11.11: The Lodger
In which Doctor Who betrays his fans by being good at football.
Broadcast: June 2010
Watched: November 2021
“No, Amy, it’s definitely not the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta. I think I can see a Ryman’s.” Alternatively, “For god’s sake, kiss the girl”.
One of the least pleasant Doctor Who writers does his best work. Once again, we’re in a new genre (this time a sort of sitcom/romcom), with the peril there mainly to pull us into it. Actually the thought occurs that will later be followed by the Closing Time as a direct sequel, Knock Knock as a further example of “Doctor Who in the age of renting”, and Power of Three as “Doctor Who lives a normal life”. Rich seam.
Anyway, it’s the story of the Doctor making a new friend and helping him get laid. Suddenly the Doctor understands relationships and can talk to cats. It’s a sign of how good it is that it still works, because, while Corden was in 2010 merely quite annoying, today he is universally understood to be an utter prick. But he makes Craig (27; yeah, right) surprisingly decent and likeable even if he’s also boring as hell (why Sophie would fancy him is a bit of a mystery). The other guest star is Daisy Haggard, who has since gone on to be in everything and is awesome.
A couple of things are a bit weird. There’s a picture in the hall that’s so prominent and so horrible I assumed it must be a plotpoint but it isn’t. The communication via headbutting is quite funny but also weirdly horrible (it’d be weird it never came up again, except it involves headbutting so it isn’t). And I’m not sure the “There’s only one floor” twist actually makes any sense – why is there a hall? Why would that building only have one floor? Also, why doesn’t this tie back to the fact Amy’s house seems to have the wrong number of storeys?
But it’s all fairly minor, and this is actually one of those episodes that’s just genuinely warm and funny in exactly the way its writer isn’t. “I was not expecting this!” is Smith’s funniest line delivery to date, although, “Annihilate? No. No violence, do you understand me? Not while I’m around. Not today, not ever. I’m the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, and you basically meant beat them in a football match, didn’t you?” runs it close.
As with Vampires, the fact a forgotten album track episode is this good is a sign of quite how great this season is.
Other things:
Interesting choice to have an Amy-lite episode this season. I wonder why.
Doctor Who comes to Essex. When did that last happen? Which is the Pertwee with the weird Essex yokel?
Remember how annoyed various nerds were at the idea Doctor Who might be good at football? Christ.
The Van Gogh exhibition flyer on the fridge is a nice touch.
So is the unspoken character work in the way the monster takes different forms to lure different people – very efficient drawing of backstory.
The season’s first cliffhanger was a wedding dress. The one that leads from its penultimate story to its last is an engagement ring.
The first half of the next time trailer is just clips from previous episodes, to show them all weaving together... then, oddly, the new material gives away the existence of the alliance of monsters. But my god it looks exciting.