strange that none of the flashbacks were given specific time dates, although one of the papers put events as far back as 1898.

Ianto: “It’s more than just a cinema, it’s the Electro.”
Gwen: “Oh wow.”
This is the second episode in a row that Ianto has mentioned his father. Both times, his father has been mentioned in a good light, so any chance we’ll be meeting him?

Pearl (re Nelly): “Perhaps she could join the show instead.”
Ghost Maker: “Why not? She could travel with us forever.”

Gwen: “You did stand up?”
Captain Jack: “I never did stand up.”
Gwen: “Okay you did ‘song and dance’?”
Captain Jack: “And I was sensational.”

Jack was in a soldier when he was with the travelling circus. But who sent him there – the Time Agency or early Torchwood?

Captain Jack: “Ianto, with me. I need your local knowledge.”
Gwen: “Oh is that what we’re calling it now?”

Ianto (to Captain Jack): “It was beautiful in its own way and haunting. All those people no longer with us but trapped on film forever.”

The cinema vibe in this episode worked a lot better than it did in the Doctor Who episodes “Daleks In Manhattan” and “Evolution Of The Daleks”.

Pearl: “How many now?”
Ghost Maker: “Six.”
Pearl: “I wish I could see the air they last breathed.”

Captain Jack (re travelling folk): “They came from out of the rain.”
Nurse: “What did you say?”

PJ Hammond admitted that part of his inspiration for scribing this episode was being terrified of the character Stromboni from Pinocchio. That’s a pretty good comparison to the Ghost Maker.

Christina: “Your eyes are older than your face.”
Captain Jack: “Is that a bad thing?”
Christina: “Yes. It means you don’t belong. You come from nowhere.”

Ghost Maker (to Owen): “Who are you? There’s not a breath in your poor, sad body. You’re no use to me.”

I wonder was this episode filmed earlier on in the series because there’s really no references to any of the antics of the previous episode.

Nurse (re silver flask): “What’s in that?”
Captain Jack: “Something that belongs to him. His last breath, his life.”

Chronology: Well seeing as Gwen is back from her honeymoon with Rhys, I’d say a few weeks since “Something Borrowed”.

Fun, creepy, atmospheric and a definite improvement on the last episode, “From Out Of The Rain” is one of those episodes that will appeal to many viewers. PJ Hammond has a flair for the supernatural and his second effort for Torchwood is definitely better than his first. Although there have been better episodes this season, this was still a great one if not a perfect one.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x09: "Something Borrowed"

Written by Phil Ford
Directed by Ashley Way

We’re finally here. After weeks of idle chat, Gwen Cooper is about to make an honest man out of Rhys Williams and of course her perfect day was going to be anything but perfect. Then again marrying Gwen brings up its own problems anyway.

First off the girl goes out on her hen night with a bunch of women we’ve never seen before. Yes Gwen really does have friends outside Torchwood (Jack, Owen, Toshiko and Ianto should follow suit) but they’re so boring and vapid that you hope this is the only episode we’re subjected to with them.

Having a couple of drinks and a tasty male stripper is great and all but this isn’t an episode of Gavin And Stacy or Pulling so the small bit of emphasis felt like a mercy to me. Of course as vacant as her friends seems to be at least one of them is clever enough t spot that Gwen seems to have a cut on her arm.

Most brides worry about their grooms getting sent to another country, Gwen on the other hand still has to work on her hen. This week we get a shape shifter called a Nostrovite who attacks Gwen when he can’t escape her. For you Gwen haters, I have to disappoint you – she survives.

On the plus side, the shape shifter manages to defecate on her wedding by getting her pregnant. The classic sci-fi story of an alien getting some unfortunate lady to play host and of course it has to be Gwen who gets to be a mama.

Waking up to see your belly in that size certainly had a sobering effect on Gwen. Even Owen worries over but when Jack suggests calling off the wedding, Gwen practically tells him to go screw himself. If you need a reason to support, then this could be.

In fairness Gwen wants to marry Rhys because she feels that she has a lot of making up to do. She’s right but much as I want her to be Rhys’ wife, she’s also growing a hell spawn that neither her or Torchwood really know anything about. Even Rhys doesn’t mind cancelling the wedding until she gives birth.

The problem with Gwen is that when she’s determined, nothing can deter her and she still decides to go through with the wedding. This also problems that Gwen is a world class dunce too. You don’t want to arouse suspicion, don’t have a wedding that will do just that. For once it wouldn’t have killed Gwen to have actually listened to Rhys but the blooming wedding goes ahead no less.

It’s interesting that up until now, we haven’t met Gwen’s family. Not that I’ve had a burning desire to either but given how much the writers make her into such the humanitarian, their appearance has felt like a long time coming.

If we’re going by Doctor Who standards, then I should loathe her mother on sight like I did with Jackie, Sylvia and Francine but Mary is kinda awesome. She’s naturally surprised to see her daughter up the duff but doesn’t act like a moralising hag over it either. I think “respect” comes to mind.

Gwen’s father is also pretty likeable and has a similar enough reaction to his daughter’s pregnancy too. It’s probably because of this that later in the episode Gwen actually explains to him the real reason why she’s about become a mother in such a short space of time.

Rhys’ parents on the other hand don’t come across as too well. Both of them seem to obviously dislike Gwen and here I actually sympathise. Barry wonders why Rhys is marrying her and we get to see Rhys defend Gwen’s honour while Brenda is the only who is actually suspicious of Gwen being pregnant.

There’s also a delightful hatred between both Mary and Brenda as well. Although we don’t need much in terms of the domestics, I enjoyed the ongoing pissing contest between these two. Naturally I side with Mary, who delivered a lot more funnier lines but it’s not like Brenda didn’t make an effort to moan about Gwen.

The interesting thing about this episode was the fact that Gwen didn’t develop an emotional bond with the alien growing inside. Writer Phil Ford could’ve gone down that route and made the alien fetus influence Gwen’s decisions but he avoided doing that.

One of the first objections Jack had with Gwen wanting to still get married seemed to be that she could be influenced by the alien. Her yelling at him definitely made me think her hormones could play but she’s mostly rational throughout the episode. Again massive points for not going there. It might sound heartless but I’m glad saw the alien thing as a problem. The chances of her actually surviving a birth didn’t seem to be very high either.

If being pregnant and having tongues wag wasn’t enough for Gwen and Rhys, then the female Nostrovite coming to the wedding to get her spawn proved to be an ultimate. On the plus side she killed one of Rhys’ idiot friends, Mervin but it did take the gang quite a while to nab.

Heck the psycho bitch managed to get Toshiko trapped with the bland Banana and even held Mary hostage outside the venue. Gwen had an ultimate moment of coolness when she calmly started shooting the Nostrovite. This episode didn’t have many cool things but that was cool, even if the bullets did little to actually stop it.

With a whole venue bearing witness to the events of an alien attack, Ianto got relegated to making sure the police didn’t interfere. The Nostrovite just kept morphing into people and there’s one particular moment that I’m sure many viewers will not love.

Remember all that crap in “Meat” and “Adam” where Gwen and Jack had those looks of lust? Well when Gwen thinks she has Jack all alone she admits to loving him. Worse still she nearly kisses him until she realises that it’s the damn shape shifter. For a woman so determined to marry Rhys, Gwen really does pick her moments.

Maybe the writers dig the Jack/Gwen thing but viewers certainly don’t. Here’s hoping this episode officially ends that nonsense but at the same thing, it doesn’t say much about Gwen and Rhys’ marriage (like they weren’t gonna make it up the aisle). She wants a relationship built on truth, yet she seems to be lying to herself.

She goes on and on about how much she loves Rhys, so why the hell is she making the moves on Jack? Even during a dance at the reception, there’s that lingering vibe between them. If Gwen is ‘settling’ for Rhys, does that mean that Jack is with Ianto because he can’t have Gwen?

I sincerely hope to God that isn’t the reason. I could live with Jack being either confused or in love with two people but I would hate the writers for relegating Ianto to the role of second best for Jack. It’s bad enough that Rhys is in that kind of position even if Gwen did marry him in the end and sided with him over Jack a good few times in the episode.

Another interesting thing is the end of this episode. So Jack had a wife and I doubt it was Estelle. When he opened that box, I almost thought it would be something on either Grey or Adam so that reveal caught me off guard. I do love learning more and more about Jack’s past. Although I’d love a relatively steamy scene between him and Ianto as well. Enough teasing writers and just deliver.

As for the female Nostrovite, well Rhys got angry enough to threaten it with a chainsaw but Jack stole his thunder by shooting it down. It is wrong that I felt more for Rhys than I did for Jack in this episode? I even loved Rhys for punching Jack, despite the latter’s comments on Brenda being so funny.

Rhys did however succeed in killing the fetus with the Singularity Scalpel so he saved Gwen from alien motherhood at least. As for the wedding vows and reception, ah they were okay. I wasn’t surprised that Jack chose to retcon all of the guests. With the exception of Gwen’s father, perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing he did that. Still not sure why Jack thinks retcon is such a smart idea. The Doctor certainly wouldn’t do it.

As for Toshiko and Owen, both of them got to deal with lighter stuff. Owen seems to be adjusting even better to his current situation and while he’s able to accept Toshiko as his wedding date, at least he has the sense not to give her false hope. Toshiko at some point should try looking for someone who is actually interested in her as a girlfriend.

Granted Rhys’ other idiot friend Banana probably wouldn’t be a good choice. Toshiko’s handling of him throughout the episode did show off her more tougher side and she’s every bit as good as rejecting as she is getting rejected. I certainly wouldn’t want to piss her off.

