After a little run of disappointing episodes, "Doctor Who" finds some form again with the two-part season two finale, which will see the departure of Rose Tyler as a series regular and the return of the Doctors two biggest adversaries.
The Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) return to London for a brief pitstop and discover that the world is regularly visited by spectral images reported the be the "ghosts" of loved ones. Tracing the source, The Doctor discovers Torchwood Tower, in central London, an organisation designed to protect and serve the British Empire with the use of captured and recovered alien technology. Led by Yvonne Hartman (Tracy-Ann Oberman) the Torchwood institute conduct experiments on a breach in Spacetime and a mysterious Orb that appears to have come through it.
Like a lot of two-part episodes, it's hard to judge these first parts as they only tell half the story and much of the enjoyment lands in the conclusion. There is lots to like in this one though, plenty of comedy with Jackie joining the Tardis crew and getting to be the one with the Doctor for his exposition dumps. It ties together lots of little threads of story that we've seen this season, The Doctors encounter with Queen Victoria from the Werewolf episode and the shooting down of the ship in the Christmas invasion episode are both referenced. You have the returning Cybermen and Mickey, from the earlier two-part episode of this run. You have references to the Torchwood that would come, including the theme from the spin off. You have Freema Agyeman making an early appearance, that would need to be retconned when she becomes the companion in a few episodes. You have a bittersweet little cameo for Barbara Windsor, who has recently passed away as I write this review. You have the great Tracy-Ann Oberman and her ... ... ... outfit, yes, lets go with her distracting "outfit".
The CGI is occasionally a little ropey, particularly as the other villains are revealed. Some of the moments are a little cringy too, specifically the ghostbusters bit, and the weird TV crossover moments. Ultimately though, I found it a decent first half of the story - let's see if they can stick the landing.
