"The Lodger"

With a production block of only 13 episodes, there was no need for a ‘Doctor-lite’ episode this year, but it is clear that the notion of doing an episode that looks at the Whoniverse from a slightly askew angle is something that has become an integral part of the programme. It is interesting that the premise of this story- the Doctor must pass himself off as human- is very similar to the premise for "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"- with radically different results. "The Lodger" presents us with Craig Owens, an ordinary Essex lad who is so madly in love with his friend Sophie, that he cannot see the obvious signals that scream the fact that she is also in love with him. He only barely notices the mysterious and very fast-growing piece of dry-rot on his ceiling and the odd noises from the man upstairs. Not to worry- he has a new flatmate in the shape of a slightly weird man in a bow tie...

Gareth Roberts tells a wonderfully sweet story about two people in love, while the Doctor tries (and mostly succeeds) in passing himself off as a normal bloke- playing football, watching telly etc, but trying not to attract the attention of the thing upstairs. It is a paean for following your dreams at the expense of the apparent comfort that can stifle the soul. Roberts’s script has a real understanding of what makes people settle for second best. ‘I don’t see the point of (insert place here)’ says Craig a couple of times, but we don’t condemn Craig for it. The story is chock full of great lines and hilarious situations, as we have come to expect from Roberts, but this is also his warmest script for the programme- in fact the weakest element is the science-fiction aspect, with the threat raised by the machine upstairs being rather too rushed in its unfolding to have much effect, and I think that the perception filter is becoming something of a catch-all explanation.

James Corden is excellent as Craig, making him eminently likeable and very, very normal. Corden is a fine actor who has a lot of detractors due to two bad projects he did (his admittedly appalling sketch-show and Lesbian Vampire Killers, which I have not seen) but put in a great performance in The History Boys on both stage and screen. Here, he displays the qualities that made him a star. Daisy Haggard is sweet as Sophie and the two of them have a great chemistry. Dancing around them like a mad goblin is Matt Smith, in his best performance yet as the Doctor. Whether collecting junk at midnight or telepathically bonding with cats, he is mesmerising. Matt’s performance is both instantly recognisable as the Doctor and credible as a stranger who could merely be a slightly oddball human. This is, helped by Catherine Morshead’s inspired direction, making it seem slightly reminiscent of an episode of Spaced where Tim's fantasies are real. The comic and dramatic beats are expertly handled and there is, of course, the football match which, like the cricket match in Black Orchid is a sublime sequence- ‘Football’s the one with the sticks, is it?’

So the Doctor defeats the enemy and brings two lovers together. It seems everything is fine- until we see a crack behing Craig’s fridge and Amy finds a velvet box that is uncannily familiar...

NEXT: "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang"