"...what could possibly go wrong?"

Ah yes, that old pre-titles chestnut.
Ah yes, that old pre-titles chestnut.

As hackneyed as that opening was, tonights Doctor Who is quite possibly, a masterpiece.
As hackneyed as that opening was, tonights Doctor Who is quite possibly, a masterpiece. (Okay, I'll stop the Lesley Sharpe impressions.)


Strong stuff coming after a Moffat 2-parter (the second part of which, if I'm being honest left me a little cold and underwhelmed.) but RTD OBE really pulled it out the bag with a claustrophobic, creepy as hell, quite obviously money saving episode. And, much like Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead played on a homespun fear as for all it's Sapphire waterfalls and "Big Space Trucks" it's really a story that plays on our Post 9/11 fear and suspicion regarding air travel. The scenes where the passengers turn on the Doctor, and eventually themselves were beautifully played. Interestingly, the Doctor is not looked on as the great hero who will save them all this week his "alien" nature resulting in him being ostracised from the human group and seen as a collaborator with the strange alien force. The very fact that noone trusts him leaves him utterly powerless and it is incredible to witness.

Lesley Sharpe, who I find kinda unsettling anyway, was fantastic as Sky Silvestry the possessed passenger who starts freaking everyone out and turning them all against themselves. And these moments were genuinely distressing.

For, I think, the first time since The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit it was left pretty ambiguous as to what the hell this alien threat was. And to be honest it's something I have no problem with, it's refreshing to see the Doctor get into a situation he doesn't understand, a lot of the time he can come across as an arrogant all knowing smug prick, so how great it was for him to admit he had no idea what the hell happened. David Tennant flew solo for the majority of the episode, giving Catherine Tate a break before she takes centre-stage in next weeks Doctor-lite episode (More on that in a minute.) but when she does turn up at the end, we feel, much like the Doctor does a sense of relief and of being so glad to see her.

Midnight is exactly the reason I love this show, how it can be a sci-fi epic set in a space library one week and a distressing, claustrophobic tale of mistrust and fear the next. The fact that it's all taking place in a family show is all the more incredible, proper drama at 7:10 on a Saturday night. Long may it continue...

The Geeky:- David Troughton who played Professor Hobbes is the son of Second Doctor Patrick and has appeared in the series three times previously in The Enemy of the World, The War Games and The Curse of Peladon. Talk about nepotism! Of course not, he's a talented actor and was wonderful, especially when he had to make the decision over whether or not to kill the Doctor. There was something slightly uncomfortably United 93 about that whole moment but there you go.

Next week:- The finale starts here! Donna meets Rose and never meets the Doctor?