“Aliens of London” is about as campy as Doctor Who gets, and I love it for that. These two parts are super light, old school Doctor Who, rubber suits and all.
Come to find out this is a retro review, because Mrs. Know-It-All hasn’t seen season one of the 2005 rebooted Doctor Who. If you’ve been following along, we’ve been reviewing the episodes together, and this week it’s the first half of a two-parter.
The setup: the Ninth Doctor means to return Rose to Earth 12 hours after she left. He miscalculates, and they land 12 months later, in London, one year after the 2005 episode “Rose.” Meanwhile an alien crime family, the Slitheen, fake a spaceship crash landing in the River Thames and put the Earth on high alert. They use the crashed ship to lure the experts on extraterrestrial life, including the ultimate expert, the alien time traveler himself, into a trap inside 10 Downing Street.
Twelve Months Late
Mrs. Know-It-All’s first thought was that we were going to get fun alien fighting, which is what she’s used to, and probably a cute little mystery along with it. That’s what it was.
I like that the Doctor’s miscalculation is the thing that kicks it off, because that used to happen in the old series a lot. He’d say, oh yeah, I’m going to get you back at this time, and it’d be a day later, a week later, a month later. I don’t know that there was ever a full year. This is one of the biggest times it’s been an issue, and sure enough, they were quick to put up the missing posters.
And they’re blaming Mickey like he murdered her. Mrs. Know-It-All’s answer to that was, I mean, seriously, she goes missing for a year, they’re going to look at the boyfriend. Don’t forget that, guys.
The Rubber Suits and the Forehead Zipper
I was really impressed that they leaned into the rubber outfits as hard as they did, because those were terrible. They were horrible. They reminded us of the Mucinex guy.
There were a couple of CGI moments too, and I do my best to take these as they were back then and leave today’s standards out of it. I remember the old aliens from back in the day, in Tom Baker’s run as the Fourth Doctor and whatnot. They were super paper mache, rubber suit. So this still holds up where it counts, which is the story and the acting and the fact that everyone leaned into it.
That starts the moment they unzip the invisible zipper on their foreheads. We should’ve counted every time they did it. We understood the first reveal. But every time? There were scenes where it’s supposed to be, I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere, and then they proceed to take like five minutes to unpack themselves. Bro, the minute they start doing something goofy and the lights are going, run. I’d run.
As for what the family Slitheen is after, they want to take over the Earth in order to sell it to whoever wants it. Stupid reasons, alien reasons, whatever reasons.
Our First Look at UNIT
We get our very first look at UNIT when the Doctor shows up where the alien’s being examined. They’re asking what’s going on, and he immediately knows their protocols. Follow me, formation, whatever, and they’re running down the halls behind him.
Everybody at UNIT would know what the TARDIS is, because UNIT was built around him. They’d know who the Doctor is once he’s identified, so I’m not surprised they’re following his instructions pretty quickly. Mrs. Know-It-All didn’t have that context, and it was nice to get to point it out to her. UNIT goes back, man. UNIT’s been around for a while.
I really hope they do more with UNIT in the future. People are saying Russell T Davies is coming back to usher in a new era of Doctor Who, and I believe that, but dude, get UNIT involved somehow. I think it’s a huge opportunity that’s been super missed. They keep making UNIT kind of bungling, and they used to be the elite, back in the day when the Doctor was with them as the Second and then the Third Doctor, Lethbridge-Stewart and the whole bit.
The Pig, and a Face From Torchwood
The doctor who examines the thing in that lab is the actress who later plays Toshiko in Torchwood. I don’t remember if she has a name here or if she’s just scientist, doctor, nurse, someone medical. I think later on they retconned it so that this was Toshiko’s first experience with aliens, and then Jack recruited her afterward. It went by so fast. I just remember this being the first time I saw this actress, and she’s amazing.
What they end up finding out is that it’s a pig. And the Doctor’s great here. He’s so sympathetic, because it was terrified, and he gets angry at them for shooting it.
Rose’s Mom, and Mickey
I asked Mrs. Know-It-All what stuck out for her, and she said this was going to sound so mom-ish: Rose’s mom was so angry that she was alive. I think she gets on the phone and it’s, no, she’s alive, she’s been out exploring. Mrs. Know-It-All said she doesn’t know if she’d do that.
Mickey kind of gets on her nerves. So much so that she’s kind of done. Mickey, Ricky, Nicky, whatever he wants to call him this episode. He does get better, I promise. He’s still in that awkward phase where they don’t fully know what to do with him, and I think it’s about two episodes from now that he actually starts becoming someone they can depend on.
Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North
We get to meet Harriet Jones. She’s so cool. I loved that it was quirky, it was interesting, and I liked her. The first time I saw this I was like, who is this character, why is she here? The fun thing for Mrs. Know-It-All was that she knew who she was the minute she showed up, because she’s seen the later episodes.
I like her whole storyline, all the way to where she eventually goes, and those of you who are familiar with Doctor Who know exactly what I’m talking about.
This is also Downing Street for the first time. For those of you playing at home who aren’t anglophiles: in the UK, their capital is literally just a townhouse. I think they own the whole street now, but that’s where it started and that’s where it stays. 10 Downing Street. Their White House, if you will.
You see all the different characters come and go, including the one guy who’s the assistant to whoever, the one who keeps telling Harriet we have a whole thing going on, I’m sorry, this and that.
Everybody in One Room
Eventually the Doctor shows up, because he and Rose realize he needs to help figure this thing out, and because they got called in. He does what he does and starts working out what’s happening. He asks what’s the one thing that happens when something like this happens, and the answer is us. You get us in one room.
That’s when he realizes they’re all in danger. Mrs. Know-It-All’s read: they put all the important people in one room, why would they do that? But okay. It’s good stuff.
Then one of the Slitheen starts electrocuting everybody in the room, and that’s where the episode ends.
It reminded me of when I was first introduced to Doctor Who, and all the fun, different aliens we were eventually going to meet.
The Verdict
Doctor Who’s “Aliens of London” lands at a 7.5 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.
That’s from both of us. Mrs. Know-It-All went first with her seven point five, with the note that it’s part one of two. She was excited because it’s little aliens again, and she knows she keeps saying that.
She’s right, though. A lot of people have pointed out that the show keeps bringing it back to Earth, and the real life reason is that it’s more cost effective. You do it here, you don’t have to build sets and aliens and costumes. But when they do have aliens, I like it a lot. There’s a later episode with Matt Smith where he and Clara go to this giant market that’s nothing but aliens, and I love those moments. Seeing the Doctor in, quote unquote, an alien environment, just as comfortable as he is here on Earth, is always fun.
I’m going the same, seven and a half. I liked it, judging it on where it was at the time and leaving out the episodes that’ve come since and my feelings about CGI. Everybody commits. That’s the one thing British people have always done for Doctor Who. Corny, campy, paper mache monsters, their plastic garbage cans, whatever. The commitment comes across in the performances, and I’m down. I enjoyed it.
What did you think of “Aliens of London”? Next up is “World War Three,” which picks up right where this one leaves off. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
