Boom Town

"Nothing is more important than human life."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 04 June 2005

Series: 1.11

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack

Synopsis

The TARDIS crew take a short holiday in Cardiff, but the Doctor soon encounters an enemy he thought was long since dead. A plan to build a nuclear power station in the heart of Cardiff disguises an aline plot to rip the world apart...

Verdict

Boom Town was an excellent episode! As we reach the final stages on the Series 1 rewatch, this serves as a fine sequel to Aliens of London/World War Three! The idea of following on an adventure later in the series when we have already had a two-parter is arguably a bold one given that it ends up taking around a third of the entire series up, but it's really good stuff! The setting of Cardiff might have something to do with that given my locale to the city and it being my capital, and I must admit that I enjoyed finding some little faults with the use of the setting. For one, Mickey just wouldn't be getting off at Cardiff Central train station when he was heading to the Bay so that was privately amusing and I also thought the idea of a nuclear power plant in the location of Cardiff Castle laughable! There's just no way such an iconic landmark that is absolutely central to the city centre and a huge tourist attraction would be demolished. The plans behind that though were interesting and the return of Margaret, at least that was the Slitheen's disguise, as the new Mayor of Cardiff was wonderful. The plans showing that the plant was almost designed to fail was good and I thought it was great that it was actually close to the final stages of approval. The TARDIS being parked at the Rift for fuel was nice and the continuity from The Unquiet Dead was delightful. The trio of the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack were just magnificent and seeing how much they were loving one another's company was delightful. Throwing Mickey into the mix was marvellous and it worked well for the enemy at hand to be one he was familiar with having played a big role in their initial defeat. The moment where the companions high five and literally sing about their adventures in time... and space! is just marvellous. I love that. The Doctor's reaction to Mickey clearly seeing Jack as a threat to Rose in the looks department was terrific and I really liked that they were all just having a good time in Cardiff. What better place for it? The Doctor's reaction when he sees the front cover of the newspaper with the familiar face of the Slitheen was excellent and the way things shifted from fun to serious was sublime. The moment where the Doctor asks to see the Lord Mayor and her assistant tries to cover up the fact she's climbing out of the window is so well done. I liked how there was no messing around in showing that Margaret was actually a Slitheen this time around, but she was clearly impacted by the loss of her brothers at the Doctor's hands. Her inability to kill upon learning the news that the journalist was married and expecting a child was really good, but the shift in her plan after the meal with the Doctor was superb. I loved that she wanted one last meal and the way she was treating the Doctor as her executioner was fantastic. I was a big fan of that and her efforts to change the Doctor's mind in taking her back home to her death were admirable. The sequence of the last meal is sublime stuff and Eccleston plays it so well. The pair work so well together. The danger of the Rift opening up after her extrapolator cottoned onto the TARDIS for energy was brilliant and the image of Rose running back to the Doctor was excellent. I loved the simplicity of Margaret just unzipping her arm to hold Rose was a fine image but her actions resulting in literally opening up the heart of the TARDIS was magnificent. Margaret was inundated with what she saw and that was a brilliant moment followed by a humorous ending as she reverted back to an egg. The Bad Wolf moment shifting from being incredibly serious to being disregarded to laughs was lovely and I loved that it was in Welsh for this episode. Overall, a fantastic episode! 

Rating: 9/10