| Screen Caps | ||||
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| The Story |
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The Doctor and Rose land in 1953 on the day before Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation. Strange things have been going on, however. Rose notices that every house down a London
street appears to have a Television, something unheard of for that time. It’s not the only problem though; the Police are collecting people whose faces have been removed
by a being known as ‘The Wire’, inhabiting the Television sets.
The Doctor finds the Police’s secret hideout to find out what’s happening whilst Rose visits Mr Magpie, the shop owner who is flogging the Television sets off cheap. Whilst there however, Rose ends up as another victim of ‘The Wire’ and becomes trapped as a face within the TV. The Doctor revisits the home of the Connellys alongside the Police Inspector to ask Tommy, the son, how his Nan’s face was wiped from her head. Tommy’s answer leads them to Magpie’s shop where the Doctor confronts ‘The Wire’. However, things go badly as she begins to suck the life out of him and his two friends. Can the Doctor stop this being from sucking the life out of twenty million Britons?... |
| Memorable Quotes |
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Doctor: Men in black. Vanishing Police Cars. This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia!
Rose: As for you Mr Connelly, only an idiot hangs the Union flag upside down. Shame on you! The Wire: The box Magpie, the Box!
Magpie: You promised me peace!
Doctor: Been burning the candle at both ends? You've over-extended yourself missus! |
| Editor's Review |
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The Idiot’s Lantern is another good story penned by Mark Gatiss, writer of last year’s chilling story The Unquiet Dead. Rose’s part in the tale is quite limited as she
ends up a victim of the big bad, which leaves room for one of the supporting cast, a teenager played quite well by Rory Jennings, to fill her shoes for the remainder of the
story. The Wire is also played well by Maureen Lipman, whose voice really fits the part of a fifties TV continuity announcer, though her dialogue is a little bit unconvincing
at times, especially when she says “The box Magpie. The Box!”. That was a really cheesy and obvious line.
David Tennant, complete with period hairdo, put in a good performance again and was able to act perform the contrasting moods well. Rose did feel a bit surplus to requirements this week, as she did in the previous story, but she can’t be deeply involved in every story I guess. I’m looking forward to next week’s episode (Dan Ludlow) |