The Idiot's Lantern

"I'm the Wire, and I will gobble you up, pretty boy."

Writer: Mark Gatiss

Format: TV

Broadcast: 27th May 2006

Series: 2.07

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

It is 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - but there is something hiding in the televisions of the British people. Something hungry... 

Verdict 

The Idiot's Lantern is a very good episode of Doctor Who and one that often gets forgotten as being written by Mark Gatiss. Now I like this episode but Gatiss has admittedly gone on and written better stories for the series with Victory of the Daleks immediately coming to mind. The episode doesn't get talked about enough in my opinion and I admire the setting of Elizabeth II's coronation day in 1953. It wouldn't seem to be a symbolic day to place a Doctor Who story in but I really was impressed that the coronation itself served quite a purpose in the plot of the story, so that was a real positive. I thought David Tennant was outstanding as the Tenth Doctor here and it's abundantly clear to see that by this point in the series he's more than at home in the role. His standing up to Mr. Collonny was brilliant and I loved the way he turned him around into actually doing some housework! Rose was good in this story and one of my favourite things about the episode is that she immediately notices that there are more television aerials than there should have been in 1953. The Doctor didn't pay much attention to that as he was too happy finding out when they had arrived. The riding of the scooter was quite humorous and it's excellent to see the relationship between the Doctor and Rose blossom further with the hilarity that it brought. They're just wonderful together, although I wasn't struck by Rose's attire in this one I must say. It was a tad too cheesy in regards to the setting. The concept of the Wire was an extremely interesting one and I think it's great to try something this way with the idea of the television being the enemy. When you have a concept like that, you wouldn't necessarily think of placing a story right at the beginning of the television's existence but I can see why it was done as that's when people would be most vulnerable. Televisions were a new and wonderful thing that caught the imagination of so many people in a variety of ways. Tommy Collonny was a fantastic character and I liked how he was standing up to his father and even calling him a coward and claiming that he now was representing everything he fought against. A brilliant moment. Rita throwing her husband out at the end was only expected as Mr. Collonny wasn't a very nice man at all. He was rather despicable. Magpie was an interesting character and his desire for peace from the Wire was driving him to the point of insanity. He was doing her bidding without barely a question or act of defiance. He was simply being used and that was clearly seen as the Wire killed him once her feeding process was in full flow. With the eyes of Britain on television screens everywhere to capture a glimpse of the new monarch, she planned on taking every one of their faces. The blank faced people didn't look nice at all but it was a scary ability for the Wire to have which made it good. She was of course dealt with and quite comically taped over by the Doctor, but while she lasted she provided a good threat. Overall, a very good episode that should be talked about more! 

Rating: 8/10