Review: Doctor Who 1.11: Boom Town

Annette Badland stars as returning villain Blon F.F.P.D Slitheen

Quite possibly the last episode of this series to be written, Boom Town was produced as a space-filler between the Moffat two-parter and the two-part finale, and as such RTD had room to have some fun. Remembering Annette Badland from the Slitheen two-parter, he wrote this episode with her character in mind and produced something rather wonderful. On its own it's nothing special, but get deep enough into it and it's one of NuWho's first examinations of the Doctor's modus operandi and the flaws in his actions, as well as a study of evil on the whole. Oh, and she still farts. A bit. But we'll ignore it for now.
     The crew arrive on the Cardiff Rift, sealed during The Unquiet Dead. As they wait for the TARDIS to refule, the gang also meets Mickey, who's come up from London. They discover that Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen (in human guise, played by Annette Badland, Bad Girls) survived the events of the Downing Street bomb and has worked her way to the position of Mayor of Cardiff. In an attempt to escape the Earth, she planned to build a new power station (Blaidd Drwg, which the Doctor finally notices as Bad Wolf) and set it to meltdown on top of the Rift, and then using a space-surfboard to ride the shockwave. The Doctor intends to take her back to Raxicoricofallapatorius to face justice, and thus she remains their prisoner for the remaining twelve hours.
     As Jack connects the surfboard up to the TARDIS (it's apparently a good source of power), Blon taunts the crew, who are unable to look her in the eye. Rose and Mickey go off into the city and argue about Rose's abandonment and Mickey's activities afterwards. Using safety precautions, The Doctor follows Blon's last request and takes her out to dinner. This scenario provides easily the best segments of the episode, where Blon begs for her life by turning around the Doctor's own beliefs. She mentions how she spared one of the meddlers into her program, and The Doctor rebuts saying that that's how all murderers sooth their conscience. She replies that only a killer could know such, and that she should be the one he spares. Both Ecclestone and Badland are brilliant here, and said scene is easily my favourite of Series One.

Torchwood, anyone?

      Eventually her plan becomes clear, as the TARDIS starts opening the Rift. As they convene on the TARDIS, Blon drops the act and reveals that her plan B was to use the enrgy from any alien advanced enough to capture her and use that to open the rift, accomplishing the same thing as her Plan A. The Doctor also reveals that she shouldn't have picked the TARDIS, because the Heart of the TARDIS is sentient and immensely powerful. After staring into the light for a few seconds, it grants her wish of a new start and she is reduced to an egg. Mickey runs off in a huff, and the trio head off to give baby Blon a new life on Raxicoricofallapatorius.
      A breather really was necessary before the finale, as later years have shown, and this episode is perfect for just that. It's quite literally a time-out for the TARDIS crew and the audience, a chance for them to reflect on what we've seen and look forward to the finale.Others find this episode boring, and I can see why they would - 45 minutes doesn't really suit a "breather" like this - but I really, really like it because for what feels like the first time RTD is giving some serious commentary on the Doctor Who mythos. And it's brilliant. Even Annette Badland, who was really camp in the Aliens of London two-parter was brilliant here in both personas - the silently terrifying atoner and the campy supervillain.
     Problems with this episode? There are a few niggles. The Slitheen costume is still as unconvincing as a wooden rat, and the few flatulence jokes (which thankfully ceased once the deep moral testimonies started) felt even more out of place. This episode felt like Aliens of London but for... grown-ups. The concept was taken a lot more seriously - Blon described execution via Vinegar as painful and slow, and focussed on the death of her entire family. To her The Doctor was as much of a villain as she was to humanity. 

She's an egg.

     Boom Town is excellent simply because it's interesting to watch. It's not exciting or action-packed, but it doesn't need to be because it's in between two very action-packed stories. Instead, RTD is able to take some time out to show us our characters and their personalities, and that slow, gentle character work combined with a chance for the actors to really pull out all the stops make this a captivating and fascinating 45 minutes. And that's all there is to it.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: Nine bows out as the Daleks return in Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways.