Partners in Crime

So, yeah, that was a bit of fun, wasn’t it?   I wonder if Rusty knew it was going to be shown before 7:00, because the Adipose really fit that slightly earlier, closer to tea-time, time slot.  They were cute and thankfully under-used.  Although, I did  love the little Adipose sliding off the taxi when they were on their big march (a silly, but cute touch).

Actually, it was an episode with a number of nice touches, such as Tate and Tennant’s first meeting – a brilliant comedy moment – and Bernard missing the Close Encounters  space ship.  Yeah, a very obvious gag, but still nice.  Actually, Bernard was the best thing in the episode.  By a mile.  And his reaction when he sees Donna and the Doctor flying off, was just wonderful.

The good moments only just about mitigate the cobbled together on a napkin at three in the morning after a booze-up plot.  I don’t mind the story being very simple, but I’m not sure why Rusty couldn’t have added the odd layer just to beef it up a bit.  For example, he could have added a little more depth to the character of Ms Foster.  I’m not sure why she needed to be portrayed as being so evil?  I mean, she is a wet nurse and so she could have shown some actual love for the children without making her any less ruthless.  For someone who really is so good at the little character moments, Rusty can be a bit lazy when it comes to actual characterisation.

Still, she was a decent villain in that she acted logically.  I can’t remember her making any convenient villain mistakes for the sake of the plot.  And that meant that Tennant was forced to improvise – and we get at least two examples – both involving the sonic screw driver, but at least with a bit subtlety – of him being smart.  Specifically, saving Donna when she’s clinging for life and getting away from the guards.  I liked that.

And, the resolution mostly made sense.   For the first time –  in a long time with a Rusty episode – I didn’t feel cheated.  It was actually a smart bit of plotting to tie Tate into the resolution… one that I didn’t see coming.   It was more than just your average pull a big switch or press a big button ending that we often get with Rusty’s scripts. 

For something with the thinnest of thin plots, I’ve said more about this story than I expected to – and I haven’t even mentioned Rose.  And how clever was Rusty there.  It shows that the production team have actually taken into account that spoilers will leak.  They knew that Rose coming back would be reported far and wide, so they bunged her in the first episode.  Brilliant!

So, finally, not as good as Smith and Jones for me – mostly because Smith and Jones had more of an actual story – but still fun and clever with some very lovely moments.