DOCTOR WHO, 6.6 – "The Almost People"

Some two-part conclusions are intentionally different to their setups and take things to a whole new level (see: "Day Of The Moon"), while others are just concerned with fast-paced resolution and pay-off. "The Almost People" was definitely in the latter camp, which makes it a tough episode to review separately, as I've said all I wanted to say about this story's direction, writing, location filming, and performances in my review of "The Rebel Flesh" last week...

However, freed of exposition and with a better way to let audiences differentiate between the humans and "Gangers" (the latter tended to wear Chronicles Of Riddick uniforms), this episode was a far more satisfying jolt of action, drama and light comedy. I was still disappointed the characterizations remained thin for the guest stars, which didn't help when we were supposed to feel attached to Jimmy (Mark Bonnar) over his son's holographic message, but the story definitely moved into a higher gear to distract you from most of its problems. It also helped that, with the arrival of a "Flesh-Doctor", the episode could have fun with The Doctor (Matt Smith) interacting with himself, and everyone else's reaction to having two identical Time Lords around.

Amy (Karen Gillan) was understandably less warm towards the "copy", which was a prejudice both Doctors couldn't understand, and in general the episode did a good job exploring the concept of identity--as the duplicates are supposedly impossible to tell apart. If only writer Matthew Graham hadn't decided to give the Gangers the ability to contort their bodies like Stretch Armstrong, together with their tendency to revert back to their malformed, glassy facial features—both huge giveaways that they're very different beings...

The story escalated the sense of jeopardy well, helped by a countdown element as the factory started to disintegrate, and the revelations that the humans are far from innocent in their mistreatment of the Flesh worked well. (That pile of melted Ganger bodies was a strong nightmarish visual.) I also appreciated how the episode continued to give Rory (Arthur Darvill) something to do in his own subplot with Jennifer (Sarah Smart) instead of hang on Amy's hip making jokes. I can't deny there were still times when my head would spin trying to remember who's human and who's Ganger, which wasn't always intentional, and there were many times when split-screens and actor-doubles were noticeable and distracting, but in general things were handled nicely. Smith definitely relished the opportunity to play a darker version of The Doctor, when his allegiance to his Flesh brothers was tested, and I'm sure Whovians enjoyed the Flesh-Doctor's initial difficulty parsing 900 years' worth of memories and speaking in Tom Baker and David Tennant's voice ("would you like a Jelly Baby"?) I even liked the CGI for the spindly wax-insect Jennifer transformed into which looked particularly effective in moody lighting moving down a corridor.

It's just unfortunate for "The Almost People" that its denouement featured an entirely separate cliffhanger that eclipsed everything that's happened in the previous two weeks. It was like Steven Moffat stepped in to write the last page as a prelude to his mid-series finale, and simply stole the show in a heartbeat. For we learned that Amy isn't the real Amy, but a "Flesh-Amy" who's been placed aboard the TARDIS in her stead. The Doctor's finally figured this out, and my guess is the Flesh-Amy was substituted by The Silence when Amy was captured in "Day Of The Moon". The real Amy is actually in some unknown location, about to give birth under the supervision of "midwife" the Eye Patch Lady (Frances Barber), and it's now up to The Doctor and Rory to find and rescue her...

Inevitably then, the questions viewers will be asking as the credits rolled had nothing to do with this two-parter, and everything to do with series 6's mytharc and random predictions for next week. Why did Flesh-Amy have a psychic link to the real Amy? I assume the TARDIS' unresolved pregnancy test was because Amy is pregnant, but Flesh-Amy wasn't? And why do The Silence want Amy's child, if they're behind all this? Is Amy's child the little girl we saw regenerating in "Day Of The Moon"? And while it seemed very plausible the Flesh-Doctor could be the Doctor we saw killed in "Impossible Astronaut", he was himself vaporized in this episode--although The Doctor did suggest his duplicate could endure ("your molecular memory could survive this, you know... it may not be the end.") Is it still feasible The Doctor's death was actually his Flesh double sacrificing himself, perhaps as payment for 200 years of life with no regeneration?

Overall, "The Almost People" was a good resolution of an average storyline and concept, mostly succeeding because it had a stronger pace, more energy, and more successful humour than "The Rebel Flesh" managed. It's cumulatively still a fairly unremarkable two-parter, but not the colossal waste of time it was threatening to become last week. As I said, it's just a shame so many episodes are made to feel like distractions to Moffat's masterplan, as there's definitely been a feeling since series 5 that stories that are unconnected to the year's mytharc needs to be "juiced" with breadcrumbs (the Eye Patch Lady sightings) or include epilogues that, in the show's near-future, will feel as extraneous as those "cracks in time" from last year.

written by Matthew Graham / directed by Julian Simpson / 28 May 2011 / BBC One

Next time...



"A Good Man Goes To War" Prequel...

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