Behind the Sofa - The Collaborative Doctor Who Blog

The Papa Lazarou Experiment

Over to Edward Tattsyrup and his wife and sister, Tubbs, now for their views on their local colleague's debut in Doctor Who.

The Lazarus Experiment

Hello, hello!? What's going on here? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here. Tubbs? Tubbs?! What's this flickering in the corner of the room? The Devil's paint-box, I'll be damned. Things... appearing on the screen. Not local things, are they? Been made by those types from the big city? Pufters, I'll be bound! Invading my local space with their twisted mental streams of colour and shape. Why don't they just break my arms with stoats, burn down my shop, rape my mind with their dark words!?!

"Bathing nightly in pureed calves eyes."

This gentleman, is he face knows? He has a local look about him. Perhaps he's related, either Doctor Chinnery or Hilary Briss, possibly their brother and son. Appears to have invented a device for making himself look younger than his many years. My Tubbs has no need of machines for her natural beauty. Bathing nightly in pureed calves eyes ensures that she retains her youthful looks, so she looks no older now than when our mother was bridesmaid at our wedding. Ah, Tubbs. Once she found out there was a Swansea she has vowed to worship all who come from there. She particularly coverts the one she calls Russ Elty Avis and has started collecting bodily parts to recreate a version of her very own. She hasn't managed to collect enough hair to cover the forehead or the cockballs.

"The progeny of the union betwixt brother and sister."

And the monster. He's no monster. Why, he looks no different than our son, David. We keep him from prying non-local eyes, up the stairs, as they would not understand our ways or the progeny of the union betwixt brother and sister. He wants for nothing and enjoys his own bucket and blanket and a string of glamorous visitors, none of whom come back down quite the same. Or quite as complete as they were when they went up. We understand the needs of the flesh. You only have to look at Tubbs to know that. I suppose you'll be here to finger our precious things? And stare at our globes?

Well... you heard the man, Tubbs? Get undressed.

The Bumper Book of Made Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about The Lazarus Experiment: nibbles remains the Doctor's favourite type of food produce despite the TARDIS's food machine's Vol au Vent button being rendered inoperable after sustaining heavy damage following one of Jo Grant's felching sessions some years earlier.

Mother Knows Best

The Lazarus Experiment

I have, more often than not, preferred the episodes of new Doctor Who that have been set on present day Earth and have featured the family and friends of the companion. They really seem to work for me so The Lazarus Experiment was a good one for me.

True there wasn’t much of a plot on display here and what there was of it was hardly original. A mad scientist experimenting on himself that causes said scientist to mutate into something very different. What the episode did have though was seeds sown that will certainly blossom towards the end of the season most notable the character of Mr Saxon, who has not been mentioned since Smith and Jones, but who had something to do with the experiments of Dr Lazarus, and who also knows the Doctor.

Then there is also the fact that Martha’s mother has been told something about the Doctor, by a mysterious man, no doubt in the employ of Mr Saxon, and judging by the way that she slapped the Doctor (and for once he didn’t actually deserve it even though it was funny) and her frantic answer phone message to Martha at the end of the episode she certainly isn’t happy about Martha travelling with the Doctor at all. This will certainly be a constant undercurrent throughout the rest of this series and will mean that sparks will always fly when the Doctor and Martha’s mother meet.

It does make you wonder what the hell it was that the mysterious man said to her mother. Whatever it was it certainly wasn’t good news for Martha’s mother and it will be nice if we do find out one day what it was that was said. As for the rest of Martha’s family, well Reggie Yates has bugger all to do as her brother, Leo, to the extent that he may as well not even be there, either in this episode or the first episode he appeared in. Perhaps he will have more to do in later episodes, or perhaps not, we will have to wait and see.

More interesting is her sister, Tish, who is actually being given stuff to do and was quite integral to the whole episode as it was her who invited the rest of her family, and by association the Doctor, to the events at Laz Labs that evening. She also got some of the funniest lines in the whole episode when after seeing Professor Lazarus turn into a slathering insectoid thingie came out with the classic line “I was going to snog him”.

