The Long Game [TV/2005.5.7]

★★★☆☆

  Pretty standalone by itself but later revealed to be an essential stepping stone in the overarching narrative of the deterioration of the Human Empire, The Long Game nowadays enjoys scant appreciation from people all over the world (it's often ranked the lowest of the Christopher Eccleston era adventures in magazine polls) with a handful of people coming out of the woodworks to celebrate how politically relevant it is today. News outlets' manipulation mass opinion to incite xenophobia, the commodification of truth and how it's turned into a lucrative business (hence all the rage about promotions), and the importance of central air conditioning, all here in a tight 45-minute episode with a fantastic pace.

  I enjoy this a lot, and I always have. I love the slightly walled-in sets that give it a "pocket future" feeling, like the Sylvester McCoy era serials, and I love the opportunity given by this episode for Eccleston's Ninth Doctor to show how he doesn't suffer fools gladly. Adam turns into one of the most unlikable characters in Dr. Who history simply due to his lack of interest in seeing the stars and fixation on how to profit from it in 2012 (terrible year, anyway). If nothing else for Rose, this is a display on how well and truly seasoned she is by now, a true right hand woman to the Doctor's shenanigans. Simon Pegg plays the second-in-command villain Editor with glee; this is a Dr. Who fan whose dreams have come true, and he relishes every second he's on screen. If I could only tell him that this was only the beginning of a very lucrative international career... Russell T Davies obviously had a lot to say about the political state of the UK, 2005 (we've all been there, Russell), but this is scarily applicable to the world as it right now, and I firmly believe this confidently written and performed episode will be given a fairer appraisal in the years to come. Not to say The Long Game is a lost classic or anything, but it's a very fun watch.