The second two-parter of the series is written by Matthew Graham who gave us the very dull ‘Fear Her’ in 2006 and the more impressive Life on Mars and it’s spin-off Ashes to Ashes. The story sees the TARDIS crew involved in a ‘solar tsunami’ and arrive on Earth in the 22nd Century. The TARDIS lands on an island where there is a factory which pumps highly corrosive acid to the mainland. I loved the scene where the TARDIS is flying in that solar tsunami because it was lovely piece of CGI. There is a certain smartness that Graham has used in this story in that as the crew are dealing with acid, they use dopplegangers to do the dangerous stuff. The prostetchics is very well done and looks very creepy. There is a time issue as the solar tsunami is going to strike the factory and those inside. But as with everything in Doctor Who, the leader wont listen to the Doctor who offers to take them away in the TARDIS. It’s also at this point that the story gets really interesting in that the ‘gangers’ decide to stand up against their real life copies. I was worried for a little while when they were doing the whole dopplegangers can have that shiny face on or the normal face and thought that the story was going to get confusing and I would be spending the whole episode trying to figure out who was what. Thankfully that didn’t happen which would have ruined my enjoyment.
This story rather interestingly has the first crack in the Rory/Amy relationship when Rory befriends Jennifer. Jennifer (Sarah Smart) is the one that were suppose to warm to as she is the only one of the gangers that is just as human as her original. This despite the bit where Jennifer tries to punch Rory. If anyone tried to punch me then I wouldn’t befriend them. It’s a good thing that Rory is trying to stand up to Amy as in recent stories he has been a bit of a loved up puppy to Amy. I quite liked Raquel Cassidy as she is a very good actress having appeared in Teachers and Lead Balloon. As the leader Cleaves, she is the one that decides against common sense and wont leave until she’s told to. I also liked Marshall Lancaster (another Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes connection) as Buzzer,
If I did have an issue with this story then there are two really big ones. Firstly I don’t think that compared to other first parters in new-who, that there is anything big that happens. Certainly against The Impossible Astronaut it lacks anything that visually stands out. Secondly, the cliffhanger of the Doctor having a doppelganger. If you didn’t see that coming then your just not trying. As a single part episode it’s the weakest so far but only next week will tell what its like as a two-parter. What I can say is that regardless of what happens in The Almost People in seven days time, this is 100% better than Fear Her.
This story rather interestingly has the first crack in the Rory/Amy relationship when Rory befriends Jennifer. Jennifer (Sarah Smart) is the one that were suppose to warm to as she is the only one of the gangers that is just as human as her original. This despite the bit where Jennifer tries to punch Rory. If anyone tried to punch me then I wouldn’t befriend them. It’s a good thing that Rory is trying to stand up to Amy as in recent stories he has been a bit of a loved up puppy to Amy. I quite liked Raquel Cassidy as she is a very good actress having appeared in Teachers and Lead Balloon. As the leader Cleaves, she is the one that decides against common sense and wont leave until she’s told to. I also liked Marshall Lancaster (another Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes connection) as Buzzer,
If I did have an issue with this story then there are two really big ones. Firstly I don’t think that compared to other first parters in new-who, that there is anything big that happens. Certainly against The Impossible Astronaut it lacks anything that visually stands out. Secondly, the cliffhanger of the Doctor having a doppelganger. If you didn’t see that coming then your just not trying. As a single part episode it’s the weakest so far but only next week will tell what its like as a two-parter. What I can say is that regardless of what happens in The Almost People in seven days time, this is 100% better than Fear Her.
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