The New Who Review for “Aliens in London”
Posted By Kathleen David on April 1, 2006
This is the first two part episode for this version of the Doctor. It introduces new villains and makes some interesting commentary on the parliamentary system as well as how British politics works. It is also I believe the first time that we see what happens when the companion comes back after being gone for a while which I found very interesting to see how people react to Rose after she has been gone for her a short time. This episode also sets up a number of things for down the road including the tag that was spray painted on the TARDIS and David Tennant’s first performance as the Doctor in “Christmas Invasion”.
Now not to blow anything down the road but there is a reason why Eccleston’s Doctor is acting the way he is acting and I am not going to comment on it until after the airing of “Dalek” which I have mentioned before is a pivotal show in the series.
I am grateful for my parents visit.
Spoilers as usual behind the cut
Ok I think they took the fart joke waaaay too far but I have never been big into fart jokes. I do like the way that the alien is revealed at the end. All the previous appearances have been from the other characters POV and reaction shots as to what they are seeing.
Rose having to deal with her Mom and Mickey is brilliant. And Mickey’s reaction to the Doctor sets up a lot down the road. I think there is a Torchwood reference in this episode but I could be totally wrong.
I LOVED the consequences of Rose showing up 12 months after she ran off with the Doctor. I loved that she was forced to deal with what it means to run off with the Doctor. And I thought it rawked that we saw what happens when a companion comes home after spending time with the Doctor. I am looking forward to the Sarah Jane episode too.
Kathy I LOVE your website. Since your husban is my favorite authore i have also started reading your blog site. I usually agree with you however, after you have hyped the Dr. Who series so much I decided to check it out and I Cannot get into it. Not at all. After such a big hype I was seriously let down.
The “you can’t go home again?” theme with Rose was interesting from a character point of view, agreed.
The main plot … for this one, I’m more “ehhhh” than anything else. It wasn’t awful (and some of the what’s-fake-and-to-what-end scheming was interesting), but it didn’t come off as especially strong to me. (Loved the UNIT reference, though!)
My two questions, that anyone who’s seen the whole run can answer (hopefully w/o any significant spoilers):
1) Is Sci-Fi cutting anything, either for time or for content? If not, are the transitions really as awful in the original airing as some of the cuts to commercial are on Sci-Fi?
2) Out of four stories, we’ve now seen two that have alien incursions on Earth in the same year. Is there something significant about this time period that gets mentioned later, or is it just for convenience of storytelling?
TWL
TWL,
So far as I know, SF is cutting minor things. Transitions on the BBC were not bad, but then, it’s commercial free natch.
There is no significance about the time period, except that it makes it easy to keep the costs down.
Good to know, John — thanks much.
TWL
Now this is more like it! I really enjoyed Eccleston’s performance in this episode. Gone was the anger, replaced by wonder. The “Take me to your Leader!” line is an instant classic. Loved seeing Penelope Wilton. Hope she doesn’t become a zombie! Rose wasn’t quite as annoying this episode, but I’m still looking forward to him leaving her behind, hopefully at the end of this story. What’s this? UNIT makes an appearance, but no Brig or Sgt. Benton?!
Oh, and one word of advice. If someone starts to take their skin off, RUN!
I think also a reason for coming back to present day Earth is because Russell T Davies, like he did with those other shows he produced for the Beeb, focuses on relationships. Hence Rose’s Mum and Mickey-boy.
My favorite parts? The Doctor smiling in the face of all those guns pointed at him, all the computer networks flaring up at the words “Doctor” and “Blue Box”, and The Doc telling Mickey the TARDIS scanner gets all the basic cable packages.
Dear Mrs. David, just had to tell you I picked up one of those Sonic Screwdriver toys too. Hee, hee, hee. Little awkard telling my 5 year old it was a toy for daddy and not him.