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| Episode: | 722 | | | Serial: | 177 | | | Writer: | Russell T Davies | | | Director: | Graeme Harper |
| | Air Date: | 01-Jul-2006 |
Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's 1st July 2006, exactly 20 years after the first episode of Doctor Who's epic two-part series two finale, Army of Ghosts! So I thought it'd be a good time to write about it.
The episode was scripted by Russell T Davies and I could write a lot about him as well right now. But I won't. Graeme Harper is also a familiar name at this point, as he directed the big mid-season Cybermen two-parter. He didn't return to direct this though, as he never actually left - the two stories were filmed back to back. They could've given the poor guy a bit of a break!
This wasn't anything strange for the Doctor Who revival though, as it was standard procedure to shoot episodes out of order. In fact, it wasn't even unusual that there was an overlap and they were filming shots for both stories on some days! Compared to the old American sci-fi show production line where they'd get an episode done in 6-7 days and then move right onto the next, it seems like it was chaos.
Okay, I'll be going through the whole episode a scene at a time, so there will be SPOILERS. But I won't spoil anything that happens afterwards, even if I can remember it.
It's followed by a montage of shots narrated by Rose, who is seen on the bus with a bag of chips to demonstrate how utterly empty her life was for the first 19 years before she met the Doctor. This series has really committed to chips meaning 'normality'.
We also get a glimpse of when she first met the Doctor, and him telling her to "Run", which is cool. Nice to see that Christopher Eccleston hasn't been forgotten. Oh, plus she mentions that this is where she died, so that's something to file away for later.
This has to be a new shot for the episode - a striking visual for the montage to go along with Rose talking about meeting a man with a magical machine who can change his face.
Hang on, isn't this the planet from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within?
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| Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within |
It was also supposed to have a "blood-red sky", but I'm glad they went with this instead.
She finishes her narration by saying that this is the story of how she died. So everyone watching can be suitably prepared for the sad ending. In fact the season has been heavily hinting at it for a while now. Lots of death flags.
I knew what was going to happen before I first watched it, so I never got to wonder if she was really going to die or not. I probably would've assumed 'no' though, if just because dead people don't typically do narration in Doctor Who.
OPENING TITLES
Jackie's in a good mood today and not even Rose dumping a bag full of washing on her can spoil it. Grandad's coming to visit any moment! Even though he died 10 years ago.
But then it's immediately revealed that it's the modern day Torchwood Institute that's responsible! A mysterious woman there mentions that they measured ghost energy at 5000 gigawatts. She could've just said 5 terawatts, but I suppose that sounds less impressive. I still think it's pretty good though. It's the equivalent of 5000 nuclear power plants, or 4,132 Mr. Fusion-equipped time travelling DeLoreans.
He's just in time to catch a guy predicting strong ghosts from London, through the North and up into Scotland, like he's reporting the weather (no one can predict anything). There's also an advert for Ectoshine, which is supposed to stop ghosts being pale and grey (it doesn't).
It's basically the bit in Aliens of London where the Doctor watches people reacting to the alien ship crashing in the Thames on the TV, except turned up to 11, with far more celebrity cameos.
I didn't like these clips the first time I watched the episode because I thought they were too implausible. But the actual concept of the ghosts turning up in everything and becoming a fad, that's 100% what would happen. Plus this is a way better Doctor Who/EastEnders crossover than the last one from the '90s.
The Doctor thinks that the ghosts are using the psychic link from everyone wishing to pull themselves in, which seems to me like an unnecessary complication in the story. The script should've left it at being due to Torchwood and their levers.
Though I do like his line about how a footprint doesn't look like a boot. People are seeing fuzzy human shapes and believing that they're dead relatives, specific relatives in fact (Jackie imagines smelling her dad's old cigarettes), but they're only seeing the imprint of something else.
Incidentally, I was wondering if viewers knew at this point that Torchwood was getting its own "dark, wild and sexy" spin-off series, and it turns out yeah it had been announced already. In fact it had been revealed on 17th October 2005, 9 months earlier. So people had every reason to assume that this episode was setting up that show.
Her monitor screen calls her Adeola Oshodi, and she's played by Freema Agyeman, who will return in a later episode. Not as Adeola though - the character was doomed the moment she decided to sneak off for a surreptitious snog with co-worker Gareth.
Yvonne gets a chance here to show that she's a fun boss by pretending to fall for her excuse to leave, even though everyone secretly knows what they're up to. Well, they think they know, but what Adeola and Gareth are actually doing is getting converted by Cybermen.
