Updated again: My podcast commentary with my friend Peter on Partners in Crime is now online. Give it a listen!
Updated: My review of Partners in Crime, the Doctor Who series premiere, is in today’s Western Mail, and also available to read on their website. They’ve edited it down a bit, so here’s the uncut version:
Doctor Who, one of Wales’ finest exports, returned to our screens on Saturday with one of its silliest and funniest episodes yet.
Partners in Crime had all the classic ingredients of an opening episode of the show: a sharp script from Russell T Davies, a contemporary setting, some topical themes given a sci-fi twist (in this case, obesity and supernannies), and of course, David Tennant on fine form.
Catherine Tate returns as Donna Noble after her one-off appearance in the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride. She turned down his offer to be his companion, a decision she now regrets, and so sets out to find him.
Wherever there are strange goings-on, the Doctor is sure to follow, so Donna investigates the mysterious Adipose weight-loss pill. Their parallel investigations criss-cross, always just missing each other to comic effect. But before long, the two of them find themselves up against the sinister Miss Foster, played with relish by Sarah Lancashire, and her hordes of Adipose…
If you’re one of those people that thinks that quality drama has to involve lots of “darkness” and gloomy people arguing over kitchen sinks, then this wasn’t for you. Go and watch EastEnders, or if you prefer science fiction gloom, the remake of Battlestar Galactica instead.
Nothing wrong with preferring a darker style, of course. I love the occasional dark and scary Doctor Who episode as much as the next fan. But the show is a rare example of genuine family viewing, and its variety in tone and its humour is vital to its appeal and success. This was light and frothy Doctor Who done at its laugh-out-loud best.
This was due in no small part to Catherine Tate. When I heard that she was the new companion, I was a little worried, not being a fan of her particular brand of comedy. But I need not have feared. Russell T Davies’ deft script gives her chance to shine. When the Doctor and Donna finally spot each other across an office while undercover, they have to communicate in mime in a bravura performance by the two leads. Doctor Who always has lots of jokes, but has rarely been such out-and-out comedy, and rarer still so successfully.
There are also quieter moments, like scenes between Donna and her grandfather Wilf, played by Bernard Cribbins, showing more depth to the character. Her no-nonsense approach is also a welcome contrast to Rose and Martha’s romantic infatuations with the Doctor.
The season premiere is often more about bringing together the Doctor and his companion than about the notional alien threat. In Partners in Crime, the aliens’ evil plot is even more slight than usual.
Miss Foster’s weight-loss pills “make the fat walk away” – literally. They turn fat people into a pile of cute little Adipose creatures. The Adipose go on the march in their thousands, thanks to the wonders of the same CGI technology that created the armies in Lord of the Rings.
It makes a nice change for the villains not to be invading the Earth – Miss Foster is just playing nanny, and doesn’t care if humans die. But it doesn’t make for great conflict. I was waiting for the little critters to turn evil, but they just floated happily up to their mothership, and it all seems a little flat.
But there was an unexpected twist in the tale. Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper, was last seen trapped in a parallel universe – so how could she appear briefly at the end, before vanishing into thin air? A taste of things to come no doubt, and we’ll have to keep watching. I know where I’ll be on Saturday evening from now on!
This evening I’ll be recording a commentary on the episode with my friend Peter as the first Podcast of Impossible Things, so listen out for that!