Doctor Who, episode 2 review: the show turns ‘Scooby Who' with an imaginative animated romp
Doctor Who (BBC One) improved on last Saturday's series opener in fine style. Titled 'Lux', a giddy mash-up of animation and live-action lit up the long weekend. Considering the time of year, this wasn't so much Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as Who Framed The Easter Bunny? Happily, the mythical lagomorph delivered a golden egg of an episode.
A thrillingly wild ride saw the Tardis land in Miami, circa 1952. The period scene was set with newsreel reports of Operation Hurricane's atomic bomb testing and Queen Elizabeth II's 16-week mourning period for George VI, before the adventure began in earnest: an abandoned movie theatre hiding a deadly secret.
So far, so Scooby Doo – a comparison which writer Russell T Davies was smart enough to acknowledge. The 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) styled himself as Velma, with new companion Belinda (Varada Sethu, continuing to give as good as she got) as Fred. Thankfully there was no sign of Scrappy Doo. He'd have ruined everything.
The antagonist, the show's best for a while, turned out to be a villainous cartoon character called Mr Ring-a-Ding, voiced with hammy relish by Alan Cumming. It was a genuinely spine-shivering moment when he broke the fourth wall and started speaking directly to cinema-goers – before climbing out of the silver screen to consume them. Textbook everyday Who horror. The sort of quotidian fear, fuelled by children's imaginations, of monsters under the bed or statues coming to life.
Showrunner Davies had a riot with his own premise, pushing it to extremes and packing the script with self-reflexive playfulness. The Doctor and Belinda were turned into animated characters ('I'm all flat and this waistline is impossible!'), before acquiring depth by discussing their back stories. This made them sufficiently well-rounded to regain three-dimensional status. Such postmodern madness recalled classic Sixties story ' The Mind Robber '. The franchise's partnership with Disney added resonance to the vintage cartoon conceit.
After clever gags about continuity and being framed, the duo emerged from a TV screen, only to find themselves in a sitting room with three gobsmacked Whovians. 'This is so Galaxy Quest,' said one, name-checking the cult sci-fi spoof. From their logo T-shirts, tribute fezes and stripy scarves to their eager talk of online plot leaks, this was an affectionate poke at the show's obsessive fanbase. The trio even debated their favourite adventure. Steven Moffat's Blink took the crown – the second week running that Davies has nodded to his fellow Whopremo.
A poignant undertow was lent by the projectionist (Linus Roache) longing for his late wife, as well as a mother's search for her teenage son. He'd disappeared when Mr Ring-a-Ding came to life. It turned out that 15 audience members were trapped on celluloid, waiting to be freed in the feelgood ending. The denouement was a bit daft, as they so often are. Mr Ring-a-Ding was a manifestation of Lux Imperator, the god of light – part of the recent lineage of chaos-causing deities which includes the Toymaker, Maestro and Sutekh. Their magical powers enable them to sidestep logic in ways which feel like cheating.
The now-obligatory social consciousness came from the era's racial segregation and mention of Rock Hudson's AIDS diagnosis. A bonus coda during the closing credits saw the fans marking the episode as seven out of 10, but we'd go one louder. Directed by Amanda Brotchie with real verve, this was heaps of high-energy family entertainment, full to bursting with impish invention.
With the show's future precarious and rumours swirling of production being paused again, this was precisely the sort of romp that might help secure its future. Sweet as chocolate and gently spiced like a hot cross bun, it was perfectly pitched for Easter weekend. Cartoon capers for children, retro thrills for their parents, classic Americana for international audiences and packed with Easter eggs for the nerds. Doctor Who in danger of the axe? As Mr Ring-a-Ding's catchphrase went: don't make me laugh.
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