this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
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I avoided watching this one all week, because I don't remember liking it very much, and...well, I was right.
It's not that bad, really. Thebasic story is fine, and themes of the media shaping the way people think are evergreen. But it's directed like something from at least 10-20 years earlier, and the whole thing is sort of lifeless and boring. This is Brian Grant's only DW directing credit, and that's a mercy.
The Adam arc...maybe it should have had one more episode than it got. His initial culture shock is done pretty well, and his greed makes perfect sense, given his previous job. But his (non-) relationship with Rose is rather undercooked - there's no reason to get invested either way. It also serves to paint the Doctor and Rose's relationship in a more romantic light, and...I love Ecceleston and Piper together, but they just don't have that kind of chemistry.
Simon Pegg is rather wasted as the Editor, neither interesting nor funny enough to justify his casting. Suki and Cathica are both more compelling, and the nurse is portrayed in a memorably unusual way by Tamsin Greig.
I keep having the stray thought that "The Interstellar Song Contest" seems like a bit of a do-over of this one. It doesn't map 1:1, but the similiarities are strong enough that I keep drawing that line.
I agree that this episode seems to be pushing more on the 9-Rose relationship than it ought to. It really doesn't feel like they work as anything other than companionship between two people that have lost their place in their respective worlds.