Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Brian Grant
“Who is he?”
“HE IS NO ONE.”
I just spent 20 minutes writing out a really nice review of The Long Game…only to accidentally erase it with one stupid hit of my mouse!
Suffice to say, the word F*CK was thrown around over and over again.
Now that I’m calm once more, I’ll give you the edited highlights of why I liked The Long Game:
1—It’s Doctor Who as the ultimate comfort food: a greatest hits collection of plots from stories as diverse as The Krotons and The Sunmakers, with stock characters, stock situations, and a very obvious plot progression. But I don’t care…because it was all done with so much love, and so much affection, that you can’t help but have one hell of a nice time watching it all unfold.
2—It does interesting things with temporary companion Adam, the Dalek refugee played deviously by Bruno Langley. He’s a total prat: an opportunist, out for himself…and the Doctor dumps him as fast as he can. It’s rare for a sub-plot to travel so intensely parallel to the main thrust of a Doctor Who story, but it’s handled well by head-writer/magician Davies. The final scene, with Adam being returned to his living room, is funny, weird and sombre…a nice touch. And what is it about everyone’s mum appearing in this series?!?
3—It’s got SIMON-bloody-PEGG as the main villain: The Editor (only Doctor Who can get away with ridiculous titles-as-names!). The maestro-star of Shaun of the Dead, and a life long Who fan, does the evil mastermind with a relish not seen since the days of Anthony Ainely’s Master…and the best touch is that he works for a giant, bloodsucking worm!!!
4—The Doctor beams and says “I’ll hug anyone!” How can you NOT love that!
Sure, we’ve seen it before. In fact, this story could fit comfortably in the depths of season 25, way back in 1988, with its weird plot devices, minimalist studio sets, and bog-standard Doctor/villain confrontations that characterized odd ball stories of the time. But watching this is like slipping into a hot bath at the end of the day: it leaves the warmest, contented of smiles on your face…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
8.5
