Aimed at the Body [AUDIO/2020.10.13]

★★★☆☆

  As far as introduction stories to long arcs go, Aimed at the Body is perfectly serviceable. At only 30 minutes, this one-parter sets up the Shadow of the Daleks storyline is a pretty average way: make up some trouble so that the Doctor becomes involved, have the main baddie of this piece be under the control of the Daleks and then leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the succeeding episodes/stories to try and follow. With the adventure itself being less of its own standalone thing and more a leg-up for further adventures, it was important for this thing to have at least one compelling side in order for me to be really captured by it; Jamie Parker as Douglas Jardine pretty much fulfills that role by being such a tetchy bastard with a fascinating secret or two, and Peter Davison seems to be genuinely invested in bouncing off between him. I have pretty high hopes for the rest of Shadow of the Daleks, because you know what? Aimed at the Body might be threadbare narrative-wise, but the culmination of a breezy sense of direction and assured performances from the cast means that I still enjoyed it quite a lot. It's got an energy to it, like it wants to pull you along for the ride, and I'm seated. Dalek statues, Daleks controlling cricket players... let's see where this ends up going.