Army of Ghosts

"Then came the army of ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the war."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 1st July 2006

Series: 2.12

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

Rose and the Tenth Doctor return to modern-day London to find a mysterious epidemic of ghosts all over the world. As the Doctor searches Torchwood Tower to find answers, something sinister lurks in the building...

Verdict

Army of Ghosts was an excellent episode and serves as a superb first part of the finale of this second series of revived Doctor Who. It really does set things up brilliantly but as well as doing that, it was brilliant in its own right. After twelve episodes of hearing the world Torchwood subtly mentioned, we finally get to see what the series has been building up towards and it's rather eventful to say the least! Rose returned home for the first time in a while and things definitely seemed different now that she was back. The idea of a ghost shift is more than intriguing and I liked how the Doctor and Rose arrived at a time where the general public had accepted them as normality. After comically flicking through the television channels, the Doctor wasn't at all convinced that things were normal. Jackie was a little annoyed that he brought things down to science but he found the whole idea of apparent loved ones coming back from the dead horrific. The recurring phrase of "a footprint doesn't look like a boot" was fantastic and I liked how that kept us with the seeds of doubt in our minds. Were the ghosts actually friendly? It would evidently turn out not to be the case but the early arrival of a Cyberman squashed any hopes that things were normal. In this universe, they shouldn't exist after the events of Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, which was nicely referenced, but they were here and they were also gaining control of Torchwood staff. It was interesting to see Freema Agyeman prior to her role as Martha but she was soon killed off thanks to the Doctor putting a stop to the Cyber control over her. The Doctor's arrival to the Torchwood Tower, or Canary Wharf as it was more commonly known, was great with him trying to find the point of origin of the ghosts. Yvonne Hartman was an excellent character and I liked how she proudly showed the Doctor around the place. They had some impossible things in their possession and there were also good references to The Christmas Invasion and Tooth and Claw. The Doctor forgetting that Jackie was on board the TARDIS was quite humorous and I liked how she was chosen to take the usual place of companion while the Doctor kept Rose hidden inside the TARDIS. There was a terrific reference to Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways but Rose eventually got caught out as she investigated the sphere which the Doctor announced was a void ship. The mystery behind that was brilliant and I liked how we were supposed to think that there was something to do with the Cybermen inside. That didn't turn out to be the case though as once the ghosts were sublimely revealed to be Cybermen, the Daleks emerged just to plunge things into considerably more chaos. I loved that we had a recognisable Cyber Leader and I just loved the whole episode really! There was a great nod to Pyramids of Mars with the inclusion of an Egyptian sarcophagus and there was also a good reference to Rose as well as a wonderful foreshadowing of Voyage of the Damned. Mickey's arrival was brilliant and I liked how Rose didn't react. The Doctor was pretty helpless when it came to the cliffhanger which was good and now he's got both Cybermen and Daleks to deal with! Quite the setup for a finale. Overall, a simply superb episode.