ANDREW'S
DOCTOR WHO REVIEWS 
This is a story that should work really well, but somehow it
struggles to excite. Our new Doctor, still getting used to his ungainly body is
probably the best thing about it; the Smilers are scary but underused and
ultimately ineffective and there are a few things in the plot which don’t quite
sit right.
The Doctor and Amy arrive on a spaceship in the far future.
This is Starship UK, a spaceship designed to take the entire population of the
United Kingdom off into space to avoid the cataclysm that was about to hit the
planet. Whilst the Doctor investigates, Amy discovers the dark secret at the
heart of the ship after being captured by the sinister Smilers; and she is
given two options – forget or protest. She chooses to forget.
The Doctor finds her and he chooses to protest, causing him
and Amy to be dropped into the mouth of a massive creature. To escape this the
Doctor makes the creature vomit. Once out of the creature they meet up with Liz
10 (Sophie Okonedo), the ruler of Starship UK. The three of them discover that
Starship UK is riding on the back of a space whale, using painful electrical
signals to steer it through space. Liz 10 finds a message from her younger self
which gives her the choice – forget and allow the space whale to be tortured or
protest and abdicate, potentially destroying Starship UK.
The Doctor decides to lobotomize the space whale to stop it
feeling pain, but Amy stops him and persuades Liz 10 to abdicate. The space
whale is freed but to everyone’s surprise it continues, voluntarily, to steer
Starship UK.
So, what works best in this story. Matt Smith is
delightfully off-kilter here, still a bit unsure of his persona but
delightfully clumsy. The Smilers are creepy, but once they’ve done their change
of expression there isn’t much left for them to do. Sophie Okonedo is great as
Liz 10 and does some proper acting in the later bits of the story.
What doesn’t work is the idea that the Doctor would even
countenance the idea of making the space whale brain dead, he would find some
other way to solve the problem. It might have cost him dearly, but he would
have found a way. The fact that Amy has to correct him feels very wrong and the
first indicator that Amy as a character doesn’t quite feel right.
That crack turns up again and it is clear that this going to
be this season’s running theme.
All in all the story is middle of the road with some really
nice stuff and some bits that don’t really sit right.
NEXT UP: VICTORY OF THE DALEKS
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2022
