SFX Magazine

TV REVIEW: Doctor Who 4.11 "Turn Left"

Written by: Russell T Davies

Directed by: Graeme Harper

Rating:

THE ONE WHERE
Rose returns, the Doctor dies and Donna plays a cosmic game of consequences, discovering she may be the most important woman in the whole of creation…

VERDICT
A clever, powerful episode, revisiting and remixing some of New Who’s greatest hits into strange new shapes. Davies dares to take a cheeky visual gag from Voyage of the Damned – the Titanic’s near miss with Buckingham Palace – and turn it on its head, showing how a Christmas Day chuckle can be an inch from huge human tragedy. There’s a pleasingly polemical edge to its depiction of Britain as a nightmare state – at odds with the show’s usual championing of humanity – and a surprisingly chilling realisation of just how much we need that skinny boy in the pinstripes and Converse.

HIGHLIGHT
The moment where a trembly Wilf announces that “The stars are going out!” packs a primal shiver. All hail the Cribbins!

INFLUENCES
The premise is pure Sliding Doors, of course, but this style of ‘What if?’ scenario has been an SF banker for years. The beetle on the back owes a conceptual debt to the giant, shoulder-hugging arachnids of 1974 Jon Pertwee tale "Planet of the Spiders".

TRIVIA
The beetle is said to be “one of the Trickster’s brigade” – the Trickster was a time-bending foe in the first series of Sarah Jane Adventures.

DID YOU SPOT?
Lots of tingly throwaway references for Who nuts, from Rose’s mention of a causal nexus (last heard in Tom Baker’s 1981 swansong "Logopolis") to the fact that Sarah Jane used to write for Metropolitan magazine, consistent with her intro in 1973’s "The Time Warrior". They don’t just throw this together, you know.

STAR TURN
Catherine Tate. Who else? She totally owns this showcase episode, resurrecting the raucous harpy from The Runaway Bride before reminding us just why we love Donna so much now. Heroic, huggable and just damn lovely.

SPECULATION
So what’s the truth behind Donna Noble, then? Pringle-loving temp from Chiswick or key player in some secret cosmic drama? As the Doctor says, “Sometimes I think there’s way too much coincidence around you, Donna…” Feel those series finale hints, people.

BEST LINE
Wilf: “Come on, you’re not going to make the world any better by shouting at it.”
Donna: “I can try.”

Nick Setchfield

Doctor Who: Pest Control Podcast

Just received this heads-up from BBC Audio:

If you have a half hour-sized gap in your wall-to-wall entertainment schedule, you might be interested to hear the first of BBC Audiobooks’ new Behind the Mic podcast series, now available for free at iTunes. It’s hosted by Yours Truly and focuses on the audio original story Doctor Who: Pest Control, read by the brilliant David Tennant, with contributions from the writer, producer and music composer. There are plenty of clips, and it zips along quite merrily, so stick it on your MP3 player and take us wherever you travel! (Otherwise sit at your computer and fidget.)

To hear the podcast click here. It will take approx 10 mins to download. Once downloaded click on the ‘podcasts’ tab in the left-hand menu and it will be there ready to play. Future episodes will download upon opening iTunes.