Doctor Who:
Closing Time
By Gareth Roberts
Reviewed By Will Barber – Taylor
“Yes, he likes that, Alfie, though
personally he prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord Of All.”
The Doctor decides to meet up with his
old friend Craig Owens to pay his respects before his journey to Lake Silencio. He soon discovers strange things are
happening at the local department store; people are going missing and a large
silver rat has been seen. The Doctor knows this can mean only one thing - the
return of the Cybermen.
The plot was a very good one. The return
of James Corden ( Gavin And Stacey) as Craig Owens was written well and better
than Corden’s first appearance in the series (The Lodger). The return of the Cybermen and the Cybermats
was also well written and the Cybermen were finally returned to the skulking
menaces they were in the Troughton and Davison eras, respectively. The Cybermats also make a welcome return,
having not been in the series since Revenge of The Cybermen back in 1974. Unlike the Revenge Cybermats which were just
plain silly, these Cybermats were similar to the ones seen in Tomb Of The
Cybermen (1967), which were actually scary.
The Cybermens’ evil plot was a bit basic and rather unimpressive. Some fans may argue the fact that the
Cybermen were beaten by love was a bit - well… unimpressive. They are
wrong. The core idea that emotions can
be so powerful that the Cybermen can be destroyed by pure, raw emotion was
utter genius.
The acting was brilliant from both the
stars of the show. I have to admit I was
previously not a fan of the Corden/ Smith double act but this story proved me
wrong. The scene when Corden and Smith
were hunting for the Cybermat and were mistaken for a couple was believable and
hilarious.
The directing was magnificent, especially the scene pre titles where
Shona (Sercoa Davis) was grabbed by the silent, stomping Cybermen. Steve Hughes deserves a pat on the back.
The design for the Cybermats was
frightening because of their sharp teeth and streamline body quality. They certainly deserve an action figure of
some kind.
All in all, this is a very good episode,
with fantastic acting, directing and writing.
As we know from the end of this episode, The Doctor’s Time is running
out. The Astronaut is waiting in the
waters of Lake Silencio to strike the Timelord dead….
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