Season 2, Episode 7 - The Idiot's Lantern
As I said above, this story touches some interesting topics beyond the main storyline of a parasitic energy being from outer space. Mr Connolly is clearly a nasty piece of work, mentally and physically abusive of his family, not to mention the kind of bloke who spies on and rats out his neighbours.
In many ways it feels as if Mark Gatiss is speaking to his own father with many of the lines here. It certainly seems to have it's basis in reality. Or maybe I'm just relating to it on some deep level. Either way, these kind of smaller, human problems intermingling with the larger intergalactic menaces make for far more engaging stories in my opinion. They show The Doctor doesn't just fix the big problems, but helps fix people too.
He does this by getting angry
This particular intergalactic menace is The Wire, a very hungry creature who is giving people cheap TV in order to suck their faces off and create a new body during the Queen's coronation. The Doctor first realises something is wrong when he notices all the TV antennae around. I'm not sure if the shape of the aerials was symbolic, but if it was I can't think what they could be getting at.
Something about license fees, maybe.
The Wire is a nicely creepy Big Boss, and its evil plot is solid, but the goons are yet another zombie style monster. The one thing that saves it is the fact that whilst the faceless people are slowly revealed in the same manner as a monster, they are in fact the harmless victims of the real monster. It's actually quite a nice red herring for The Doctor to follow, and plays out well.
Good thing these suit trousers are brown.
Interestingly, the basic premise of a disembodied entity stealing people's essences was recycled in the much poorer episode The Bells of Saint John. Having re-watched this episode, it further highlights the deficiencies in that story, which suffered major pacing issues as well as from having a stupid monster.
None of my usual gripes appeared in this episode, apart from a hint of Deus Ex Screwdriver when The Doctor uses it to scan for brainwaves. It's a bit sad that I'm desensitised to the Sonic being used like this now. Ah well.
So yeah, this is a solid episode that offers a multifaceted story. The Torchwood reference was subtle, and the whole thing moved along nicely to a happy ending for most of those involved.
8/10
Can we fix it?
No, not really. It's not going to be a fan favourite, but this is a solid plot with no major weaknesses. I'd probably leave it as is.
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