Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! This time: creepy gas zombies, a historical celebrity, and our first hint of the season arc.
STORY:
That opening scene is a bit creepy, but also campy in exactly the way Doctor Who could be!
This is the first celebrity historical story, a concept that has become a staple in the revived series. The Victorian Cardiff setting, ghosts made of gas, and Charles Dickens create a dark but exciting atmosphere, and RTD cherishes portraying Dickens per the history books while making the Doctor a big fan of him.
The main story tries to illustrate how the Doctor, tired of witnessing death everywhere, decides to assist an alien race without considering the possibility that he might be misinterpreting their true intentions. It also allows Rose to question the Doctor's choices yet again. I also love how Dickens is pivotal to the solution.
Knowing Mark Gatiss and his writing style, it's no surprise that he combined the fascinating Victorian era of British history with a ghost story at Christmas, throwing in Charles Dickens for good measure. He sets the template for the celebrity historical and delivers a very straightforward but atmospheric adventure for Nine and Rose.
POPULATION:
Simon Callows does look and feel like Charles Dickens, even if the character himself ends up being pretty unlikeable. He is hardly the best historical celebrity the show has given us. Nine being a big fan of his is hilarious, though, and Eccleston puts his heart into this aspect.
Seeing Eve Myles as Gwyneth here is so weird, knowing that she will later go on to play Gwen in Torchwood. Gwyneth's psychic powers and the way she connects with Rose make her the most interesting supporting character, though her abilities could have played into the plot even more, even if I loved the way she sacrificed herself to save the world.
So these Gelth are essentially weird gas aliens, and they aren't exactly the most interesting new aliens (they feel very Big Finish), but at least they have an air of creepiness to them and the reanimated corpses. The only thing that makes the Gelth interesting is how the Time War has left them without bodies, making the Doctor and his people inadvertently responsible for their current state.
PRODUCTION:
This is the first historical story in the modern series, and it immediately shows how great the BBC is at producing period drama. The costumes and sets look fantastic, and the performances are also believable. The CGI on the Gelth looks like an old computer game.
Somehow, I feel that the music in its jollier forms doesn't fit the era very well, while the more dramatic tunes are great.
ATMOSPHERE:
This one has a slower pace, and the script revels in the setting and the people, leaving the alien threat to be a secondary thought until it's time to hurriedly bring them back into play. There's some friction between Rose and Nine surrounding the ethics of using dead people to feed the needs of a dying alien race, but it's not major.
The Victorian setting is an effective one to create a creepy atmosphere, which the gas aliens help to strengthen. This episode isn't as funny as the previous one, and the excitement relies more on the creepy factor than in both previous episodes.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
Remember the times the Doctor used to insist on their companions changing their attire to fit the tile period? Those were good times!
That "I'm going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff" bit could've been a great cliffhanger!
This is the first script by Doctor Who and Sherlock writer and actor Mark Gatiss, who had already written audio plays for Big Finish (such as Phantasmagoria, 1999) and has a special knack for writing historical episodes.
If my memory serves me correctly, Gwyneth is a descendant of Gwen, who will later join Torchwood in Cardiff in the 21st century.
The rift in Cardiff is the reason so many alien invasions take place there, as well as the reason Torchwood establishes a base in the city later.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Unquiet Dead shows the potential of historical stories in this new era of Doctor Who, but it hasn’t aged particularly well and isn't quite as gripping or memorable as the two previous adventures.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-16T18:20:52Z— updated 2024-05-02T13:04:03Z
:pray_tone2:63% = Okay! = Skippable!
Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! This time: creepy gas zombies, a historical celebrity, and our first hint of the season arc.
STORY:
That opening scene is a bit creepy, but also campy in exactly the way Doctor Who could be!
This is the first celebrity historical story, a concept that has become a staple in the revived series. The Victorian Cardiff setting, ghosts made of gas, and Charles Dickens create a dark but exciting atmosphere, and RTD cherishes portraying Dickens per the history books while making the Doctor a big fan of him.
The main story tries to illustrate how the Doctor, tired of witnessing death everywhere, decides to assist an alien race without considering the possibility that he might be misinterpreting their true intentions. It also allows Rose to question the Doctor's choices yet again. I also love how Dickens is pivotal to the solution.
Knowing Mark Gatiss and his writing style, it's no surprise that he combined the fascinating Victorian era of British history with a ghost story at Christmas, throwing in Charles Dickens for good measure. He sets the template for the celebrity historical and delivers a very straightforward but atmospheric adventure for Nine and Rose.
POPULATION:
Simon Callows does look and feel like Charles Dickens, even if the character himself ends up being pretty unlikeable. He is hardly the best historical celebrity the show has given us. Nine being a big fan of his is hilarious, though, and Eccleston puts his heart into this aspect.
Seeing Eve Myles as Gwyneth here is so weird, knowing that she will later go on to play Gwen in Torchwood. Gwyneth's psychic powers and the way she connects with Rose make her the most interesting supporting character, though her abilities could have played into the plot even more, even if I loved the way she sacrificed herself to save the world.
So these Gelth are essentially weird gas aliens, and they aren't exactly the most interesting new aliens (they feel very Big Finish), but at least they have an air of creepiness to them and the reanimated corpses. The only thing that makes the Gelth interesting is how the Time War has left them without bodies, making the Doctor and his people inadvertently responsible for their current state.
PRODUCTION:
This is the first historical story in the modern series, and it immediately shows how great the BBC is at producing period drama. The costumes and sets look fantastic, and the performances are also believable. The CGI on the Gelth looks like an old computer game.
Somehow, I feel that the music in its jollier forms doesn't fit the era very well, while the more dramatic tunes are great.
ATMOSPHERE:
This one has a slower pace, and the script revels in the setting and the people, leaving the alien threat to be a secondary thought until it's time to hurriedly bring them back into play. There's some friction between Rose and Nine surrounding the ethics of using dead people to feed the needs of a dying alien race, but it's not major.
The Victorian setting is an effective one to create a creepy atmosphere, which the gas aliens help to strengthen. This episode isn't as funny as the previous one, and the excitement relies more on the creepy factor than in both previous episodes.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
Remember the times the Doctor used to insist on their companions changing their attire to fit the tile period? Those were good times!
That "I'm going to die in a dungeon in Cardiff" bit could've been a great cliffhanger!
This is the first script by Doctor Who and Sherlock writer and actor Mark Gatiss, who had already written audio plays for Big Finish (such as Phantasmagoria, 1999) and has a special knack for writing historical episodes.
If my memory serves me correctly, Gwyneth is a descendant of Gwen, who will later join Torchwood in Cardiff in the 21st century.
The rift in Cardiff is the reason so many alien invasions take place there, as well as the reason Torchwood establishes a base in the city later.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Unquiet Dead shows the potential of historical stories in this new era of Doctor Who, but it hasn’t aged particularly well and isn't quite as gripping or memorable as the two previous adventures.