The Idiot's Lantern

HUNGRY!

A middling story can become a very good story with good acting. Conversely, that middling story can become downright bad with poor acting. The Idiot's Lantern had some downright painful acting moments.

The villain of the story is called the Wire and is living inside televisions in an electronics shop. It plans to take over the bodies of people as they watch the coronation of Elizabeth II, which historically was a period where the purchase of televisions increased dramatically. However the Wire exposes itself by feeding early and leaving a small number of faceless people, including Rose. The Doctor learns what the Wire is doing and traps it on a videocassette when it tries to attack during the coronation broadcast.

The set up of the story is fine and there are actually some scary moments, especially with the reveal of the grandmother without a face. The Doctor's pseudo-companion Tommy is a refreshing change from Rose, even if he isn't that memorable. So there were some nice elements to work with.

The wheels started to come off with the Wire though. I don't know if it was the direction or the natural tendency of the actress, but the performance was painfully over the top. Every time she would throw her head back and yell "Hungry!" it was like nails on a chalkboard. Whatever enjoyment I had of the story to that point got thrown right out the window. The resolution of the story also seemed a bit contrived as the Doctor had to climb a radio tower to provide some high-wire tension to the end of the story.

I can't say that I've been inclined to watch this one again. It was a middling set up to start and the performance of the Wire only drove it further down. I'd go out of my way to avoid watching this one again.

Overall personal score: 1 out of 5