Saturday 25 January 2014

Series 1 (Season 27), Episodes 4 + 5: Aliens of London & World War Three

Trouble with the Slitheen? Call the Doctor or visit the blog!
Doctor Who returns to London for its first multi-part story of the century. Following the example of its predecessor this serial introduces a new semi-regular in the form of Harriet Jones (Penelope Winton) and another soon-to-be Torchwood employee Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori). The Slitheen, who have now wormed their way into Doctor Who folklore, also debut as the serials' enemy. The episode also looks at how families (particularly Rose's) cope when their loved ones disappear off with the Doctor.

Synopsis: Rose and the Doctor return to earth '12 hours' after they left. It soon becomes clear however that Rose has actually been missing for 12 months and this sparks arguments between the Doctor and Jackie! Then, a spaceship crashes into the Thames, destroying the top of Big Ben on the way down. When the non-terrestrial craft is proved to be a fraud by another type of alien the mystery deepens into why extra-terrestrials would set the world on high alert. It soon becomes clear that the diversion of the UFO has allowed the alien family 'The Slitheen' to rise to high power in government! The question is, what do the enemy want, if not to take over the planet?

Featuring: The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper), Jackie (Camille Coudri) and Mickey (Noel Clarke)

Enemies: The Slitheen (with a cameo appearance from what has been dubbed 'a space pig')

Afterthought: Designed to scare them but also to make them laugh, smaller children must relish this episode. The only subjects keeping the attention span of the older watchers are the political remarks although Harriet Jones is definitely over the top in her first appearance.

Verdict:
Story: 2/5, The idea is promising, except for the Slitheen.
Effects: 0.5/5, The costumes were well designed...
Humor: 2/5, Slitheen aren't funny, so it's a good job the Doctor and Mickey are.
Mark Campbell: 3.5/5, Is he purposefully trying to annoy me?
TOTAL SCORE: 8/20

Elsewhere:
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_of_London and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Three_(Doctor_Who)
Official Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dp9 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dpv
You win some, you lose some. Next Time: Dalek
As the Slitheen wait for the nuclear codes they find themselves being bombed!

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