Army of Ghosts & Doomsday by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Graeme Harper

 

“Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler with Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler, Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith, Shaun Dingwall as Pete Tyler, Andrew Hayden-Smith as Jake Simmonds, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Yvonne Hartman, Raji James as Dr. Singh, and Paul Kasey as the Cyber Leader.  Dalek Operators were Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg, Stuart Crossman, Anthony Spargo, Dan Barrett, and David Hankinson while Dalek and Cybermen Voices were Nicholas Briggs.  They were written by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Graeme Harper with Helen Raynor as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  They were originally broadcast on Saturdays from 1 to 8 July 2006 on BBC One.

 

Billie Piper’s decision to leave Doctor Who after the second series was never in doubt, “Rise of the Cybermen” and “The Age of Steel” being pitched to plant Rose’s departure as a possibility as Russell T. Davies realized that tearing apart a relationship that had developed romantically would have to end with universal separation or the death of Rose Tyler.  Davies chose the former because he believed the latter would be against the core of Doctor Who, and it is this decision with which contains the root of many of the issues with “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday”, but more on that as this review progresses.  Davies was also inspired by the original proposal for the 1968 serial The Wheel in Space which would have seen the Daleks and Cybermen fighting one another though this was changed early in scripting that serial as Terry Nation would not allow the use of the Daleks in this way, something which in proposing this finale, Nation’s estate changed their tune on.  Early in planning this second series also came the idea to use the dummy title Torchwood as this series story arc, originally drafting the finale as “Torchwood Rises” and “Torchwood Falls”, however quickly the titles would revert to what they aired under.  What would change in the plans, however, would be the commissioning of a Doctor Who spin-off series in late 2005 for broadcast in the final months of 2006, approximately three months after the second series of Doctor Who wrapped up broadcast.  This shifted the setting of “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday” from Wales to the middle of London’s Canary Wharf to accommodate plans for the spin-off to be set in Cardiff.

 

“Army of Ghosts”, on the whole, is actually a pretty good setup.  Its largest structural issue is the pre-credits sequence, voiceover from Billie Piper as Rose Tyler recapping both series thus far and how meeting the Doctor changed her life and establishing this story being the story of how she died.  The issue comes at the climax of “Doomsday” where Rose doesn’t die and is saved at the last moment by being taken to the parallel world from “Rise of the Cybermen” and “The Age of Steel” where she gets to live out the rest of her life in luxury with that world’s version of her father, plus Jackie and Mickey.  The information communicated outside of this in the pre-credits sequence, mainly foreshadowing that this is going to be Rose’s exit, is also incredibly superfluous as there are several points throughout that subtly foreshadow the fact that Rose will be leaving at the end of the adventure.  All the pre-credits sequence adds is the subtlety of these moments being completely undone and the shocking twist that Rose doesn’t die, but that also means that the monologue feels as if Rose is being over dramatic.  What especially hurts is that the first sequence after the credits in the episode actually has the pacing and would work incredibly well as a pre-credits sequence, cutting to the credits once the ghosts appear.  This would create the necessary intrigue many pre-credits sequences have used and given Camille Coduri the chance to really sell the grief better than the melodramatic pre-credits sequence undercutting a lot of the examination of grief that the ghosts present.  The ghosts, in actuality Cybermen slowly building power enough to break through and invade the main universe’s Earth, provide an interesting look at the concept of a slow invasion, taking months to build psychic connections with humanity to slowly make them believe though without saying a word, these are their loved ones come back to visit them.  It’s kind of a shame that the episode abandons them once the TARDIS with the Doctor, Rose, and Jackie on board gets to the Torchwood Institute.

 

The exploration of the Torchwood Institute, led by Yvonne Hartman played by Tracy-Ann Oberman, is equally interesting and fun as the ghost plot had the potential to be.  David Tennant plays these scenes as especially lighthearted as the Doctor, using that leverage to throw this group of essentially fans of his off-guard and to trust him.  Davies’ script does an excellent job of making Torchwood feel like an institution that has no genuine idea about how to use and catalogue the alien technology and interactions at their disposal, once again being a condemnation of the government institutions and conservatism in general meddling with things for profit without thinking of the consequences.  The episode builds tension as Torchwood has a sphere from the Void, a ship that is meant to traverse it, that because of its lengthy exposure to the space between dimensions is lacking in physical form despite being visible.  It’s described as something that looks wrong when you look at it and Graeme Harper shoots the sphere incredibly well, always looking at it from low angles so it looks slightly off kilter to simulate this to the audience.  It is largely realized through CGI, and when the episode gets to the final twist that there are four Daleks inside this ends the episode on a high note (although the initial shots of the Daleks using CGI are quite poorly realized which is rectified in the final shots of the episode where the physical props are used).  “Army of Ghosts” is genuinely good setup but it doesn’t actually have enough focus on one idea, several plot lines attempting to be the main point of the episode before being dropped for the big cliffhanger which sets up the Doctor, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey (who made it over from the parallel universe) stopping a Dalek vs Cyberman conflict.  5/10.

