Has there ever been a reversement that was truly convincing?
We've seen people converted into cybermen before and there's never been any way out. But last night there was. Paternal love trumps alien technology. Yeah, right, OK....
No, actually, not OK. Far too easy. Insulting even. When in human history has paternal love ever stopped the jackboot descending?
Apart from that ridiculously sentimental get-out, Closing Time was excellent. A comedy episode, with James Corden playing straight man to Matt Smith, but with a thread of poignancy running through it. That's the third episode in a row I'll remember fondly.
I have been dismissive of Matt Smith. He's not a leading man. He doesn't have that indefinable something that allows an actor to take command of stage or screen. He doesn't have authority. On the other hand he's an accomplished farceur and there's something spooky about the way- every so often- a very tired, lonely,old man peeks out from behind the Woosterishness. He is, I think, the most convincingly alien Doctor there's ever been.
