"Doctor Who" The Idiot's Lantern (2006)

Director:

Euros Lyn

Writer:

Mark Gatiss (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

27 May 2006 (Season 2, Episode 7)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In 1950s London, the police are hunting down strange, mute creatures. The people of Britain gather around their new-fangled "tele-vision" sets to celebrate the new Queen's coronation - but is something affecting the signal?

Plot Keywords:

1950s | Reference To Winston Churchill | Apostrophe In Title | Tardis | Punctuation In Title

Cast

David Tennant	...	The Doctor
Billie Piper	...	Rose Tyler
Maureen Lipman	...	The Wire
Ron Cook	...	Magpie
Jamie Foreman	...	Eddie Connolly
Debra Gillett	...	Rita Connolly
Rory Jennings	...	Tommy Connolly
Margaret John	...	Grandma Connolly
Sam Cox	...	Detective Inspector Bishop
Ieuan Rhys	...	Crabtree
Jean Challis	...	Aunty Betty
Christopher Driscoll	...	Security Guard
Marie Lewis	...	Mrs. Gallagher

Runtime:

45 min | 45 min (50 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG

Trivia:

This episode was watched by 6.758 million viewers on its original transmission.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: A camera and a crew member are reflected in the Doctor's and Rose's glasses whilst they are riding on the scooter shortly after the opening credits.

Quotes:

Eddie: You! Get the hell out of my house!
Rose: I'm going, I'm done! Nice to meet you Tommy. Mrs Connolly. And as for you Mr Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside down. Shame on you!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Doctor Who Confidential: Welcome to Torchwood (#2.12)" (2006)

Slightly Disappointing

I remember looking forward to this since it was written by THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN'S Mark Gatiss who wrote the previous years story featuring Charles Dickens and gas zombies . But after seeing the episode I felt rather disappointed and it's down to one very simple reason . The entire plot is summed up in the pre title sequence . After this - which I do agree is effective enough - we still have to endure a story which we know will end up with the Doctor defeating the alien and it's just a question of how . There's little surprise involved and this week's obligatory dysfunctional family subplot is more irritating than usual .

There is one other aspect conspicuous by its absence and that is Gatiss is a big fan of the QUATERMASS serials . For some reason the story is set at the Queen's coronation which was no doubt a big national event at the time but surely 1950s television was the decade where Nigel Kneale as a household name . Imagine if the audience had been watching an episode of QUATERMASS ? Wouldn't that have been a brilliant post modernist tour de force ?