Doctor Who Series 1 Episode 5 - World War III (Part 2) - Review
Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri, Noel Clarke & Penelope Wilton
Written By: Russell T Davies
Directed By: Keith Boak
Welcome
back to my review of Aliens Of London and World
War III. You can find my review of Part 1 here:
So
let's waste no more time and crack straight on with Part 2: World
War III.
Cornered
and under threat from the Slitheen, the Doctor, Rose and Harriet
Jones find themselves sealed off in the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing
Street. Meanwhile, in the hopes of starting global war for their own
means, the Slitheen, under the disguise of British politicians appeal
to the United Nations for the codes to launch nuclear missiles. If he
is to prevent the destruction of Earth, the Doctor has few allies,
his only hope lies with Mickey and Jackie.
After
finishing on such a strong cliffhanger last week, the resolution is
fairly decent and keeps the suspense at a satisfying level. (Spoiler
Warning!) Mickey gets his first chance to be a proper hero,
saving Jackie from the Slitheen in her kitchen, by smashing a chair
over its head, as does the Doctor by taking the electrocuted ID card
and using it against the Slitheen. What follows is a chase sequence
that gives the situation some genuine stakes, and makes the Slitheen
out to be an actual threat for the first time. The shots of them
chasing the Doctor, Rose and Harriet through the corridors of Downing
Street make them seem almost like primordial gorillas, and with their
large frame and design, it's interesting to see the Slitheen pick up
such speed. Speaking of the Downing Street corridors, it's worth
mentioning that the set design feels very authentic, and while I
can't claim to have ever been inside 10 Downing Street, I can imagine
that it looks fairly similar to this. The chase scenes come to an end
with the Doctor, Rose and Harriet trapped but secure inside the
cabinet room, and it's here where we're fully set up for Part 2.
World
War III
also reveals the Slitheen's plan and explains what they're doing on
Earth. While I don't want to fully
spoil what their plan entails, I will say that it allows us to put an
even greater focus on the political commentary that Aliens
Of London began
hinting at. Last week, I pointed out that the alien ship's crashland
into Big Ben directly referenced the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks,
and that more political satire (of somewhat mixed quality), followed
with the reveal of big green aliens hiding in the skins of
politicians. This week, with the reveal that the Slitheen are here
for financial reasons, and seeing the Joseph Green Slitheen make an
appeal to the U.N. for nuclear access codes, the political satire
comes full circle. Particularly when Green talks of fictitious
weapons of mass destruction that can be “deployed
in forty-five seconds”,
it's hard not to notice how it's lifted from Tony Blair's own speech
on the same topic – the only difference being seconds as opposed to
minutes. The invasion of Iraq under Blair's government, which many
see as being something for purely financial benefit, is strikingly
similar to the Slitheen's own plans, and I've got to give credit to
Russell T Davies for injecting in this satire.
Even
outside of their plans, the Slitheen get a lot more to do this week.
I enjoyed seeing how casually the Slitheen just walked around Downing
Street, and again how they proved threatening when one came after
Mickey and Jackie. Occasionally, they even get a couple of genuinely
great scenes, particularly the scene where the Doctor confronts the
Margaret Blaine Slitheen. The actress who plays her, Annette Badland,
is far more suited to the more serious moments than the comedic, and
the moment where she confronts the Doctor about him saving the world
from being trapped in his box, is easily the highlight of this
two-parter.
In
many regards, World War III,
while not quite the brilliant improvement I'd hoped it would be, does
still manage to improve from last week, and certainly where its main
characters are concerned. The only exception to this is Rose, who
doesn't have all that much to do here, seems bored out of her mind
being stuck in one room, and never properly makes it up with her
family. Fortunately, several other characters make more of an
impression, such as Harriet Jones. I didn't really talk much about
her in my review of the first part, but I really liked this
character. I don't know whether this is because of the writing, or
just because Penelope Wilton is such a likeable presence, but the
resolution to her character at the end of the episode always makes me
smile. Mickey also made a great impression this week, being willing
to lay down his life to protect Jackie, and more than once. His role
in stopping the Slitheen also can't be underestimated, and I'm liking
the direction that Russell T Davies is taking this character in.
Unfortunately,
while Mickey does get his time to shine in the resolution of this
episode, the resolution itself becomes a bit far-fetched and requires
a bit too much suspension of disbelief. (Spoiler
Warning!)
Even with the Doctor's help, I struggle to believe that Mickey could
launch a missile at 10 Downing Street, from the computer in his
bedroom (complete with a big red “FIRE”
button in the middle of the screen). If we could really do that, then
the world would be a much more dangerous place. (Spoiler
Warning!)
How the Doctor, Rose and Harriet survive the missile blast is also a
bit far-fetched, relying on the myth of staying in a small place such
as a cupboard, or a doorframe, despite the fact that in reality, it
offers very little protection. The resulting explosion does
admittedly end this episode with a literal bang, and the Slitheens'
final words are funny, but it's still just a bit too far-fetched for
me.
Overall,
I can't really describe Aliens Of London and World
War III as anything more than very... average. It's
disappointing to say this, as the ideas it's playing around with are
genuinely interesting and have a lot more potential. If this
two-parter had made its mind up on whether it wanted to be a serious
political thriller and satire, or a more kid-friendly story, then it
could have been even better. As it stands, there's still a fair
amount to like here, and there's plenty of stuff to keep the audience
engaged, so perhaps it's summed up best as … OK.
Final Score for Aliens Of London and World War III
6/10