The Long Game

"Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Released: 7th May 2005

Series: 1.07

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Adam

Synopsis 

In the far future, Satellite Five broadcasts to the entire Earth Empire. Nothing escapes the eye of the sinister Editor and the Doctor suspects mankind is being manipulated. But just who is the Editor working for? And does Adam have what it takes to become the Time Lord's companion? 

Verdict 

The Long Game is a superb episode of Doctor Who's first revived series and remains in my top three or four stories of the Ninth Doctor. Only Dalek and Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways beat it from Christopher Eccleston's incarnation but I can't decide whether it's better than The Unquiet Dead or not. Whether it is or it isn't is really quite academic because only one thing matters and that's that it was brilliant! Following on from his reluctant arrival as companion at the end of the last episode, Adam's stay was short lived and pretty uneventful. It's no secret why either in my opinion as I found him pretty boring. There's no way he'd have a chance with Rose! Speaking of which, I must mention how gorgeous Billie Piper looked in this episode! They really do know how to pick these companions as beautiful actresses don't they! I'm not complaining in the slightest. In regards to the series direction and the character of Rose, I'm not sure why she was so keen to have Adam travel in the TARDIS with her and the Doctor. She seemed to accept that he was her boyfriend which led me to think why wouldn't she want Mickey to travel with them in the TARDIS instead? I mean, he is her boyfriend isn't he? There's a massive relationship between them at least. I also thought about Rose's reaction to Mickey becoming companion in School Reunion also and I was baffled. But anyway, it was nice to have a story not set directly on Earth again! The End of the World was quite similar with the space station setting but I thought this was better. The year 200,000 in the midst of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire was a great setting and I really liked Satellite Five. The different floors were good and of course they'll be a lot more significant in the series finale when the Satellite is returned to. I liked how the satellite was a news broadcast hub. In 198,000 years time it looks like we'll have 600 channels of simply news! I doubt I'll tune in. The inclusion of the BadWolfTV channel was excellently subtle but I do wonder what Captain Jack gets up to biologically in his extreme future! The Face of Boe was pregnant! How a giant head is going to give birth though I'm not quite sure. Cathica and Suki were fantastic characters and I liked how they both played an important part in the climax. Cathica's passion to get promoted to Floor 500 was intriguing to see and I liked how that quickly changed once she got there. She and Suki both got on well with the Doctor which was nice to see. Suki seemed to be smitten with him though but I'm sure Rose wouldn't have had any of it! The head chipping was quite horrific to see and what Adam was thinking getting the whole whammy fitted I don't know. He couldn't even vomit properly anymore! His wish to know all about human history was understandable but his methods weren't. Why couldn't he just be honest? After the Doctor's devious meddling got him all the way upstairs, I found the Suki revelation before that most interesting. Through her we were introduced to the Editor played tremendously by Simon Pegg and the truth about Satellite Five was soon known. The Mighty Jagrafess was an atrocity of a being! I'm envious of the 3,000 year lifespan though. The fact that it simply allowed human life to exist was a bit modest I thought. It's relationship with the Editor was quite humorous. I loved how the Doctor knew that something was wrong with humanity, ever so slightly shifted. He thought it had been held back around 90 years and then it was clear that things weren't right. It was no coincidence that Satellite Five had been broadcasting 91 years. Adam having his surgery was good and I found that nurse extremely alluring! The way he inadvertently donbed the Doctor up as being a Time Lord was sheer stupidity though. The Editor almost had access to the TARDIS but thanks to Cathica's brilliance inspired by the Doctor, she put a stop to things. She ventilated heat upwards which resulted in the Jagrafess bursting and the Editor and those under its influence dead. Humanity could get back on track now. Things would never be the same for Adam again though as he was literally booted out of the TARDIS by the Doctor. The humour with the finger clicking gave us a good comedic end. Overall, a great episode! 

Rating: 9/10