From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
From Address: jphalt{at}aol.com
Subject: Aliens of London: my review

Note: For the purposes of these reviews, all new series 2-parters will
be referred to by a single title. Lacking an official single title,
that will be whichever of the two episode titles I prefer for the
story. So it is that the next review is for Episodes 4 and 5 of the
2005 series, a story which I will henceforth refer to as:


ALIENS OF LONDON

2 episodes: Aliens of London, World War III. Approx. 87 minutes.
Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: Keith Boak. Produced by:
Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT

The Doctor returns Rose to her London council flat, present day... er,
ish. A tiny mix-up with the dates has him delivering her 12 months
after they left, rather than 12 hours, which makes Rose's homecoming
more than a little awkward. But before there's much chance to try to
smooth things out, something much bigger happens. An alien ship
appears in the sky, smashes through Big Ben, and finally crashes in
the Thames.

With the city in disarray, the streets blocked off, and the Prime
Minister nowhere to be found, the government falls into the hands of
an obscure Member of Parliament (David Verrey) - whose first act is to
cancel the airlift of the rest of the leadership, declaring that they
would "only get in the way." Meanwhile, when an alien body is pulled
from the wreckage, the Doctor investigates, only to discover that the
alien corpse is actually an Earth pig, altered to appear to be an
alien.

The crash has been faked. But the technology is unquestionably alien.
So the question, so succinctly put by Mickey, is why aliens would fake
an alien crash-landing...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: I enjoyed Christopher Eccleston's giddy enthusiasm after
the crash. The Doctor is genuinely excited at being there for the
moment at which the human race realizes that aliens truly are out
there, and the scene in which he practically gushes to Rose about
humanity "growing up" is quite a charming character beat. Another good
scene comes later in Part One, when the Doctor looks over the body of
the pig that has been altered to fake the alien landing, and becomes
quietly furious at the terrified beast being made into "a joke." We
also see some of the Doctor's less likable tendencies. His winding up
of Mickey, referring to him first as "Ricky" and then as "Mickey the
Idiot," is almost totally unwarranted, and probably a way of marking
his territory with his relationship with Rose.

Rose: For what I think is the first time in Who's history, the show
actually pauses to show that there are consequences to someone running
off with the Doctor. Rose returns home to find that her choice to step
into the TARDIS has had an impact on both her mother (who was horribly
worried) and her boyfriend (who was questioned for her disappearance).
It's a no-brainer. Of course if a young woman vanishes - which has
ultimately been the case for the bulk of the Doctor's companions -
there are going to be family members left to carry the burden of that,
and there are going to be questions. But it's also something that's
never been addressed before, and something that viewers have actively
been encouraged to not think about or consider. That in itself is a
praiseworthy move on the part of this story and this incarnation of
the series.

Mickey: Thankfully, the cartoon Mickey of Rose has been replaced by a
more believable (and likable) character. He does still get introduced
with a cartoon pratfall. But the rest of the 2-parter gradually moves
him on from that. He conducts himself very well at the story's climax,
effectively saving the day. I also appreciated there being a
sympathetic character who refuses to go in the TARDIS, knowing that he
just isn't up to it. By the end of this story, Mickey has transitioned
from a joke character to a real character, something which will pay
dividends in his future appearances.

Jackie: Jackie's characterization here shows the same kind of
improvement as Mickey's. Her reaction to Rose's reappearance is
believable - the shock, the relief at seeing her alive, the anger that
she didn't call and her rage at the Doctor for taking her away. All of
those reactions track perfectly well. When she discovers the Doctor's
secret, she reacts with fear - first instinctively running away, then
calling the police out of fear for her daughter's safety. The
character's still a bit strident, but a lot easier to take here than
in her first appearance.


THOUGHTS

To get it out of the way first: Yes, the farting Slitheen scenes in
Part One do go on too long. These bits do set up a genuinely eerie bit
at the episode cliffhanger (the policeman's stomach gurgle), and are
justified within the context of the plot. But the one scene midway
through Part One, in which they stand around farting and giggling for
comedic effect, does tip over into cringing territory, particularly
when Annette Badland exclaims, "I'm shaking my booty!"

It's far from an episode-killer, though. It takes up all of about 2
minutes' screentime. Complaints that compare it to Battlefield's
"BOOOOM!" are pretty much spot on... in that both are bungled moments
that make you wince - but both are also over very quickly, with their
actual impact on the overall stories greatly overstated by certain
segments of fandom. If you're enjoying the story, the brief bad moment
is easy enough to overlook; if you're not enjoying it, chances are
that one scene wasn't what ruined it for you.

Not that Aliens of London is going to go down as a series classic.
It's fairly slight, and the Slitheen simply aren't very sinister, an
effective cliffhanger aside. Director Keith Boak returns from Rose,
and again seems uncertain as to whether he's directing a science
fiction thriller or a science fiction sendup. Fortunately, this is a
better overall story than the nearly-plotless Rose was, and there is a
lot to enjoy.

Chief among these is Penelope Wilton's performance as Harriet Jones.
With farting aliens in fat-suits and a lot of running about and
shouting (particularly in Part Two), it's refreshing to have a guest
performance so grounded. The story also does a very good job of
elevating Harriet from a person of no importance to a person who
gradually becomes comfortable with her own, newfound authority.

As is typical of multi-part stories (and not just in Who), the first
part is noticeably better than the second. It's just a natural
dramatic progression, I think. First parts are always about raising
questions and establishing a threat. That's much more inherently
dramatic than answering the questions and defusing the threat. World
War III isn't a bad episode. Noel Clarke finally starts getting some
good scenes in Part 2, and Penelope Wilton's best scenes also come in
Part 2. But with the action almost entirely confined to Downing
Street, it feels smaller than the more sprawling first part. Also,
there is a sense of just a bit too much running from the Slitheen - as
if there wasn't quite enough story left for a full episode, leaving
around ten minutes of padding to stretch out the running time.

But the new series' first 2-parter is still very enjoyable, probably
more enjoyable than fandom often gives it credit for. A few directing
glitches (from a director who fortunately would not return) and a bit
of padding aside, it's a good bit of popcorn viewing... and judged on
that basis, it's a success.


Rating: 7/10.

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