
by David Finniss
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I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing the Slitheen again as their first appearance didn’t really blow me away. Surprisingly enough, this episode was much improved. We learn that one of the Slitheen from “Aliens of London” and “World War Three” managed to teleport to safety at the last second. She has resumed her human life as a politician and has put forth a plan to build a nuclear reactor.
The Doctor and company return to recharge the TARDIS using energy from the rift that they closed back in “The Unquiet Dead”. As you can tell, the episode has quite a few callbacks. For the first time this season, the whole “bad wolf” theme gets mentioned. Rose brings it up and it looks like they’re going for a dark ominous
revelation, but the Doctor cheerfully writes it off, saying that it’s probably a coincidence.
Where this episode really succeeds is in its comedic aspects. Whether it’s Rose, the Doctor, Jack, and Mickey snarking at one another or seeing the Slitheen constantly attempt to escape only to utterly fail due to the Doctor’s interference, this episode brings the most laughs out of any episode thus far.
That’s not to say that the episode doesn’t have its fair share of drama as well. The Slitheen actually does manage to become a sympathetic character. While she’s still menacing as a villain (mostly because she remains in “disguise” for a majority of the episode), it’s easy to feel sorry for her and the situation she finds herself in. There’s a noticeable growth and she has ...