The improved quality of this episode is immediately apparent. The script is tight and quippy, and the titular child is creepy as hell.
It’s tough to comment solely on a Part 1, but there’s a lot to like in this. The gag of the Doctor asking the crowd at the cabaret whether they’ve seen anything falling from the sky before realizing he’s landed in the middle of the London Blitz is great. The production quality is generally excellent - it really feels like a specific time and place.
Following on that, Nancy is an immediately compelling character - sympathetic, and very authentic-feeling to the setting. Richard Wilson is also very good as Dr. Constantine.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think the weakest part of the episode by far is the subplot with Rose and Captain Jack Harkness, who we meet for the first time here. It feels incongruous with the horror vibes of the A-plot, and I don’t actually think John Barrowman (scandal noted) is as charming as the script needs him to be.
The blitz setting was very well done. Sci-fi spaceships aside, this story feels like the kind of ghost story people might have told each other during that era.
Welcome to the party, Steven Moffat.
The improved quality of this episode is immediately apparent. The script is tight and quippy, and the titular child is creepy as hell.
It’s tough to comment solely on a Part 1, but there’s a lot to like in this. The gag of the Doctor asking the crowd at the cabaret whether they’ve seen anything falling from the sky before realizing he’s landed in the middle of the London Blitz is great. The production quality is generally excellent - it really feels like a specific time and place.
Following on that, Nancy is an immediately compelling character - sympathetic, and very authentic-feeling to the setting. Richard Wilson is also very good as Dr. Constantine.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think the weakest part of the episode by far is the subplot with Rose and Captain Jack Harkness, who we meet for the first time here. It feels incongruous with the horror vibes of the A-plot, and I don’t actually think John Barrowman (scandal noted) is as charming as the script needs him to be.
The blitz setting was very well done. Sci-fi spaceships aside, this story feels like the kind of ghost story people might have told each other during that era.