Rate and Discuss: Aliens of London/ World War III

[SiHart]

Slitheen, in Downing Street! Yes, it's alien invasion new series style... with the delightful Harriet Jones (MP, Flydale North), the return of Jackie and Mickey and Andrew Marr reporting!

What do you think of the first two parter of the new series?

Si xx

[Dino]

Still working out the scores...
I liked the first episode, the shot of the Doctor trying to get a remote control off a child as there's a party going on behind him. I loved the Big Ben shot.
Had no problem with the aliens in government and the cliffhanger was pretty old school as well. It was good to see not just the Doctor in danger.
Jackie and Mickey showed depths I thought they'd never show and the pre-credits sequence was quite dramatic.
And then World War III came along... A lot of it was just them in a room.
Jackie and Mickey came to the fore a lot more, but that was about it.
I'd give 9 to Aliens Of London and 6 to World War III.
Not sure how I can show that in the poll though.

Voted 7. Mean average for the win! (really should be 7.5)

[SpaceGandalf]

The first time I watched "Aliens of London" it kind of killed series one for me. To be honest it reminded me too much of an English 80's children's drama (the kind RTD used to write), and that's without all the farting. I found it so bad I deliberately skipped "World War III".

I have now rewatched it twice with my kids, and have completely changed my opinion of it. The tone and content of the episode is perfect for kids: scary, exciting and easy to follow.

It could have been much better, but it ticks all the boxes it should.

[SiHart]

Hi- welcome to PS

It's definitely my least favourite of the season too. Eccleston seemed ill at ease throughout it, and the tone veered around all the time- not sure if it was satire, comedy or drama. You only have to look at how well handled Annette Badland is in Boomtown compared to this one to see what a wasted oppotunity it is.

There are some outstanding moments- the crash into Big Ben is awesome for example, and Penelope Wilton is fabulous (of course)but it doesn't quite cut it for me.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

It was an early favourite for me, and having rewatched it just a couple of weeks ago it still is. In fact I'd go as far as to say that overall it's probably my favourite story of the whole season. And the notion of the Doctor saving the world stuck in a room is, to my mind, just great. Fantastic, even.

So many things I like about this one, it would take too long to list - but from "It's been twelve months, sorry" onwards I love it!

[Rob McCow]

Ah! Interesting that someone has revised their views on this. I remember it not being terribly popular at the time! Something to do with gas release...

I adore Aliens of London / World War III. There are plenty of flaws, they were still finding their feet, but there's so much to love.

In a way, it exploded old Doctor Who by making the alien attack bold and totally visible to the public. This is no making a copy of an English village effort, this is a full-blown assault on 10 Downing Street, taking a delightful chunk out of Big Ben on the way. The Doctor is confined to watching events on the TV at Jackie's flat, at least until he takes the TARDIS into the heart of the action. He's still an unpredictable maverick - who'd have thought he'd leave Rose behind at this point?

The whole business with Rose at the start was great. Returning to Rose's family was unprecedented at the time and gave a fascinating glimpse of what it's like for those left behind. And of course - "You call yourself a Doctor? Well stitch this!"

I love the Slitheen characters as well, chortling away as they take over the British Government and delighting in their bodily functions. It was so refreshing to have some alien villains who weren't taking anything remotely seriously!

Okay, the computer hacking is completely rubbish and the Slitheen costumes don't match the CGI well enough. Apart from that, I think it's a wonderful two-parter. Bright, bold and with a marvellously witty script.

[SpaceGandalf]

Hi- welcome to PS

It's definitely my least favourite of the season too. Eccleston seemed ill at ease throughout it, and the tone veered around all the time- not sure if it was satire, comedy or drama. You only have to look at how well handled Annette Badland is in Boomtown compared to this one to see what a wasted oppotunity it is.

There are some outstanding moments- the crash into Big Ben is awesome for example, and Penelope Wilton is fabulous (of course)but it doesn't quite cut it for me.

