The big CaB Doctor Who (2005) rewatch thread - starts May 30, 2022

[Mister Six]

Ironically, as the first episode set in Cardiff (and, Torchwood aside, one of, what... two?), all of the scenes set on Cardiff streets were shot elsewhere, namely Swansea and Monmouth. The only scenes to be shot in Cardiff were Dickens' disrupted stage reading, which was filmed in Cardiff's New Theatre:



Unfortunately though, it was inside only. The theatre exterior was shot in Swansea, and all filming here took place in the theatre itself. I got really excited when I realised this. After my Dream Machine experience last week, I thought this could be the next step in a mad impulsive adventure, my exploration of Doctor Who filming locations giving me opportunities to experience aspects of Cardiff culture I've not experienced before. In order to get a photograph of the stage where Simon Callow played Dickens, the seat where the old lady ghost sat, I could go and see a play at random, and have an unexpected cultural experience.

But, uh, the New Theatre is closed until next Monday, with no performances. So I went to visit Ianto's Shrine at Cardiff Bay instead and took a photo of a photo of Gwen:



I'm quite sure this will suffice.

IT WILL NOT.

GET YOURSELF A CROWBAR RIGHT THIS INSTANT, SOLDIER.

[Mister Six]

Actually, do you know if the dressing room scene was shot in the theatre? It seemed rather echoey and stagey to me, but now I'm not sure.

[BritishHobo]

It doesn't look like it was - the Filming Locations website only lists the scene in the auditorium as being filmed there. It doesn't mention the dressing room at all so I'm guessing that may have been a set at the studios?

[Mister Six]

Would make sense, given how tight it was and the angles they needed to get. Also easy to film it alongside the funeral parlour scenes.

[Alberon]

Aliens of London

And we're back to the second of three episodes from the problematic first block of filming. This one is much more variable than the first episode 'Rose'.

The Doctor and Rose arrive back at her tower block, but he's managed to get the time of arrival wrong and she has been gone for twelve months not twelve hours. There's some decent writing here. Later while up on the roof of the tower block an alien space craft screams overhead, smacks into Big Ben and crashes in the thames. Not bad CGI for the time, though the bit with Big Ben was done practically. The shot was reversed due to the direction they needed the ship to travel (you can see from the numerals on the clock face being backwards).

Another good idea is having the Doctor ending up watching it on TV, though the news bits never really convince as being genuine broadcasts (not even the cameo from Andrew Marr). The Doctor sneaks into the hospital with the alien pilot and discovers it's a pig in a suit. As is the case for these early episodes it ends up getting shot dead. At the time I didn't really like this sequence as it seemed silly, but looking back on it now it does fit into the Slitheen having a laugh while they execute their plan. And the show manages to make you feel sad for a pig not just for getting shot, but for being messed around by the Slitheen in the first place.

Ricky, I mean Micky, sees the Doctor leave and that leads to another 'comedy' bit as he runs into a wall just as the TARDIS dematerialises. The fact that Rose and Jackie completely forget him and he only finds out she's back due to seeing The Doctor shows Rose's selfish side again. She didn't even think of him.

In Number 10 we meet Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. I have a lot of issues with how she was later handled, but that's for some weeks ahead. For now, she's shown as a joke who stumbles over the Slitheen plan.

Jackie, having learned the Doctor is an alien ends up phoning a government hotline. It seems to the viewer a betrayal of Rose, but it is, of course, a perfectly understandable and even logical response to what she's just learned. The key words she uses sets off alarms and the Doctor is rounded up and brought to Number 10.

As we head to the end of the episode Nu-Who gets its first cliffhanger. In fact it seems to get giddy with the fact and ends up with about seven of them.

The Doctor is being electrocuted, a Slitheen is threatening Harriet Jones and Rose, and another one is threatening Jackie. It's at least one too many. Also, in a throwback to Classic Who, the true form of the Slitheen is only revealed at the end of the episode. They're not the best alien design we've ever seen, but not the worst.

It's an episode of two parts. We have the social drama of Rose and her family around her reappearance and the aliens landing and then we have the Slitheen and their plan.

There are huge problems with the Slitheen pre-reveal. Their human costumes are all fat people. It should have been obvious even back in 2005 that this essentially fat-shaming could have led to bullying at school. And the fat people fart a lot too. It's another example of early Nu-Who not quite getting the tone right, but added to it being just from fat people it becomes more unacceptable. The Slitheen having a blast while carrying out their plan is great, but all the baggage around it drags it down.