But they're not just any Cybermen, they're the Cybus version from the parallel universe, and the episode gives away their involvement pretty damn early! In fact, the series gave it away in the trailer at the end of the last episode, which is why I never watch them.
Anyway I don't like this bit, it's kind of cringy and I will have to deduct 3 points for it. But it got Rose smiling at least. Also she brings up a past episode, wondering if the ghosts could be the Gelth, which is nice continuity.
The Doctor's working on figuring out where the ghosts are coming from, to Jackie's frustration. She just wants it to be real and doesn't like that the Doctor's always reducing things to science. That's some good writing I reckon, illustrating how Jackie sees the world in a different way to him. (The series already explored what the Doctor believes in the Impossible Planet two-parter.)
I don't think we've ever had a chance to hear a parent's opinion about a companion before Rose, so this is actually all new for the show. Though a companion sticking around for 50 years would also be new for the show, so I don't think she has much to worry about.
Jackie is being very anti-Doctor Who right now. The series is all about a scientist thinking his way through problems, but she doesn't like reducing things to science. It's all about how travel broadens the mind, but she feels like travel transforms you into an alien.
There's a satellite view for a moment which reveals that the Tyler's Powell Estate is exactly where the Brandon Estate is in real life. That's the location they used to film the scenes right outside of Jackie's flat. London was a bit of a drive for the production team though, so whenever characters visited the nearby street and play area (like in Father's Day, Parting of the Ways etc.), that was filmed just a short distance from their studio in Cardiff. Anyway that's where the TARDIS prop was for this scene.
It's not there for long though as the Doctor takes his ship straight to Torchwood HQ... not realising that Jackie is still on board.
So Jackie's finally gotten to take a trip in the TARDIS! She's been inside lots of times, but she's never been anywhere in it. She wasn't even inside when it got snatched by the Sycorax. And she's not happy.
The Doctor was in such a good mood as well. He'd even come up with a brand new new catchphrase, saying "Allons-y!" while pulling the lever. It means "Let's go!", in French. I suppose all that time he spent with Madame de Pompadour stuck with him.
He materialises inside Torchwood and sees all the military folks with rifles taking up positions on the monitor. So he does look at the screen before walking out sometimes! He's a little disappointed but not dissuaded, and when Rose points out that they've got guns, he just jokes that they could shoot him dead, but he'll have the moral high ground. He's not even going to take cover behind that shield he used in Parting of the Ways. I know he likes to get captured so the enemy will tell him everything, but this seems a bit reckless. You don't give the enemy your spaceship!
Yvonne is very happy to see him, and the legendary TARDIS! But she's read the records and she knows the Doctor travels with a companion, so she'd like to see them... and she's got enough rifles behind her for this to be more of a demand than a request. "There's no point hiding anything. Not from us."
I'm sure this is a brilliant plan to keep his partner in play as a secret weapon, but it comes across more like he just saw an opportunity to roast Jackie without her talking back. He immediately comes up with the sickest burns he can think of, starting with saying she got aged 57 years by the Time Vortex. I don't even know why he's being so cruel, the two of them actually get on pretty well these days!
That's a Jathaa Sun Glider over on the left. They shot it down over the Shetland Islands 10 years ago, like they shot down the Sycorax ship in The Christmas Invasion. The Doctor literally took down the government over that incident so Torchwood probably isn't on his Christmas card list any more after hearing that. Oh, also he's their prisoner, and they're carrying the TARDIS (and secretly Rose) off to be stored and studied.
They pack a lot of exposition into this scene to paint a picture of exactly who Torchwood are (and who Yvonne is). They've got a lot of amazing technology here, but it's all for the good of Torchwood, not the general public. And unlike UNIT, Torchwood works for the British Empire, not the United Nations. Jackie points out they don't have an empire, but Yvonne seems keen to fix that.
I feel like RTD wanted us to really dislike Yvonne, as she's a bit of a fascist with a friendly smile, all about keeping Britain great. But if that was the goal they made her too likeable and reasonable, for me anyway.
They've analysed it with every device imaginable, so the Doctor tries his 3D glasses. He wore them earlier when he was catching a ghost and they were not explained. Everyone knows what he's like though so they're not even commenting on it.
The Doctor recognises it as a Void Ship, built to travel in the Void between parallel universes. That's what the Gallifreyans called it anyway. Some people call it Hell, apparently, so there's a surprising connection to The Impossible Planet. I'm also surprised he brings up the Eternals (from space sailing boat race serial Enlightment) and that they call it the Howling. And DC Comics calls it the Bleed.
Anyway, he suggests sending it back without trying to open it. He's very keen to avoid dangerous mysteries this season, continually criticising humans for their curiosity.
