The Idiot's Lantern

There's not much wrong with The Idiot's Lantern, but it is almost impossible to get excited about it. There have to be episodes like this, of course: jaunts, runarounds, pauses for breath between the epic battles. But we've just fled the Cyber-stomping of The Age of Steel, and next up it's the Satan-in-Space two-parter. In between all that, The Idiot's Lantern feels slight to say the least.

What's good then? Maureen Lipman, for one thing, who turns a brief appearance into a memorable villain. She combines the precise diction and glamour of a vintage continuity announcer with the preening malevolence and appetite of an alien predator; the The Wire is anything but two-dimensional. Her modus operandi is pure Doctor Who too. The blank faces of her victims are an excellent visual hook for the episode, as are the screaming faces on the television screens, and the sucking electro-tendrils. But for all that, there's something horribly inert about the victims and the Wire is sadly lacking in the sort of mindless henchmen that could provide this story with a more visceral sense of menace.

Instead we get Tommy's family drama filling up the dead space. It's quite touching and the outcome, although obvious, is not unsatisfying. If Jackie's Powell Estate sometimes has an Eastenders feel to it, the soapy elements of this sub-plot shouldn't surprise us either - the TARDIS has landed on Florizel Street after all. Tommy does get to play companion (thanks to Rose's disappearance), and the Doctor gets to interact once or twice with Mr and Mrs Connolly, but the way in which The Idiot's Lantern dwells upon the disintegration of their marriage feels quite alien to Doctor Who, even in the RTD era.

Ron Cook is very good as the tortured Mr Magpie, and there's a wonderful interrogation scene where the Doctor turns the tables on Inspector Bishop. But overall, this simply doesn't dazzle. The worst part: the Doctor shouting down Mr Connolly. Presumably it's supposed to be cathartic, satisfying? But why should the Doctor out-bully the bully? He's cleverer and better than that, isn't he?

The boys were underwhelmed too. William could only give it a 6. "It was freaky, but not scary," he said. "And how did the Doctor send all the faces back? If he explained it, I missed it."

Chris gave it a 7. "The face eating was scary, but it wasn't a very good baddy. At least only one person died." Not that we're keeping count, of course.


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