One other I did love was her conversation with Gwen. Isn’t it about time the two of them actually bonded? Although I can cut myself off from people, all I have to do is watch Toshiko and I come to the realisation that I’m not quite as bad. Toshiko certainly does need to find the fun a little bit more.

Also in “Something Borrowed”

The episode began with a Gwen and Jack flashback from “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”. There was nothing new in the sequence.

Gwen: “Jack, tell me what’s going on. Owen thinks I’m pregnant.”
Captain Jack: “You think?”
Gwen: “Jesus Christ, what with?”

How come we didn’t get to see Andy at the wedding? He’s Gwen friend and also not annoying. Silly writers.

Captain Jack: “You are not thinking straight.”
Gwen: “Do not bring my hormones into this Mr Harkness.”

Gwen: “I’m sorry.”
Mary: “Don’t be sorry Gwen. I can’t wait to see the look on Rhys’ mum’s face.”

Even with a fake pregnant belly, Eve Myles looked absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress.

Banana: “Huh?”
Toshiko: “Bananas make me vomit.”

Ianto (re singularity scalpel): “That thing kills people.”
Owen: “I saved Martha with it.”
Captain Jack: “Lucky shot.”

Ianto mentioned his father being a tailor when flirting with Jack. Also Gwen now knows for definite that Jack and Ianto are screwing around.

Brenda: “Maybe but I wasn’t late for my own wedding.”
Mary: “If you were, Barry might have got away.”

Captain Jack (to Brenda): “Get back you ugly bitch.”
Rhys: “Hey that’s my mother.”

Gwen was able to tell that Brenda was Brenda because of her perfume whereas Jack could’ve ended up really pissing off Rhys by doing in his mum.

Owen (to Jack, re Gwen): “That’s the kind of daughter every mother must dream of. Cool as ice, packing an automatic.”

Rhys: “Are you alright?”
Gwen: “I’m running around in my wedding dress with what feels like a crate of lager up my skirt. What do you think?”

Standout music: Scissor Sisters’ “Filthy/Gorgeous”, Sugababes “Hole In The Head” and Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”.

Gwen: “You retconned our families? It’s probably for the best. I don’t want my mum to remember what happened today.”
Captain Jack: “Neither should the happy couple.”
Gwen: “No way. There will be no secrets in this marriage.”

Ianto: “That’s what I love about Torchwood. By day chasing the scum of the Earth. By night you’re the wedding fairy.”

Chronology: A few weeks after “A Day In The Death”.

Okay I will admit that “Something Borrowed” had some good moments but compared to the brilliance of the previous four episodes, this is definitely something of a comedown. The Gwen/Jack crap didn’t help matters either but at least she married Rhys and here’s hoping they do have an honest, loving marriage.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x08: "A Day In The Death"

Written by Joseph Lidster
Directed by Andy Goddard

Owen: “Sorry, are you an expert?”
Maggie: “Sorry, are you an idiot?”
Owen: “Yeah, I’m a dead idiot.”

Life sucks when you’re alive and it turns out that it blows just as much as being dead. Sadly for Owen he doesn’t get a Georgia Lass fate and ends up a Grim Reaper. Nope instead it turns out that he’s still trying to keep other people alive.

Opening the episode up differently than usual, Owen gives the audiences a recap of his 27 years of existence and of course the nasty moment when Copley shot him for no good reason. What’s interesting about this is that the gang don’t ask him how he’s coping but Owen doesn’t exactly tell them either.

Spotting Maggie on a rooftop, it’s clear from the start that she wants to end her own life. Now there are plenty of usual responses Owen could use to keep her from jumping but his tactic is to show her the bullet wound that Copley left him with. A reminder that Owen is dead despite not actually going away.

Maggie’s first reaction is to think he’s making it up but she soon realises that he’s actually telling the truth and freaks a little. She’s about to kill herself and now’s she met a bloke who’s dead and trying to persuade her not to end it all. I can only imagine what’s going through her mind during those moments.

However as much as Maggie factors into the episodes, there’s actually a lot of cutting back to events before Owen found her. The first one being Jack firing him for his own good. It means that Martha gets to have his job and it also means that Owen has a reason to be pissed off with Jack. I can understand where Jack is coming from but as someone who can’t abide boredom, I sided more with Owen.

I don’t doubt that Owen needs more medical testing and can’t play an active role but reducing him to coffee boy isn’t the most constructive thing to do either. It does give Owen a moment to snark at Ianto’s sudden rise in the ranks, though I like the fact Ianto actually defends himself.

Ianto might be sleeping with Jack and getting more action in the field but that’s because it’s actually useful for him to back up the gang and also we know that Ianto can handle himself. I do wonder whether or not Owen is jealous of Ianto. Not because of Jack as such but perhaps other reasons? He wasn’t thrilled about Martha getting his job either.

Owen’s not the type of guy who likes to be excluded from activities (then again, who does?) and he does pry when Martha is giving him a physical examination. Once again the show goes with the idea of them flirting. Like with the previous two episodes, it’s harmless but I did dread that something might have happened. Martha didn’t seem too concerned about her mysterious boyfriend, did she?

As for Maggie, two things are quickly established. The first is that Owen wastes no time in informing that there’s nothing beyond death. I know that we’re supposed to believe there’s an element of truth behind that due to the likes of Suzie also saying that but I was also hoping that Owen was saying to further stop her from taking her own life.

The second thing is that Maggie lost her husband less than an hour after marrying the poor fella. Owen doesn’t get much of a chance to genuinely sympathise because Maggie is quick to shoot down any moments of sincerity he tends to offer. The more this episode goes on, the more I’m drawn to Maggie.

In some ways she’d be a perfect woman for Owen. She can read him like an open book and has no qualms in calling him out on his crap whenever the mood takes her fancy. It also helps tremendously that actress Christine Bottomley has wonderful chemistry with Burn Gorman as well.

Maggie is caught up in her own problems that Owen really does have to work hard in order to reach out to her. I liked that she believed everyone at first about things getting better even if she found that time wasn’t a healer for her. Owen’s interest in why she waited for her anniversary to try and kill herself was a nice way of highlighting that point.

Another point of Owen’s life that piques interest is his relationships with both Martha and Toshiko. At both times Maggie could tell that there was more to each of them than Owen was letting on even if she got angry during a moment when he tried to explain about Toshiko.

Before meeting Maggie, Owen continued to flirt with Martha. While I’m glad that Martha has no interest in him, I get why Owen’s drawn to her. Martha’s got a lot of confidence in her abilities and while I love Toshiko to bits, her insecurities must ring as a red flag for a bloke like Owen.

Even when she came round to see him, all Toshiko did was make pointless small talk because she couldn’t really face up to what she was thinking. Owen’s always known that she loves him and he uses his despair of being virtually nonexistent to actually blast Toshiko for being damaged in her own way.

If it hadn’t been for his current predicament, I would’ve hated him for those remarks. That being said, Toshiko needs to grow a spine because it doesn’t look like Owen is ever going to see her the way she wants him to. Perhaps Martha could give her advice on how to get over an unrequited crush.

If Toshiko wasn’t particularly head wrecking for Owen, then Jack must’ve been a right pain in the arse. Owen pointed that both of them have been altered in ways neither chose but Jack was pretty unhelpful with Owen. Jack knows the implications of being caught in the middle but he acts like Owen doesn’t have the right to be freaked out by what’s happening to him.

There are times when Jack’s jesting is great but there are also times when it’s not so much and telling Owen to chill definitely falls into the latter. Watching Owen mentally climb the walls in his own flat almost made me want to do the same thing and that’s something I’ve done enough of without the excuse of Owen’s predicament.

Still being dead has its advantages and one of those being the ability to pas through heat sensors. This comes in handy when the gang need someone to break into the home of Henry Parker in order to retrieve an alien artefact that’s giving off some serious bad vibes.

Owen wasted no time in trying to assert his usefulness and there’s no amount of warnings from Martha that would’ve made a difference. Because I’m siding too much with Owen throughout this episode, I’m not gonna stop here. He’s the best guy for the job and he’s the only character who could really face Parker as well.

Getting past the entire security crowd was brilliant. The fake call about Taylor’s wife being in a crash made me feel for Taylor but seeing Owen scaring the other security guard with sticking his hand in electricity gave me the creeps too. Burn Gorman can certainly pull off scary a little too well if you get my drift.

One thing that did surprise me was the last security guard in the house. Maybe it was to help build up the Parker confrontation but it’s a brilliant little scene because of ho graphically Owen describes being shot. This episode is largely wordy and it’s brilliant that all the extremely talky scenes are laced with such intense dialogue.

The guard could’ve shot Owen there and then but Owen was so convincing and so creepy it’s easy to see how he got the upper hand. Did I mention how brilliant Burn Gorman is here? Seriously this guy is knocking this stuff out of the ball park and Owen’s still my least favourite character out of this series.

As for Parker, what can I say – he was another great surprise. I was expecting a nasty old man hell bent on destruction but really he was a sad soul who didn’t want to die. He knew a lot about Torchwood, has some nice one liners regarding them (in particular Toshiko) and he thought the alien artefact was keeping him alive.

Owen does appeal to his better nature and while it’s an obvious attempt to make both Owen and Parker connect on the issues of dying and nothingness after death, it makes for some effective acting between Gorman and Richard Briers. The parallels between Owen and Parker are neat, especially when the reveal is the Pulse offers hope and not mortality.

That’s the big thing about this arc. There were two assumptions with this episode. One is that Owen could’ve died completely and the gang could bury him or that he could’ve been completely restored and live a life of boozing, shagging and sleeping to his hearts content. Neither happened and for the time being that could be okay, though I do wonder how long Owen might have to “live” like this.

