Doctor Who (2005) 1-07: The Long Game (Quick Review)

Episode:

703

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Serial:

162

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Writer:

Russell T Davies

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Director:

Brian Grant

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Air Date:

07-May-2005

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching The Long Game, which is either the 7th or the 703rd episode of Doctor Who, depending on how you count it.

It's closer to 703rd to me, because I started in the Matt Smith era, continued watching the modern episodes as they aired, went back and watched all of classic Who, and now I'm here. Okay I did check out the big Russell T Davies era stories everyone mentions like the finales, Blink, Forest of the Night etc., but this never made the list. No one ever says "Hey, you've got to check out The Long Game, it's got Simon Pegg in it!" Even though he does turn up in it, I knew that much going in. I've also known how it ends for a long while, because it's a bit of a meme.

Okay, there are SPOILERS below for this episode and maybe earlier stories too, so stop reading now if you value your ignorance.

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RECAP

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The TARDIS arrives on Satellite Five and the Doctor sneakily gives Rose some facts she can use to impress their new crewmember Adam. They soon discover that something's happened to prevent the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, but Adam's too overwhelmed to help them fix it so Rose gives him her phone and the key to get back into the TARDIS.

The Doctor learns what he can from journalists Cathica and Suki, though Suki's soon promoted to Floor 500 (much to Cathica's annoyance). Floor 500 is meant to have walls made of gold, but it's actually the frozen command centre of the Editor. He knows that Suki isn't what she claims to be either, as she's a rebel who infiltrated Satellite Five to discover who's been manipulating the human race. The truth is that humanity as been enslaved by the giant monster on the ceiling, the Mighty Jagrafess, but it kills her before she can do anything about it.

The Doctor and Rose go up to investigate and the Editor just captures them. He reveals that their friend Adam has done something very dumb: he got a data port installed in his brain to send info on future technology to his answering machine at home. This means that he's given the Editor knowledge of the Doctor and the TARDIS key Rose gave him. Fortunately Cathica sneakily grew a backbone and followed them up, and the Doctor lets her overhear what the creature's weakness is. Cathica turns up the heat, defeating the Jagrafess and the Editor.

The TARDIS departs, leaving Cathica with the consequences, as an angry Doctor takes Adam home. He dumps him back in his present day with the data port door still in his forehead, which his mother discovers when she clicks her fingers and reveals his brain.


REVIEW

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Doctor Who is just a humble British sci-fi show and yet it has to somehow take its heroes to a new destination in every single story. So I can't be too hard on it for Satellite Five looking a bit underwhelming compared to Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5, or any space station that's ever been in a movie.

It's perhaps more disappointing that it's orbiting Earth, just like The End of the World's Platform One will do 5 billion years later. The series has shown off plenty of aliens so there are clearly other worlds out there, we just never get to visit them. Not this season anyway!

Though one positive about this being set on a space station orbiting Earth is that it we get to see Adam go through the same thing that Rose did in The End of the World, with the view out of the big window and everything. He doesn't cope all that well either. The scene also shows how close The Doctor and Rose have grown, as he's happy to play along and give her some facts so that she can pretend that she knows where they are.

Rose is definitely in full companion mode in this one, as she's with the Doctor the whole time, always asking the right questions, giving Adam an example of how it's done. In fact she's also showing journalist Cathica how it's done, as getting to the truth has gone out of fashion in this dystopian future. That's a subject the show is still dealing with 20 years into its own future, depressingly.

If anyone still remembers anything about the episode, it's probably that it's the one with Simon Pegg in. This was before his appearances in Star Trek and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so he is pre-Scotty here. It did come after Shaun of the Dead though so he was a fairly famous actor at the time.

Pegg does a fine job as the sinister Editor, who dresses up in a nice suit to hang around in a frozen control centre surrounded by corpses all day. He's a very arch villain who loves to make sly references to the monster hiding on the ceiling, like "I'm going to have to refer this upwards". The guy just really enjoys being a lackey and enslaving the human race, and that makes him entertaining to watch.

He's shallow as a puddle though and that's maybe a problem, as he's really just a supervillain for the Doctor to chat with for a bit before he gets foiled. If I was going to describe him as a character I would type "Editor: he's a git". There's nothing else to him.

