Boom Town by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Joe Ahearne

 

“Boom Town” stars Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler with John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith, Annette Badland as Margaret Blaine, and Alan Ruscoe as the Slitheen.  It was written by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Joe Ahearne with Elwen Rowlands as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, and Mal Young as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Saturday 4 June 2005 on BBC One.

 

The penultimate story of the first series of the revival of Doctor Who perhaps had the longest gestation period before the plot was locked in.  In Russell T. Davies’ original pitch document was an idea called “Pompeii”, a historical story that would eventually be used in the fourth series, abandoned partially because doing two historical settings back-to-back would have made a larger portion of the series dedicated to history.  The cancelation of the episode came fairly early on when Davies realized that of the last five episodes of the series one needed to be a budget saving episode, and “Pompeii” would require extensive sets and potential location shoots outside of Cardiff.  For a brief period of time, Davies approached writer Paul Abbott for a now infamous pitch about the Doctor interfering with Rose’s life and potentially grooming her to be the perfect companion, but Abbott was busy with a different show, so Davies developed “The Void” to set a story entirely in the TARDIS.  By this point, principle photography has begun on the series with “Aliens of London” and “World War Three” being shot and still the eleventh episode of the series lacked even a first draft of a script.  Davies struck gold with the casting of Annette Badland as Margaret Blaine, being one of the three principal Slitheen that genuinely sold the story despite the tonal issues and poor direction, so immediately approached her to return in the eleventh episode tentatively titled “Dining with Monsters”, but once Davies could actually draft the script it was adjusted to “Boom Town”.

 

“Boom Town” is a story that works exclusively because it is a budget episode.  Set entirely in Cardiff in 2006, with the TARDIS landing on the rift to recharge, the setup means that the episode can be low key and deal with our three core cast members of the Doctor, Rose, and Jack, bringing in Noel Clarke as Mickey so he can give Rose her passport.  The first third of the episode is actually pretty low key, mainly dedicating its time to the TARDIS team hanging out and getting lunch which allows for some sparkling dialogue and character interactions.  Bringing in Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman, is interesting since it gives another person for the Doctor to almost perform for, taking his playful standoffishness with Mickey and making it all the more playful here as Jack does nothing but flirt with everyone in these early scenes.  The inciting incident of the episode is the discovery of Margaret Blaine in the position of mayor of Cardiff and attempting to build a nuclear power plant in an on the surface good gesture for cheap and efficient energy.  Her actual plan is to use it to cause a nuclear meltdown and open the rift so she can escape the planet.  Having the Doctor, Rose, Jack, and Mickey immediately capture her outside of her office in a great chase sequence full of great comedy means the back half of the episode becomes something quite different, a character examination for the Doctor.  Now as it becomes focused squarely on the Doctor this does mean “Boom Town” suffers for not having much for Rose and Jack to do after this point.  Rose and Mickey have some relationship drama that honestly doesn’t work as they break up over Mickey cheating on Rose because Rose isn’t around and is clearly more interested in the Doctor.  These scenes are both unnecessary and just add this tension that’s undone immediately the next time Mickey appears.  Perhaps this is because of how quickly the script was written before production began, but it brings the episode down sadly when extending the scenes with the Doctor could have filled things out better.

 

The scenes between the Doctor and Margaret Blaine are perhaps some of the best scenes not only in the episode but in this entire first series.  The post-opening credits sequence primes the viewer to believe that perhaps Margaret Blaine is more complex and more human than she is letting on: she lets a journalist who has discovered the danger in the nuclear plant plans live discovering she is with child.  This is after a pre-credits scene showing the murder of one of Blaine’s advisors to show the duality the character is grappling.  Annette Badland in this scene voices the version of the character outside of the skin suit, one of the very few scenes with the Slitheen costumes, and Badland sells the emotions through her voiceover (Alan Ruscoe plays the Slitheen form).  This means that the lengthy dinner sequence, a last request due to the Slitheen being outlaws on Raxacoricofallapatorius, has Margaret Blaine desperate to escape.  The scene is directed perfectly by Joe Ahearne, hitting each beat of danger and resolution perfectly, the Doctor disarming her attempts at assassination without effort.  The way Badland and Eccleston play off one another is played to perfection.  Christopher Eccleston really has the chance to play the Doctor without companions, allowing the first reflection to see how the Ninth Doctor has grown over the course of the series.  The Doctor holds a single life in his hands and throughout the episode is grappling with what he’s going to do about Margaret.  The episode’s conclusion actually finds a compromise, giving Margaret a new chance at life that she almost doesn’t deserve, she is still self-interested and willing to destroy the world for personal gain, but the TARDIS reverting her to an egg is a fascinating ending to the episode, showing that the Doctor is by extension willing to show some mercy.

 

Overall, “Boom Town” is perhaps an underrated gem from the first series of the revival.  Wedged between “The Empty Child”, “The Doctor Dances”, and the two part series finale, it aired to fairly mixed reviews.  While it’s not an episode without it’s flaws, there are still some comedic moments that don’t work and Rose’s plot doesn’t feel fully developed instead reading like needing something to cut away from the Doctor and Margaret interactions, plus a climax that doesn’t quite come together nicely (the Cardiff earthquake feels pulled together on a budget), it is an episode that has some of the best moments for the Ninth Doctor and a redemption for an alien species under a great director.  7/10.