At first I wasn’t to sure about having Mark Gattis playing a baddie in an episode of Doctor Who (I am not sure why to be honest) but he was actually quite good in his role as Professor Lazarus. I actually think that he was better when he was playing the older Professor Lazarus than the younger version where he was chewing the scenery with great abandon and positively relishing every moment as he is wont to do being the big Doctor Who fan that he is.

Thelma Barlow was really wasted in the role of Lady Thaw. I was expecting her to be a major part of the episode but she was killed off after about ten minutes, which was a bit of a shame.

If there is one major criticism of the episode it would have to be the fact that the mutated Lazarus looked absolutely nothing like Mark Gattis. I guess that it would have looked a bit odd if it just had the face of Gattis stuck on it, but it did seem a bit odd that he would look nothing like Lazarus.

I think that doing this monster as pure CGI was really the only way that it could have been done, and worked, without looking stupid which I think it might have done if it was done with animatronics like the spider Queen was in The Runaway Bride.

The ending of the episode was pure Quatermass Experiment, quite ironic when you consider that both Gattis and Tennant both starred in the recent remake of the first Quatermass adventure and, if you didn’t know any better, you can actually believe that the episode was actually written by Gattis as well, rather than by Stephen Greenhorn, due to the similarities between this and the Quatermass adventures that Mark Gattis had used before in his first New Adventure Nightshade.

The episode was a thoroughly enjoyable forty-five minutes of Saturday evening television, but I think it will have more resonance once we have seen the rest of the episodes this series.

Vote Result: The Lazarus Experiment

Results are in for the third blog poll for The Lazarus Experiment:

• 87%: Superb – An anti-wrinkle cream that works
• 13%: Not Good – A facelift using bull dog clips

Come back after 42 for the next poll.

2007 Fit the Sixth: Gatiss is effing Creepy.

Having recently rewatched The Quatermass Xperiment, this episode was doubly enjoyable for me, feeling simultaneously like a huge stride forward and a respectful leap backwards.  This episode, whether it was actually like an old series episode in reality or not, felt like one, and that's what was important.  I still maintain that despite a few weak moments, this series has yet to set it's foot wrong.  We might yet be coming out with the strongest year to date.

Tennant's leverage returns, albeit in a strangely over-lit TARDIS, showing that he does indeed still have it, stopping mere moments short of howling at the console and beating it with a hammer.  His Mockney seems to be slipping here and there more often, showing just a touch of that burr of his underneath it.  I won't at all complain if we have to specify which one "that scottish one" was in the coming years. Also handled the "reverse the polarity" bit rather well. Kudos also go near the end, facing down the weakened Lazarus, and his eyes are darting all over the inside of the Suffolk!Southwark cathedral, as if he's looking for some way of putting him down permanently. He and Freema have some really cute moments, what with the laundry, "you're a star", etc. Oddly enough I can really find myself identifying with him more and more, as I'm prone to pick up conversations from hours or days earlier, much like he seems to.

Whereas Rose's mum got annoying, Martha's can be quite frightening

I'm still finding myself impressed with the music this year, seeing as how it's no longer drowning out dialogue, and Martha's theme is definitely growing on me.  Seemed a bit too peppy at first, but the variations on it really shine through if given half a chance. Martha's family, too, seem to be growing on me, but not in an alarming way.  Whereas Rose's mum got annoying, Martha's can be quite frightening.  I seriously hope, for the Doctor's sake,  he doesn't give her any more reason to dislike him.

One really touching moment, before I visit Mister Gatiss here, the discussion regarding the war.  Anyone else notice they may well have been referencing two of the series most shining episodes?  Miss Thaw was sent away during the war, to the countryside.  Possibly she could have been sent to the same area Ace and the Doctor visited during The Curse of Fenric?  And Lazarus, living on the streets, hiding in Southwark (I can't be the only one who heard Suffolk every single time and got quite confused) Cathedral, much like the children from The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.  VERY subtle nods to past continuity.  These two may well have briefly appeared as one of the children in one of those episodes.

