Back in the original series, the Doctor's travels through time and space were brought to an end in The War Games, when he was exiled to Earth by the Time Lords. During that brief period of Earthbound adventures, the Doctor tended to visit industrial facilities, or laboratories at the behest of UNIT and the Government. We never found out where the Doctor lived or did his shopping. He gave the impression he would visit gentlemens' clubs with 'Tubby' Rowlands rather than pubs with ordinary soldiers.
Gareth Roberts' The Lodger finally shows the Doctor in an ordinary environment, as he rents a room from Craig Owens, played by James Corden. The Doctor has been stranded when the Tardis dematerialised with Amy on board. He has tracked the source of the disturbance to Craig's flat and has to go undercover to find out what it is.
The scenes that follow are some of the funniest Doctor Who has ever shown, with the Doctor taking up football, taking Craig's place at a day job and generally being strange at everything. This story really benefits from having Matt Smith as the Doctor. The Ninth or Tenth Doctors would have taken this in their stride. This episode probably shows Matt Smith's best performance to date.
With Amy stuck on the Tardis, James Corden's Craig Owens is the closest we have to a companion. I don't know very much about James Corden. Some people like him while others seem to find him annoying. Whatever the case, he puts in a pretty good performance as Craig Owens. Daisy Haggard is also quite good as Craig's friend Sophie. These are both more grounded characters than Amy.
Amy is only in the Tardis and I don't really miss her. She makes a few quirky one-liners but that is about all.
The ultimate power turns out to be a malfunctioning ship computer, luring victims to the flat to make them pilot the ship away. It's not that exciting but it's just there to facilitate the Doctor and Craig relationship.
This is mostly a feelgood episode,
9/10
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