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 A Cliffhanger!!!!!! At looooong last! Aliens of London / World War III is the first multi-episode of Doctor Who since Survival & although we've had the rather nifty pre-title sequences, actually getting a real cliffhanger once again is truly wonderful. But was the lead up to the Great Event any good? Need
you even ask?
There is an aspect of Doctor Who which has never been explored before. RTD picked up on this & in these times of reality TV & wall-to-wall soaps, in which the general public has come to expect to know more about the people who populate our screens, he has delivered the answer to a question I'm sure many have us have never contemplated.
What happened to the friends & family of the good Doctor's companion whilst he/she/it was off jaunting around time & space with the aged Timelord? 'Aliens' starts off with a very lengthy reminder sequence of Rose's life up to the point where she ran into the TARDIS to join the Doctor as his official companion, which leads us nicely into the
story, set, seemingly, just after she left. The Doctor is convinced (as ever) that his coordinates & temporal calculations have been spot on & that he has returned Rose home to get a change of undies & some extra smellies (presumably). However, as per usual, the TARDIS hasn't quite done the job properly & instead of being 12 hours after she left, it is a whole year. This leads to a nice pre-title sequence as Rose happily trots up to her mum's flat, safe in the knowledge that she can comfortably
explain her (short) absence, only to see her mum throw a minor wobbly as all the frustration & worry of the last year are let out. Just imagine that for a moment. Your nearest & dearest simply vanishes from the face of the Earth (in this case, literally) & you have no way of locating them or knowing what has happened.
Anybody's life would be turned upside down & this is exactly what happened to Jackie Tyler. She printed 'Missing' posters; she formed her own suspicions, fingering poor old Mickey with the alleged murder of her daughter. Her life went on, as life generally does, but in the background was always the fear & concern about Rose. Then, out of the
blue (box!), her missing offspring bounces in as if nothing had ever happened. This is tremendous drama, brilliantly acted by all parties involved.
Camille Coduri is especially on top form as Jackie as she lets all her anger & aggression out, a lot of it on the Doctor's face! Rose is completely at a loss to know what to say. She can't say she's been flitting off in time & space, her mum would have her institutionalised! She flaps about a bit, saying she meant to phone, but 'forgot', which
only winds Jackie up even more. Why won't her daughter tell her where she's been????? The Doctor happily takes responsibility, saying he "employed Rose as my companion", which only further raises the suspicions of the police officer that was called in to investigate Rose remarkable return. These scenes serve as a perfect backdrop to the story. The Doctor's bemusement by the whole thing, Rose's despair that her mum is so upset & that she can't explain where she's really been, Jackie's anger aimed
squarely at the Doctor, Mickey's resentment at Rose's disappearing act & his subsequent lynching. Rose & the Doctor head for the roof to get away from things for a minute & Rose tries in vain to get her head around her predicament when, with immaculate comic timing, the alien spacecraft pops & bangs it's way overhead, narrowly missing them & plops down in the Thames after neatly chopping a chunk out of Big Ben in a sequence which was spectacularly realistic, reminding us of The Web of Fear, Invasion of the Dinosaurs & The Awakening, all of which featured real locations so beautifully reproduced that some people were fooled into thinking that the places in question had really been used (&, in some cases, blown up!).
The 9th Doctor's unquenchable enthusiasm for an adventure is sparked & chortling his floppy-eared head off, he grabs Rose's hand (for a change!!!) & they dash off to see what the rest of the episode will bring.