Creepy.  And Ginger.  And covered in freckles.

Mister Gatiss.  Wow.  Mark Gatiss, having contributed tirelessly to Doctor Who, as well as other radio and television gems, has finally lived out has dream of being naked on a children's program.  Ahem, sorry about that, but I do think he's the only one so far to be naked, elderly, and a great massive manhuman cockerrrochhe in the same episode of Doctor Who.  Simply amazing.  And, as I stated in the title, he was downright creepy at times, special note going to the line "Look at yourself, woman."   And Ginger.  And covered in freckles.  Goodness me, I don't think I've ever seen that many concentrated freckles on someone's upper back. Congratulations Mark, I think you've made fandom quite proud and jealous at the same time. 

The Tachyon TV Bumper Book of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about The Lazarus Experiment: Mark Gatiss is officially the first Who Staff member to play a naked, ginger, elderly, not-elderly, manhuman cockerrrrooche.  Following in this vein, Andrew Cartmel has volunteered to play the next naked role, but only on the condition that Sophie Aldred returns to guest-star. To date, Russel T Davies has not responded to Cartmel's calls, e-mails, text messages, smoke signals, singing telegrams, or call-in requests to Jo Whiley's show.

Wesker Did It

For his next trick, Mark
Will regenerate into
Peter Davison.

The Lazarus Experiment

UMBRELLA CORPORATION - MEMO FROM R&D PROJECT MANAGER DR. HORATIO BEAKER TO CHIEF OF STAFF PROF. RUDOLPH POPKISS

Good news; our spies at Lazarus Industries, Inc. report that recent incidents there have resulted in a catastrophic management failure. We needn't have worried unduly, as closer examination of Lazarus' own files liberated from the fiasco reveals a thinly-reworked hodge-podge of Professor Sorenson's theory of anti-matter mutation (a discredited scientific blind alley) and Professor Quatermass' researches into human evolution and hybridised lifeforms, utilising technology cribbed from Doctor Brundel's experiments into matter transmission. Lazarus' notes on metamorphosis via sound vibration and DNA restructuring also prove that he lacked a concrete grasp of the scientific principles involved, and with his incompetent lack of foresight (no self-destruct system in his own base) and unimpressive number of victims, constituted no real threat to our superiority in the field of bio-research. Green herbs all round.

Our agents also noted the reappearance of two enemy operatives known in our confidential records as 'Doctor JS' and 'Martha J'. Imperative we capture and retain 'JS' for interrogation as his entire case history revolves around an unearthly level of advanced knowledge which he imparts to spectators whenever it's most convenient. Understanding this precognitive ability is vital; our tech boys are also anxious to get their hands on the sonic device which allows him to bypass any door combination puzzle no matter how obscure or incongruous. We suspect however that this operative has been augmented with an experimental virus which causes extreme resonance changes in the larynx, coupled with overwhelming arrogance and a complete inability to command a crowd by shouting. Our own agent was also able to neutralise his effectiveness with the whispered words 'he's a bit of a twat', which should deprive him of an S-ranking for this particular mission when he returns to his paymasters.

Particular attention should be paid to Martha J. as this agent displays a degree of intelligence, decorum and loyalty that frequently outclasses her superior, although how she was able to obtain a DNA sample without mixing her own into it is unclear. Her progress has been consistently remarkable, considering the family handicap holding her back, to the point where she has managed to unlock the new character costumes in a matter of six weeks. Suggest we recruit this person into our organization as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, our own progress with the RTD-virus has been most satisfactory. Our test subject, a Mr C. Baker, is already experiencing a mutative inflation of his mass and weight, a marked decrease in self-control and frothing at the mouth from prolonged exposure to the secretions from online parasites and other leeches. I fear we must destroy the subject soon if we are to avoid a repeat of the zombie plague caused by the disastrous hiatus of our JNT-virus work in 1985. We may however be able to apply some of these attributes to the Arselicker bioweapon, whose job is to discredit the same online organizations by rabidly overrating everything they see.