Si xx

Thanks for the warm welcome :-)

I think you hit the nail on the head, it veered too wildly from comedy to drama. The gas exchange was a great idea for a gag, but as an adult it pushed the humour too far and broke the suspension of disbelief.

Watching it with kids is totally different though, you just can't help getting carried away along with them.

[SiHart]

It was just after this episode I realised what a hit the show was. I was walking past the local primary school (where i went to school in fact) and in the very same playground where I'd been chased by armies of Daleks and the Master at playtime, there were kids busy pretending to unzip their foreheads and become Slitheen. Marvellous!

Si xx

[SpaceGandalf]

Yeah that's really what's great about the Whoiverse it captures kids imagination, because it's so blooming imaginative (unlike 99.9% of all sci-fi).

Personally I'm loving playing silurians : don't step on the cracks in the pavement or the lizards will get you! Oh and Weeping Angels, that concept was made for the playground.

The best bit's when my 4yo daughter doesn't want me to be a monster anymore so she runs off an Amy Pond "remember!" speech from VotD, brings a tear to my eye.

[Larry]

The first time I watched "Aliens of London" it kind of killed series one for me. .

I can Understand that feeling I certainly feel that had the new series started with these two episodes first I reckon the new series would of fallen flat at the first fence and would of struggled to recover. Personaly it's one of those stories I neither like or dislike you just have to be in the right mood for it but having said that it's certainly not one i'm in too much of a hurry to see again.

Hi- not sure if it was satire, comedy or drama. Si xx

I've always felt Aliens of London/WWIII has a very Douglas Adams feel to it I certainly don't think it would of looked to out of place in season 17.

[J.R. Southall]

I've always said that Aliens of London (I thoroughly dislike the clunkiness of using both episode names as a title for the whole story) is exactly what Robert Holmes would have written, had he been writing for Doctor Who thirty years later than he was. I absolutely love it, and I did in 2005, too.

One of the things that worked so well for me, was the sheer unpredictability of it all: when the aliens get into Downing Street, what do they do? Stand around, laughing. So much scarier than the usual!

[Si Hunt]

I adore the way the Slitheen spaceship zooms overhead and sounds its horn just before it crashes into Big Ben (with a resounding dong). That always makes me laugh.

Si.

[Mab]

I recently rewatched this - about a year ago - and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. After a lot of RTD's bloated overblownness, it was amazing to see this again and realise that, actually, he didn't do too badly with this one. The plot, while huge, is not stupidly so - and looking at it again, WOW it's a really horrible idea, isn't it - wearing the dead peoples' skins? Eeeeew....

I still think the Slitheen look like enormous diseased penis monsters, but there's a lot to enjoy in this - I remember originally not being keen on it at all, but now quite rate it. So I'd give it a 7.

D

[SpaceGandalf]

I still think the Slitheen look like enormous diseased penis monsters,

Lmao!

It was the infantile faces that I really found disturbing. Aesthetically I think they're actually one of the best monsters

[duncan]

It's OK but not the best of series one. The farting started to wear a bit thin though to be honest. The Slitheen are quite scary as my daughter could testify at the time and Penelope Wilton was great.

[Larry]

It's OK but not the best of series one. The farting started to wear a bit thin though to be honest. The Slitheen are quite scary as my daughter could testify at the time and Penelope Wilton wil great.

TBH, the farting has never really bothered me .

[duncan]

I can't say it bothered me either, it just got a bit boring and same old by the second episode

[Larry]

I can't say it bothered me either, it just got a bit boring and same old by the second episode

and by Boomtown to.

[MacNimon]

This story isn't as bad as it's often made out to be. I've always loved the start of the story where the Doctor takes Rose home a year late...a great scene there with Jackie!

The biggest problem for me isn't the juvenile farting which caused so many complaints on the forums at the time, this was obviously written in for kids amusement and it certainly had an effect; but quite simply that there wasn't enough to the story to be spread over two episodes and it feels rather padded, particularly in the second episode. It's rather fun though, and the space ship crashing into Big Ben is one of the highlights of the season. I never get fed up seeing that!

Not the best story of the season, although it's certainly not the worst! 7/10