Aliens Of London/World War Three (2005) Review

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Aliens Of London/World War Three modernises the Earth invasion trope by making it global as well as more emotionally affecting, but it's a clumsy step forward, with plenty of tonal imbalance.

WRITTEN BY

Russell T. Davies, building on the gritty urban environment he introduced in Rose.

PLOT

After bringing Rose back to see her family one year too late, the Doctor witnesses an alien ship crashland into the Thames, also alerting the entire planet in the process. As paranoia builds, he and Rose uncover a conspiracy in 10 Downing Street to take control over Earth's armaments, but for a far more sinister purpose than mere domination...

ANALYSIS

I've got no qualms with the basic storyline. The Slitheen's scheme is fairly well thought-out, as is the character development of the recurring characters. I think it's a good, sturdy script that gives everyone something meaningful to do and manages to completely freshen up a fairly dusty concept by upping the stakes.

That being said, this story neuters itself quite a bit with its messy presentation. It's very good at being dramatic and moody, with the occasional dash of wit(mainly from the Doctor and Harriet Jones), but the exaggerated design and behaviour of the Slitheen is straight out of season 17 Doctor Who. Although somehow I doubt the farting, integrated into the plot or not, would've passed even Douglas Adams.

As CGI, they're obviously dated, but even the costumes are terrible. The claws are far too heavy for the actors and so they drag their arms around and really put their back into it whenever they actually have to use their limbs. It looks cheap and silly. I could go with it, but much like Survival, the rest of the story is trying to convince me it's dramatic and something to take notice of and get invested in, leaving the crap costumes standing out far more than they should. This didn't fly in 1989 anymore and it sure as heck doesn't fly in 2005. When the fake pig alien looks more alien than your aliens, you've got a problem.

One could also criticise RTD for the globalisation attempt altogether, since bringing aliens into the civilian world would create future continuity issues for a time travel show and they'd be technically right. But I think that for now, the benefits of that decisions outweighed the cons. RTD made the show bigger and better, and that's what it needed at the time to distinguish itself from the classic series(since that era's reputation was still fairly in the gutter at the time).

CHARACTERS

While I could never say he's bad, I don't think Eccleston really thrives on this script. There are some clever Doctorly moments that I love, such as his ability to take command of the UNIT troops by purely relying on their instinctual obedience to a figure of authority, as well as how he manages to outwit the Slitheen despite being confined to the Cabinet Room.
Something is missing though. Maybe it's the fact that he has to share Rose with Jackie and Mickey, or a lack of a truly compelling villain to go up against, but the Ninth Doctor felt a bit on autopilot in this story.

Billie Piper has some great scenes as Rose has to try and convey to her mum that she didn't abandon her whilst having accidentally done so. I found it interesting that she now seems to perceive the Doctor as being "better than a boyfriend", leaving how she feels about him somewhat ambiguous, but clearly more important than Mickey.

Annette Badland is easily the highlight of the story and the only really menacing Slitheen - she manages to make the character's inherent campiness genuinely unnerving by taking a sort of Joker-ish pleasure out of everything she does. I'm excited to see her(far superior) comeback later on in the season.

Ah, Rupert Vansittart... or as I've always known him, "the Lord from Heartbeat". Always nice seeing him.

Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke are probably best served by this story, as Mickey and Jackie both get quite a bit of growing - Mickey manages to earn the Doctor's respect and make up for his failings during his previous appearance and Jackie starts to come to terms with her daughter's new life. I think both characters are underrated.

And then of course there's Penelope Wilton. We all know who she is. It's strange looking back and seeing Harriet's humble beginnings. Of course the moral fiber we all know and love is there, but the writing for her character is a bit all over the place. Given that she's otherwise fairly reasonable, I do find it strange that she'd stick around in Downing Street for her hospital thing in the midst of an obvious world-changing crisis.

NOTES

*What's the point in adding a series recap to the start of this episode, given we're only four episodes in? I mean, yeah, this episode is pretty much the first after Rose's introduction to time-travelling(an Earthbased adventure, futuristic space adventure and historical), but I still think it's unnecessary. Maybe it's just a DVD thing?

*The Doctor accidentally bringing Rose back a year later is a nice nod to his former TARDIS-driving troubles.

*The greenscreen background on the roof is a bit distracting. Reminds me of The Room a bit.

*Why would the Doctor think 2005 Earth could potentially have first contact with aliens? Is he just trying to keep Rose from panicking?

*When we first see the newsreel on TV, it has a very odd dramatic tune behind it, which disappears when the channel is changed and changed back... only to then return after a cut. I really don't get it.