It’s knowing what the Pulse can do that has Owen saving the gang from destruction and it’s sharing that information that stops Maggie from killing herself. Owen only spotted Maggie by coincidence and that’s also something that I can deal with. The fact that he alludes to being a doctor a lot in their conversations does remind you of a certain someone, don’t you think?
As for the gang, well Owen managed to save the day and score his job back so result for him. If there’s one complaint I could have about this episode, it’s just that Martha could’ve had a few more scenes. She did have less to do here than in either “Reset” or “Dead Man Walking”.

Still at least she gets a nice farewell scene with all of the gang and she also got to snog Jack as well. Depending on her future in Doctor Who, I actually want Freema Agyeman on Torchwood for more episodes. Maybe next season we’ll get some more Martha action again. That wouldn’t be asking for too much, would it?

The last scene between Owen and Toshiko is decent enough. It would be better if there was some resolution but aside from Owen admitting to Toshiko that he was scared, their relationship hasn’t significantly changed at all. There’s the likelihood that it won’t either. Owen already did admit that he has nothing to give Toshiko.

Also in “A Day In The Death”

Did anyone think that Owen’s opening narration sound a little like Sam Tyler from Life On Mars? The dialogue had certain similarities.

Maggie (noticing his wound): “What’s that?”
Owen: “I got shot.”
Maggie: “Yeah right. Oh my God. What the hell are you?”
Owen: “I’m dead.”

Martha’s analysis shows that Owen is unable to age. Both him and Jack get to retain their looks.

Martha: “What about you?”
Owen: “Cappuccino with chocolate sprinklers.”

Maggie: “What are you, some suicidal geek?”
Owen: “No, I’m a doctor.”

The howling from The Pulse sounded a bit like that alien from “Meat” or was that just me?

Owen (to Captain Jack): “You know you get to live forever. I get to die forever. Funny that.”

Owen: “You waited until your wedding anniversary to kill yourself. Why?”
Maggie: “Does it matter?”

We got flashbacks to Diane from “Out Of Time”. Also the gang still don’t remember the events of “Adam”.

Toshiko: “Stop it. What’s wrong with you?”
Owen: “I’m broken Tosh.”

Owen: “You were watching?”
Captain Jack: “Any guy with tight jeans that runs into the water. I was taking pictures.”

Parker had a Dogan Eye although not the same one from “Random Shoes” and he fancied Toshiko.

Owen: “You’re too scared.”
Maggie: “Aren’t you? How did you get from that to here? What happened?”

Parker: “You’re young. You don’t understand what dying feels like.”
Owen: “Believe me I do. I really do.”

Although Gwen wasn’t vocalised, it was interesting that she was handing out all the assignments for everyone while Jack watched.

Parker: “Do you know what I want?”
Owen: “Clean sheets?”

Maggie: “What happened?”
Owen: “We all assume that life is going to be shit, that it’s all darkness but you know what, sometimes it’s not.”

Owen has a hatred for Tintin and used it to tease Ianto (before Jack gave him a Tintin T-Shirt) and he’s gotten a bigger apartment.

Captain Jack: “You can so come back.”
Martha: “Maybe I will someday.”

Maggie: “I thought you came here because you were drunk.”
Owen: “No I came here to help.”

Chronology: Three days since the end of “Reset”.

“A Day In The Death” ends the best arc this series has had so well. This episode was wonderful, dark but character driven and scribe Joseph Lidster needs to be commissioned another script ASAP. His history with the Doctor Who universe might be an obvious advantage but this was an excellent showcase no less.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x07: "Dead Man Walking"

Written by Matt Jones
Directed by Andy Goddard

Faith (re the glove): “If I told you not to use it would you listen?”
Captain Jack: “Shouldn’t you know the answer to that?”
Faith: “I do. That’s the problem.”

Okay we all know that when someone dies on a sci-fi/fantasy, the idea of resurrection is imminent as a response. We also know that resurrection usually are more trouble than they are worth. Safe to say that this episode offers nothing different on that score.

In less than two days, Martha’s been infected with aliens, chatted up and also had to witness Owen dying. Because she’s also the only other qualified medic, it makes sense that performing the autopsy would fall to her. Out of all the people who I thought would try and stop, I wasn’t expecting Jack.

Not that Jack halting Martha wasn’t believable, I just thought that Toshiko might have gotten a bit emotional and tried to stop Martha. Jack wants to bring Owen back from the dead and he’s actually got a plan to do it as well.

Visiting a creepy girl to get a clue to a church was interesting. I’ve never seen that many Weevils congregate in one place and I was pretty sure that Jack would have a difficult time in actually acquiring his little item. I mean he did nearly wake them up a good few times.

The item that Jack managed to snare was another resurrection glove. Looks like Ianto wasn’t joking about gloves coming in pairs after all. Anyways “They Keep Killing Suzie” was my favourite episode in Season One and the reminders we had about it here were nothing short of being delightful.

Unlike last time, it’s Gwen who is against the glove being used on Owen and it’s also Jack who has to use it to bring Owen back. I’m glad that the glove responds to other people more powerfully than just Gwen. Then again, Jack’s desperation was paramount to the glove effectively working this time around.

There are two reasons why Jack would violate the natural order of things in order to resurrect Owen. The obvious one was to give the gang the opportunity to properly say their goodbyes. Ianto and Martha really didn’t say much and Gwen was pretty mute herself. Only Toshiko’s declaration of love was the big thing surrounding the goodbye scenes really.

Of course, Jack also wanted Owen back so he could get some codes for the morgue much to Owen’s chagrin. Even when dead, this lad can get the hump over the least thing. Then again Suzie reacted similarly when Gwen raised her from the dead too. That isn’t the only thing that Owen shares in common with Suzie.

Just like the treacherous former employee, when Owen gets resurrected he flat lines for a few seconds before everyone realises that he’s actually still alive. It’s funny that once again, it’s Ianto who spots that little glitch. Also like Suzie, Owen is quick to explain to Martha and Toshiko that he saw nothing but darkness.

It’s not surprising to see some of the same stuff being rehashed from “They Keep Killing Suzie” but it’s hardly a bad thing either. At least the gang check to see if Owen’s prolonged existence is at the cost of Jack. Interestingly enough, Jack has nothing to do with it. Something else beyond that glove is making sure that Owen doesn’t die.

Martha puts her smartness to work again by figuring out that his cells are changing and that the human aspects of Owen are diminishing. This is a lot better than watching Owen flirt with Martha. Give it up, she has a boyfriend already. It’s also interesting to have a brief UNIT/Torchwood clash between Martha and Jack as well. Apparently Jack isn’t keen on the idea of UNIT using his immortality for their own means.

I have to say that as episodes go, this is a good one for Burn Gorman. Owen starts to exhibit erratic behaviour when he zoned out in front of Martha and later after telling Toshiko he wanted to use the bathroom. To say that Owen isn’t quite human is an understatement.

When he’s not showing signs of being possessed he goes out to get pissed and finds that he can’t get it up. Then again given the fact that his would be shag was seriously annoying, I would’ve been thrilled for the excuse to get away from the woman. If screwing around doing annoying bints like her, maybe you are better off being dead.

Of course the funny part is that not only is Owen unable to get hard but his entire digestive system is gone. My sister quipped about bulimics getting ideas when in a jail cell Owen rids himself of alcohol by doing a hand stand and throwing up in the same way that racist granny in Little Britain does. It’s worth it for the look of utter disgust on Jack’s face. Nice to see that some things are able to shock Jack every once in a while too.

There are bigger problems that Owen hovering between life and death. He’s suddenly found himself more attuned to the Weevils and there’s a nifty piece of history regarding the church where Jack got the glove from along with a little girl and the Grim Reaper himself.

With Owen’s body being used as some sort of vessel between death’s attempts to rule the earth, you’d think embalming him would be a great option? Owen’s mature enough to realise it might be their only chance and he gets some lovely scenes with both Gwen and Toshiko before allowing Jack to go through with it.

The natural flipside then would be death trying to stick to the gang. Unlike Glove Number 1, this ‘Risen Mitten’ is perfectly capable of attacking at will. Sadly for Martha, the glove has a rage to attack her at will and even though Owen is able to shoot, it still doesn’t stop Martha from getting perfectly aged in this episode.

It felt like that when Martha wasn’t using her medical genius, she was getting crapped on by the evil in this episode. The glove could’ve perfectly attacked anyone else but it chose to go after Martha. Maybe it was because she was about to embalm Owen that it viewed her as a threat. At least the gang showed the right amount of concern and decided to take her to a hospital. I also actually felt that Martha belonged with the gang more in this episode than the previous one.

Death seems to be on a mission to reclaim it’s dominion of earth. Twelve people and it was nearly there. It expelled itself out of Owen and then went on a rampage in a hospital. Jack was quick to pull the obvious quip about why the near dead would be an attractive feeding ground.

Seeing as the hospital stuff took up the last ten minutes of the episode, things felt like they were flying by much quicker. The nurse believed Gwen’s bullshit about Martha being a neighbour despite her clothes contracting the story and Jack also managed to divide the team well enough.

With Ianto stuck on research mode and looking after Martha, Owen was paired with Toshiko and Jack took Gwen. Luckily none of that pseudo sexual tension was present but death was certainly totalling up the body count before the gang could get there.

We saw a random bunch of patients meet their ultimately deaths as well as a nurse. The deaths were really explored until another potential victim came into the frame. Jamie Burton was the poor kid with Leukaemia and only Owen and Toshiko who could rescue him.

