(731) 42

Two years ago today, I started An Unearthly Child. A year ago I was watching the first episode of Death to the Daleks. I started watching an episode a day and I didn’t think that I would last that long but here I am on the second anniversary and watching an episode that I had never rated that highly. The initial idea of the episode is rather good. The Doctor and Martha have 42 minutes before the ship they land on crashes into the sun. The story is effectively told in real time and there is a clock that appears ever so often to show us how long there is left. The thing is that it doesn’t seem to really stick to it and kind of gives up to it towards the end just as the tension is starting to get racked up.

I think that one of the reasons why I haven’t like this story in the past is the silly question system that Riley and Martha are trying to answer. Answering such questions as to who had the most sales isn’t something that really works. Also the fact that Martha rings her mother to answer the question. The second time that she rings her mom it’s done slightly better. There is a strange woman in the room with Francine. The actress is Elize Du Toit and she is honestly credited as Sinister Woman.

Graeme Harper directs a Doctor Who for the final time and he signs off in style. This episode has a claustrophobic and grubby feel to it. Watching it I felt hot and the episode does move along at a good pace. Ok I have found this episode to be better than I remember it. It’s not a classic by any means but there aren’t as many faults as I remember. The design of the ship is something that works in the favour of the story and it hides the fact that this is a studio bound story and that there aren’t any outside scenes.

The highlight of the episode comes when the Doctor is infected and he gets to say BURN WITH ME. This is one of the strongest performances that Tennant has given for quite sometime. I like that he gives a bit of vulnerability to these scenes and its not a side of the Doctor that we have seen before. Freema Agyeman continues to impress and manages to give a solid performance.

At the end of the day I think whilst this is a good episode, its one that sort of fills the gap in the running order. The rest of the season is something that I am really looking forward to especially tomorrows episode so this story is always one of those that is destined to be forgotten. Had this happened in the previous series then it would be one of the best but when the stories in a series are so strong then anything that isn’t as good wont stand out.