Not wanting to use the TARDIS for fear of discovery under the intense scrutiny the area is under, the Doctor & Rose find their way to the Thames blocked by a total gridlock as the Army has cordoned off the immediate area & so nip back to Jackie's flat to watch it all unfolding on BBC News 24. The Doctor seems quite happy to do this, whereas
in the past I feel sure he would have finagled his way right into the heart of the action. Maybe this is because it seems to him like a natural event, maybe because he feels he can get more immediate information through the national media, either way, it gives the Beeb a great opportunity to add to the realism of the event by providing highly authentic-style coverage of the news event & even getting some nice cameo appearances from TV roving political reporter Andrew Marr (hands up who can't see him now without
picturing the splendid Dead Ringers caricature of him?!) & Blue Peter presenter Matt Baker. Unfortunately for the Doctor, his attempts to get a handle on what is happening are frustrated by the celebratory bash Jackie has thrown for Rose's return, a party from which Mickey is notably absent (until he spots the Doctor making a hasty exit). Needing to be able to know more about the mystery, the Doctor slides out, but Rose sees him leave &, worried he might just disappear, goes after him. This gives Chris
the opportunity to give another of his lovely little speeches about humanity, further example of the marvellous script writing prevalent in Who at present. To quell Rose's suspicions, he gives her a duplicate set of TARDIS keys, which now glow ominously when the TARDIS is about to materialise near them. It is as he is about to dematerialise that Mickey spots him & sprints out to grab a quick word. I wasn't too impressed with Noel Clarke first time out in 'Rose', & whilst he is immeasurably better here, at times he still seems a bit wooden (rather than plastic!), notably the bit where he crashes into the wall behind where the TARDIS had been after it disappears.ok, comic touch, fair enough, but if the TARDIS hadn't vanished then the silly boy would just have run straight into that instead!
Realizing that the Doctor's appearance on the estate must mean that Rose is back too, Mickey hastens to the flat for a confrontation which only heightens Jackie's suspicions & leads the three of them out onto the estate just in time for the TARDIS' return. Whilst they have been having their heated discussion, the Doctor has popped to the infirmary
where the body pulled from the crashed spaceship is being held, to discover that it is an augmented pig (played nicely be the Moxx himself, Jimmy Vee). After materialising in a closet, he comes face to face with the army & in classic fashion simply takes over the situation when Doctor Sato's screams indicate that the supposed corpse has reanimated & is on the loose. This is an aspect of the Doctor which has always worked extremely well, he holds an authority which wins people over, & with soldiers
trained merely to follow orders from those in authority, the way they just fall in line behind the Doctor & obey his commands unquestionably is tremendous. I had suspected after seeing the brief clip at the end of last week's show that maybe these were UNIT soldiers, but nope - they're just regular army forces, although the Brig's lads make a welcome appearance later. Once the little piggy has tried to go wee wee wee wee all the way home & an itchy-trigger-fingered Tommy has bagged him straight between
his little piggy eyes, the Doctor's overriding compassion is seen again - another welcome return after the rather callous despatching of Cassandra. He clearly understands the soldier's fear & reaction to the porker trotting towards him, but his sympathy towards the poor creature is beautiful to behold - even tenderly stroking its face as it passes on. On examining the corpse, he & Sato discover that the animal was definitely terrestrial in origin, meaning that the aliens have set the whole thing up.
Needing to know no more from this location, the Doctor returns to Rose's estate to find himself in the middle of their domestic. Mickey re-enters the TARDIS & Jackie sets foot inside for the first time, although she is soon overwhelmed & retreats to the relative safety of her bedroom, where, in a state of some befuddlement, she watches the
news coverage & contacts the alien help-line. Meanwhile, back in the TARDIS, the Doctor is clearly underwhelmed to welcome Mickey (surely it MUST be Ricky???) back into his life & the needle between the pair of them is a joy to behold. They witness the arrival of UNIT to Downing Street, prompting Mickey to reveal he has researched the Doctor's past somewhat (probably through Clive's website, which has been spectacularly reproduced by the BBC at http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk), however he points out that "they wouldn't recognise me, I've changed a lot since the old days!".
At Downing Street we have discovered another mystery. The PM has vanished (hooray!!!) &, for reasons not really explained at this time, a very minor minister, Joseph Green, has assumed control of the country. It has to be said, with the imminent advent of the general election, this story has fitted neatly into the current political climate,
although if any party is anything like this lot then I should advise everyone to overthrow the lot of them! The interior shots of Number 10 are superb & it is merely the rather jokey nature of Green & the 2 MI5 operatives, not to mention their incessant farting, which appears at first to detract from the reality of the situation.