In light of these new developments, I recommend we mark The Lazarus Experiment down as an amusing if predictable diversion, and destroy all the evidence.

PS: Keep an eye on Doctor Birkin will you, I didn't like that gleam in his eye when he viewed the test results.

In two weeks: 24 + Chris Chibnall = mud.

The Bumper Book Of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about The Lazarus Experiment: Reggie Yates was given less on-screen presence than the obligatory Stan Lee cameo.

Tonight Matthew I'm Going To Be...

It seems apposite that I should return to the world of reviewing for an episode entitled The Lazurus Experiment. Or should that read The Quatermass Experiment? Never mind. I’m not to have a go at the show for drawing inspiration from such a cracking piece of British SF. In fact, I enjoyed the nod to Kneale’s masterpiece especially the final confrontation occurring in a cathedral. Even the casting of Gatiss seemed to add to the whole Knealesque tone of the episode, although at least this time he didn’t appear to be coping with a coke habit (as seemed to be the case in the BBC4 reimagining of TQE).

I have to admit that I really wasn’t that thrilled by the last Dalek adventure, so came to this week’s episode with little enthusiasm. I mean, if you can’t score high with the Daleks, what hope for a simple tale of mad scientists and monsters? Thankfully, this week was, for me at least, the kind of Doctor Who I fell in love with all those years ago. Its simplicity was the key to its success. Experiment goes wrong, monster on the loose. Bingo! As with Smith & Jones and The Shakespeare Code, this was an enjoyable romp. Good Saturday evening television. It was scary, fast and fun.

Tennant managed to hit all the right notes and proved that he really can be a great Doctor when not squealing like an oft-repeated pig. It seems when he isn’t finding everything ‘Bwilliant’ the actual episode tends to be quite brilliant. His relationship with Martha gets more interesting with each week and it finally seemed as if Miss. Jones was given something to do. It seems as if the shadow of Rose is really starting to be lifted in the Doctor’s mind as he brings her deeper into his world. I love what RTD is doing with her character in that we are invited to really like her while the Doctor seems callously indifferent. Of course he’s still reeling from the loss of Rose and it’s nice to see that wall slowly break down between him and his new companion. And let’s face it; Martha only truly becomes a companion at the end of this episode.  Another big surprise for me is that for once I actually want to see how the family dynamic back on Earth develops. I like Martha’s family and I like the interplay between Martha and her mother. She’s a bit more dangerous than Jackie. I don’t mean she’s about to reveal herself as a Slitheen, rather her belief in Mr. Saxon’s warning of the Doctor has the potential to really stir things up in later episodes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a death in the Jone’s family before too long – now that would add a dark edge to the proceedings.

Thelma Barlow proved to be something over nothing. I was always under the impression that she was going to be the “big bad” of this story, perhaps manipulating Lazurus from the sidelines. Her early demise was a bit of a shock and I must say that I thought she was damned good in the small role she had. I just hope RTD manages to get the rest of the cast of Dinnerladies into later seasons although Victoria Wood can stick to her ASDA arse slapping routine.

As for Mark Gatiss, he was terrific. He was on the right side of ham for his villainous role and really got into the spirit of things. While I did have thoughts of Matthew Kelly and Stars In Their Eyes when Lazurus stepped out of the machine (“Tonight Matthew I’m going to be Peter Davison”), it was an impressive showpiece for the episode. Of course I immediately shouted Spiderman 2 at the TV, but so what – this is what being a mad scientist is all about. I enjoy spotting the references in my telly viewing. It’s what made Buffy so much fun. For The Lazurus Experiment we had the aforementioned Quatermass and Spiderman, but let’s tick off The Fly, Superman II (the villain on the outside of the machine getting the dosage) and any post Aliens blockbuster. And when you thought the episode couldn’t get any more fun – This Is Spinal Tap gets thrown in too. The final showdown in the cathedral was very good too – nice atmosphere created with music and lighting, although I was waiting for Tennant to start playing In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida on his organ. And a very nice organ he was playing with too!

