Boom Town (2005) Review

"You play a good game, boooooooy!"
"I have no idea what you're referencing." 

Boom Town's an amusing, heartfelt episode that puts forward some interesting ideas, but spends too much of the runtime waffling.

WRITTEN BY

Russell T. Davies, clearly doing some filler to try and tie up loose ends.

PLOT

The TARDIS lands in contemporary Cardiff to refuel, only to discover that the last surviving Slitheen has become mayor, with plans to build a dangerous nuclear power station. After capturing her, it becomes the Doctor's responsibility to escort her back to Raxacoricofallapatorious... to be executed.

ANALYSIS

It's an awkward mix of fluff and compelling drama, both of which are well executed, but just don't fit together for me. The first half of the episode where we see the newly formed TARDIS crew in action whizzes by fast, with lots of great banter and physical comedy as they hunt and capture the Slitheen. The Ninth Doctor, Rose and Jack are one of my favourite TARDIS teams and this is one of their tragically few stories, so of course I'm inclined to enjoy their chemistry.

The idea of the Doctor and his antagonist spending a few pleasurable hours together instead of fighting is also fantastic, and to be honest, it deserves to be in something more powerful and important than the comedy caper that Boom Town boils down to.

CHARACTERS

Annette Badlang, chewing the scenery with all her might, fully earns her spot amongst the Doctor's rogues gallery. She's by far the best part of the episode, hilarious and intimidating in equal parts. I especially love her facial acting at the very end, when she looks into the Heart of the TARDIS.

John Barrowman completely re-energizes the dynamic between the main characters, managing to (mostly) dispel the romantic chemistry between the Doctor and Rose. He just seems like a great guy to be around, and it's particularly fun to watch him and the Doctor talk about and compare their past adventures.

I kinda get what RTD is doing with Noel Clarke's Mickey character in terms of developing Rose(showing how she's being inconsiderate and has become overly used to the extravagant life she leads), but it just drags the show down. I'd much rather they simply had the two end their relationship there and then and kept Mickey around as a likable sidekick. It might not be as realistic, but it would sure make for better TV. Or at least tone down the whining from him and the self-absorbed attitude from her.

NOTES

*I love how messy the TARDIS looks in this episode, with wires tangled about all over the place. It reminds me a lot of when the Fourth Doctor did TARDIS maintenance(most notably in The Horns Of Nimon).

*They could've omitted the potty humor, no? Maybe?

*All four of them deserve a punch in the face for yelling and whooping in that restaurant. Manners!

*Jack going straight into military strategy(presumably picked up from the Time Agents) as they enter the mayor's building was brilliant. It's also really funny that nobody questions it(aside from the Doctor noting that he's in charge), as if he does this all the time.

*The sonic screwdriver being able to redirect teleports is a bit much.

*How can the Doctor tell the nuclear power station is designed to explore purely by looking at a bland model of a building?

*Why would a space-time rift be affected by the physical destruction of the planet? I guess because it's tied to Earth history? But would Blon be aware that the planet is still supposed to exist in the future?

*Here's the biggest question of the episode - why can't the Doctor pick a random, uninhabited planet in the universe and just drop Blon down to some nice Hawaiian beach?

*I'm surprised by how vulnerable the TARDIS crew are to her manipulations. You'd think one of them would be like "err no we're not executioners, screw you" and stare her right in the eyes out of spite alone.

*Is this the first time that the Doctor's habit of leaving quickly is brought up in dialogue?

*I don't get what's so funny about Margaret ending up on the Isle of Dogs after escaping from Downing Street. Particularly since it was right after her family got killed. Jack and the Doctor come off as jerks for laughing.

*Why would Jack provide the electrocuffs if he was the one who pointed out that she'd try and escape?

*Given that the poison Margaret exhaled was excess poison, why doesn't she try poisoning the Doctor or any of the crew later when they're distracted? Or indeed, how come we haven't seen the Slitheen use that ability before?

*It feels odd that Margaret would accuse the Doctor of being a killer based on his understanding of her psychology(letting the occasional victim go), given that he doesn't hunt victims - the people the Doctor's killed are aggressive towards him 99% of the time. But I guess she's relying on his guilt over killing at all.

*"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise!" Runner-up for best line.

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The concept of the TARDIS's heart being directly underneath the time rotor(as well as it having a consciousness of sorts) is taken directly from The Edge Of Destruction. That's a brilliant return to an old and seemingly forgotten concept.

2) The Doctor explains the function of the chameleon circuit, and how it got stuck in the 1960s, as depicted in An Unearthly Child.

3) Rose and the Doctor tell Mickey about their discovery of the rift in Victorian-era Cardiff, and Gwyneth sacrifice, which we saw in The Unquiet Dead. I love the way RTD uses elements from previous episodes and interweaves them into the current plot.

4) Amongst the locations that Rose has been to, she mentions Platform One, which the show visited in The End Of The World.

BEST QUOTE

"Don't worship me, I'd make a very bad God. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters." - The Doctor.

CONCLUSION

It's a bit of an oddball episode, but highly entertaining.