There is also the complaints raised over Rose's "You're so gay," comment. It's written by RTD who is, obviously, not homophobic. He defended it saying it was a comment that was used by people. It's probably less common these days, but still in frequent use. But while it is 'real language' it is still a mistake to have Rose say it as it gives it an acceptability it shouldn't really have, especially as The Doctor doesn't call her out for it.

It's an episode I didn't really enjoy at the time, but looking back at it now I can see the areas where it does suceed and the areas where it falls flat on it's face. Before I watched it I thought it was about 4/10, but I'm going to be slightly more generous.

5/10

[BritishHobo]

The series so far has obviously done a lot to set out RTD's unique vision for the new direction of the show - and the interviews have all been at pains to emphasise thst this is not your parents' Doctor Who, with its creaky sets and helpless female companions (not my words!). But this episode feels like the biggest departure yet in terms of what the show's format will be, by establishing that we're not going to be lost in space and time with no way back. We will be going home, and regularly.

It's a neat setup, and allows for some interesting character stuff about how travelling with the Doctor affects your ordinary life. This is something that I think RTD does far better than Moffat, whose companions felt like they had very empty home lives (even after getting past all the stuff about them being dreamt up by a wizard, or sucked into a crack or whatever). I like that we go back and see the stakes, and Rose has to keep making the choice to leave her friends and family. Episode 1 sets up a black-and-white tropey situation; her mum and her boyfriend are useless and uncaring, and dragging her down. Of course she'd go and travel through time and space! And now RTD brilliantly complicates it by showing that these aren't stock useless characters who stop mattering when their purpose of motivating the protagonist to leave is fulfilled. They are real people who do care about her despite their flaws, and now have to deal with her leaving.

As such I'm feeling more generous about the way the Mickey storyline plays out, because I can appreciate now that it's RTD trying to explore the realistic effects of making a decision like Rose makes. As in the main story though, there is some tonal whiplash - flipping between slapstick Mickey running into a wall, and the revelation that he, a black man, has been repeatedly arrested by the police and questioned about murdering Rose. A whole year of that. That's some bleak character writing.

More than that though, it makes for a great contrast with The End of the World. We've been immersed in mad alien shit, and now RTD cleverly does the exact opposite, showing our ordinary 'present' dealing with one little pig-alien (until next week). The way RTD has structured the series is so good. Every story enhances the journey and our understanding of the world of the show.

Unfortunately the plot itself is a bit duff. Although we do get the first example of RTD's delightful inclusion of real-world culture (Matt Baker on Blue Peter, and Andrew Marr reacting to this seismic event), that is about the sum of it, and most of the rest of the alien plot is spent on the three Slitheen humans constantly walking in and out of the Cabinet Room and laughing and farting while they talk very vaguely about doing bad stuff. It's not massively thrilling. The Slitheen do look good once they're fully revealed, proper physical costume and everything. It's just a shame the first look at them is in the ropey CGI of the green head emerging from the bloke. Harriet Jones is the absolute saving grace of course, being really really lovely. And I do like that RTD is using this family tea-time show to include a little backbencher MP who's struggling in the machinery of government to just do a sliver of good.

And as Alberon says, we have our first cliffhanger - although I do feel it's a little bit undercut by cutting immediately to a trailer in which we see all of the characters have escaped the climactic situations; the Doctor fetching some soldiers, Rose and Harriet running out of the Cabinet Room, and Jackie having escaped the kitchen. I wonder whether this was a deliberate thing to placate any potentially terrified children.

All in all it's so packed with thrilling ideas, although I think the character stuff is more compelling than the story. Which isn't the worst thing in the world. Also I like the little pig-man.

[BritishHobo]

Good points about the dicey handling of certain issues, Alberon. The weight thing doesn't even really make sense; if RTD wants to go detail-oriented enough to say the Slitheen must pick larger people to fit insode, then why wouldn't the people suits have really long necks and massive heads where the Slitheen have stretched them out? I can't imagine even the most anal of viewers would have taken umbrage if a thinner character had turned out to have a Slitheen inside them. They're aliens in meat-suits! I did wonder while watching how the actors must have felt, being selected specifically for their size to play stupid farting monsters. Poor Steve Spiers as well, who's always a highlight.