There was a good rationale for Lazurus to tinker with his DNA and I thoroughly bought into the idea that everything he did was born out of his fears during the war. It was a neat little story that just did what it said on the tin. Not overly convoluted and none too serious. The references to Saxon were neat and certainly not as extraneous as either the Bad Wolf or Torchwood memes of the first two seasons – and wasn’t that teaser superb?

Talking about downsides to The Lazurus Experiment would be a tad unfair given how much enjoyment I had watching the story, but I am getting really tired of that sonic screwdriver and can somebody please turn the lights down in the TARDIS? I thought he’d moved the console room outdoors at one point – when the lights are up the TARDIS looks plastic not organic. As if it were made out of the same stuff they make aquarium toys from. But these are general concerns and certainly didn’t alter the fact that this was a cracking episode and spot on Doctor Who. I hadn’t hoped for much with this one and it’s nice to be proved wrong.

 

Not quite back from the dead

Ratings then from the OG:

6.7 million (37.1% share)

Once again the most watched for the day, BBC One gaining a couple of million viewers in time for the start of the show.  Still bizarre though to see the top rated programme on a Saturday night not breaking the seven million on the overnight.  In May.

Be Afraid

Listen carefully to this episode at about the twelve minute mark and you can hear - somewhere in Canada - David Cronenberg choking on a hob-nob

The Lazarus Experiment

Okay, we’ve got two things to discuss given the brief mid-season hiatus that Season 3 will now take so that a bunch of cross-dressing Europeans can have their fifteen minutes. But before I get on to that trailer, let’s make one thing absolutely crystal clear: ‘The Lazarus Experiment’ was top-notch old fashioned Who dressed up in new togs for the ever-demanding modern audience. And following last week’s science-dumping shenanigans it was the breath of fresh air this show needed just when it seemed it was about to disappear up its own award-garlanded posterior. The ratio of decent Season 3 episodes is now one in two, but I can’t remember the last time I had a bigger grin on my fan-face when the quality swingometer took such a massive lurch towards the positive; hell I think I might even wax lyrical about the catering department on this one!

Right from the concise opening teaser - with its nice nod to ‘Aliens of London’s ‘12 hours’ mistake and the illogic of the Doctor knowing how to get to Martha’s flat - to the charming coda which sees the time-travellers reach some sort of understanding about ‘the other woman’; ‘The Lazarus Experiment’ ticks pretty much all the fan-boy boxes whilst providing a neat and literate variation on this show’s fundamental theme: what it means to be human. Writer Stephen Greenhorn’s debut may lack some of the knowing winks of his more Who-literate contemporaries, but on the evidence here that’s no bad thing. And he’s certainly well-versed enough to know that Doctor Who works best with a small group of well-defined characters in a confined setting. ‘The Lazarus Experiment’ may start out as time-honoured, mad-scientist-meddles-with-nature guff, but before you can say ‘base under siege’ there’s a horrible monster about and more panicked running than a dozen ‘Fang Rocks’.

top-notch old fashioned Who dressed up in new togs for the ever-demanding modern audience

And as you may have inferred from my opening banner, a certain David Cronenberg (not to mention George Langelaan) would have taken pride (if not umbrage) at seeing their most seminal work having such a thematic influence on tonight’s activities. Yes, ‘The Lazarus Experiment’ rips off The Fly to an often shameless degree, but again is that such a bad thing? After all we’d never have had a ‘Talons’ or a ‘Pyramids’ or any of half a dozen Hinchcliffe/Holmes classics without the back catalogue of Universal pictures to rifle through. And when such ‘homage’ is done with the style and confidence as is evident here then you just shrug your shoulders and go with the flow.

