Who Review: Aliens of London

When the TARDIS arrives back on the Powell Estate, the Doctor assures Rose she has only been gone 12 hours, so she shouldn’t have a problem making an excuse to her mother about where she’s been. After all, what could she say? That she’s been to the far future, and Victorian London with a man in a blue police box? The situation becomes a little more difficult when they realize Rose has actually been gone for 12 months. Mrs. Tyler’s shock, anger, and happiness over her daughter’s safe return is soon overshadowed by the apparent crash-landing of an alien space craft in the heart of London. As the city reels from the realization that alien life exists, the Doctor and Rose try to find out where these aliens have come from, and what they want. The answers to these questions take them to the highest levels of British government, and a race from a distant planet set to take over…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

“Aliens of London,” written by show-runner Russell T. Davies, is the first part of the first two-part story of New Who. Unlike Classic multi-part stories (at least since the mid-1960s), each episode has its own title. The following story, “World War Three,” picks up where this one leaves off. Unfortunately, when this story first aired the producers ran a “Next Week…” teaser before the credits rolled at the end, which undermined the drama and tension of the cliff-hanger. The BBC received so many complaints about this, future multi-part stories would run the “Next Week” trailer after the credits, giving people who don’t want spoilers the chance to change channels or leave the room.

Having been to the future and the past, the Doctor returns Rose to the present so she can check in on her “real” life. At least the Doctor thought it was the present. In fact, he’s brought her back 12 months into the future, where her mum, her boyfriend, and their friends have spent the past year looking for her. Davies said one feature of the re-boot he wanted to explore was how the Doctor’s arrival affected the lives of the companions. In the Classic Series, it looked as if the Doctor just picked someone up from Earth and took them away in his blue box without a ripple on the waters of the life left behind. While Rose has been “absent,” Jackie, her mum, has been worried sick, there has been a police search and investigation, and Mickey, her boyfriend, has been picked up on suspicion of murder.

I realize this set up serves the purpose of exploring that real-world angle on the Doctor’s companion, but it leaves me wondering a couple of things. First, why didn’t the Doctor just take Rose back twelve months, to a time just a few hours after they left? Perhaps the TARDIS is too unreliable to try a maneuver like that, but I would have thought the Doctor could get fairly close by now. The second thing has to do with how this story affects the overall timeline of Doctor Who. From the “Missing” posters, we know Rose left with the Doctor in March of 2005. If we are twelve months later, then the rest of the series has to take place around or after March of 2006. Any earlier, and Rose Tyler is no longer missing. Indeed, we know this season is working on a linear time frame, at least with regard to Earth, since the last two episodes have to be after this episode, given how accepting Jackie is of the Doctor. In the end we have to simply chalk it up to a plot point that doesn’t necessary anchor in reality. And that’s okay. It’s sci-fi, after all.

In this first part of the story, an alien spacecraft crash-lands in the Thames, and police retrieve a body from inside. The Doctor determines the ship has not, in fact, crashed from somewhere outside the planet, but was, in fact, launched from the North Sea. It’s no doubt of alien origin, but he concludes aliens have constructed an underwater base somewhere in the north sea from which they are coordinating operations. As a result of the ensuing confusion, many in government have left the city, leaving only a handful of people to continue the running of the country. However, those that are left have already been taken over by the aliens using their skin as a disguise. They now have the reins of power in London. But why? That remains to be seen in the next part.

The effects are mostly good (the ship crashing into London is particularly well done), but there are some dodgy moments. The alien disrobing from his human skin is well-intentioned, but even with 2005 CGI, it’s simply not convincing. It looks like a piece of computer animation laid over live action. And I understand the breaking wind is a by-product of the aliens doing some sort of gas exchange to shrink into the human skins. I get the point, but the pooting was a bit excessive for my taste.

U.N.I.T. makes a brief appearance as the “alien specialists” called in to deal with the new crisis. The Doctor recognizes them, but gone are all the familiar faces from the 70s–Leithbridge-Stewart, Benson, and Yates. And we’ll never get to know this new batch since they are eliminated at the end of the episode.

It’s worth noting the Doctor’s attitude toward Mickey in this story. Mickey’s cowering behind Rose in the first story of the season didn’t impress the Doctor, so he already has a bias against him. I think this, rather than jealousy, explains the way he treats “Mickey the Idiot.” While Mickey is Rose’s boyfriend, the Doctor isn’t interested in romance. He likes Rose, and probably thinks she’s too good for Mickey, but I think his assessment is based on performance rather than emotion. However, Mickey’s acts of bravery in these two stories earn him the Doctor’s grudging respect. Grudging, but still not total. By contrast, the Doctor now trusts Rose enough to give her a TARDIS key.

In this story, we see a young boy graffiti the words “Bad Wolf” on the side of the TARDIS. This is another reference to the overall story arc of the season–one that will be revealed in the season finale.

One of the best story points in “Aliens of London” is the cliff-hanger. Or rather cliff-hangers, plural. Because Russell treats us to three different simultaneous suspenseful endings. In one, the Doctor and U.N.I.T. are being electrocuted by the aliens. In another, Rose and Harriet Jones, M.P. for Flydale North, are about to be attacked by one of the aliens who has just dispensed of a staffer. In the third cliff hanger, Mickey and Jackie are huddled together in the kitchen, while one of the aliens leers over them, getting ready to strike. I suppose Davies recognized how hard it was to keep people coming back each week for more Doctor Who, so giving not just one, but THREE cliff hangers will, hopefully, maintain (if not improve) their regular audience.

If you’re watching this story along with it’s other half, “World War Three,” then this is essential viewing. But even taken on its own merits, despite the dodgy moments, it’s still well-written and enjoyable television. Certainly not one to skip.