Mummy...

From The Empty Child

Are you my mummy?

Whoa! What a freaky episode; there were some genuinely scary scenes in The Empty Child. Some random thoughts follow... The morphing scene gets our vote for the scariest effects scene so far, almost Alien-esque in it's execution. The POV of the child is even more unnerving than last week's Reaper's POV. Another "Doctor who?" line this week. Not sure if there have been many before, although I'm pretty sure Jackie said "Doctor who?" in Father's Day. The police call box gets it's own starring scene (has it never rung before?). Another recurring location: the Albion Hospital in this episode looks a lot like the hospital in Aliens of London (Ah... It's because it is: Cardiff's Royal Infirmary). Again, too engrossing to look out for references to "Bad Wolf". Will watch the tape after Eurovision is over... (when it's really dark...)

Favourite line: "I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

Have to stop now. Going to check I've shut all the doors.

Update: Nope. Still didn't see or hear the Bad Wolf reference. We'll just have to watch it again. Oh, what a hardship. ;) I'm very pleased they used Glenn Miller's music; it's very appropriate, and I love his version of Moonlight Serenade. Captain Jack is intriguing (and not just from a cute guy perspective). What is he? He's clearly from the distant future and has technology to rival the Doctor's. How do Time Agents fit in to the Doctor Who universe? Are they self-appointed agents to ensure continuity, or are they mercenaries out to harvest the past? Are they specific to Earth's history, or do they wander through time the way the Doctor can? And why isn't Dr. Constantine surprised by the Doctor's ability to diagnose internal injuries using a techno-wand? What is the Doctor going to find in Room 802? Too many questions... Will they be answered in the 45 minutes next Saturday?

22 May '05 update: Having watched The Empty Child for the third time, I think I've finally spotted the Bad Wolf reference... Or not... It occurs close to the end of the episode, when Captain Jack Harkness confronts the Doctor and Rose. A casual sartorial comment about Rose's Union Jack t-shirt initially threw me, making me laugh the previous two times. This time round, I heard what he said to the Doctor: "U Boat Captain?". My knowledge of WWII in Europe is patchy at best, but I think the U-boat strategy was called wolf pack in reference to the way several U-boats would "hunt" together. It's tenuous, I know, and I'm probably way off track, but I'm not watching it again... (Also, at some point, I should edit this post to make it vaguely readable. But it's late.)

23 May '05 update: Looks like I got the Bad Wolf reference wrong. Over at Behind the Sofa Again, the comment leavers reckon it's Nancy's reference to the Doctor's big ears (along the lines of "My, what big ears you have").

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