I like that he's doing what he can to take change of the situation, walking around like he owns the place. Though it's kind of spoiled by how he doesn't know his way around and Yvonne has to tell him he's going off in the wrong direction.
Hang on, is that Sutekh's sarcophagus over on the right? He was an Egyptian-themed villain back in the Fourth Doctor story Pyramids of Mars, who sounded a lot like the Beast in The Impossible Planet. I suppose even if it's not, an Egyptian artefact in a British museum is very on-theme.
While Rose is on her sneaking mission, Gareth and Adeola have returned to work, still looking pretty human, and are luring other people down to the Cybermen plastic sheet maze.
Also Jackie has figured out where Torchwood's base is located.
The building was overtaken by The Shard in 2012 (so that would be around Doctor Who series... 7, I think). We're actually looking right at where it will be built, over on the other side of the Thames. And the Powell Estate is over on the distant left somewhere, maybe just off camera.
Doctor Who has always been drawn towards landmarks really, especially the tall ones.
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| The War Machines, Part 4 |
Anyway, it turns out that Torchwood had this whole building constructed just so they could reach a spacial disturbance 600 feet above sea level (I don't know how tall that is, I only do metric). It's a hole in the fabric of reality (that just happened to appear right over London) and if they tear it open a bit every day they can get enough energy to get independence from the Middle East!
Torchwood was looking for a source of power for the Empire in The Impossible Planet as well. And the Doctor was getting power from a ghost rift back in series 1's Boom Town. Each time it ended badly and he thinks this is going to go badly as well.
This is actually a really good visual demonstration, nice job RTD.
Then the Doctor decides to change tactics, instead of telling Yvonne to stop, he dares her to do it! He'll just sit on the chair and wait for the fireworks. And Jackie's actually playing along! It's an actual shame they never took her to an alien world or an ancient city, but then I suppose she's the avatar of normality. She's the Rose that stayed at home.
Vyonne's the one to blink first, telling her people to stop the countdown... until they get further information. But she gets the last word, saying that she was warned that he likes to make a mess.
At this point Rose has made it to the Sphere Chamber and she uses her psychic paper to get in! How does that even work, do the computers have organic brains? She couldn't have mentally projected a visible image for it to read as she has no idea what it wants to see.
Unfortunately she's just Rose, so yeah he's entirely safe right now. Her spy mission got a game over after 6 minutes. Yvonne asks the Doctor if he knows her, threatening to shoot her if she's not connected to him. So he has to admit that she's the real Rose Tyler. I feel like Yvonne has to keep reminding the audience that she's the villain or else we'd end up liking her.
Though the episode's not really ramping up the tension here, as that guy in the background turns around to reveal that he's Mickey! That is such a good reveal, I didn't even think about that dude even though he's there in plain sight. Mickey really is an expert at infiltration and investigation.
Their system's been hijacked remotely, but the Doctor's good at tracking things so he goes racing off with Yvonne to find the source.
The Cybermen start re-enacting the classic serial Tomb of the Cybermen, cutting through plastic sheets to step out, and the soldiers Yvonne dragged along start re-enacting every single classic story where someone tries shooting something. At least the spark effects are better now (you can only tell they keep reusing them if you go through it frame by frame looking for a good image to screencap).
The Cybermen no longer have to hide, so they storm the Lever Room and start blasting all the extras using their new fold-out pew-pew arm guns (which sound like they're from an ancient video game). Now they're free to properly open up the breach and let the ghosts in.
There's a montage of scenes showing Cybermen all over the world, including the Taj Mahal! Like I said, Doctor Who villains are drawn towards landmarks. One of the most iconic images of the classic series features Cybermen stomping in front of St Paul's Cathedral.
Honestly this doesn't make Yvonne or Mickey look particularly great. Torchwood was created to prevent the invasion of Britain, not enable it. They had one job! And Mickey was supposed to be defeating the Cybermen. To be fair he says they actually beat them, that's why they ran away over here.
Though he's only around long enough to be made to look a fool, as he goes from telling people the increased ghost activity is harmless, to telling everyone to stay in their homes!
Russell T Davies' first era loved to get the viewers involved in the story like this. These are regular people, like you, the person watching the series right now! In fact it might even be 7:40 PM in universe.
Meanwhile the sphere has suddenly gotten weight and mass, and Mickey decides it's time to drop the act and grab the big ass sci-fi rifle he had hidden.
Back in the Lever Room, the Doctor's confused because the Cybermen don't have the technology to build a Void Ship. The Cyberleader basically repeats what the Dalek Emperor said in the last finale: the sphere is nothing to do with them! It's part of someone else's scheme, but when it smashed through realities they saw an opportunity.
