I know there are a more than a few of you here who live outside the UK, and that means you won't be seeing the newest Doctor Who episode until at least next month. Or, uh, until a few hours from now when somebody inevitably rips it onto the net for downloading. So anyway, if you haven't seen it yet, please do not read the following! In fact, don't look for any spoilers on this amazing episode!
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*Insidious things , spoilers. I've really got to give them up, because I spent most of tonight's Doctor Who special just waiting to see where the bits I'd already seen fitted in! What a story though-- Every one of these specials just seems to get bigger and bolder! The scenes of the Martian landscape and Bowie Base 1 were breathtaking. The monsters were genuinely disturbing-- I liked the homage to 28 Days Later at the end there as well. Slight quibble though-- skin is waterproof (isn't it?) and the droplet lands on Roman's cheek. How could it have infected him? It's good also to see the Doctor pitted against a foe whose nature is kept deliberately mysterious-- just like the Swarm in POTD and the Midnight Entity. This leaves fertile ground for future sequels to all the aforementioned stories, which is good-- Doctor Who needs more recurring monsters that aren't from the classic series. Don't get me wrong-- I love to see Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans in Nu-Who, but we haven't seen a really strong baddie that can come back as often as the old enemies. Lots of monsters that work brilliantly in one story, but few that can keep coming back. The Flood, the Swarm and Midnight all deserve to return though.

I was surprised by the way a classic 'base under siege' story was secondary to the Doctor's anguish, though it was absolutely the right thing. First his curiosity got the better of him... then his compassion... but finally, it was his arrogance that drove him over the edge. It's funny, but I watched 'The Caves of Androzani' again today-- that other great dark Doctor Who story, where the Doctor also questions himself and the life he leads. We don't get this enough in the show I think-- the only thing that irks me a bit when I hear RTD or SM talk about the Doctor are the limitations they place on the character. You know the kind of thing. They mean well by it, but they keep saying stuff like 'ooh, you'll never see the Doctor do this' or 'he would never say that' or 'he would never go there'. Rubbish! The Doctor is as complex and as falible as anyone and it's good to show this from time to time. The show thrives on throwing us curveballs like the one at the end of tonight's episode. The most tense moment in the whole thing ---in the whole history of the show-- was when Adelaide faced off against the Doctor, and just for a few moments it was the Doctor who became the monster! Seeing that mania in his face...hearing him shout about how time WILL serve him... that was the scariest moment in Doctor Who history. Valeyard, anyone? I remember when I was a kid watching Colin Baker that it wasn't just the monsters that scared me... it was the Doctor! He just seemed so mad and unpredictable. Who knows what he might do if pushed the wrong way? Paul McGann said the same of the Doctor in an interview a while back.

My only criticism is that the writer should have kept this momentum going, and not have had the Doctor pull himself back from over the brink. How amazing would it have been to have an episode of the Doctor just going on an insane powertrip through time and space? But then I guess there would be no coming back from that, and no matter how far he goes, the Doctor should always essentially be good. Cannot, cannot, cannot wait for the next episode.