The Beast Below

Oh dear oh dear, I've fallen so far behind. I'm going to have to be more brief. Perhaps sometimes very brief, which is a shame because Series Five is, I've just realised, far and away the best so far. But before the next stone cold classic pops up, here's something different: a Moffat script which isn't a showpiece, twelve out of ten episode. But we shouldn't underestimate The Beast Below. It may not be one of the tent poles of Series Five, but it is an extraordinary, perhaps even revolutionary, piece of Doctor Who.

Airing four days into the 2010 General Election, The Beast Below is an unprecedented intervention into British politics. At first it appears to be a satire on the electoral process: every five years voters are given certain information about their society, information that they hurriedly choose to forget in order to maintain their own personal comfort and the status quo. It's far from being a useful democratic process: the voters are only offered the illusion of choice and nothing ever changes.

But this isn't merely satire - the last lines reveal that this episode is actually a manifesto: "we all depend on the beast below". The society of Starship UK is literally built on the back of the Star Whale, it is the source of all progress on this journey; yet it has no voice, no representation. What's more, the politicians regretfully inflict pain on the beast, trying to stimulate the creature into greater productivity, never realising there might be a better way.

I don't know Moffat's politics, but you don't have to be Malcolm Tucker to see that this episode is actually a forthright rejection of austerity and of 'cruel to be kind' policies, like 'stimulating' the unemployed to find jobs by removing their benefits.

Unusually, the Doctor is frozen, unable to manufacture a solution better than lobotomising the working class into carrying on as painlessly as possible. It's Amy's compassion, her ability to humanise the Star Whale, that redefines the situation - but, in a very British twist, the power to cut through this mess comes from above.

Sophie Okonedo's Liz 10, or Elizabeth X, could be seen as an attempt to create modern monarchical perfection. She is down to Earth, even a bit street, and she is approachable and deeply concerned for the well-being of both her realm and her subjects. She even disguises herself to mingle with the people, a trope of good kings and queens since Saxon times. But for all that, she is still part of the system and therefore part of the problem: her royal powers are only as good as the ministers who get to exercise them. Once Amy seizes those powers, change can begin - but this is a top-down revolution.

William volunteered an eight for this one. "Amy solved it. She really proves she's a good companion here because she's the one that sees how the Doctor and the Star Whale are the same, and saves everyone."


NEXT TIME...