As my specific recollections about the episode start to get a little less clear, I'm feel like I'm finding them anew in some cases, and in the case of this one, it was a pleasant surprise just how good it was.
Despite aiming for the Top Rank in Sheffield, 1979, to see Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) land in 1879 Scotland and into the company of none other than Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins) as she makes an annual pilgrimage. However, her arrival has been anticipated and a trap awaits her at Torchwood House, in the form of shaolin monks and a werewolf they have in their possession.
Let's start with the opposite remark to something I've said in a number of my reviews so far, the CGI effect for the Werewolf is really good. There is a classic transition, which is passible without being too scary for the children who might be watching, but then the creature itself is a pretty solid effect, maintains scale throughout and interacts with various characters and objects without giving itself away.
The rest of the episode is decent. The warrior monk aspect was a little corny, especially with the fight scene at the start, but once that was over with they played their part OK. The story was well thought out and foreshadows the ending well enough that you can follow the Doctors' reasoning. Piper and Tennant remain an engaging pair together, there's more comedy again, with Rose trying to get Queen Victoria to say that she's "not amused". I really liked the turn at the end, we're so used to characters saying thank you and goodbye to the Doctor after he saves them, that seeing Queen Victoria turn on him and banish him from the Empire, as well as trying to exhort her own control of the world she's now aware of, seems like a logical way to go - as well as seeding much of the arc of this season, and laying the foundations for the "Torchwood" spin off.
Good episode.
Despite aiming for the Top Rank in Sheffield, 1979, to see Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) land in 1879 Scotland and into the company of none other than Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins) as she makes an annual pilgrimage. However, her arrival has been anticipated and a trap awaits her at Torchwood House, in the form of shaolin monks and a werewolf they have in their possession.
Let's start with the opposite remark to something I've said in a number of my reviews so far, the CGI effect for the Werewolf is really good. There is a classic transition, which is passible without being too scary for the children who might be watching, but then the creature itself is a pretty solid effect, maintains scale throughout and interacts with various characters and objects without giving itself away.
The rest of the episode is decent. The warrior monk aspect was a little corny, especially with the fight scene at the start, but once that was over with they played their part OK. The story was well thought out and foreshadows the ending well enough that you can follow the Doctors' reasoning. Piper and Tennant remain an engaging pair together, there's more comedy again, with Rose trying to get Queen Victoria to say that she's "not amused". I really liked the turn at the end, we're so used to characters saying thank you and goodbye to the Doctor after he saves them, that seeing Queen Victoria turn on him and banish him from the Empire, as well as trying to exhort her own control of the world she's now aware of, seems like a logical way to go - as well as seeding much of the arc of this season, and laying the foundations for the "Torchwood" spin off.
Good episode.