Written by Mark Gatiss
Directed by Euros Lyn
“Hey! Perhaps he’ll do us an exorcism on the cheap.”
Now…if I had pitched this story, I would have laid it out as “Doctor Who teams up with Charles Dickens to battle the alien menace in Victorian Cardiff.” Most programmers might balk at this — even Doctor Who programmers. Luckily, we didn’t have to worry…because The Unquiet Dead was AMAZING! Not only was this a fabulous introduction to the historical side of Doctor Who storytelling, it was also the creepiest, funniest ghost story the show has ever done.
First off, top marks for recreating snowy Cardiff on Christmas Eve, 1869…in August! The production design was nothing short of first rate, and it’s impossible not to share Rose’s excitement at walking through such a magnificent locale. The lighting, the action set pieces, the direction…Euros Lyn is definitely writing a text book on how to direct Doctor Who.
Then there’s Charles Dickens, ably played by Simon Callow, Britain’s top acting authority on the great author. Aside from all the historical affectations, the best thing about Callow’s performance is the one thing that is common to Doctor Who: each and every time the weary, the bored, and the hollow meet up with the Doctor, their lives are suddenly filled with fear, excitement…and magic! Exposure to the Doctor and his way of life can be invigorating, and Dickens is no exception. The ending, with his joyous “God bless everyone”, hits it right on the head.
Speaking of the Doctor, Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper are their usual superb selves. They’ve gotten to the point that they can’t imagine not travelling together, and it will be fascinating when she comes home once again, after such a series of adventures, to the mundane realities of London in 2005.
But the absolutely best thing about The Unquiet Dead is the writing, courtesy of Mark Gatiss. The BAFTA award-winner for The League of Gentlemen, and a Doctor Who novelist of considerable talent, Gatiss was channelling the great Who-writer Robert Holmes, giving us a dark comedy double act in Sneed and Gwyneth, comedy and all-out body horror, and wonderful Doctor/Rose scenes that counterpoint his alien nature to her exubarent humanity, in a manner similar to the 4th Doctor/Sarah Jane relationship of 1975-77.
It even incorporated long-term series continuity about ghosts and psychic powers developing over open time rifts, as established back in the 1977 story Image of the Fendahl. Excellent stuff: continuity use, without degenerating into boring, fan-boy exposition. Mind you, it certainly makes fan-boy hearts (like mine) sing with happiness. 
Gush gush gush…I can’t help it. This was Doctor Who at its glorious best, and it’s by far the best episode so far. If we get another 10 weeks of this, then I’m definitely in some sort of television nirvana.
10
