Craig is Hob Gadling
Last year's Doctor Who episode 'The Lodger' was ripe for a sequel, although largely because of the presence of a Silence spaceship upstairs, something that Gareth Roberts doesn't actually revisit when he returns to Colchester for "Closing Time." Maybe he forgot about it. DO! YOU! SEE! Oh please yourselves. Once again I'm getting flashbacks to the Sandman series, and not in a Neil Gaiman episode (but then again Gaiman's already got that out of his system, it's not surprising that he wanted to write something different when it came to Doctor Who.) In this case it's the Doctor paying a social visit to a human friend of his, despite not being entirely sure what a social visit is and how it's supposed to work. Add the overriding theme of a virtually godlike, "immortal" figure facing his own impending death and is it any wonder I'm continuing to get a Sandman vibe, where Craig is Hob Gadling to the Doctor's Morpheus.¹
Anyway, after the disappointment that there won't be much Daisy Haggard this time around, since her purpose this year is principally to be elsewhere, this is much in the same vein as "The Lodger" but with cybermen. Plus bonus Lynda Baron as a lovely old fag hag. And lots of Matt Smith holding a baby - I haven't actually checked, but I am assuming ohnotheydidnt is currently full of women exclaiming "OH MY OVARIES!" because that is what happens over there. I, on the other hand, along with I'm sure a lot of other people who've seen Troughton era Who, was instead going "OMG CYBERMATS!" because I've been wondering when the hell they'd turn up in the new series. And it turns out they now also have teeth. Stock up now for Christmas 2011, retailers! Seriously though, the Beeb would be daft to miss that particular marketing opportunity.
So we get a little cameo from Amy and Rory, with Amy now a bit of a star and a little girl wanting her autograph. I thought maybe she'd become the new J.K. Rowling and had been writing about her adventures but it turns out she'd become a model on a perfume billboard. Er, girl power? I did think this was a bit of an unambitious way for a former companion to triumph in life. Then I remembered that before she boarded the TARDIS Amy was basically a stripper, and figured that at least it's an upgrade. Not sure that little girls would want your autograph just for getting your mush on a perfume ad but what do I know, maybe that's exactly the sort of thing little girls do.
The "two men and a baby" routine is a bit hackneyed but I guess that's because it works, as it does here; and yes basically in the middle of analysing every little thing I should probably mention that I did really enjoy the episode. I don't know that Roberts acknowledging that "daddy's love saved the day" is a cheesy conclusion actually helps that much² but I guess it's better than that time the Buffy season finale involved a carpenter saving the world with love and forgiveness, and then David Fury got confused as to why people thought it was all a bit Jesusy.
¹The fact that Matt Smith actually looks rather Morpheus-like, what with all those sharp angles sticking out of his face, doesn't exactly hurt the comparison either.
²and it does rather fly in the face of the cyberconversions we've seen before
Anyway, after the disappointment that there won't be much Daisy Haggard this time around, since her purpose this year is principally to be elsewhere, this is much in the same vein as "The Lodger" but with cybermen. Plus bonus Lynda Baron as a lovely old fag hag. And lots of Matt Smith holding a baby - I haven't actually checked, but I am assuming ohnotheydidnt is currently full of women exclaiming "OH MY OVARIES!" because that is what happens over there. I, on the other hand, along with I'm sure a lot of other people who've seen Troughton era Who, was instead going "OMG CYBERMATS!" because I've been wondering when the hell they'd turn up in the new series. And it turns out they now also have teeth. Stock up now for Christmas 2011, retailers! Seriously though, the Beeb would be daft to miss that particular marketing opportunity.
So we get a little cameo from Amy and Rory, with Amy now a bit of a star and a little girl wanting her autograph. I thought maybe she'd become the new J.K. Rowling and had been writing about her adventures but it turns out she'd become a model on a perfume billboard. Er, girl power? I did think this was a bit of an unambitious way for a former companion to triumph in life. Then I remembered that before she boarded the TARDIS Amy was basically a stripper, and figured that at least it's an upgrade. Not sure that little girls would want your autograph just for getting your mush on a perfume ad but what do I know, maybe that's exactly the sort of thing little girls do.
The "two men and a baby" routine is a bit hackneyed but I guess that's because it works, as it does here; and yes basically in the middle of analysing every little thing I should probably mention that I did really enjoy the episode. I don't know that Roberts acknowledging that "daddy's love saved the day" is a cheesy conclusion actually helps that much² but I guess it's better than that time the Buffy season finale involved a carpenter saving the world with love and forgiveness, and then David Fury got confused as to why people thought it was all a bit Jesusy.
¹The fact that Matt Smith actually looks rather Morpheus-like, what with all those sharp angles sticking out of his face, doesn't exactly hurt the comparison either.
²and it does rather fly in the face of the cyberconversions we've seen before