The other big memorable thing about the episode is that Tamsin Grieg from Black Books is in it!

Also a dude gets a hatch installed in his skull that lets you see his brain. That is bloody weird, and also pretty advanced considering you can't even see a seam in the skin when it's closed.

It's not a perfect visual effect but it gets the point across and I like how he pushes one of the doors back when touches his forehead. It's a subtle bit of interaction that helps sell it. Unfortunately the effect of the key getting lifted out of his pocket looks pretty ropey.

Adam was designed from the start to be something new: the companion who fails to make the grade.

The Doctor has travelled with all kinds of people and they haven't always made good choices. Barbara tried to change Aztec history, Leela had a habit of murdering people with janis thorns, Turlough tried to kill the Doctor on multiple occasions. And then there was Adric...

But Adam is the first to attempt to rewrite the future for his own personal gain, that I can remember anyway. He wants to copy future technology to get rich - to become the next Henry van Statten. And in the process he nearly gets the Doctor killed and the TARDIS swiped. To be fair he didn't mean to give the villains everything they needed, nor did he intentionally betray his friends.

But he got the ending he deserved.

It's a bit obvious that his mother would walk in and click her fingers, but sometimes that's what you want. Sometimes you should let the audience guess correctly and give them what they're hoping for.

Incidentally, I like that the Doctor and Rose never pressured Adam into getting involved in the adventure. The Doctor typically invites people who've shown curiosity and resourcefulness and are naturally going to join in, but if a companion wants to just stand on the sidelines while he saves the day that's fine. That's not why Adam's being dropped off.

Cathica is very much not curious or resourceful, which the episode makes a point of showing, but she does have an arc and she ultimately gets to save the day! Which is good, because it's her world and her problem, but kind of bad, as it means the Doctor doesn't have a direct involvement in resolving the problem again.

Okay he inspired her to take action and told her how to help, but this is definitely more of an 'The Doctor's tied up and someone else saves his ass' ending, and that's becoming a trend this season.

Rose - The Doctor is grabbed by an Auton and Rose swings over to save the day.
The End of the World - The Doctor saves the day!
The Unquiet Dead - The Doctor is trapped and Charles Dickens saves the day.
Aliens of London/World War III - Mickey saves the day while the Doctor is trapped in the cabinet room.
Dalek - The Doctor is not trapped, but Rose saves the day by talking him and the Dalek down.

I've always had a problem with the Doctor putting himself into situations he can't get out without someone else deciding to help him, as you can't keep doing that every day for 900 years. Your luck is going to run out. I realise that inspiring other people to be better is as much a part of his tool kit as the sonic screwdriver, but I'd be happier if he could at least get himself out of situations and let the bigger problems be a team effort.

The Bad Wolf reference this episode comes from Bad WolfTV on the monitors, which show things like the Face of Boe expecting kids and solar flare activity. In 4:3 ratio.

The sneaky thing about The Long Game title is the episode is part of Russell T Davies' long game for the season, but viewers have no way of knowing how this Bad Wolf stuff will pay off yet.

Oh, talking about things continuing, this continues the series' unbroken streak of having the villain die due to an explosion. In fact the Mighty Jagrafess goes out the same way as Cassandra, exploding due to the heat (though she went out because of the heat from an actual explosion).


RATING

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The Long Game ticks a lot of boxes.

It's got fun guest stars and memorable moments. It's got mysteries and twists. It's got a companion screwing up and getting kicked off the TARDIS with a door in his head. It's got things to say about organisations doing surveillance and collecting information on everyone, and that when people don't ask questions it allows whoever controls the news to define the truth. Oh, plus it's got a cute dog.

But if you boil the story down it's about The Doctor and Rose taking a lift upstairs to investigate a problem, immediately getting locked up, and then someone turns the heat up and saves the day. There isn't a lot of plot, it just tells you the things that it's about.

So I'm giving this 5/10. Could've been better, could've been worse.

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NEXT EPISODE

Next on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm returning to the Ncuti Gatwa era for The Story and The Engine!

I hope I end up liking it more than The Long Game. Though maybe you think I'm being harsh on it? Let me know in the comments below.