In the Sphere Chamber, the Void Ship opens up and Mickey gets ready to open fire at whatever's inside. It's a good thing he doesn't though, as it's...
Instead it was given away a couple of months earlier during the BAFTAs, when the black coloured Dalek showed up when Russell T Davis, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson were getting the award for Best Drama Series. (It was Doctor Who that won the award by the way; Daleks don't harass RTD in every awards show. To my knowledge.)
It's interesting that the scene goes out of its way to hide the other object that was in the sphere with them. You can see glimpses if you're looking for it, the episode plays fair, but we're clearly not supposed to be thinking about it yet. So, uh, forget I just mentioned it.
TO BE CONTINUED!
CONCLUSION
Well nothing much happened in this one.
No really, Army of Ghosts is just a lot of setup as everyone waits for the villains to arrive. The Doctor doesn't really do much either. He detects that the source of the ghosts is the Torchwood Institute, then he breaks a window, then he detects the source of the hack. And Rose is even worse! She puts on a coat and gets captured.
Though I wouldn't say that it drags, because between the ghosts, the breach, the sphere and Torchwood itself there's a lot it had to establish here. Plus it still found time for some good character moments with new companion Jackie Tyler!
Jackie gets a surprising amount to do in this one. At first she's the one showing us humanity's perspective on the ghosts and how they want to believe in it. Incidentally I like how people just got used to them, it felt very real. Though for an episode called Army of Ghosts, it doesn't really do a whole lot with the concept that people believe their lost loved ones are back. The sad thing is, the twist reveal is that they really are their loved ones, a version of them, and they really are lost.
Next Jackie puts herself in opposition to the series' philosophy, saying that reducing things to science sucks and travel turns you into an alien. I think that's a bit unfair though. It's not that her daughter won't be Rose Tyler, she'll just be a different Rose Tyler. Which is going to happen anyway, everyone changes. We got to see a different Jackie Tyler a few episodes ago and she didn't even need to go to Mars first.
Then Jackie's forced to walk in her daughter's shoes and play the role of companion. They kept us waiting for two seasons, but after Mickey got a turn as a companion it's finally Jackie's turn! She didn't go very far, four miles across London, but she did travel in the TARDIS to an adventure. And she does a pretty good job of it too, noticing things, asking questions, and backing up the Doctor when he goes up against Yvonne.
I can't help but compare Yvonne Hartman with Henry van Statten from series 1's Dalek. They both like hoarding alien treasures they'll never let the public have, but Van Statten is lurking 53 floors underground and Hartman is 50 floors above London. Van Statten is a cruel boss who'll wipe an employee's mind and dump them somewhere just for offering an opinion, Hartman is an inspiring boss who knows everyone's name and tries to keep their spirits up. Van Statten was all ego, Yvonne is all conviction. And they both saw the Doctor as something they could own and use as a resource (though Yvonne was a lot nicer about it).
Unfortunately they both made the same mistake of discovering something incredibly dangerous and thinking that it's Christmas, which in this case was a gateway to Hell. I suppose the reason the sphere doesn't activate until the end is because it was basically a ghost itself, waiting for the door to be opened properly so it could manifest. Well that, and because the story's built to lead to an escalating series of 'holy shit' reveals:
Holy shit, it's the Cybermen!
Holy shit, it's Mickey!
Holy shit, the ghosts are all Cybermen!
Holy shit, the sphere contains Daleks!
Oh, plus Rose is apparently going to die, so that's a bit dramatic as well. Though dead people don't generally do narration on Doctor Who. In fact no one does narration on Doctor Who, aside from on the TV movie and in Love & Monsters. But the revival era hasn't been afraid to break with tradition and change the format a bit.
Russell T Davies' scripts have been hit and miss for me. This one is... a hit. It's a very Aliens of London kind of story, except without all the stuff thrown in to keep young kids entertained and annoy me. Yvonne isn't farting all the time and honestly I think that works better for her. The episode feels like it's written by someone who knows where they're taking it and understands how to write dialogue.
But it's like watching the first 20 minutes of Dalek and then pressing pause. It's less of a part one and more of a first act, so I can't praise it that much.
RATING
Overall I liked Army of Ghosts, but now that I'm 20 years removed from the shock of the twists, I'm going to have to say that it's good, but not great:
7/10
NEXT EPISODE
But if you'd rather talk about Army of Ghosts you're in the right place as there's a comment box below. Give people more words to read about this story, I don't think they've had enough yet!
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