But it’s not just Greenhorn’s script, referencing anything from dead poets to Virgin NA titles, that impresses here. Richard Clark’s efficient direction makes the best of that oh-so tricky problem of the completely CGI monster (which looks more Harryhausen than Harry Potter anyway…) and the supporting cast all put in effortlessly brilliant performances. Hell, even Martha’s family - last seen trying to out-chav the Tylers in Season 3’s debut - are likeable, rounded characters. It’s a nice touch to make her sister Tish central to the plot, rather than just tacked on in a kinda Mickey way to events that only affected his girlfriend. And Martha’s Mum is perhaps the best evidence yet that all this domestic stuff still has a place in Doctor Who’s hardly domestic format. What a bitch! And with her instant dislike of the Doctor and evident inveigling into the whole ‘Saxon’ arc, interesting things with both her and the Joneses in general are promised for the second half of Season 3.

Martha’s Mum is perhaps the best evidence yet that all this domestic stuff still has a place in Doctor Who’s hardly domestic format

Oh, did I mention Mark Gatiss? Given arguably the actor’s equivalent of a Jim’ll Fix It, Gatiss could have easily gone way over the top with his ‘enjoyment’ of this Bond villain for-the-wrinklies (other, more Doctorly actors please take note…). And coupled with a marvellous make-up from Neil Gorton, Gatiss makes Lazarus as much of a man as he is a monster; and the latest in a long line of Who baddies whose motivation is more about survival than it is the lust for power. The subtle threading of Lazarus’ Blitz memories, coupled with some electric sparring with Tennant’s Doctor (for once reining in his shouty-angry voice) are the non-monster highlights of the episode. And seeing as Gatiss is such a huge Quatermass fan, how fitting that the finale comes in a church where two characters talk about whether the price of eternal life comes with too high a price. In fact that whole climax in the beautiful Suffolk cathedral has a lyrical quality that other monster-mashes wouldn’t even consider; taking in everything from the euthanasia debate to another trip round the Doctor’s feelings about being ‘cursed’ by his Time Lord longevity.

Yeah, so the two endings have a whiff of sonic-ex-machina to them (though at least the first one has a fan-pleasing ‘reverse the polarity’ nod, while the second pays lip service to another of the show’s enduring sources: The Phantom of the Opera). But you can forgive pretty much anything of an episode that not only re-instils faith after a week’s worth of fan-baiting cynicism, but also casts Mavis from Coronation Street as an ice-maiden and makes it work. ‘Tonight, I’m going to perform a miracle’, says Richard Lazarus before changing what it is to be human forever; sorry Rich, I think it was Richard Greenhorn who did that…

you can forgive pretty much anything of an episode that casts Mavis from Coronation Street as an ice-maiden and makes it work

Next time: Whoah! Can we wait a whole two weeks every time, please? A trailer the equivalent of Christmas and your birthday rolled into one promises so many things it’s almost impossible to take them all in. So, from the top: ‘Human Nature’ looks better and better the more I see of it; lots of panicked running around; Captain Jack leaping into a materialising TARDIS; the Doctor looking angry - not to mention very alone - in the console room and, er, John Simm tapping out the Who theme whilst doing his impression of Frank from Blue Velvet?!? Anyone else with me on this last one..?

(The Bumper Book of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about The Lazarus Experiment: sperm production of the average male Who fan increased by 40% following tonight’s tantalising trailer)

"It's always the mothers..."

The Lazarus Experiment continued this season's trend of aping the structure of the first season, in this case follow The Long Game's model of telling a stand alone story whilst at the same time introducing a range of story strands to be picked up later.  The most particular is of course Martha's mum being fed information about who the Doctor is by an aid to the mysterious Mr Saxon (underscoring the deliberate shift away from domestic dynamic of the second season in particular).  You could also imagine that, if some of the rumours about the mysterious Mr Saxon are correct, the Lazarus experiment itself could also part of some greater plan we're not privy to yet.