The 'you're so gay' line definitely clangs. As a gay man himself fair enough, but when it's in the mouth of a straight woman, said to a character who thus far has never really been coded as a sexual being, it has a different impact. I was just out of primary school at the time, and 'you're gay' was pretty definitively used as an insult by all the lads at school. Given what he did do with representation of gay people in Who, it was obviously good-intentioned, but it does sound odd.

[Replies From View]

Mrs Wobble the Waitress, or who whoever she played in Happy Families.  And Mr Blubber the Fat Fuck.  At the time there was a lot of projecting onto overweight people what we have retrospectively learned are merely qualities of James Corden.  It's not our fault - we could not have known at the time.

[Thomas]

I used to work with a friend of Annette Badland's, and by all accounts she's a lovely woman still delighted at having been part of Doctor Who - but then she did get an episode to herself, too, in Boom Town.

How did the opportunity come about to work on Doctor Who?
Russell wrote Boom Town especially for me. They filmed the first few episodes in the first regeneration of Doctor Who in the summer, and then around Christmas time the script arrived and there it was... Boom Town. It was such a glorious gift.

How do you react when you're cast as a Slitheen and then read the character description?
You laugh! And embrace it in all its glorious parts! I guess, if Margaret had just been a farting alien, then perhaps it might have been embarrassing. But the character really ran the gambit. You know, people still won't get in the lift with me! But, I do enjoy terrifying small boys in supermarkets by just touching my forehead and watching them squirm a little bit.

In the later episode, there was a great humility to Margaret. Did you have any input into the role developement with Russell T. Davies?
I think it was a combination of the two of us. The rejection and humility was in the script, but I suppose I imbued it with an underbelly that someone else may not have given it, especially in the long scene in the restaurant. Margaret was written as the first character to challenge this Doctor . But I guess that's why Russell asked me to do it, because he probably knew I would put that under there, rather than just taking it on the surface.

After having such a vast career in stage, film and television, how does it feel to be known by a whole generation as an alien, rather than some of your other iconic roles?
Great to be known for something! And this is international and I love and embrace the parts I do. And yes, it is hard sometimes when some people remember you for things you didn't particularly treasure. But I loved Boom Town and I was very honoured to be given that.

https://www.starburstmagazine.com/features/interview-annette-badland

[Replies From View]

I did wonder while watching how the actors must have felt, being selected specifically for their size to play stupid farting monsters.

I imagine they would have been informed at some stage before they auditioned.

We're talking about people who were in Happy Families as characters called things like Tobin Flubble the Lard Arse.  They've gone through the mill multiple times with this stuff.

[BritishHobo]

I imagine they would have been informed at some stage before they auditioned.

We're talking about people who were in Happy Families as characters called things like Tobin Flubble the Lard Arse.  They've gone through the mill multiple times with this stuff.

It's something I think about a lot, like when you watch a comedy and there's a character who is only there to serve as an example of an ugly person. Like someone who your protagonist is offered as a potential date, and they (and we) are meant to react in horror or disgust. Eurgh! And yet that's just a real person and their normal looks.

I suppose as you say, it's all made clear. If you respond to the casting call then you know what's being asked of you.

[daf]

4 | "Aliens of London"



Zippy and Bungle

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Highlights
• 12 Missing Months Mix-up
• Bad Wolf #3 : TARDIS Banksy
• "Stitch This Mate!" : JACKIEWALLOP!
• Big Ben Bashed
• "It's got to be Ken Livingstone innit"
• The Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North Sketch
• Petrified Porky Pilot Plugged
• The Ricky-Mickey Micro-Aggression Sketch
• Downing Street Grinning Wazzock Photo Blitz
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Bits :
• "You're So Gay!"
• The 900 Year Age Gap Sketch
• Fart #1 : Downing Street Staircase
• Fart #2 : Red Box Handover
• Fart #3 : Cabinet Room
• Fart #4 : UNIT Think-Tank
• Bigger on the Inside #2 : Jackie Tyler's barge-in
• TARDIS Footy Channel
• Blue Brow-Beam Zip
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2/10

[Mister Six]

Whoops, I've been a bit ill and off work, and it totally threw my timing. Thanks for carrying on, folks! Normal service will be resumed next Monday.

[Replies From View]

It's something I think about a lot, like when you watch a comedy and there's a character who is only there to serve as an example of an ugly person. Like someone who your protagonist is offered as a potential date, and they (and we) are meant to react in horror or disgust. Eurgh! And yet that's just a real person and their normal looks.