There’s a not so subtle connection between Owen and Jamie but it’s effective. Both of them should dead but they’re not. Owen manages to get Toshiko and Jamie away so he can face death and basically kick its ass. I loved his defiance when facing death and this is by far the best performance from Burn Gorman on the show.

It did appear that death was actually going to beat Owen but Owen bested it. Or did he? It’s hard to actually tell. I did think that he might have been possessed yet again and Jack and Toshiko’s conversation at the end only heightens the consequences of Owen’s prolonged existence.

Even if we didn’t have Martha’s medical knowledge of Owen’s new molecular structure, you’d still feel that something wasn’t right with his resurrection. Like most viewers, I don’t want a Buffy Season Six session of non-stop misery but the writers are only being logical in showing that there are consequences for even being raised from the dead.

Owen seems to acknowledge but Jack almost didn’t want to admit it. I’m sure Jack does feel responsible for the deaths he didn’t deliberately set out to cause but I did love his scene where he point blank expressed how much he cared for Owen. Owen might not appreciate being a shadow of himself but I can see why Jack would take such a risk.

Because this episode was so plot heavy, it was quite relieving to have had at least one scene between Gwen and Rhys. Rhys could tell that Gwen wasn’t being honest but he also knew not to push it. I kinda wished that Gwen had opened up to him. Rhys might not have been able to help but he would’ve at least given her some emotional support and that’s not a bad thing either.

Also in “Dead Man Walking”

It’s weird watching this episode the day before “Reset” gets it’s BBC2 premiere. I’m still not sure why they’re doing the next episode thing on BBC3.

Captain Jack: “But I’m not using the glove.”
Owen: “But I’m still here.”
Ianto: “Oh here we go again.”

Did I spot right in seeing Ianto using the stopwatch?

Martha: “What’s it like to die?”
Owen: “Don’t know if I should say.”
Martha: “Why not?”

Owen (to Toshiko): “I’m not dying, I’m dead. I’m like a headless chicken still running around.”

Owen died at 20:30, Martha tried to perform his autopsy at 21:30 and we learned that he was 27 years, so he was either born in 1980 or 1981, depending on the show’s chronology.

Captain Jack: “Couldn’t you just stick your fingers down your throat?”
Owen: “I’m dead.”

Owen: “Then why did you?”
Captain Jack: “Because I wasn’t ready to give up on you. I was hoping for a miracle. I still am.”

Did anyone think that this might have all been a dream when Jack woke up in his SUV outside the hospital? Thank goodness the writers didn’t pull that.

Martha (not believing in the Grim Reaper): “But there’s no such thing.”
Owen: “Yeah, I’m dead but I’m not death. There’s a difference.”

Owen: “Yeah. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I can’t shag and they are three of my favourite things.”
Gwen: “Owen.”
Owen: “I’m not the same, Gwen. I came back different and I do not want to be like this. I’m ready.”

Martha wasn’t the only one who had difficulty believing in death. Toshiko did try to dismiss some of Gwen’s internet research too.

Captain Jack (re death): “Maybe it senses the near dying. If you were death, wouldn’t you target a hospital?”

Owen (to Death): “How long can you last here with twelve victims? There’s nothing here for you. Owen Harper’s soul has left the building. Only left are two dead men.”

Standout music: The score music here was some of the series best and I loved that song in the nightclub when Owen goes out.

Owen: “I’m a doctor still. Put me to work to even out the score.”
Captain Jack: “We’ll see.”

Chronology: An hour after the events of “Reset”.

One of the toughest and darkest episodes of the series yet, “Dead Man Walking” is another reason why this show is going from strength to strength. It’s easier to buy into the adult drama and severity of Owen’s situation and while it’s not an ensemble episode, it’s still incredibly rewarding to watch no less.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x06: "Reset"

Written by JC Wilsher
Directed by Ashley Way

Owen (regarding her friendship with Jack): “So what brought you two together?”
Martha: “Let’s say we were under the same Doctor.”

One of the biggest spoilers and lures for the second season was not only the promise of seeing James Marsters as bad ass Captain John Hart but also the chance to see Martha Jones before her return to Doctor Who.

We waited and now with the sixth episode, Freema Agyeman begins her much welcomed start and it’s nothing short of being interested. I love me some Martha and her cooler than cool introduction makes me love her just that little bit more. Like I didn’t know who Ianto was bringing to meet the others down the hub.

So, much as Martha is awesome and all, why is she here? Crossover fun aside, it seems that the gang need her help after a spate of recent deaths even has Owen confused. I did think at the start the gang were checking a place for a Weevil and not the dead guy they found. That was me proved wrong.

Naturally the gang are mystified by Martha’s appearance. She’s not five minutes in the hub and already they know that she has a stronger connection to Jack than any of them have. That being said, it’s actually nice that they don’t act like spoiled brats over this too. They’re curious and express that maturely throughout the episode. Out of them, I thought Gwen would be the most jealous.

Since Martha chose to leave The Doctor in “Last Of The Time Lords”, she’s become a member of UNIT. If you’ve read her MySpace blog, you’ll already she was recruited by a mystery organisation virtually sight unseen and I assumed that it was Jack who gave Martha the recommendation.

How better it was as a reveal that it was The Doctor who did instead. I guess it makes sense. The Doctor does have a far better history/rapport with UNIT rather than Torchwood and like Jack pointed out, perhaps its The Doctor’s way of apologising to Martha for being so hot and cold with her.

The Jack and Martha scenes are pretty essential. We needed to see them catching up and although Martha might have more clout than Jack, she doesn’t let it go to her head. I knew that Jack would ask if she missed The Doctor and although I’m glad that she is moving on, I do like that there’s an element of her that does miss travelling in time and space.

Months ago I hated Martha leaving The Doctor but I understood her reasons behind it. Being a fully qualified doctor meant that Martha’s life didn’t end and landing up in UNIT is great progress for her too. Her and Owen on the other hand, I love their scenes but I have my quibbles.

Martha shaming Owen by being a better doctor is good; I can deal with that but Owen hitting on Martha felt a little trite. Thankfully even before she mentions having a partner, Martha basically tells Owen that he doesn’t stand a chance. As a couple, I’d rather not see that but as a medical team they’re actually rather fun to watch.

Owen naturally tries to find out why Martha and Jack are close to each other and both of them are vague. Jack did come close to telling the truth when he revealed just how much he trusts Martha but Owen still remains in the dark about the true extent of their relationship.

With all the deaths in Cardiff having two doctors on hand is great. Every victim seems to have Toxic Shock and when inspected much closer, they’re all linked by the fact that they’ve had more serious illnesses beforehand. We got this thanks to a patient called Marie escaping an attacker.

As patients go, the actress who played Marie was pretty annoying but at least when Gwen and Ianto found out more about a bloke named Barry dying, we got the clue about them all being linked to a company called the Pharm and a testing drug called Reset. More interesting was the legions of alien larvae ready to take either Owen or Martha as hosts once Marie served her basic purpose and then died.

I love some creepy companies and the Pharm are an interesting enough little organisation in their own right. Apparently they’re the only people who actually can tell Torchwood to get lost and deny them access and it’s because of them that so many deaths are occurring.

Known for recent roles in both Lost and Ugly Betty, Alan Dale is suitably more effective in his guest shot here as the amoral Aaron Copley than his in either of the other two shows I’ve mentioned. Jack’s willingness to flirt when questioning Aaron was of course standard.

You don’t have to be a genius to figure that Aaron was lying or that the gang would find a way of infiltrating the Pharm. Martha was the natural choice to do and she gets brownie points for kicking Owen’s ego into touch. Then again she was the same woman who wouldn’t let Shakespeare cop a feel, so nice to see some consistency there.

Going under an alias and lying about being infected with Hepatitis was clever of Martha but I was more impressed with the contact lenses cameras. Seriously those things were sweet and even Owen’s childish joking couldn’t deny their appeal. It’s also the only bit of engagement that Toshiko and Martha actually have throughout the episode. If there’s one sucky thing about this episode it’s that Martha and Toshiko don’t get a scene with each other.

When Toshiko isn’t successful in scoring a date with Owen, she’s putting her technical skills to the best and it’s her quick thinking that gets Martha past most of the security in the Pharm. I’m not sure how Toshiko really feels about Martha though. I hope she likes her but she did see Martha as a potential interest for Owen so that could affect Toshiko’s judgement.

The Pharm meanwhile seem to be up to some standard stuff. You’ve got mayflies growing inside humans and captured Weevils; it’s nearly safe to assume that they’re being tested on for pharmaceutical gains. Copley wants to use alien properties for his own gain and Martha puts herself in danger by not leaving.

I don’t blame her really. Martha did state that she’s been in worse situations with The Master debacle clearly fresh in her mind and she was stunned by both the giant mayfly and then the guards. More a case of bad luck than sheer stupidity on Martha’s part really.

Having her captured and tied down by Copley did feel like a classic Doctor Who moment. Copley saw through her fake story and realised that she was a part of Torchwood. I have to give Martha props for not admitting it. Pity it didn’t work and that Copley resorts to giving twice the Reset dosage after discovering that she’s travelled through time and space.

Freema Agyeman acts out the physical agony of Martha’s ordeal very well and when Owen comes crashing in to save her with his singularity scalpel, Jack wasn’t the only cynical person in the room. Given how spectacularly Owen failed with that thing when trying to save Billy, I was dreading that Martha would end up being rat jam herself. Thankfully Owen’s aim was spot on for once.

