After a year of specials and an hour long episode to introduce the new Doctor and companion, it's refreshing to get back to an ordinary, standalone 45 minute episode. Having fulfilled the difficult task of ushering in a new Doctor and companion, The Beast Below was Moffat's opportunity to show us the ideas and themes he may have for his era of the series. What would be a "typical" adventure for Steven Moffat's vision of Doctor Who?
The Doctor takes Amy to Starship UK, a future version of the United Kingdom built onto a spaceship. There are a lot of funny touches involved. Each tower block on the Space Ship is a county. The interior environs, with bunting, ancient televisions and BBC style announcers creates a wonderful parody idea of Britain. If Steven Moffat wanted to prove to the audience that he can do the 'sense of wonder' thing just as well as his predecessor then he succeeded. The design team must be congratulated for their work in creating this unusual environment.
The story starts out promisingly. The Doctor and Amy discover evidence that Starship UK is a police state and are determined to discover the reason why. Evading the puppet like Smilers, they meet the mysterious Liz Ten (Sophie Okonaedo) the monarch who is shadowed by her truth. There appears to be a monster at the heart of the craft. So far the story manages to be mysterious and interesting.
It is in the final act when the episode when the story goes wrong. The Doctor, Amy and Liz Ten discover that Starship UK was built on top of a Star Whale, which the Government are torturing in order to force it to keep on flying through space. When this is revealed, the police state subplot seems to go out of the window. The Doctor and Amy attempt to save the star whale and then just leave the society behind. Even when it is revealed that the sinister regime which has stealing children for labour and using adults for whale food, the Doctor allows those responsible to go unpunished. It feels wrong.
Matt Smith continues to impress and felt more like his own Doctor. Unlike the cooler Ninth or Tenth Doctor, the Eleventh has an awkward walk and unusual body language. But underneath this he hides a calculating mind, able to sum up the situation on Starship UK within seconds. Like Gamera, he is presented to us as a friend to all children.
I'm still not sure what to think of Amy Pond. So far I've gathered that she's a kissogram with a talent for lockpicking and a smug attitude. It's a far cry from the companions of the Russell T Davies era who viewers were able to relate to. Karen Gillian does her best with this character and makes her as likeable as she can, but it's not quite enough.
All the while, the Doctor and Amy are assisted through this police state by Liz Ten. She is a superbly played by Sophie Okonaedo. It's a great thing for a British queen to be a black cockney and she seems to wield guns like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider.
There isn't really much of a threat. The Smilers look menacing but we never see them dispose of anyone directly. The Prime Minister Hawthorne isn't really a villain either. While I was excited to see Terrence Hardiman int he role, he didn't really get much to do here.
The Beast Below is visually interesting but the story is not good. Although the episode was less than the sum of its parts, it shows a lot of potential for where Series 5 might take us and what directions Steven Moffat might take the show in. With next week's episode promising Winston Churchill and Daleks, I have high hopes that things will improve.
Episode Score: 7/10
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