Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Long Game
Table of contents for doctor who episode guide ninth doctor
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Ninth Doctor
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - Rose
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The End of the World
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Unquiet Dead
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - Aliens of London
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - World War Three
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - Dalek
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Long Game
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - Fathers Day
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Empty Child
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Doctor Dances
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - Boom Town
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - Bad Wolf
- Doctor Who Episode Guide - The Parting Of The Ways
Teaser:
In the far future, Adam discovers that life as a Time Lord’s companion isn’t as easy as it looks.
First Broadcast: 7 May 2005
Running Time: Unknown
UK Rating: 8.01 million
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Brian Grant
Cast:
The Doctor - Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
Adam - Bruno Langley; Head Chef - Colin Prockter; Cathica - Christine Adams; Suki - Anna Maxwell-Martin; The Editor - Simon Pegg; Nurse - Tamsin Greig; Adam’s Mother - Judy Holt
Notes:
Simon Pegg who features in this episode are both best known for their roles in the movie Shaun of the Dead. Pegg in fact also wrote that film.
Links:
Doctor Who - Ninth Doctor Episode Guide
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One Comment, Comment or Ping
Andrew Oakley
(No Spoilers) “The Long Game” is a quote from newspaper/satellite tycoon Rupert Murdoch (or was it Robert Maxwell?) saying that the best way to influence a society was through the media over an extended period of time - decades or even generations. This concept was first fictionalised, IIRC, in the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” but it has echoes back as far as George Orwell’s “1984″. Unlike the James Bond movie, this Doctor Who story isn’t about fixing events to maximise news audiences, but about maximising news audiences to fix events. In the far future, one huge monopoly controls news output - filtering the facts to push humanity in particular directions. But are the journalists being controlled by someone else? And - in a later story - might that someone else actually be controlled in turn, by a much more threatening, far more sinister enemy?
This is a “bottle” episode which re-uses the space station set from “The End Of The World” - a set which is again re-used in the series finale two-parter “Bad Wolf” / “The Parting Of The Ways”. The set feels a lot like that of classic series stories “Paradise Towers” and “Happiness Patrol”, only injected with a bit of Bladerunner / Max Headroom / Judge Dredd neon.
To be quite honest, I found this episode one of the lower points of this otherwise excellent series, with a particularly difficult-to-follow subplot reminiscent of poor early/classic Doctor Who multi-episode stories that became needlessly complicated merely to pad time. The cameo nurse role by Tamsin Greig of “The Archers” radio soap and “Black Books” TV comedy did pep it up a lot. At the other extreme, Simon Pegg’s guest star role as the chief editor fell a bit flat, I thought, and was an identikit-copy of his role of evil competitor bookshop manager in “Black Books” series 3 episode 1. Greig and Pegg had also previously worked together briefly in “Shaun of the Dead”, but here Greig outshines Pegg in every respect. It’s also worth noting that Pegg narrates the “Doctor Who Confidential” making-of documentaries broadcast by the Beeb and available in cut-down versions (which excised references to previous Doctors) on the boxed set DVD. In the accompanying documentary to this episode, Pegg admits that he had a lot of trouble with his role; firstly being too busy to play it when first asked, and secondly finding the technobabble a barrier. Pegg really can do better than this.
From a series continuity point of view, it’s nice to see the Doctor rejecting a companion. It has almost become lore that the Doctor will travel with anybody, no matter how obnoxious (Turlough, anyone?) and it’s a refreshing change to see the Doctor really loosing his rag with a companion that steps over the line.
So, a humdrum bottle episode with a couple of cameos that you’ll only recognise if you’re a fan of cult British comedy, and a bit of emotional range for the Doc. Can’t see this one playing well overseas, and a return to the bad old days of Doctor Who introspective navel-gazing. You get the feeling that this was shot as the budget was being exhausted. Thankfully most of the other episodes in this series are far, far better.
Recommended background viewing is Pegg’s cult-fanboy sitcom “Spaced” and, to a lesser extent, Grieg’s sitcom “Black Books”. Plus “Shaun of the Dead”, of course.
Oct 5th, 2005
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