The Beast Below - Gaz

So I'll start and the end and work my way to the beginning shall I? So another rip in space on Starship UK, does this mean that at the end of this series we discover the Doctor is really just a galactic gib-stopper...

Space Whale eh? And it loves the kiddies. In the 29th Century, The Queen of England comes from an estate and dresses like a musketeer? Now I wonder what Starship NZ will look like, probably a cross between Close To Home and Fight of the Conchords and we all wear black wool singlets and gumboots, however I'm getting completely off track... so how was the episode.

It started off nicely, a suitably grand, but slightly un-nerving future, where technology seems to have become more carnival like than anybody could have ever guessed. The Smilers certainly gave me the willies. If I was eight I'd have been behind the couch and surely that's the idea of Doctor Who.

The story however did get more than a bit derailed in places as it did leap from scene to scene, almost as if everything else was happening off camera... oh and suddenly The Doctor starts to threaten dismantling their starship and everyone just lets him, c'mon that's just lazy writing, along with the little Timmy resolution. One second he's a zombie, next moment he's petting the big odd alien growth thing!!!

I accept this is an episode where it's function is to build the relationship between Amy and The Doctor and I should cut it some slack, it revisits a theme we have seen with Rose and Donna - what are the rules for interfering in time and space when travelling with a Time Lord. The similar episodes for those companions also had some big flaws, the destruction of Earth for Rose and Pompeii for Donna. I have to admit the Rose one had a better resolution going from such a leap into the future and returning to grasp something as familer as a plate of chips. All Amy got was a phone call from Winston Churchill... oh and the Doctor calling him "dear", brilliant!

To sum it up, I liked the creepy start and the idea of the Space Whale, but it just felt way too rushed and was really the worse for it.

I liked:
Amy Pond
The Smilers
The idea of Starship UK
The idea of the Space Whale

I disliked:
Everything seemed to be happening on another show
Torturing Space Whales

I need to be convinced:
The thought of another "big bad" - c'mon can we leave that alone now
Galactic gib stopping

Next week, Daleks in WWII, Winston Churchill, Spitfires dog-fighting in space... fantastic!