The Idiot's Lantern

"Are you sitting comfortably?"

Writer: Mark Gatiss

Format: TV

Broadcast: 27 May 2006

Series: 2.07

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

It's 1953 and Great Britain huddles round its television sets to witness the great event of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, but beneath the celebrations, there are rumours of monsters on the streets, and the tormented Mr Magpie is hiding a strange and alien secret.

Verdict

The Idiot's Lantern was an excellent episode to continue my rewatch of the second series of the modern era of Doctor Who! I think this is the first episode that I've actually revised my rating for and this ended up getting an improvement because I was really impressed with this one. I thought it was great to see the Doctor and Rose just having a lot of fun together after their recent ventures and the idea of them getting to enjoy seeing Elvis in New York was magnificent. Of course, it didn't quite turn out that way as the TARDIS actually landed in London during 1953 and the way the time period was presented was superb. I really loved how of its time this story felt with the likes of the television sets, the costumes and even the music a real standout. That was a hugely impressive element of the episode in my opinion and something that might go unnoticed. The looks of the Doctor and Rose as well are just great and the former having his hair slicked back just adds to the amusement. Rose immediately spotting that the entire street had television aerials was brilliant and shows how valued she is as a companion because she recalled the story of her family and how everyone was huddled into one house because of how expensive they were. The cheap availability of the television sets from Magpie Electricals was intriguing and I love how there is extended continuity that I was able to spill to Gemma during our watching. The return in Loose Wire and also the First Doctor buying materials from Magpie Electricals in Hunters of Earth have been really nice touches so I was delighted to spread some useless knowledge! Eddie Connolly made for a fantastic character and kudos must go to the actor as well because I thought he was outstanding. He seemed like such a stereotypical war servant of the time and the masculinity of him was interesting. The relationship he had with Rita was quite shocking in parts with how controlling he was so it was a sheer delight when the Doctor and Rose arrived impersonating as Royal representatives. The way the Doctor goads Eddie into putting up the Union Flags as evidence of their patriotism by using the Queen to disprove his thoughts on women and housework was superb. I loved that and Rose getting in on the act as well with the Union Jack comment was terrific. The Wire makes for a brilliant enemy and the fact that this episode takes place in the 1950s with the classic television sets made her an even better antagonist. It just worked really well with those classic retro designs. The Doctor's reaction to finding that Rose was a victim of the Wire and became faceless was outstanding and I liked how angry he was and showed that there would be nothing that could stop him now. He obviously cares for Rose a great deal but this was just further evidence. A sublime performance from David Tennant. Magpie himself was a good character and I liked how the Wire had him under her fingers. The threat of using the Royal Coronation and all of the eyes that would be on that to feed the Wire and allow her to gain corporeal form was excellent. I thought the tension of the conclusion with the mast climb was exciting and the way the Doctor trapped the Wire on her portable device was very good and his plan to tape over it was a lot of fun. Overall, a fantastic episode!

Rating: 9/10