Gridlock [TV/2007.4.14]

★★★★☆

  I certainly didn't remember this being one of Russell T Davies' bleakest scripts, and that's taking into account the uplifting resolution. RTD's vision of the future is filled with rainy and grimy streets that are only occupied by drug stalls, giant circular motorways with thousands of cars stuck there for their entire lives, and cities divided by class (with the rich having all died out due to a virus born from the most popular of drugs) -- and with clever use of CGI and believable sets (namely the cramped, claustrophobic cars), that vision is brought to life with style. While Transit may be the first proper cyberpunk story released under the Doctor Who label (and one which is mroe faithful to the subgenre with its themes and trappings), Gridlock more than deserves to be talked amongst cyberpunk fans as a brilliant episode, and proof that it could work in the New series if done proper.

  In a tight forty-five minute format, Gridlock manages to hold enough information about New New York for us to explore in depth. You get a sense that every car on the motorway holds a story of their own, and that's the best impression one could ever get from a story set in a sprawling, living and breathing world. The Face of Boe remains a total enigma (despite all that Captain Jack malarchy), and adds yet another delicious layer to what is already a very filling episode! Then there's, of course, David Tennant and Freema Agyeman who breathe life to the script. If you want to see the Doctor be entirely no-nonsense, powerful and magical... look no further than this adventure.