The DWM preview notes echoes of the Pertwee era, and they're not wrong with the Doctor turning up for some experiment at the opening of the story which goes a bit wrong and he spends the rest of the story sorting it out, reversing the polarity somewhere along the line.  In that same preview writer Stephen Greenhorn lists all of his influences from Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man to The Fly to Jekyll and Hyde and perhaps the biggest problem with the story is that some of these influences were too close - the treatment of the reveal of the experiment and its result were pretty similar to the film Spider-man 2 and the monster her became was Brundelfly on a bigger budget.

It was great though to see Gatiss and Tennant acting opposite one another on-screen and those scenes were perhaps the most entertaining, Greenhorn's thoughtful script providing a genuine philosophical discussion about the nature of humanity and the implications of the Doctor's longevity of the kind we haven't seen for a while, the Doctor in particular looking spectacularly tired all of a sudden.  The atmospheric light helped to give the scene even more import, a nourish pool of light caging Lazarus in until his inevitable Hulking out once more.

The moment in the booth was probably the closest two way since the bathroom scene in Chinatown and worked a treat and despite the application of the Sonic Screwdriver to yet again save the day, the climax too was excellent fun;  Wells Cathedral standing in for Southwark looked stunning in the shadows and organ music sending the creature to his doom.  It's amusing too that Martha was saved by her sister, not as you would often expect the other way around.  Richard Clark showed the same talent for action he displayed in Gridlock, and unlike some directors this season kept the jeopardy clear and lucid.

Importantly it deepened the dynamic between Doctor and companion in a far more significant way that that recent Dalek story should have.  Obviously we knew the Doctor wasn't going to leave Martha behind in the teaser, but the bluff was played in an entertaining way and mirrored perfectly in the closing scene when she completely misunderstands his meaning when he says that OK, she can be his companion rather than a passenger. 

Perhaps the most meaningful way that their relationship differs to that between him and Rose is that whereas they had a shorthand and to an extent could anticipate each other's needs, these two always seem just off each other's wavelength, never quite gelling with the Doctor perhaps deciding that the old approach to these best friends, potentially dying for them but at arms length is best.

If, once again, I completely failed to be thrilled by it all, it's perhaps for the same reasons I've outlined before.  It's another base under siege, another CG beastie chasing the Doctor around, another evil genius played by someone who's narrated Doctor Who Confidential, another experiment gone awry and some more scenic murder. To unfortunately repeat myself, it really is getting to the stage were you imagine that my favourite scene in Paul Magrs novel The Scarlet Empress is playing out.

In there, the Doctor suggests to the parliament of birds that he feeds them all of the expected elements of one of his adventures and by slotting them together at random they can create something new.  Like the Starship Enterprise investigating yet another special anomaly it lacks a freshness, a blasting together of already successful elements in an attempt to produce another entertaining story, which it really is to a point.  I know I'm beginning to sound like a scratched record, but I look forward to seeing something more challenging.  Perhaps Human Nature will provide that.

It would be a tad unfair to describe The Lazarus Experiment then as a forty-five minute build up to a trailer but the treat presented at the climax as a result of the fortnight's hiatus could potentially over shadow the whole episode, at least for now, and will certainly be rewatched more often over the coming fortnight, especially the stuff with John Simm looking totally menacing.  Could the Doctor's meddling at the close of The Christmas Invasion have finally resulted in some very bad things happening in the British Government?

Quick Question...

This week's Radio Times claims that Mark Gatiss will be only the third person ever to have both written for and appeared in Doctor Who. Who are the other two then? Does Derrick Sherwin's turn as the car-park attendant in Spearhead From Space count (a speaking role, no less), or does it only include credited appearances?

Answers please. Real ones if poss. but silly will do.