*I love how much personality this TARDIS console room has, with all the steam and bits and bobs breaking apart, and the Doctor having to hammer his own console. It really gives the impression of a very old ship held together by the seams.

*What exactly was Harriet planning to do when she snuck in to read all those classified documents? She could've gone to jail for that!

*Interestingly, the Doctor appears to have either kept up to date with contemporary UNIT military tactics("Defense pattern Delta!") or they haven't changed since the 80s. Or we've had unseen adventures in-between.

*That being said, the Doctor clearly implies he hasn't met UNIT yet in this incarnation, and actually uses that as an excuse for why he can't call them for help. Which doesn't really make sense, given that the Fifth Doctor used his UNIT credentials in Time-Flight without checking in with them. I mean, the Doctor also suggests that he doesn't want to mix up the situation by introducing himself as yet another alien, which makes sense. I think maybe he also doesn't want to deliberately get involved with the army again so soon after the Time War.

 *We see the effect of the TARDIS key glowing as a signal for its arrival for the first time.

*How does Jackie know the name of the TARDIS? We never see Rose mentioning it to her.

*I'm glad the Doctor stops taking the mickey out of Mickey(for the most part), because I do like to think he sees the best in people, even him. That being said, the Doctor is a bit of a stubborn, arrogant old goat at times...

*Apparently, there's information on the Doctor's relationship with UNIT on the internet, as Mickey is at least somewhat aware of their history. I'd love to know what got out.

*Given that the helicopter's spotlight was on everyone who exited the TARDIS, how was Mickey able to avoid UNIT's detection? I guess they just figured the Doctor was the only relevant one?

*Slitheen claws are apparently retractable, although once we see them extend the things, they stay so for the duration of the entire story(the practical prop having been designed that way).

*The Doctor casually nodding to Rose and Harriet from within the lift as they run for their lives is hilarious.

*I like the wavy special effect used on the sonic when it's in action(similar to how heat distorts our vision).

*Why is there a Slitheen in a random police officer? All the others seem to be in strategic positions. I wonder what they were using him for.

*The RTD trope of invoking sadness by having the characters admit to not knowing a victim's name makes its first appearance.

*Harriet's rather hypocritical in accusing Rose of making jokes mid-crisis when she herself was quipping alongside the Doctor earlier.

*When Harriet asks if the Doctor has no one he could call for help, he replies that they're all dead downstairs, but surely that can't be true. Someone must still be in charge of UNIT. The Brigadier?

*Everyone's made fun of the "buffalo" password, so I'm not even gonna touch that dead horse.

*The whole dilemma over whether Rose is safe or not is ridiculous. Of course she's not safe! And why even bother asking whether they should fire the missile towards 10 Downing Street or not? It's either "Rose may die" or "everyone PLUS ROSE will definitely die". Like, no-brainer much?

*Love the whole "narrows it down!" sequence as the Doctor works out the Slitheen's origins.

*How did the Doctor, Rose and Harriet know the vinegar mix worked? They all sigh in
relief the second the Slitheen explodes, but they weren't even there! All they heard was an explosion over the phone.

*Apparently, the Ninth Doctor dislikes whiskey, as Eccleston makes a very disgusted face after drinking just before the camera cuts away.

*How does Mickey know where to fire the missile? Is the episode just skipping over these details and we're supposed to assume the Doctor told him what to do with it?

*Also, buffalo or no buffalo, why couldn't the military override Mickey's commands if he could do that to them?

*If the people think the Slitheen attack was a hoax, how did Harriet get elected? Did she just go along with the fake-up to make the people feel better? That doesn't sound very Harriet-y. But I suppose being in power would make one reconsider things from a different perspective.

*Jackie mentions Rose's grandma, from whom she apparently kept her disappearance from. I wonder what she thought after the whole Battle of Canary Wharf? Did somebody bother to update her on all that?

*Love the NEXT TIME trailers. Shame they stopped doing those.

BEST QUOTE

*in the middle of a standoff with the Slitheen*
DOCTOR: "Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it."
HARRIET: "You pass it to the left first."
DOCTOR: "Sorry." *hands it to Rose instead*

That kind of subtle, slightly awkward comedy always cheers me up way more than the overt jokes, because it's true to life, you know?

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The TARDIS returns to the Powell Estate introduced in Rose.

2) Rose explains the Doctor's northern accent to Harriet with the same line of dialogue as the former: "Lots of planets have a north."

CONCLUSION

It's got its place in Doctor Who history and I remember thoroughly enjoying it years ago, but it's not really aged well for me.