There’s still time to finish this…
The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
In this adventure the Doctor, Amy and Rory intend to visit Rio de Janeiro but, as is often the case, the Doctor misses the target and takes them to a small Welsh mining village called Cwmtaff in the year 2020. After the unusual occurance of Amy and Rory spotting their future selves waving to each other from a hill in the distance they explore a mining operation attempting to study minerals at a previously unexplored depth. With some people in the vicinity of the local graveyard already missing things are complicated by tremors. Amy and another working wind up being pulled bodily into the ground.
Any long term Doctor Who knows that is happening here – the Silurians have made their return. As it gets explained the Silurian are reptile humanoids who were the dominant and most technologically advanced species on Earth before an ice age forced them into underground hibernation. With humans having taken over the surface the Silurians were to wait until the mammal’s time had passed before reclaiming their world. In the past when the two races have crossed paths it has not ended well for either side.
The drilling operation has threatened the sustainability of the Silurian citadel, which has begun sending warriors to the surface to investigate in addition to abducting some people for study. The villages taking a Silurian hostage until the reptile people return their prisoners threaten the tenuous peace between the two races, both with a valid claim to the planet.
There’s some rich visuals and solid action in this double episode. The Silurians look much more reptilian in the modern make-up effects and their prehensile tongues are a nice touch. Even once negotiations between the two peoples do get underway in-fighting between scientists, politicians and the military in the Silurian capital threaten to pull the rug out from under their feet. When one of the human villages lose control of their temper after seeing her son and father put at risk kills the Silurian hostage, further inviting a full scale invasion.
By juggling some basic science-fiction ideas they’ve created a strong allegory for more than a few modern conflicts. By effectively juggling the different sides of the issue they keep the story interesting and tense throughout. The final sequence, which sees Rory being erased from history by the crack in time, is an incredibly emotional cliff-hanger, made all the more distressing by the fact Amy cannot remember Rory mere minutes after seeing him die. All round an effective story.
Vincent and the Doctor
Vincent van Gogh truly is a tragic figure. Today his works are praised as some of the most significant and beautiful works of art ever created during his lifetime he was ignored. He spent much of life going through long bouts of severe depression before prematurely ending it, never having any inkling of his monumental legacy. Fortunately this episode is more than a historical cameo but a moving tribute.
Following the loss of Rory the Doctor keeps Amy distracted with visits to various fantastic sights. This story opens with them at the Musée d’Orsay, admiring the works of van Gogh, when the Doctor spies an alien creature lurking in the window of ‘The Church at Auvers’. The pair travel back in time to visit van Gogh during the time that he painted the image. They find him a poor, lonely figure who is unable to earn his way with his paintings. He takes an immediate liking to Amy as a fellow redhead, and claims that she carries a great loss with her.
By sticking close to Vincent they learn that his violent episodes are a response to an alien attacker only visible to him. Not even the Doctor can see it with his naked eye. The time travellers recognize that there is more to do than protect Vincent from this invader – the man himself is an emotional wreck. After dealing with the menace they take Vincent to the future where he sees his work being honoured in the museum before returning him home.
To call this an emotional episode is to put it mildly. Tony Curran turns in a stunning performance as van Gogh, painting him as a man living a tragic life due to his desire to paint the wonders he sees in the world. At the beginning of the episode it feels like the usual historical figure episode, such as The Shakespeare Code, with a cameo from Bill Nighy who swaps bow-tie compliments with the Doctor. By the end it does proof itself but it’s the scene with van Gogh in the future that nails it. It’s out of character for the Doctor to interfere in this manner, but seeing van Gogh become overwhelmed with Bill Nighy’s praise of his work really tugs the heartstrings.
Vincent and the Doctor stands out as one of the most effective and intriguing episodes of the new generation of Doctors.
The Lodger
In a strange turn of events the Doctor winds up stranded on Earth when the TARDIS dematerialises without him. Amy and the TARDIS are lost in the time void until the machine begins co-operating, and the Doctor has to find his own way. He takes a room offered for rent and inserts himself in the life of regular joe Craig Owens. Craig, unable to move on from his office job or the platonic relationship he shares with a co-worker, finds the Doctor quite the handful.
In between the Doctor’s wacky attempts to adapt to human life we see a number of different people get lured up to the second floor of the house, from where they never return The Doctor investigates and finds an alien spaceship housing a simple disguise (in reality the house doesn’t have a second floor). The Doctor is forced to enlist Craig’s help in defeating this invasive foe.
Although there is an alien invasion at work the purpose of this episode is to show the Doctor trying to fit in with normal people, and to see how a regular person would react to this maniac turning up on the doorstep. Matt Smith has always been one of the goofiest of the Doctors and it is good to see him really cut loose once in a while. They also manage to work in the chance for Smith to show of his soccer skills, since that was a potential career path for the actor. It’s a fun episode with some good gags and a good performance from James Cordon playing the straight man to the Doctor.