The moral ethics of Copley’s organisation are touched on without the episode getting too self-righteous. If this was an instalment against animal (or alien) testing, then it’s nice that Jack effectively got his disgust out with the hysterics. Shutting the place down and erasing all of the Pharm’s work was a deserving fate for Copley.

However Copley took things a bit too personally and ended up shooting Owen point blank in the head. Owen got to be heroic by taking a bullet intended for Martha but him trying to reason with Aaron is what makes his death more sad really. Jack shooting Copley in the head is something I might have done in the situation too.

So big question, is Owen actually dead? I don’t know really. The episode ended in a shocking manner but seeing as Martha is only around for three episodes and Torchwood will need a medic, there’s a clear suggestion that he might not be totally gone for good. The next two episodes should definitely determine that for sure.

If this was Season One, I might not have cared if Owen died. I like Burn Gorman a lot as an actor but Owen isn’t a guy that I feel for. That being said, I think the show could be at a loss without Owen. He’s every bit as important to the team as Jack, Gwen, Toshiko and Ianto are.

As for Martha, the rest of her interactions in this episode were spot on. I love her and Gwen together. For some reason they compliment each other and Gwen did try to look a bit cool by telling Martha that nothing ever happened between her and Jack. I couldn’t help but snicker ‘that’s not you were saying last week’.

Martha and Ianto on the other hand were even better. Aside from sharing surnames, they bonded well when he showed her how to get into the Pharm and I loved her figuring that Ianto and Jack are screwing around. Now can we please actually see some of Jack’s innovative ‘dabbling’? I think we’ve been teased enough already.

Also in “Reset”

Unlike “Adam”, there were no clips of Martha in the opening voiceover of the episode.

Captain Jack (re The Doctor): “Do you miss him?”
Martha: “No. I made my choice. Maybe sometimes. Tiny bit, tiny. Then I come to my senses.”

Freema Agyeman’s name is in the opening credits for her three episode stint. Seems only fair to me as Indira Varma got the same treatment in Season One.

Captain Jack: “So do I have to call you Ma’am?”
Martha: “No. Just follow my order to the letter.”

Marie (re her attacker): “You know my dog bit him in the nuts and I kicked him.”
Captain Jack: “Respect.”

Anyone notice the poster of Margaret Slitheen from “Boom Town” at the start of this episode?

Aaron: “Captain. Where did you park your boat?”
Captain Jack: “I like a man with a sense of humour. Know any good gags about clinical trials?”

Captain Jack (to Aaron): “Yeah I had a bad experience with a politician recently. I tend not to trust Whitehall anymore.”

Actually seeing as Margaret was the Mayor of Cardiff; shouldn’t it be that Jack has had bad experiences with two politicians?

Toshiko (re Martha): “She’s beautiful.”
Owen: “Is she?”
Toshiko: “You know she is.”

Martha (re Captain Jack): “So what’s his dabbling like?”
Ianto: “Innovative.”
Martha: “Really?”
Ianto: “Bordering on the avant-garde.”

Ianto seems to have a thing for the colour red, Martha pretended to being doing a Creative Writing course (something I hope to do myself in September) and Owen remember Toshiko’s bowling idea from “Meat”.

Captain Jack: “Martha can handle herself. She’s been in worse situations than this.”
Owen: “You sure about that?”

Aaron (to Martha): “A human being that has travelled in time and space. Tell me about that. What did you see?”

Martha went under the alias of Samantha Jones who was a companion for the Eighth Doctor. I keep thinking about a certain man eater from Sex And The City.

Owen: “Stop this.”
Aaron: “I can’t. I don’t know how.”

Standout music: “Feel Good Inc” by the Gorillaz. One of my favourite songs from that group.

Captain Jack: “This place is like a torture chamber.”
Aaron: “I don’t need to defend medical ethics with you.”

Chronology: None is specified since “Adam”.

Wow, what an episode. Although I prefer the previous episode, I admit that “Reset” was a joy to watch. Martha continues to be awesome and her interactions with the group makes me wonder if she could end up joining Torchwood on a permanent basis and the end scene was the jolt the episode needed to cap things off perfectly.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x05: "Adam"

Written by Catherine Tregenna
Directed by Andy Goddard

Adam: “You can’t shoot me. You make me live and you always remember what you killed, don’t you Jack?”

Here’s an innovative idea, let’s have an episode where something plays havoc with the gangs’ memories and brings out something different in them. Okay, it’s been done before but after the good but tame “Meat”, this is very episode that highlights why this show is becoming unmissable.

Things opened up nicely with Gwen and Rhys back from a trip to Paris and while they seem blissfully happy, Gwen ends up not remembering her boyfriend the second she heads back to work. Thankfully it’s not the contrived obsession with the writers go ahead with the Gwen/Jack sexual tension but more to do with Adam.

Adam has apparently been working in Torchwood for the past three years and once he touches Gwen on the shoulder she believes. Well Gwen is a little susceptible to anything, right? To be fair, it’s established that Adam is playing with Torchwood’s memories so it’s trying to figure out why he’s doing that provides the bones of the episode.

Gwen getting hit with Adam’s whammy has the side effect of forgetting Rhys and she freaks out upon returning home. Poor Rhys has been through so much with Gwen that it sucks to see her point a gun to his head. The thing is that everyone else remembers Rhys and Adam even tries to persuade Gwen that he really is her fiancé.

I don’t why that surprised me but it does for some reason. I mean Adam clearly isn’t up to any good but he’s also keen to make sure that Gwen does remember being engaged to Rhys. Maybe like most viewers Adam isn’t keen on Gwen following Jack around like a love sick puppy. If so, that is one thing I can respect him for.

The fun part of Gwen’s little amnesia is that she is almost excluded for a large part of the episode. Instead of concentrating on a mysterious artefact that everyone else is preoccupied with, she’s stuck with Rhys trying to remember being in love with him.

I don’t blame Rhys for automatically assuming the worst in Torchwood. He’s seen their negative sides and there is a little rivalry between him and Jack for Gwen’s affections, so it’s pretty believable for him to go there. What’s touching however is listening to Rhys tell Jack how much he loves. Seriously Kai Owen really excels during those moments.

Having Gwen with Rhys also gives Eve Myles some great material too. She tries to remember Rhys as her fiancé but it’s only when he loses his patience at a supermarket does things begin to come back to her. Their bedroom conversation is frank and delightful and in all fairness, I love Rhys being more vocalised. Thank God last week wasn’t a fluke on that score.

Unfortunately there is one thing I could’ve done without and that having Gwen also admit that she is in love with Jack. I don’t think I’m as horrified about this as other viewers but I seriously do not want the writers to go there. I hope that Rhys’ fears about Gwen merely settling for him are wrong but her admission does suggest some truth in them. At least Jack did us all a favour by pushing Gwen and Rhys together in this episode.

Speaking of togetherness, Adam’s manipulation of Toshiko and Owen is also suitably interesting. If Gwen could forget Rhys being her fiancé then surely other members of the team would have similar side effects.

With Toshiko and Owen, there’s a reverse of personality. On one hand you’ve got a shy, socially inept Owen and on the other you’ve got an incredibly confident if somewhat abrasive Toshiko. This also means that it’s Owen who has a crush on Toshiko, much to her disdain.

Now I loved this side of the fake memories. Toshiko is quite pithy in her attitude towards Owen and Adam even goes one further by taking her as a lover. I mean I get it, Toshiko is one beautiful lady and we didn’t need Gwen falling for Adam. Bizarrely I almost get the impression that Adam actually cares about Toshiko.

Seeing a geeky Owen is quite the delight. I always thought a bloke like him might have started off being nerdy and inept and Burn Gorman pulls in a great comical performance as Owen struggles with his feelings for Toshiko and failing to realise that he didn’t stand a chance with her. Even Gwen and Ianto had fun in pointing that out to each other.

Why is that when Owen gets turned into a major nerd I end up feeling bad for him? I know that he hasn’t done anything particularly annoying this season but I felt bad for him when Toshiko rejected him. In another universe he would’ve deserved that but here, I felt pity for him.

This confident Toshiko was fun but seeing her wax lyrical about Adam was a little on the pathetic side too. She said half that stuff to goad Owen and it bugged me. However when she was forced to forget Adam, Naoko Mori played the fear of losing another lover so well, it bordered on heartbreaking.

Adam’s dealing with Ianto was strange. So far he seemed to be only member of the gang unaffected by Adam bar the obvious. It was Ianto who actually figured out that Adam was a fraud and Adam’s method of dealing with him certainly gave the episode a nasty twist.

There’s no doubt that this episode was a tour de force for every character and actor and Gareth David Lloyd is particularly superb when Ianto is driven to the brink of madness and ends up believing that he’s a killer. I literally screamed “bastard” when Adam pulled that little trick.

However because I’m such an inherent slash bunny, I loved that the spoiler of Jack’s love for Ianto saving him actually came true in this episode. Even before Jack found the incriminating CCTV footage of Adam manipulating everyone, Jack’s refusal to entertain the idea of Ianto being a killer was glorious. This is where the writers need to focus on. Leave the Jack/Gwen rubbish alone and focus on Jack/Ianto. It’s more believable.

Jack’s method of defeating Adam was interesting. Adam exits because the Torchwood team have enough interesting memories to sustain them. Taking a retcon pill of sorts helps to dispel Adam’s abilities but not before Owen, Gwen, Toshiko and Ianto are forced to make some admission they’d rather not.

Some of them are predictable, one or two of them aren’t but each of them in particular Toshiko’s desperation for love and Ianto getting a sense of purpose by being in Torchwood are significant. Without a doubt it’s the best scene of the entire episode as well.

