Dr Who in review:
The verdict on episodes 6 & 7 of the new series.
By
Greg Fitzgerald
Series 1 – Episode 7 ‘The Long Game’
by Russell T Davies
The
Tardis is drawn off course and lands in an underground bunker in Utah
in the year 2012. The Doctor and Rose discover a museum containing an
impressive collection of aliens, including a Slitheen and a Cyberman,
and a number of extraterrestrial artefacts. The time travellers are
arrested by US soldiers and taken to the bases commander Mr Henry van
Statten, who claims to have absolute control over the Internet. He
demands to know how the visitors got into the base, which is half a
mile beneath the surface. At the first the Doctor is not believed, but
van Statten tells him about a mysterious prisoner.The Doctor enters a locked, dark room, and hears a voice that he never expected to hear again, that of a Dalek. The Doctor has come face to face with his most hated enemy. The Dalek embarks on a killing spree, aided by some new capabilities such as a force field that melts bullets and levitation. The Doctor believes it can destroy the base and entire planet. The idea that a single Dalek can destroy the world is probably the weak point in Shearman’s plot.
A tense struggle ensues with the Doctor, now aided by Van Statten, tries to destroy the Dalek. At one point he believes he has left Rose to her death, but the Dalek, now linked to Rose because of the DNA that it absorbed, cannot kill her. It nearly escapes but at the end realizes it cannot live with its new emotions that are in conflict with its prime directive to kill all other life, as the Doctor puts it ‘the ultimate in racial cleansing.’ We see the actual Dalek, a pathetic octopus-like creature with a single eye. It implores Rose to order it to kill itself, which it does. The Daleks are now finally and irrevocably extinct. Adam wants to see the Universe, and the Doctor and Rose take him with them.
Shearman has written a new take on the Daleks. They are no longer the invincible killing machine. In the end a Dalek found humanity. As the Doctor said, no one won the war. We see unpleasant side of the Doctor, who wanted to kill the Dalek when it was defenceless. Understandably he is filled with hate for the Daleks, but he realizes that perhaps he and the Dalek are perhaps not all that different. As previously in the series, we see a deep vulnerability in the Doctor, the last Time Lord, alone in the Universe, knowing he is responsible for his fate. Now, more than ever he needs his companions. This episode continues the excellent and thought provoking stories of this wonderful new series.
Series 1 – Episode 7 ‘The Long
Game’
by Russell T Davies
The
Doctor, Rose and Adam arrive on
Satellite 5, which is orbiting Earth about 200,000 years in the future.
Earth, now with a population of 96 billion, controls the Fourth Great
and Bountiful Galactic Empire covering millions of planets and species.
When Adam sees it, he faints. The Doctor says to Rose, ‘He’s your
boyfriend.’ She replies ‘Not anymore.’ If she doesn’t want him, I’ll
have him! He is the best looking Dr Who assistant ever! The Doctor
claims the Empire has fine food and culture, but it appears fast food
is still on the menu.
Cathaca, a woman whose brain is used to process information, for a computer, tells the Doctor all about Satellite 5, which is basically a news service that transmits the news from all over the Galaxy to all over the Galaxy. She demonstrates the brain Spike, where a portal opens in her head revealing her naked brain to download all the news data. She also tells the Doctor about Floor 500, where journalists go when they get ‘promoted‘, and where ‘the walls are made of gold’…
Cathaca, a woman whose brain is used to process information, for a computer, tells the Doctor all about Satellite 5, which is basically a news service that transmits the news from all over the Galaxy to all over the Galaxy. She demonstrates the brain Spike, where a portal opens in her head revealing her naked brain to download all the news data. She also tells the Doctor about Floor 500, where journalists go when they get ‘promoted‘, and where ‘the walls are made of gold’…
The Doctor knows something is terribly wrong. Why are there no aliens anywhere on Satellite 5? And why is it so hot? Cathaca has no answers. The Doctor and Rose receive promotions to Satellite 5. Upon arriving on Floor 500, they discover that the other promoted journalists are dead, converted into mindless automatons by implanted computer chips. Its is here that they are questioned by the Editor and meet the Mighty Jagrafess, also known as Max, who has been controlling Earth and the Empire for 91 years by manipulating information. During the interrogation of the Doctor and Rose, the bumbling Adam is spiking data, enabling the Editor to find out all about the Doctor. Cathaca saves the day by reversing the cooling system, which has been transferring the heat down to the lower floors to keep the Jagrafess cool, as it cannot stand heat. The Jagrofess overheats and blows up.
Satellite 5 and the Empire are now in the hands of humanity, and it can now continue its development. Adam is now in the Doctor’s bad books and is taken back to his home in 2012. The Doctor wipes his phone which received his message from the future and leaves him there, to live a quiet, average life to avoid being dissected. This is really very cruel of the Doctor. It is also hypocritical and foolhardy too. This 200,000 A.D. technology could indeed change future history.
This is a great, bizarre story that is much lighter than the previous ‘Dalek’ episode. There are good performances from all the cast. The special effects are also excellent. It is pity that Adam (played by Bruno Langley) will not be staying with the series. There is a darker message in this episode of how easily the masses of humanity can be manipulated and deceived. Sound familiar?
c. BBC Worldwide
Vols
1 & 2 of the Dr Who 2005 DVD’s are available now from ABC DVD
through the ABC Shops and all good video retailers. Check ‘em out!