The Unquiet Dead

"The stiffs are getting lively again."

Writer: Mark Gatiss

Format: TV

Broadcast: 9 April 2005

Series: 1.03

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

The Doctor takes Rose back through time to 1869, but in Victorian Cardiff the dead are walking and creatures made up of gas are on the loose. The time-travellers team up with Charles Dickens to investigate Mr Sneed, the local undertaker...

Verdict

The Unquiet Dead was an excellent episode of Doctor Who to continue my rewatch through Series 1! This is a terrific little story and a fantastic first venture back into the past for the series in the modern era. It does seem a little strange now to have an episode mid-series set during the Christmas period because of what would go onto become a tradition for over a decade with the Doctor Who Christmas Special, but it really does work well and just fits with the snowy setting. Victorian Cardiff is a magnificent setting and going back to my capital city during this period would be something I would love to do and see if there was anything recognisable whilst acknowledging all that has changed. We didn't get to see a huge amount of the city in this story, but it was more the period itself and just establishing Cardiff as the epicentre of the Rift that it is. I think this is a strong introduction to a fact that will be so crucial to a number of episodes to come along with the entire Torchwood spinoff. One element of the episode that I absolutely loved was seeing the Doctor watch Rose experience going into the past for the first time. It was obviously a huge deal and seeing how happy her excitement and anticipation made him was just superb. Billie Piper did look great in her Victorian attire and it was a little strange to have the Doctor call her beautiful with absolute honesty, only for him to reassert his character and add the caveat of considering she was human. That was a lot of fun. I was once again watching this one with Gemma and I was a little surprised to find that she usually skips this one on her rewatches as well which surprised me initially, only to remember that she is scared of almost any kind of jump or sudden moment when it comes to television so it kind of made sense in the end. She did jump at least once over the course of the episode which never fails to amuse me as the thought of finding this episode scary made me smile considering we're both grown adults! The Gelth are a fitting enemy and I really did love the moment where they had convinced the Doctor and Gwyneth to create the bridge through the Rift and allow them onto the planet to animate the corpses. The Doctor's sudden outburst to Rose about morality when she was adamant that the Gelth couldn't take over the dead. That seemed slightly unfair. The concept of the Gelth themselves was really good and gaseous creatures did look impressive with the special effects. The fire that came with them once their evil intentions were revealed was something I really enjoyed. Mr Sneed was a humorous character and his moment when the first corpse we saw came back to life and he was just annoyed by the inconvenience was hilarious. Charles Dickens as a historical character was tremendous and the scene when the Doctor discovers his identity in the horse and cart has to be up there as one of the best. Excellent stuff and it was just fantastic to see the Doctor happy and inundated with someone he was a big fan of. The ending of this episode is incredibly powerful and Gwyneth, who was such a magnificent character, sacrificing herself to take out the 'angels' with the match was so simple and yet so powerful. Rose's reaction said everything and it really was brilliant. As a whole, this was a fantastic episode to revisit with a very good plot and a hugely powerful ending. Overall, brilliant! 

Rating: 9/10