The Beast Below

The far future looks rather familiar, but who is that black lady with the London accent?

The second story with the Eleventh Doctor is pretty enjoyeable.

Doctor Who has always been good at the surreal stuff and this story has plenty of it, particularly the sinister Smilers. On the other hand though, why does the far future always have to look so much like the Twentieth/ Twenty First century? This is becoming a bit of a New Series cliche. Is our time a kind of blueprint for all future periods? I am starting to feel nostalgic for 60s visions of skin-tight jumpsuits and unfeasibly short dresses.

For the first time, Doctor Who gives us a future British monarch. She is pretty cool, though I would prefer it if she spoke the Queen's English. I do think, though, that when dealing with the far future, the writers avoid being specific about geopolitical entities. One of the few things that Warriors of the Deep got right was to refer to vague 'Western' and 'Eastern' blocks. Just imagine how we would have laughed if that story had referred to the Soviet Union. I think bringing up Scottish devolution was just a bit too knowing.

Some nice dramatic tension with the main characters.

The Star Whale looked pretty cool.