Of course Adam is a smart cookie and even if his powers of persuasion to be kept alive isn’t met, he’s able to get one up on Jack by taking away the only good memory left that Jack has of his family. As parting shots go, that’s goddamn shitty.

Because of Adam’s abilities we finally get something on Jack. When Captain John mentioned Grey in “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” I did fear that Jack might have lost a child so the reveal of Grey being his brother was better. I seriously don’t a parent Jack story on this series, especially not right now.

Even better was getting to see what the Boeshane Peninsula actually looked like. Jack explained about an attack that resulted him losing Grey as a child and finding his father’s corpse. His mother lived but for how long wasn’t revealed. Either way these flashbacks were gorgeously shot.

However if you were wondering whether or not there would’ve been definite confirmation that Jack is in fact the Face Of Boe, then this is where the flashbacks disappoint. I was hoping we might have gotten a little glimpse of Jack during his Time Agency days but I have a feeling that might happen later in the season. Well fingers crossed.

Another reason is why this episode is laced in undeniable awesomeness is because it’s the first one in the season that forces John Barrowman to do some emotive acting. Luckily he more than excels himself here, particularly when he opens up to Adam about losing Grey and his frustration with Adam stripping away his last good memory. And his scenes with Ianto and the lie detector test.

Getting this kind of an insight to Jack has been a while coming. We’ve had episodes like “Small Worlds” and “Captain Jack Harkness” provide nice bits but this one is by far the best in terms of the Jack stuff we’ve gotten. The reset of memories is likely to come back and bite the gang though. I can’t see how there can’t be a consequence for what Jack did to get rid of Adam.

As villains go Adam was the best by far. You got the impression that despite his need to survive he might have actually cared about the Torchwood gang. He was also the reason for providing us with the Jack material and that alone is a reason to want a rematch, maybe even one with Captain John in tow.

Also in “Adam”

The Opening Monologue had some images of Adam before we actually saw him. I think this was done in “Meat” too.

Adam: “A year ago.”
Toshiko: “First kiss.”
Adam: “You remembered?”

Adam put down his birthday as being November 16th 1982, making him a Scorpio. I’ve got a thing about star signs right now.

Gwen (re Owen’s feelings for Toshiko): “When’s he gonna realise that he has no chance.”
Ianto: “Love is blind apparently.”

Gwen (to Rhys): “You have picked the wrong girl to stalk mate.”

We learned that Gwen and Rhys met in college. Going by the actor’s ages that would mean that Gwen and Rhys have been together for over a decade.

Ianto: “I could come with you. It’s been a while since we went hunting together.”
Captain Jack: “I’ll be fine.”

Adam: “Jack, what did you see?”
Captain Jack: “My past.”

We never actually found out what type of alien or creature Adam happened to be. Plus he was stupid not to wipe the cameras.

Adam: “It’s not your fault.”
Captain Jack (re Grey): “I let go of his hand. It was the worst day of my life. That’s the last thing I’d want to remember.”

Ianto (re fake memory): “I didn’t do that.”
Adam: “Oh you did and she wasn’t your first.”

Ianto keeps a diary and it’s not just one for artefacts as Jack’s brief reading suggests. That feels consistent for Ianto’s character. Oh and Adam snogged Ianto.

Adam (to Ianto): “You know, I forgot what a rush it is feeding in the bad stuff.”

Adam: “How far would you go for me, I need to know. Would you die for me?”
Toshiko: “Yes.”

Did Gwen says Rhys’ nickname was Rhys a rants? I sort of zoned during that one. She did say it twice though.

Ianto: “Something in me wants to kill.”
Captain Jack: “No that’s not you. Something’s changed you, it’s a lie.”

Toshiko (re Adam): “I’m going to lose so much.”
Captain Jack: “None of it’s real.”
Toshiko: “He loved me and I loved him. It felt real.”
Captain Jack: “He forced it on you.”

Standout music: I liked the song that was playing during Toshiko/Adam scene and the score music was exceptional in this episode.

Captain Jack: “Who’s Adam?”
Ianto: “No idea.”

Chronology: A couple of weeks after “Meat”?

“Adam” was quite the mind bending experience. Between this and the next episode, I knew one of them was going to reign supreme and honestly, this wins hands down. The psychological insight into the gang, much needed flashbacks on Jack’s life and great villain in Adam, this is by far Catherine Tregenna’s best script to the series, which is ironic given how the previous episode was her weakest one.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x04: "Meat"

Written by Catherine Tregenna
Directed by Colin Teague

Gwen: “I catch aliens.”
Rhys: “Piss off. If you can’t take this seriously.”
Gwen: “No you piss off.”

It was finally bound to happen. If Rhys was going to be a long term player on this series, there was no way he was going to stay in the dark about what Gwen really did at Torchwood. Here is the exact episode where he finally gets the clue. In fact, this episode is virtually all about Rhys.

The episode opens up from his point of view as he drives out to get a delivery and is soon met with a crime scene. Haulage might not be the most exciting profession in the world but Rhys has done well for himself and thanks to this week, he also discovers that some cargo really isn’t worth delivering.

When he discovers his mate Liam has been killed, Rhys gets rightly annoyed at the insensitive but it’s spotting Gwen and the rest of Torchwood that becomes a big thing for him. Rhys has had reasons to suspect Gwen and now he’s finally got something to go on too.

As for the cargo, it turns out to be meat but not of the great kind. Thankfully this episode isn’t trying to be another “Countrycide” but it does have a fair amount of gore, particularly when the gang investigate the back of that lorry. So what’s so odd about this meat that warrants concern?

Owen pointed out that while it wasn’t poisonous it also wasn’t compatible with any animals. Because I don’t need to see yet another cannibal episode (still recovering from the last episode of Nip/Tuck), the meat is quickly established as alien. This has to mean that the alien is question is a victim and that humans are the oppressors. It won’t win points for originality but it hardly hinders proceedings too.

With Rhys getting wildly suspicious, it’s rather funny that the gang also suspect him of having an involvement in the plot. To be fair, all Jack has to go is the fact that his firm was hired to transport the meat and while Toshiko didn’t get many answers from Rhys on the phone, I just didn’t feel that Jack had a sufficient enough hunch.

Gwen standing up for her boyfriend felt natural. Basically her choosing Rhys over Torchwood gives the character a lot of brownie points here. I know Rhys is innocent and Jack’s dismissive attitude really irked me this week, even more than his behaviour with Beth in “Sleeper”.

Rhys proves that curiosity is a desire you can’t tame when he decided to go to the warehouse to find out what the hell was going on. Following Jack and Gwen put him a position where he could’ve been killed by the villains of the week but somehow, Rhys was able to get more information than Team Torchwood and their mighty guns ever did. Perhaps I’ve underestimated Rhys.

Still Jack seems adamant that Rhys is actually a guilty party and for a brief second, I thought Gwen was going to believe him. I think I would’ve hated her if she had. It’s funny that I found myself liking Rhys more than Jack in this episode. That was probably intention on Catherine Tregenna’s part.

The alien in question was interesting. Basically it was a big massive thing able to regenerate itself despite being constantly used as a food supply and profit for Dale and his pals. Rhys looked more sympathetic than freaked out and although the puking was natural, he composed himself a lot better during that scene than I would’ve expected him to have done.

The best moment of the episode however is the confrontation scene between him and Gwen. Ever since she signed up to Torchwood, Gwen has managed to do damage to her and Rhys and the fact that he takes her to task over this has been a long time coming. I didn’t realise how much I actually missed the swearing until Rhys accused Gwen of sleeping with Jack.

However the reason why this argument works so well is because it isn’t one sided. Rhys isn’t perfect either and Gwen is also quick to take him to task while she defends herself. Arguments like that are a lot more interesting to watch, especially as neither Rhys nor Gwen are either overtly vilified or portrayed as victims.

Gwen blurting out what she does for a living did provoke a strange reaction. Rhys dismisses the idea of aliens despite the fact he only saw one an hour or two before having it out with Gwen. Thankfully though Gwen decides taking him to Torchwood would be a better way of convincing him that she’s telling the truth.

There’s some fun quips with Rhys’ little visit. Owen’s quick to give a brief recap of what Torchwood actually does and Rhys wastes no time in taking Jack to task as well. For this episode, I think Jack should be taken to task, especially given that he lays into Rhys for ruining his plans.

Rhys actually pointing out the reality that through him the gang have a better chance of stopping Dale and company is a delightful moment. Owen even gets to snicker when Gwen and Rhys argue about each other’s safety in front of everyone. Still at least Rhys and Jack are able to agree about the alien. Instead of killing it, Jack and Rhys are all for saving it.

To be fair, I’m with them on this one. This alien in particular doesn’t pose a threat and sending it back through the rift isn’t a bad idea. Plus going by Jack’s line of there being too many deaths, Torchwood should look at solutions that go beyond death or incarceration.

Gwen and Rhys’ antics shouldn’t be as good as they are but thanks to Kai Owen and Eve Myles, it’s fun to watch the couple scold each other one minute and worry for each other the next. Gwen and Rhys do come across as being believable in this episode and Gwen is probably better off with Rhys than anyone in Torchwood.

Heck her faith in her relationship even has a knock on effect on Toshiko. After Owen was so kind to her in the previous episode, Toshiko ups her flirting with the offer of sandwiches and pool. Either Owen is oblivious or is trying to let her down gently but either way, Toshiko doesn’t get the exact response she was hoping for. I’m not really sure where the writers are trying to go with Owen and Toshiko but I’ll try to keep an open mind.

