Unearthly Times

The Eleventh Doctor: Matt Smith
2010-13

The Beast Below

Story
204

N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

My son pointed out that one of the problems with The Beast Below is the lack of mystery in its opening scenes, in part due to its not exactly spoiler-free title. He felt it was a shame because the world-building was really rather good.

And he’s not wrong. The apparent police state of the Starship UK (which might have been less of a giveaway as titles go) has the feel of Douglas Adams about it, an idea re-inforced by the fact Amy is roaming the galaxy in her nightwear. It’s the second story in a row to bear Adams’ influence.

“I’m the bloody Queen, mate.”

Liz 10, The Beast Below

As monsters of the week go, the smilers are suitably freaky, I liked the Moff’s confidence in hiding Liz 10’s regnal number in plain sight, and there are a couple of lovely bits of direction: there’s a nice shot early on of the Doctor turning up on the scanner while Amy watches (having just been speaking to him) and later when Amy is unpicking the lock on the striped hut, there’s a whacking great close-up of her face with Mandy in the background that made me go “Ooh, depth of field!” or something along those lines.

It doesn’t all work. There’s some clunky moralizing, especially at the end with the Star Trek-style repetition of the ‘very old and very kind’ comparison between the Star Whale and the Doctor. (Yes, we figured it out, thank you.)

But I’ve actually always liked The Beast Below. It has a Second Doctor-ish feel to it, especially in those scenes shortly after the Doctor and Amy arrive on Starship UK.

Oh, yes – and there’s a crack in the ship that looks suspiciously like the one on Amy’s bedroom wall.


Nov
24
2024
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