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Aliens of London Format Reviewed: TV/DVD Review This story marks the first foray into multi-part adventures for the new series of Doctor Who. This is the first of three two-parters and is set in modern day England. I think that in general terms I prefer multi-episode stories as it allows for greater depth to be gone into, especially within the 45 minute episode length of the new series. A two-part story therefore almost becomes like a feature film when viewed together. My main reservation about having multi-episode stories is that the production team have seen fit to include a preview of the following episode. This kills any attempt at a cliffhanger, for which the original series was renowned and personally I enjoyed. Of course, you can choose not to watch it, and try covering eyes and ears as it appears on-screen, but it does really ruin the cliffhanger in this episode. I had thought in the run-up to watching this that they might not include a preview at the end, but unfortunately I was wrong. For me, the rest of the story is somewhat twee, with the aliens having bad 'gas' when compressed into their human body suits and the names of the planet and family the aliens originate from are reminiscent, although not as skilfully realised, as those in the time of the late great Douglas Adams. I feel that is an apt comparison here as Russel T Davies script is certainly one you could imagine Adams having come up with, and perhaps this is where Davies inspiration came from. Much as I like Davies work though, I don't feel as though he is quite in the calibre of Douglas Adams in terms of writing, and therefore the story, for me, turns into rather a farce. There are Benny Hill style chase sequences through 10 Downing Street, high ranking politicians and military personnel passing wind, and a high contrast between the serious moments and the more humerous. This makes the story somewhat of a mish-mash between drama and childrens television, kind of like Timmy Mallet putting on a Shakespeare play. An unfortunate side-effect of the Tardis returning to Rose's natural time and space is the re-appearace of her mother Jackie, played by Camille Cuduri. As mentioned in the review of Rose, I think she is the weakest member of the regular cast and better suited to a soap opera. Her performance again lacks the quality of those around her and she does bring down and scene in which she speaks. It's not all bad news however, the concept of Jackie filing a missing persons report wiht the Police and Mickey being caught up in a possible murder investigation is well thought out and executed, and provides a good lead in to the actionwhen the alien ship crash lands through Big Ben into the Thames. Christopher Ecclestons performance is also slightly remiscent of Tom Baker, capturing that air of confidence and arrogance that Tom portrayed during his reign as the Doctor. This is still realised however within the context of Ecclestons persona and style, and I thought was a good thing for the story and the character. Overall, I don't think this is the best story that has come out of the new series of Doctor Who. It is too much like a slapstick film and the plot appears to be rather contrived. Rating:  |