 

“Doomsday” is the clear weaker half of the story, but it is not without its high points.  The actual conflict between the Daleks and the Cybermen themselves had the potential to create one very good episode and Davies’ script when it comes to writing these conflicting ideologies, both being conformists but Daleks being supremacists who wish to destroy while Cybermen wish to convert, it’s great.  Sure, it’s become a bit of a meme in Doctor Who circles, but the humor in the interactions is actually intentional, Davies understanding that the simple fact of four Daleks is a very dangerous threat and has been setup that way over the past two series of television.  The episode takes its time before the Cybermen and Daleks meet which allows for both fascinating exposition about these four Daleks as the Cult of Skaro, four Daleks set apart and allowed creativity to be the four most ruthless Daleks in existence, and to continue to use Dalek’s destruction in interesting ways.  The doctor in charge of the sphere has his knowledge absorbed by the Daleks through their suckers which is a horrific scene in general and once again a reminder of the danger of the Daleks.  The Cybermen also get plenty of body horror, scenes showing the invasion of homes and the beginning of rounding humanity together for conversion.  The episode devolves into action that is shot really well and played nicely, until the Cult of Skaro’s plan is revealed, mainly by having millions of Daleks emerge from a Genesis Ark, a great idea of a Time Lord prison ship that is bigger on the inside and can be opened by a time traveler.  This is yet another really interesting idea that sadly doesn’t have any time to really develop as a concept before devolving poorly into millions of Daleks threatening the Earth.  Yes, the Earth’s destruction is the larger stakes of the finale and begins a trend of Russell T. Davies finales escalating the stakes until they are unreasonable, though that is a discussion for another day as present day Earth as the stakes for the second series finale actually seems reasonable.

 

The episode devolving into action means that there is less time for Davies to follow through on the interesting character arcs he sets up, Yvonne being swiftly converted though saving our heroes as a Cybermen that cries oil from its blank eye socket, though what really would have worked here in its place would actually seeing a human eye and not a tear of motor oil.  Davies sets up this idea of Pete, played by Shaun Dingwall, and Jackie coming to love each other, the final scenes following up with Rose in Pete’s World revealing Jackie is pregnant with a second child, but these are just hints.  The action gets in the way as it becomes mindless once the Genesis Ark is opened and millions of Daleks emerge and do really nothing of note.  They just become a threat.  Had Davies stuck to the four Cult of Skaro members and kept the Genesis Ark closed, it would have worked much better and gone further to keep the threat level up.  Mickey and Jake are there to help and they honestly become minor characters as the episode builds to the point where everyone except the Doctor and Rose are in the regular world getting ready to send the Daleks and Cybermen into the Void which would be a death due to crossing the Void leaving particles attracted to it.

 

The Doctor’s attempts to send Rose to Pete’s World with her family is a great moment, probably David Tennant’s best in the episode as it clearly understands that Rose should not be separated from everyone she loves and is loved by, and Rose coming back is actually a great setup for her fall.  But then she is rescued at the last minute and we spend the final ten minutes or so of the episode resolving the fact that the Doctor and Rose are in different universes.  This is another of Davies’ issues with wrapping up finales with incredibly drawn out sequences of melodrama that doesn’t work.  The Doctor breaking through to give Rose one final message, built up first by more voiceover from Billie Piper, is interesting in theory but it takes far too long to actually get going and conclude.  It also means that the resolution of the episode and how well it will resonate with the viewer will be down to how well you resonate with the relationship between the Doctor and Rose.  I do not so the metaphoric being on opposite sides of the same wall and the entire Bad Wolf Bay sequence is something that just leaves me hollow.  Piper and Tennant are turning in good performances and if perhaps this was the last we would see of Rose it might resonate slightly better with me.  That or if it were just trimmed down and didn’t follow on from the first half opening with the Rose monologue about how she was going to die, and she’s not in any meaningful sense (her name is among the dead on paper so it’s technically true, but it doesn’t feel true).  Or even perhaps if Murray Gold’s score, thematically beautiful, was mixed better into the episode as throughout the climax and resolution it is blaring far too lout and screaming for the viewer to feel sad for it which is a shame.  “Doomsday” is just a letdown.  3/10.

 

Overall, “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday” are a series finale for Doctor Who which fail to live up to a lot of the potential that the episodes set up.  This is one of the few times where Russell T. Davies stuffs a two-part story with way too many ideas so there is a fight for whatever finds its way on top.  The performances and direction are great but because of Davies not wishing to kill off a companion in a meaningful or even metaphorical way and just being overstuffed it brings a quite weak series to a weak end.  4/10.