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Army of Ghosts Format Reviewed: TV Review Army of Ghosts is the first episode in the two part story that closes series two of the new Doctor Who. We saw in the previous series that there was a linking theme leading up to a final spectacular ending. In that case it was Bad Wolf, and in this case it was Torchwood. It is more of a modern phenomenon to have a series end with one massive bang, but then again the new Doctor Who doesn't really conform to many of the classic series norms for production so I shouldn't criticise. The story starts with a voice over of Rose saying, 'this is the story of how I died'. The location is back on the Powell estate, and Jackie welcomes the Doctor and Rose but shows them her Father who is long since dead. It is a strange ghost like apparition, and they appear all over the world. The ghosts disappear on the command of the Torchwood leader, Yvonne Hartmann. In Torchwood, the employees are being taken one by one and processed by a strange force. The Doctor then triangulates the source of the ghosts and takes Rose and Jackie to Torchwood where they find a sphere identified as a 'Void Ship'. The next ghost shift is then activated but in doing so the Doctor discovers the Torchwood employees are under the influence of a different power. An army of Cybermen then appear out of the ghosts, and start to take control. The void ship has also become active, and eventually four Daleks emerge from it shouting Exterminate. Well, it has been a long standing thought amongst most Who fans of what would happen if the Daleks and Cybermen ever appeared together. This is then the story where we get to wonder no more. I must admit to being slightly surprised that the production staff decided to take this step, as it has been something the BBC have been resistant to in the past. There have been plenty of calls for and opportunities to produce such a story in the past, but it has always been resisted. Also, the guidelines, as they were, for submissions of BBC books said expressly that stories of this ilk were not welcome. I believe there is a very good reason for not having done this, and that is that it leaves very little room for the show to go to with these creatures. Once you have had the Daleks and Cybermen together, everything else just pales in comparison. It is apparant that Russell T Davies is trying to out-spectacular the previous series with this story, but how will he do it again for series three? Will this be the beginning of the end for the new television era of Doctor Who? I believe there is enough evidence and speculation to say that it could be. I very much hope I am wrong, but after seeing a storyline like this how much further can the series go to? The story itself starts to bring together the linking themes throughout the series, from Torchwood, the growing tide of tension and press speculation building up to the finale and the themes of the previous Cybermen tale. To a certain degree what this episode does is begin to draw them together and then provide the lead in for the last episode of the series. There are some nice touches and twists along the way, but on reflection the process of having Jackie along to Torchwood was contrived for later on and not wonderful. The cast is generally very serious, as would be expected from a story of this magnitude. David Tennant shows his darker side, and Billie Piper seems to show the innevitable fact of her departure through a wonderful and fond farewell. Camile Coduri for me gives her best performance of the series to date. I think this is largely because she couldn't really have played it any other way, but I still want to commend her. Of the guest cast, there are some interesting performances. Raji James and Freema Agyeman give cheeky performances as Dr Rajesh Singh and Adeola respectively, and Tracy-Ann Oberman does well as Yvonne Hartmann. We also see the return of Mickey the idiot, and Noel Clarke largely takes up from his improved performaces of this series here. Overall, I have some severe reservations about storylines of this type that I feel could be dangerous to the long terms future of the show. Here though is comes accross OK, although to a certain degree the success or otherwise of this episode will depend on the next one. Pretty much a mixed bag then, albeit a nice shiny and well polished bag with brass knobs on. Rating:  |