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  • I enjoyed this episode. Seeing a return of a villain that makes them better than they were originally is rare. The central theme of this episode is how to do right by people - whether that's treating your friends right or your enemies.

    I am glad that Rose finally had to confront Mickey. It is hard to blame her for wanting a more exciting life, but just running off leaving her boyfriend in the lurch is terrible behaviour. But on this the Doctor (and Jack) haven't been great supports. At the very end, when Rose clearly needs to talk to someone, they both just completely ignore her. They are all getting along quite well at the start of the episode, so it is rather jarring to end like that.

    Being forced to confront justice is a really interesting dilemma. It is pretty clear that Blon has not and will not change, and that she's manipulative, and a killer. But the raxacori..., the Rs, are not much better, engaging in public torture shows and collective punishment of whole family groups. Ultimately I feel like the resolution could have been better - the doctor and co doesn't end up having to make a choice as Blon and the Tardis make it for them. The idea seems to be that by reverting to an egg and growing up in a happier family, Blon will live a better life... but If you've had your whole life reversed and live a different one, I'm not sure that's all that much better than a slightly expedited death penalty.

    Annette Badland does some really good performance here, especially in the restaurant. Which is nice because it offsets the somewhat Scooby-Doo-esque "And I would have gotten away for it if it weren't for you pesky kids" at the start and the gloating double cross at the end. I did like that they managed to direct it such that the slightly dead-eyed slitheen costume actually show some sad emotion.

    Other notes:

    • The doctor is wearing a blinking bike rear light for a headlamp, did they run out of props?
    • The jokes about Margaret as Mayor feel like they could have come out of a Thick of it or yes minister episode. I wonder if there was any inspiration there.
    • The punchline of jack's story is "I knew we should have turned left" - I wonder what RTD was thinking there
    • I know this is set in the early 2000s but even then there was no way that a politician running for mayor would get a whole 6 months without a single press photo
    • "A skip on the isle of dogs" - this is a suburb of east london, apparently, nothing to do with the excellent Wes Anderson film set in a scrapheap which came much later
    • I liked the music in this one, especially the way it was used in the Bad Wolf joke, but there were some points in this episode where I could barely hear the dialogue because of the music and sfx
    • That's the same restaurant as ep 1, and I'm fairly sure they reused some of the downing street set.
    • The "next time" trailer really doesn't leave anything to the imagination

  • Because you demanded it: the return of the farting aliens! And its...pretty good?

    Despite his rocky introduction, Cap'n Jack seems like a fully-realized member of the TARDIS team. The charm is suddenly there, and he just seems like he belongs, somehow.

    The story does a really nice job of exploring the Doctor's intent to bring Margaret/Blon back to Raxacoricofallapatorius, where she will be facing the death penalty. Annette Badland plays her perfectly, delivering an extremely charismatic performance that walks the line between camp villainy and genuine sorrow. It's a tall order for any actor, and she makes it look easy.

    You know who else is pretty great? Ricky Mickey! Noel Clarke - scandal noted - really sells Mickey's bitterness over being left behind, and his feeble, slightly manipulative efforts to move on with his life.

    It's a shame Cathy, the reporter, isn't seen again after her brief appearance. Mali Harries does a lot with a little in the role, and it would have been nice to see her again, either in this or another episode.

    Now we know what staring into the heart of the TARDIS does - it turns you into an egg. I look forward to that happening again some day.

    Lastly...this episode is a great little tourism ad for Cardiff, a city I knew absolutely nothing about before this show came along.