Yes, it's a strange presentation.  An unpleasant situation that the viewer is asked to take this objective position about someone's looks.  Prompted by the audience laugh track as well which is telling you, just in case you missed it, that the very idea of this ugly fellow fitting in with people out of his league is inherently ludicrous and hilarious.

But it is also what a lot of people face from day to day by not fitting conventions of being attractive.  I'm assuming you're not somebody who triggers that sort of disgusted reaction from people when out and about.  I have done, and sometimes still do, and I sometimes wonder whether joining an acting agency and taking a bit of it into my own hands might ultimately have made me feel less shame about my bodily form.

[BritishHobo]

Oh it's many times occurred to me to keep an eye out for casting calls for weird-looking people. If a sitcom needs someone who looks a bit like Captain Pugwash's disappointing adult son, I'd be a shoe-in.

In fact I might have a scour in case RTD decides to bring back the Slitheen in the new episodes and needs some fat blokes for the meat-suits.

[Malcy]

First appearance of Tosh from Torchwood due to the fact that Owen was hungover.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Really enjoying this retrospective, gang. I can't contribute as I don't really have time at the moment (an absolute tragedy, I agree), but your analysis of series one makes for great reading.

[Thomas]

First appearance of Tosh from Torchwood due to the fact that Owen was hungover.

That was a little retroactive detail delivered well - unlike the bit in Journey's End when the Doctor wastes time pondering why Gwen looks like yer one from The Unquiet Dead. 'Spatial genetic multiplicity!'. Granny would do.

Unfortunately Owen was only hungover because he was up late coercing Slitheen into sleeping with him.

[M-CORP]

Aliens of London
Another good idea is having the Doctor ending up watching it on TV, though the news bits never really convince as being genuine broadcasts (not even the cameo from Andrew Marr).
5/10

I mean, surely you found the North Sea Boating Club gag funny? But yeah, news broadcasts in Doctor Who can be a bit of a lottery - sometimes they're really well done, sometimes they look too fake and the graphics are all fucked. It's an RTD trope that neither Moffat nor Chibnall really excelled at.* Also, the character of AMNN's reporter Trinity Wells, who debuts here and then pops up in a few more episodes down the line, was quite a nice recurring thread to have.

As for the story itself... a few too many fart gags aside (I read this as Davies' first attempt  to emulate Robert Holmes' black humour, albeit for a new generation of kiddies, but yeah he misses the tone). I think this two-parter as a whole is pretty decent, especially considering all the well-documented production problems that come with something as untried and untested as this. There's some great writing and stakes towards the end, but you do have to take it as a first attempt at a kind of story that New Who would quickly refine and improve upon.

*And in RTD's own non-Who work, fake news bulletins are equally variable in their impact - The Second Coming's direction and use of handhelds pointed and TVs has aged quite well IMO, but maybe at the time they looked as fake as the bulletins in Years & Years

[daf]

The Sun (21 March 2005)  |  Daily Telegraph (21 March 2005)  |  Daily Star (7 April 2005)

[BritishHobo]

The laziness of the Robin Cook entry at the end is delightful. "He's not in the Cabinet and it's not a Doctor Who monster but I don't care, I hate him."

[Replies From View]

Robert Holmes' fart jokes always had a darker tone to them.

[daf]

They think Azal looks like Charles Clarke?


TV Action (August 1973)

(just noticed who that letter is from - Sci-Fi fanatic indeed!)

[Replies From View]

Crikey Stephen fancy remembering something from under two and a half years ago.  Here's a picture of a Daemon which I am sure will terrify you as much as you recall it should.

[daf]

London Evening Standard (13 April 2005)  |  South London Press (15 April 2005)

[BritishHobo]

Thinking of starting a drinking game with a shot every time wobbly sets or hiding behind the sofa are mentioned in one of these articles.

[Mister Six]

Don't do it! You have so much to live for!

[Replies From View]

Daleks have finally conquered stairs for the first time ever!!

[Tikwid]

Thinking of starting a drinking game with a shot every time wobbly sets or hiding behind the sofa are mentioned in one of these articles.

Two shots if it's a rare respectful article with a full-page promo photo of Nine and Rose looking up hopefully, or that fancy one of the Moxx, with a sentence-case headline set in Helvetica that reads something like "Who proves proper TV sci-fi is here to stay once more". Down the whole bottle if a monster from an upcoming episode is compared to Jade Goody

[daf]

South London Press (15 April 2005)  |  Daily Star (16 April 2005)  |  The Sun (16 April 2005)