Doctor Who: World War Three (2)

Rose: 'Mum, if you saw it out there, you'd never stay home.'

Well, at least Jackie believes in aliens now. That's just made Rose's life a whole lot easier. Or maybe more difficult—I can't decide.

Doctor Who: Aliens Of London (1)

Rose: 'He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important.' The theme this week was consequences. Rose returned home twelve months after leaving earth, to find herself (a) on the missing persons list and (b) in the doghouse with her nearest and dearest. It was Rose's choice to travel with the Doctor, but one thing she didn't bargain on is how that decision would affect those she left behind.

Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead

Doctor: 'I'm so glad I met you.'
Rose: 'Me, too.'

That's three times in three episodes that Rose has almost died: once in the present, once in the future, and this week she almost died in the past. (Ghosts from A Christmas Carol, anyone?) So, is Rose ready to admit that life with the Doctor is simply too dangerous? Errr... not really, no. I have to say, were I a ten year old boy again, I'd have been terrified by tonight's episode. In fact, even as an adult, seeing Mrs Pearce come back from the dead, all Danny Glick eyes and mouth spewing forth blue vapour, I was still looking for a cushion to hide behind. A very macabre Dickensian tale from Mark Gatiss—quite literally in view of the fact that Dickens himself played a central role.

Doctor Who: The End of the World

Doctor: 'Everything has its time, and everything dies.'

A story of two halves this week. On the one hand, we had a rather lightweight yarn about vanity gone mad—on the other, a profound tale about loss and the end of the world. Oh, and the Doctor tried to get off with a tree.

Doctor Who: Rose

The Doctor: 'Run!'

Hardly the most profound opening dialogue ever written, but after sixteen years off screen we can certainly forgive the Doctor for his lack of verbosity. He's back! Unfortunately for him and the world, so are the Autons. The solution? Run like the clappers! I guess some things never change.

Watchmen

Dan Dreiberg: 'But the country's disintegrating. What's happened to America? What's happened to the American dream?'
The Comedian: 'It came true. You're looking at it'.

Watchmen isn't what you'd call a child-friendly superhero movie. Malin Akerman (who plays Silk Spectre II) said in an interview that the film belongs in a genre of its own. There's probably some truth to that. If superheroes did exist (and apologies to those of you who think they do), then this is probably what they'd be like: horrendously flawed, disturbed individuals, desperately trying to save the world, but not always doing the right thing.

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

Doctor: 'Rosita? Good name. Hello, Rosita.' Christmas is traditionally a time where Nu-Who goes mental with the special effects. Christmas episodes are not your average episode: they're bigger, brasher, littered with innuendo and for the most part, incredibly entertaining. True, some people are turned off by the over the top production (which does occasionally have a nasty habit of getting in the way of the story), but only a fool would deny that they're a stonkingly good romp.

Doctor Who: Daleks in Manhattan (1)

Martha: 'It's not human. I know that.'

Rewatching this episode over a decade after it first aired was an odd experience. The most striking thing about it is just how much the show's changed over the years. The Russell T. Davies era had a very specific vibe about it: it was more cartoonish, the plotting was simpler, and prosthetically speaking it was subject to frequently fails. Yet, despite having such a negative reaction to 'Daleks in Manhattan' first time around, I rather enjoyed revisiting it.

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