Penelope Wilton's Harriet Jones comes across rather better, appearing to be a genuinely concerned MP & her concerns are rather abruptly switched when she sneaks into the cabinet room to discover the emergency protocols about alien invasion & the inclusion therein of the Doctor's details, & as a result witnesses the unmasking of the Slitheen
& the demise of General Asquith. This scene explains the reasons why certain characters are constantly flatulating &, whilst the story could quite happily have done without this particular plot element, it does serve its purpose in alerting the viewer to the true identity of various individuals as the story unfolds.
Whilst the Slitheen are disposing of Asquith, the automated software defence systems are doing their thing & have detected Jackie's call to the help-line & tracked down the Doctor, who is regarded as essential in advising on the crisis.
As the Doctor & Rose plan to check out the spaceship, the military arrive en force, allowing the Doctor to say the classic line, "Take me to your leader"!!!!! He & Rose are ferried off to Number 10, much to the Doctor's glee & Rose's delight, where he disembarks & waves cheerfully at the assembled world's press!. Once
inside he is presented with an ID badge & bustled off to a top-security-clearance conference, whilst Rose is approached by Hilary, since she now knows about the Doctor & figures she can help. Back at the flat, a policeman has arrived to question Jackie, but his unsettled bowels immediately raise our suspicions & indicate that the end of the episode is fast approaching. The meeting is just starting when the Doctor masterfully just takes over it again & begins piecing together the puzzle, interrupted
merely by Green's gaseous expulsions. I get the distinct feeling that the entire farting subplot was set up for the Doctor to be able to say "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world!", which, it must be said, is a belter!
As Rose & Hilary discover the body of the PM, the MI5 operative, Margaret Blaine enters & reveals herself to be a Slitheen, whilst at the same time, the policeman at Jackie's flat is doing the same, as is Asquith. The Slitheen are superb creations, standing tall & looking very alien, with enormous arms (modelled on Andrew Marr maybe?) &
awesome huge blinky eyes. They wear human suits which zip up across the hairline & although the zip idea seems a bit daft, strangely you overlook it as the menace they exude is obvious, particularly the easy way in way they hoist Chowdry up to the ceiling. I'll wager that most of us were expecting their revelation to be the cliffhanger, but we would have been wrong, for the ID badges all the experts are wearing are really some sort of electrical transmitter & the entire meeting is attacked, whilst Jackie,
Rose & Hilary are all menaced. Cue cliffhanger! Spectacular stuff, although if you are going to nitpick then you could say that some of the Slitheen transformation CGi is a tiny bit iffy, but hey!, when you get a story as good as this, with such strong elements running throughout, you can let little things like that pass. I must say, I've always railed at the suggestion that Dr Who FX are all ropey, countering such allegations by pointing out that throughout most of its run the programme had only the smallest
budget & was often at the cutting edge of FX technology anyway. It was only when the main effect fell totally flat, as with the Kinda snake for example, that I sighed & admitted that there were times when those detractors had a point. Television & films are not all about special effects. They enhance the overall result, but without great scripts & good actors, FX are nothing.
Had Aliens of London been a rubbish story people would refer to it as 'the one with the Big Ben crash' & nothing else. As it is, it was another highly entertaining 45 minutes of television & with one of the show's best cliffhangers thrown in to boot. From what we
have seen of next week's episode, the Slitheen look truly menacing as they lumber around the corridors of power & we will discover what their agenda is & how the Doctor & Rose will defeat them... Just a few long days to wait then..!!!!!
» Review by Miles Northcott, Copyright 2005.
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After an attack of the Autons, Cassandra’s devious machinations and an inspired interaction with the Gelth and Charles Dickens in the previous episode, it was very much about time to get our first alien invasion and for The Doctor and Rose to touch base with the present day and we got both in the start of a two part adventure with very mixed results.
I like the opening (intro) of this story it gives the viewers a recap on how the Doctor met Rose Tyler, which is very useful in case you have forgotten. Then we come back to reality we see the Tardis arriving back at the block of flats where rose lives.
The opening was a bit strange, but I loved the twist that she had been away a year. Yet that did not detract from the story as a whole.
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