Doctor Who Social Club

I enjoyed this one. There's lots of sci fi elements, good plot points to explore, and it's directed very well. The sound design is pretty good in this one, I like the mournful music when the black hole is on camera contrasted with the jaunty music during shift change before everything starts to go bad. The slow descent into madness as things start breaking apart is well done, even if it does trigger my "why does no one just talk to each other" detector. I enjoyed the use of a language so old even the tardis can't help translate it - it adds to the base feeling like it really is remote, and the designs of the underground cavern are nice, it reminds me a bit of Petra in Jordan. There's a really nice line when the doctor and rose are discussing the black hole - They are gateways to other universes. The doctor replies "not that one", referencing the fact that this black hole isn't a doorway, but also implying there's no way Rose can get back to the other universe where Mickey and Pete are. Finally, actually trapping the doctor without a tardis, rather than handwaving away that it can't be used like in the Madam Pompadour episode, is a much better way to keep things interesting.

There are some very minor bits I think could have been done a better though. I feel the implication is Doctor and Rose have hung around a bit on the base after the tardis was lost, but some more explicit passage of time would have been nicer. Were they there a couple of hours? weeks? The final trapdoor at the end looks pretty small. It's big, sure, but not to the extent that justifies the reaction they have on seeing it. Rose takes on the compassionate friend of the ood role, but is dismissed by everyone, and the doctor seems not to mind it either, and I am reminded of Harry Potter where Hermione's campaign for the house elves is similarly dismised and ignored by everyone. Thankfully we get a follow up of that plotline in a later series, but maybe it was biting a bit too much off at once here.

Overall, really enjoyed this one, and the cliffhanger it ends on feels important, because there's a lot of mystery still left to resolve.

Random nitpick - In the caves, they throw up a "gravity globe". It's a flare. They could have just called it a flare.

What's that you say? You were underwhelmed by last week's bland TV lady as a villain? Can I interest you in the actual, Biblical Satan?

I don't think I quite knew what to make of this episode when I first saw it - it's so unlike anything else we've seen in the new series. But hot damn, do I ever love it now.

There's a base! And it's under siege! Groundbreaking! The Doctor's quip about these bases being built out of kits is another bit that I definitely didn't appreciate at the time, but it's pretty funny. I think the Doctor/Rose relationship is in its ideal state here. Low-key flirty in a way that feels pretty real, without being maudlin (though it walks up to that line as they discuss what they'll do if they ever escape Sanctuary Base 6).

The episode handles the base crew very well - they're necessarily sketched out quickly, but they all seem like living, breathing people, and I really felt it when poor Toby and Scooti met their fates. Will Thorp deserves particular credit for making Toby seem like a sympathetic character, and then flipping to seeming incredibly threatening once he's been taken over by the Beast.

Pretty nice spacesuits. I wonder if we'll ever see them again.

I'm sure there's loads that can be said about this episode, but I dunno. It's great. Bring on the next one. I'll be waiting here with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of 6 to the power of 6 every 6 seconds.