The Thousand Worlds / The Heart of the Battle [AUDIO/2015.12.14]

★★★☆☆

  I used to think this two-parter was a load of loud noise and fanfare without any real excitement, but I must say... this recent revisit turned me into a bit of a convert. It's not in any way truly remarkable or outside-the-box, I'd still say, but it's better than I remembered. Dalek war (read: lots of blaster fire, screams, explosions and crashing spaceships -- add in weird time-distorting effects for good measure) can frequently become nauseating when carried on for too long, but Nicholas Briggs makes the smart decision of leaving the all-out destruction and mayhem to the backside while focusing on a surprisingly well-paced infiltration plot, with the War Doctor on what is ostensibly a suicide mission to rescue a kidnapped Time Lord, which acts as a pretty neat homage to Briggs' obvious passion, war films from the 1950s and '60s. Add the fact that there are a couple of... I wouldn't say unpredictable but certainly confident... twists and turns, as well as a genuinely emotional climax (not the kind that hits you over the head and overloads you with emotions, but rather one that lets the emotions crawl up on you), and I'd say The Thousand Worlds and The Heart of the Battle make quite a satisfying two-parter.

  At the end of the day, I think I can forgive a bit of the formulaic (and again, predictable) when everything comes together in a neat, enjoyable bow. All it takes to tap into that all-too Dr. Who style of fun is to come up with one madcap idea (I can't complain about the frequency with which Daleks choose to use planetoids/planets as physical weapons because every attempt is more insane and ambitiously realised than the last) and have a lot of passion from the actors... and believe me, John Hurt and Jacqueline Pearce have that absolutely covered.