I didn't have high hopes for this episode . Sure I was prejudiced since it was written by Gareth Roberts who's probably a love him or hate him type of writer . His last co-written contribution to the show Planet Of The Dead is in my opinion the worst episode of NuWho . Add to this the previous " Next Time "trailer gave away the entire premise of " an alien lodger traps humans in a flat " and there is no surprises left in the story , a story that is completely threadbare . so Roberts pads it out with comedy . The unfortunate thing is Roberts has a natural grasp for comedy as Sarah Palin has a natural grasp for science . Roberts has written an episode where the Doctor pratfalls about trying to impress us with his zany persona . Unfortunately Smith is as suited for comedy as the Taliban are suited for female equality . It's nice to know that I'm not the only one here who found Smith's performance bordering on the embarrassing , and I thought Love And Monsters was a work of twisted genius . Please can we have no more comedy episodes , especially if the episode centres around the Doctor ?
Having said that Smith shouldn't be blamed too much since the script is problematic in other areas , especially where internal continuity and internal logic are concerned . The Doctor has spent long periods of his many lives living amongst humans . The Pertwee era was very Earth bound , likewise NuWho but for some reason the Doctor claims he doesn't know what it's like to be human ? I wonder if Roberts is only a fan of the Doctor Who episodes he writes ? As for the internal logic I know the show is often classed as " fantasy " but is that any reason to have so much dumbness involved ? An alien poses as a lodger on present day Earth , he tricks passing humans in to his room . Okay there's a suspension of disbelief involved but it's not beyond saving . However what brings the illusion crashing down is there's no reality/realism involved . Isn't there news reports of people going missing in the area etc ? There's an element of " oh well it's Doctor Who therefore we'll not bother making anything sensible " at play here
In conclusion The Lodger is an off the wall comedy episode produced to tie with the 2010 World Cup but one that fails miserably on every level . In fact it's very fitting that an hour after it was broadcast England goal keeper let in a howler against the USA . This is the season five equivalent of that howler , a season that has failed to take take off for me and the trailer for next weeks episode has me believing that this will almost certainly be the worst season of NuWho produced . In fact you'll have to go back to the mid/late 1980s to see a DOCTOR WHO season that has been as disappointing as this