If Gwen and Rhys aren’t interesting enough, then how about Jack and Rhys? I don’t mean as a couple but more how they interact with each other. It doesn’t take much to gather that both of them are threatened by each other. Rhys might be an ordinary guy but Jack knows that Gwen will choose Rhys over him and to me, that’s how it should be.

Rhys however feels that Jack’s crazy world might entice Gwen more and he does have a point. If this whole meat scenario didn’t go down, then Gwen would still be lying to him. Rhys did have to force the truth out of her after a fair amount of goading on his part.

Rhys being able to stand up to Jack is great though. Jack needs more people to challenge him and Rhys raised some god questions as to why Jack has such an interest in question. Believe me, I want to shout “plot contrivance” but I’ll stick to Gwen’s compassion and potential. Like her or hate her, Gwen’s human touch is why Jack keeps her around. Rhys plays a vital role in that however.

As for the bad guys, well they are really the least interesting things in this episode. All Dale and his mates are is a group of pathetic morons out for a quick buck. I know some of them are made to appear to have a conscience but it’s really not enough to make you care for them.

Capturing Ianto and Rhys and threatening to kill them was the only time Dale seemed to have an advantage. The fact that Dale had no idea the cargo was alien was a good touch. Dale shooting Rhys had me dreading that Gwen would actually lose her fiancé for real this time. It is lucky then that Rhys survives.

Unlucky was the alien who was trying to escaping. Jack may have had the intentions of trying to save it but Owen was forced into performing a bit of euthanasia on his part. Watching a mercy killing after having a Philosophy lecture on euthanasia was a bit weird but I loved the effect it had on the gang. Owen and Jack were virtually in tears and hearing that thing howl in pain was pretty distressing. Then again it was hard not to feel for that alien.

However with the bad guys getting the chance to get away with it through the power of retcon, I have to ask the question – what the hell gives Torchwood the right to retcon? I mean Jack retcons those assholes instead of punishing them but then he thinks it’s acceptable to retcon Rhys too. Call me crazy but after the whole Suzie debacle, shouldn’t Jack just lay off the stuff?

I knew Gwen would have trouble trying to retcon Rhys. Granted she’s done it before for far lamer reasons but even if Rhys didn’t blatantly wax lyrical about encountering aliens, even she sees the futility of wiping his memories. When you think about it, why exactly is it harmful that Rhys knows about alien life?

Gwen had every right to point out to the gang that she didn’t want to lie to Rhys and choosing him over her job was smart. Jack needed the threat of losing her to see some sense. That being said the writers better not even think about hooking Jack/Gwen up. This episode enhanced my respect for Gwen. Having her and Jack screw around will diminish on both parties. I get that Jack cares for Gwen and that’s understandable but I’d rather see him and Ianto develop as a couple.

Also in “Meat”

The clips on the monologue seem to slightly differ each week. We still haven’t seen the episode with that wasp creature.

Owen (re his pizza): “What did you get me?”
Ianto: “Usual meat feast.”
Owen: “Great.”

What is up with Owen and the pink shirts this season? Are the writers trying to bring out his metrosexual side?

Gwen (re Liam): “Were you close?”
Rhys: “For God sakes, Gwen, you met him.”

Gwen (re Rhys): “I just want to get him out.”
Captain Jack: “What, by charging in there?”

We learn that Rhys plays five a side soccer and has a thing for Danish pastries. His mate Dav was mentioned again.

Gwen (to Rhys): “Have you never seen something so mad, so extraordinary that for one second you think there might be more out there.”

Captain Jack: “Do I show off?”
Ianto: “Just a bit.”

Jack described his moment with Rhys as “homoerotic”. I found it interesting that Jack didn’t confirm or deny he was gay when Rhys asked him.

Gwen: “So you do have a heart then?”
Captain Jack: “We’ve seen enough deaths.”

Toshiko (to Owen): “Makes you realise. Maybe you can do this job and have a relationship.”

One of the sweetest moments in this episode was Toshiko putting her hand on Owen to comfort him. I liked that he didn’t reject her gesture.

Captain Jack: “Maybe you can fit me in.”
Ruth: “I’d be delighted to.”
Captain Jack: “Would I need a licence for trucking?”

Gwen: “I don’t have a gun.”
Dale: “Well he had one so you must have.”

Ianto showed a rather dark side to him when he knocked out Dale.

Ianto (re Gwen): “Next time, let her take the bullet.”
Rhys: “Never.”

Captain Jack: “Rhys has to forget to you know.”
Gwen: “At least let me give it to him at home.”

Next week after “Adam” airs at 9pm on BBC2, switch over at 9:50pm on BBC3 for “Reset”.

Captain Jack: “You really think you could go back to live your old life before Torchwood?”
Gwen: “I wouldn’t know any different.”
Captain Jack: “I would.”

Chronology: About a year since “Everything Changes” according to Rhys.

Although not necessarily a favourite of mine, I liked the fact that “Meat” was still able to surpass my expectations. Having Rhys in the know was inevitable and Gwen really won my respect. Only Jack behaving like a dick in certain places and the human villains being generally rubbish marred the episode in places.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x03: "To The Last Man"

Written by Helen Raynor
Directed by Andy Goddard

In the first two episodes we’ve had rogue Time Agents and Sleeper Agents, so it makes for a change to have an episode that is practically devoid of alien threats. Okay this isn’t a first on Torchwood but its still fun.

Given this show’s apparent love of playing with time, it’s pretty apt to see the episode open up in Teilos hospital in 1918 where both Toshiko and a soldier named Tommy are telling two mysterious people to go get the other Tommy. Nice ploy but what does it all mean?

Well the two operatives reveal themselves to be Gerald and Harriet and they’re Torchwood members. Their motives for visiting the crappy looking in hospital aren’t clear but suffice to say, it’s a good way to open the episode. After all this is a much welcome episode focusing on Toshiko.

You can tell because we also cut to her making an extra effort in her workplace. Not that Toshiko usually looks dishelmed but she does go all out to the acknowledgement of her team mates and it’s all because of Tommy.

It seems that while Tommy may have died in 1918, the gang have had him cryogenically frozen and for one day a year they wake him up. Being 2008, Tommy has certainly got a few adjustments to make but it seems with the exception of Gwen, he’s more than familiar with the team and their methods. I suppose its better Torchwood be famed for predictability rather than their lack of subtlety.

After all, Torchwood don’t have the best of reputations but their relationship with Tommy is on fairly interesting ground. Toshiko is the one who is able to calm Tommy down when he freaks out after being frozen for so long. Plus he punches Owen but not in a malicious way. I’ll try to be generous regarding Owen this season.

Already it’s established that Tommy and Toshiko have a connection and unlike a certain dangerous alien, it’s not one that feels automatically contrived. Toshiko is the one who takes him out for the day and as she later reveals, Tommy is the only person she can be herself around. That’s nice but given that he’s more or less doomed it also rather sucks too.

Still getting to see Toshiko just swoop in and tell the gang that she and Tommy are leaving is interesting. There’s no shyness and Toshiko almost doesn’t care that her feelings for Tommy are practically there for everyone to see. What was in Gwen said back in “Greeks Bearing Gifts”? Oh yes, it was that love suited Toshiko. She had a point with that statement.

Okay so maybe Tommy isn’t the love of Toshiko’s life but you don’t have to be a genius to see that the woman’s incredibly lonely and if she’s able to connect with him, then why not? Tommy seems to enjoy her company quite a bit and chides her for not living her life outside of work.
Once again Toshiko’s career oriented mind got challenged. Why does she limit herself so much? Her work at Torchwood may be complex, terrifying, and wonderful and on occasion, rather dangerous but the girl seriously needs to enjoy herself just that bit more. For that alone, Tommy is great to have around.

It also helps a great deal that there’s good chemistry between Naoko Mori and guest star Anthony Lewis. Buildings might not collapse when they kiss and later fornicate but you don’t have too much of a hard time buying into them as would be lovers either.

Tommy did make the first move at the pier and although Toshiko looked a little taken aback, she was flattered by it. Every other time they kissed however, it was both of them being in the exact moment as such. Poor Toshiko – she does fall for the wrong or doomed of folk.

Tommy being frozen had a reason. He was needed for a specific purpose. With the rift causing a time shift between 1918 and 2008 at that damn hospital, Tommy was undoubtedly the very tonic to solving that little headache. It’s also why Harriet and Gerald were so eager to get to him.

With only twelve hours to live, Tommy had to figure out how to spend though last moments. Gwen came up with the smart idea to ask him what he wanted to and even Owen and Ianto showed some generosity in this department. It was Toshiko and her request that he come home with her that Tommy accepted.

We learned from Jack that it’s Toshiko and Tommy contacting Harriet and Gerald that was key to stopping the time shifts. Tommy would then go back to his own time and be killed for cowardice due to suffering from shellshock. Poor guy – he gets to save the world and be killed for a dumb reason.

I liked that when Toshiko and Jack were arguing about this, neither got nasty or forceful with each other. It felt that while both of them were sticking to their guns, they could also see the point of the other. I’ve said it before but I love the fact that Torchwood do actually feel like a real team who care for one another this season. It’s great that this dynamic wasn’t a fluke in “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”.

Jack’s experiences as a soldier are also touched upon. While he knows there’s no other option but for Tommy to sacrifice himself, I felt that Jack did care about Tommy’s predicament. Jack has seen some truly horrific aspects of war so it’s nice for that to be alluded to in the story relating to Tommy’s plight.

Spending the night with a beautiful woman might be a good moment for a condemned man but Tommy’s fear of having to sacrifice himself felt real. I don’t really blame him and I did understand his anger at Torchwood to a slight degree. Not even soldiers want to think of themselves as a means to an end. Tommy clearly didn’t and even Toshiko had a hard time persuading him to do so.

