Review:
Doctor Who: The Beast Below

Fresh starts are arguably a very good thing. They are also arguably a very bad thing, depending on who you ask. A lot of people didn’t want to see David Tennant leave, he was fantastic. And Russell T. Davies revolutionized Doctor Who for the modern era, but even he had to pass the reigns sooner or later. The fact was, he did a lot of good, but lately I was starting to pick up on certain patterns in his writing. Dialogue started seeming too clunky, stories and conclusions were making less and less sense.

The great thing about a fresh start is that you can examine what makes something good, keep those things, and then get rid of anything that was bringing the show down. The writing on Doctor Who has been met with a marked improvement. Stephen Moffat, the writer replacing Russell T. Davies, seemed much more up to the task. He has a clear love for Doctor Who, and wrote some of the best episodes of the past while, including Blink.

The first episode of the season was fantastic, but if you’d read our previous review by fellow writer Adam Mason (found here) you’d know that already. The quality continued into this episode, and Matt Smith has all but proven now that he was an excellent choice to replace David Tennant. He’s funny, and energetic, but also manages to be a hit in the dramatic as well. There are always those moments when the Doctor is made angry, and he loses all sense of humor. This episode had one of those moments, and Matt Smith pulled it off gloriously. I had chills.

The episode follows our new heroes as they go into the future and visit a giant starship. Imagine the entire country of Great Britain in a ship. Millions of people living normal lives inside a starship shaped like skyscrapers. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, there’s a dark secret threatening to destroy the British Empire.

The story is actually fairly creative and stimulating. Aspects of the episode seemed rushed, and there were certain aspects that could have been removed without much loss. Like the weird dudes in the booths. What was the purpose of them? To be weird and attract viewers?