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Dan Owen reviews
Cover
Episode 12: "Bad Wolf"

Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday June 11th, 2005

Cover

Synopsis: The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack are forced to fight for their lives aboard a satellite known as "Game Station". But a far more dangerous threat is lurking out in space...

Doctor Who's hectic, often confused, yet always entertaining season draws to a close with Bad Wolf, the first of a climactic two-part episode. After a recap of the events in The Long Game - The Doctor wakes up to find himself the imprisoned star of a futuristic version of Big Brother. Similarly, Rose becomes an unwitting contestant on The Weakest Link (complete with robotic Anne Robinson as host), while Captain Jack becomes the star of a reality TV make-over show with android versions of Trinny & Susannah.

Still reading?

Bad Wolf is definitely the most unfocused episode of the season, again coming from the perpetually disappointing mind of Russell T. Davies. The episode contains three elements that all become less than the sum of their parts. First, the story is undoubtedly designed to be a satirical swipe at "dumbed down" 21st-Century television - but the concept is so utterly embarrassing and woefully obvious in its spoofing to be rendered toothless. You truly haven't seen anything quite so awful as The Doctor sitting in Big Brother's Diary Room Chair... and realizing this isn't a Comic Relief parody, but a genuine entry into the annals of Who history...

Second, as denoted by the title, this episode finally reveals the continual occurrence of the phrase 'Bad Wolf' throughout the season. This angle has been a ghostly linchpin of the 13-episode run; appearing as graffiti, a helicopter call-sign, a TV channel logo, a piece of poster art, etc. Consequently, BAD WOLF became the source of much speculation from fans as to its meaning. As you should perhaps of expected, the answer to the conundrum is a huge disappointment and actually quite erroneous (sorry, no spoilers, but you'll feel the same letdown feeling, I assure you...)

Thirdly, at the risk of giving away the episode's "saving grace" (as it were), Bad Wolf sees the re-emergence of The Daleks in all their exterminating glory - in the final five minutes. The fact this momentous occasion for audiences is tacked on to a superfluous "spoof/comedy" episode is yet another badly judged decision from writer-producer Davies.

On the plus side, after wading through the quagmire of Anne Robinson (or Anne Droid, geddit?) disintegrating "weakest links", and watching John Barrowman pose his way through a trite make-over show, the final ten minutes do manage to elicit a sense of action and fun - as The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack confront the Controller of the TV station satellite and realize the real threat lies with The Daleks. But, despite this late upturn in quality, nothing can quite erase the memory of Christopher Eccleston slumped on a sofa with three Big Brother contestants (perhaps contemplating how best to tell the BBC he's had enough of this crap?)

Overall, a monumentally disappointing episode that single-handedly ruins the provocative "BAD WOLF" plot-thread, while providing further evidence why Davies should be quietly made redundant before his crass homosexual undertones (sprinkled throughout all his stories) and propensity to overload the silliness of Doctor Who becomes a handicap the series can't recover from on goodwill alone.

However, to end on a positive note - the preview for next week's concluding episode featuring 500,000 invading Daleks is perhaps the greatest British sci-fi preview of the last 5 years. Let's just hope Russell T. Davies doesn't take the opportunity to shoehorn in some slapstick comedy...

Next week: As The Daleks mount a full-scale invasion of Earth, can The Doctor rescue Rose from their clutches before it's too late?

DIRECTION
PERFORMANCES
SPECIAL FX
SOUND/MUSIC


OVERALL

Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.

E-mail Dan Owen

The following is a list of all the Doctor Who content reviewed to date :

And the Audio CDs :

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Recent Posts

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Andy Serkis Batman Benedict Cumberbatch call of duty Calvin Harris Chris Hemsworth Dave Bautista doctor who Domhnall Gleeson doom Drake E3 2017 E3 2018 Ed Sheeran grand theft auto Grand Theft Auto V GTA gta 5 gta5 gta v Idris Elba Inside No.9 Jenna Coleman Jennifer Lawrence Jess Glynne Justin Bieber los santos Michael Fassbender Murray Gold Oscar Isaac Peter Capaldi Reece Shearsmith rockstar Sam Smith Samuel L. Jackson Scarlett Johansson Sia Stan Lee Stanley Tucci star wars Steven Moffat Steve Pemberton Taylor Swift Toby Jones Woody Harrelson

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