In the end though Tommy had to die and the fact that a large chunk of the episode focused on him with Toshiko, the disappointment is that his death could’ve gotten a bit more of a focus too.
We saw him slip back into 1918 and then Toshiko psychically contact him in order to get Tommy to use the rift manipulator. It’s a sweet scene between both Toshiko and Tommy but damn it, I wanted more. Even if Tommy wasn’t the love of Toshiko’s life, it still sucked for Toshiko to lose another chance at love. Here’s hoping that she does get lucky this season in that area.

With Tommy being a constant presence and Toshiko being a much deserved lead in this episode, it’s also nice that the others weren’t entirely in the background either. Owen, Gwen, Ianto and Jack all had their own stuff to deal with as well.

First off there’s Gwen. We had her reading a letter from the former Torchwood member Harriet and she took part in searching the hospital. It was her after all who figured that the place was going to be demolished and her interaction with the 1918 nurse was creepy to put it mildly.

More interestingly was her reaction to Toshiko and Tommy. Was Gwen slightly jealous that the soldier was more interested in Toshiko than her? Somehow I doubt it but it was amusing having Jack to tell her to keep her mitts to herself in a friendly way. There’s also a really good scene between Gwen and Ianto which seems to indicate a friendship between them. Gwen and Ianto didn’t interact a lot in Season One, so it’s nice that they are now.

Speaking of Ianto, so far we’ve had him discounting Jack’s fetishes and turning his eyes at the idea of an orgy involving Owen. This week however he tackles his feelings for Jack head on and gives him a rather passionate kiss. Those disappointed with the brief one in “End Of Days” should enjoy this.

The more interesting thing though is Ianto’s motives behind the idea. If the premiere was anything to go by, then Ianto really does want a serious relationship with Jack. Whether or not Jack is capable of giving himself emotionally to Ianto remains to be seen but I did love his response to Ianto’s question about whether or not he’s go back to his own time given the opportunity. With Tommy’s plight sticking out, I’m glad that someone asked that question.

Aside from showing his soldier experiences and being level headed with Toshiko’s angst, Jack doesn’t express much else. His scenes with Gwen, Toshiko and Ianto are meaningful and that’s good. He only has a brief exchange with Owen and it’s more work focused than emotional. Owen seems to be in more or less a good place here. Maybe he’s finally let go of his Diane angst.

Then again, maybe he hasn’t entirely. While everyone else could see that Toshiko was falling for Tommy, Owen was the only who actually said something about it. When he told her to be careful and not to get attached, it felt like he had her best interests at hearts as he should. The writers seem almost willing to completely rewrite Owen this season. Then again he could be biding his time to act like a super dick again.

I liked that it was him at the pier who tried to get Toshiko that sacrificing Tommy was the right thing to do. Jack or Gwen would’ve been too obvious so Owen was perfect. Again a spark seems to be there with Toshiko and Owen. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that. Maybe I should let the events of later episodes decide for me.

Also in “To The Last Man”

I like the new monologue that opens these episodes now. The Season One one did drive me crazy.

Gerald: “Well you’re a very brave girl.”
Nurse: “Thank you.”

In the Torchwood magazine, writer Helen Raynor described this episode in one word as “heart”.

Owen: “Is that a dress Tosh?”
Toshiko: “I do believe it is, Owen.”

Owen (re unfreezing Tommy): “It’s harder every year.”
Ianto: “Good left hook though.”

The original title for this episode was “Soldier’s Heart” but Helen ditched it because it sounded too Catherine Cookson.

Gwen: “Jack, have we got any other pretty boys in the freezer?”
Captain Jack: “Hands off Missy. Toshiko got there first.”

Ianto: “And where are you going?”
Gwen: “St Teilos hospital and bloody cheer up.”

Toshiko’s apartment looked different than the one we’ve seen in “Everything Changes” and “Greeks Bearing Gifts”.

Nurse: “You shouldn’t be here.”
Gwen: “I don’t mean you any harm.”
Nurse: “You shouldn’t be here.”

Tommy (to Toshiko): “So I’m old enough to die for my country but not to give you a kiss. You daft lass. What goes on in that head of yours?”

When referring to World War Two, did Tommy actually say three weeks and not twenty years?

Tommy (to Ianto): “So I’ll be saving the world in my pyjamas. How daft is that?”

Toshiko (re Tommy): “He can come home with me. He’s not our prisoner and he doesn’t have to stay here if he doesn’t want to, does he?”
Captain Jack: “No. If that’s what you both want.”

With the Rift Manipulator and Owen joking about Jack being stuck in 1918, I kinda wished we had gotten a Bilis mention.

Ianto: “Would you go back to your own time if you could?”
Captain Jack: “Why? Would you miss me?”
Ianto: “Yep.”

Toshiko (to Tommy): “You’re the only one who could stop this. If you don’t then it’s the end of everything.”

No Rhys in this episode although Kai Owen is still credited at the end of it.

Tommy: “Then what am I fighting for?”
Toshiko: “For the future, for me.”

Toshiko (re Tommy): “He trusted me to the very end.”
Owen: “Because you were strong. All of this is right here because of you.”

Standout music: I think I heard the original version of the song “Squares” here. Oh and Moby’s “One Of These Morning” as well.

Okay this isn’t my favourite episode so far despite being rather lovely and Toshiko being one of my favourite characters. In some ways the themes behind “To The Last Man” were handled better in episodes like “Out Of Time” and “Captain Jack Harkness” but it still shows how much this show is trying to progress and let’s face it, they’re doing a decent job in all fairness.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Torchwood's 2x02: "Sleeper"

Written by James Moran
Directed by Colin Teague

Ianto: “It’s all over.”
Owen (to Toshiko/Ianto): “Let’s all have sex.”
Ianto: “And I thought the end of the world couldn’t get any worse.”

Ever since I saw the season trailer after “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to use that exchange. Thanks to this episode, I got the chance to. Last week, rogue Time Agents and now this week sleeper agents. Can’t anyone do their job correctly?

You’ve got a nice normal woman named Beth who opens the episode by having herself and her husband Mike burgled by two thugs. The funny thing is that it’s the thugs who wind up in serious trouble. One gets thrown out the window and hits the police car and the other virtually dies of fright in hospital. I know I shouldn’t but I almost feel sorry for the two of them.

So who’s to blame? Mike did try to stop them with the aid of a cricket bat but it’s a distressed Beth who gives off all the suspicious vibes and that’s even before Owen has his own crackpot theory on how she killed the burglars. Jessica Fletcher, he’s not but I’d take him more seriously than Caroline Quentin on Blue Murder if it’s any consolation.

The thing is that we all know that Beth is the culprit and if the trailer didn’t more or less confirm that, the spoilers on Digital Spy days before the episode aired certainly cleared any doubt of her innocence. So instead of a “who done it?” it’s more of a build up to the gang interrogating Beth.

Owen and Gwen both having their opposing views on the culprit is great but as soon as the second burglar freaked out, Jack certainly wasted no time in putting a bag over Beth’s head and dragging her into the hub for questioning. Jack actually seemed pretty pissed which is strange considering that Beth is not that good a liar (she doesn’t seem the convincing type).

Nikki Amuku-Bird who plays Beth is particularly great. She’s been in a few things but I only recognised her from Bad Girls. Unlike that show, she gets to play a well developed character, even if it is only for an episode. Beth protests her innocence because she actually believes she’s lying. She has no memory of the attacks that lead to the deaths of her assailants and even dismisses the accusation of being an alien.

Getting to that point is another interesting step as well. The first attempt to prove she’s not human was trying to get a blood sample. This failed when every needle Owen tried to use broke upon contact with her skin. Also the fact she mentioned never being sick was a worrying sign. Do aliens like Beth actually get sick?

It’s quite interesting to see Jack behave rather impatiently with Beth. Although I understood his need to try and find out what her motives were, he did seem a little too harsh at times too. Like I said, Beth doesn’t seem the type who can convincingly lie and you’d think that Jack would be perceptive enough to figure that out.

With a blood sample being out of the question, it’s down to the old trusted mind probe to get answers (no jokes about The Five Doctors). Both Toshiko and Ianto seem dead set against it but Jack still went ahead with it no less. Gwen gets put into her usual role of carer with Beth. It was Gwen playing good cop to Jack’s bad cop during the interrogation earlier on and it’s Gwen who practically holds Beth’s hand as she’s being violated by that machine.

Thankfully because of this, we then get to see how alien Beth really is. So far it only extended to a spiked arm and the later Intel from Jack that she’s a sleeper agent. Well with the episode title, I don’t think anyone is going to be that surprised but its interesting having an alien causing destruction on this series and them not being aware of the damage they’re doing.

It also helps that Nikki Amuku Bird is so good in the role as well. You totally buy into her anxiety as she discovers her true nature and Beth’s horror of just seeing Janet the Weevil distressed is effective. We might not choose to be who we are but we also can’t choose how we feel about it either. In short, Beth’s a killer and a danger to society but it’s not something she particularly relishes.

You can see the distress she exhibits when she learns about being an alien. Her first impulse is to question the credibility of her relationship with Mike, not to go round and decide which member of Torchwood she’d like to dismember first. I sympathise with Beth’s plight but I also understand Jack’s mistrust of her too.

The issue of dealing with Beth is the next one. Because she’s too dangerous she can’t be let back in the public, yet there’s almost no justified reason for Jack and the gang to actually kill. The issue of rewriting her biology is only briefly touched on as the focus then seems to be cryogenics.

With the amount of reefers they have in the hub, it