Geek Syndicate
excellent performances, Rigg presenting a charming villainy on top of her character’s cruelty and callousness and Stirling showing a naive, vulnerable side. As the episode develops, however, it becomes apparent that young Ada is possibly not a girl you would want to annoy. One can’t help but wonder if there was any real-world frustrations being added to a certain performance late in the episode! Once the Doctor enters the fray, we are treated to a lovely sepia-effect flashback sequence during which we see how he became embroiled in the plot. I thought this sequence was excellent and it’s a tribute to Matt Smith’s presence that once he hits the screen, you almost forget that a third of the episode has gone by without him in it. It takes a while longer for Clara to come back, during which a confused Jenny quizzes the Time Lord about how he can be looking for a dead girl. Once she’s back, she becomes the “perfect companion” once more, offering pointers towards and sometimes the solutions to problems themselves. Clara really is becoming quite the smug travelling companion which is somewhat annoying. Nothing against Jenna-Louise Coleman (who I continue to think is great in the role), it’s more to do with the writers over-emphasizing just how right she is for the Doctor. Without spoiling too much, Mrs. Gillyflower’s plot is straight from the James Bond movie Moonraker, though there is a sufficiently Doctor Who twist to the whole “repopulate the world with the brightest and most beautiful people” trope. The reveal of the cause of the disease is nicely written and directed, though I have to say I thought the prop itself was somewhat lacking. We’re treated to two plot resolutions as the villains have a redundancy plan in place - a nice idea for a Doctor Who story that we don’t often see. This is definitely a fun adventure with plenty of action and laughs and a hint of the tragedy about it. While I think there was one or two jokes too many, the story was great teatime entertainment and that is what the show is about! Rating: of the eighties version) sent a chill down my spine. Proper monsters. Not evil really, just driven to survive and unfortunately for Humans and their kindred, we just happened to be their spare parts. Which is why the recent Cyber stories have left me somewhat cold. They looked great, but they became simple catchphrasey robots. Some how their threat-level diminished infinitely by being given an alternate-reality back story. No longer were they a spacegoing race looking to survive. They became … rather pathetic. Of course the last couple of years have hinted at the resurgence of a Cyber-empire by non-Cybus Cybermen that have taken on their armoured look. So it was with both eagerness and trepidation that I sat down to watch Neil Gaiman’s second story (his first being possibly the best episode of Doctor Who since the relaunch in 2005, The Doctor’s Wife) this evening. Neil Gaiman wrote a wond ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????QI%L???????????????????????????????
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