When we think of the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who we very rarely if ever think about his debut series as while yes we will for obvious reasons think about his debut episode that's really it when it comes to this series. Well I thought that since it's been quite a long time since anything from the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who was last reviewed that i'd take a look at a forgotten episode from a largely forgotten series and so then join me as I review the episode that sees The Doctor kick Amy off of the TARDIS with the episode episode in question being called simply just "The Beast Below" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when The Doctor and Amy land on a starship that hosts the whole of the UK barring Scotland they have to work out what is actually keeping the ship afloat and why people keep on getting taken. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in al honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty OK at best. The episodes plot does feel like its trying to do a bit two much rather then just being this one thing as we have the story of Amy trying to persuade The Doctor not to investigate the ship and then we have the series long arc of these cracks appearing everywhere and we have the episodes main plot with all three of these fighting to screen time whereas if the episode just focused on its main plot and nothing else then it would have worked all the more better. As the episodes plot on its own isn't that bad of a plot but the issue is that due to it fighting for screen time with other plot heavy scenes then it is left feeling undercooked and not as good as a plot like this could have been as by all rights this episodes plot could have been one of the more better plots for this fifth series but due to the episode trying to do to much with all of those individual elements working better on there own it does leave what could have been a really good plot being a bit forgettable, when this plot should be anything but that as this is still the start of a new era for the show and therefor the makers of this show should have been trying to still try and win over new viewers with this plot with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Matt Smith as The Doctor , Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Sophie Okonedo as Liz 10. Also starring in this episode is Terrence Hardiman as Hawthorne , Hannah Sharp as Mandy , Alfie Field as Timmy , Christopher Good as Morgan , David Ajala as Peter , Catrin Richards as The Poem Girl , Jonathan Battersby as A Winder , Chris Porter as the voice of the Smilers and the Winders and Ian McNeice as Winston Churchill.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in al honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Whilst it is hard to say if this episode did get any praise for its acting it is something that the episode should be praised for as alot of the episodes actors do give us some really good performances with the likes of both Matt Smith ad Karren Gillan already nailing there characters just two episodes into there runs on the show. With the best actor in this whole entire episode being Sophie Okonedo as Liz 10 as while it would have been super easy just to say that either or both Matt and Karen are the best actors in this episode they would go on to have the benefit of being on the show for a long time whereas with Sophie she does have to give us a good performance right from the word go and she does do exactly that with her being really cool and at ease in the part of a character where it would have been super easy to just play it as it's written n the page and add nothing new to it but the fact that she does take the time to make her be this cool character think James Bond with a crown and yet she still does take the time to make you feel something for her character which is something that really would have been quite hard to do. With the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes absolutely anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the CGI for this episode is Real SFX and the legends and the greats that are currently over at The Mill. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in al honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. This episodes were of a rally high quality as the episode did gave more ambitious effects in it for the time and to be fair to the episode the episodes effects haven't aged as badly as they perhaps could have done. As there are effects in this show first series that have aged horribly despite them having the same team that worked on them with this being due to the fact that here was more technology there to create better looking effects in 2010 then there was in 2005 with then being something that dies make all of the difference as while in 2005 they did have to rely more on practical effects with them introducing more CGI elements the further the show when on here in this episode it's mostly an effects driven episode and therefor the effects did have to be really good and while there will always be a need for practical effects in Doctor Who this show has always been and will be an effects heavy show, while the effects in this episode can look a little bit dodgy at time with the CGI tentacles being a good example of this alot of more of the episodes effects do look really good which is mainly due to the fact that the episode does mainly hide there effects in darkness whereas the tentacles are in plain view and therefor we the audience can see all of there faults as they do look a little bit to fake and they do have a plastic like look to them that makes them look like a toy and not something from a TV show.
We do get to see something that is never seen in Doctor Who in this episode and that's the fact that we get to see The Doctor kick Amy out of the TARDIS. As when he discovers that she has been trying to get him not to investigate this ship he does rightfully snap at her and he does outright say that as soon as there done here he's taking her home with this being something that is so unlike The Doctor and whilst it could very well be chalked up to the fact that she was lying to him and he doesn't care much for liars one of his first rules is is that he will lie therefor the more obvious reason for him doing this is because of the fact that he hasn't travelled with anyone since the end of the fourth series of the show and given the fact that we've seen how The Doctor acts when he's not been around another human being for a long time. It is obvious that the reason that he snapped at Amy when she herself admitted that she was having a bad day and made the wrong call was because of the fact that he hasn't travelled with anyone for some time thus now Amy has to be the responsible one of the two as The Doctor does try to find a painless way to kill of the space whale that's carrying the starship quite literally on it's back with her remembering the fact that she over heard someone say that the creature won't feed on the children. The fact that it's essentially Amy that saves the day and not The Doctor is a good idea as it not only shows the audience how capable that Amy Pond is but it also gives The Doctor a reason to not only trust her again but also welcome her back onto the TARDISA with this being something that do seem to be seeing less and less with each passing season and yet here it is something that is a kind of plot point in the episode.
To be frank here the best word that one could use to describe this episode is forgettable as that's exactly what it is due to the fact that nothing memorable in the episode happens with the only slightly memorable thing that's in the episode isn't even apart of the main episode as its the cliffhanger for the episode which even then is a tease for the next episode this is something that does do alot of harm to the episode as yes it would have been foolish to expect every single episode of this show to be memorable given the fact that they were still trying to reintroduce the show and introduce it to a new audience then there should have been some level of thought and effort put into making this episode be all the more memorable instead of just leaving it as a blank mess of an episode. Heck the episode doesn't even have any villains in the episode as both the Sliders and Winders are only acting the way that they are as they believe that if Liz 10 did hit the abdicate button that they would all die with them acting more out of self reservation rather then malice and anger and while the fact that this episode does have no villain is something that could be seen as being the point of the episode as the episode could be seen as being a pro environment episode which is something that is fair enough but given the fact the episode then doesn't make the human character the outright bad guys which they could have done if that was the case then it does make you wonder why this episode has no real villain to speak off and while not every episode of this show needs to to have an outright villain indeed it could be argued that the very first Doctor Who serial also doesn't have a villain. Here tho it is something that does do a lot of harm to the episode as it robs the episode of the chance of having quite literally anything memorable in the episode happen all for no good reason which is something that does help to make this episode be all the more forgettable.
Liz 10 as a character is one that did have all of the potential in the world to be a great reoccurring character for this era of the show. As she is cool and calm and is always willing to do what's right no matter the cost and heck one could even argue that instead of forcing River Song down our throats by having her appear at least once or more times in a series that maybe Liz 10 could have gotten some love from this episodes writer Steven Moffat as it would have been so cool seeing her and River bounce off of each other in "A Good Man Goes To War" for example and yet outside of this episode and "The Pandorica Opens" the character never appears again in Doctor Who. Which des make you wonder why they bothered o make be this cool character that you actively want to see more off as they very easily could have found ways to explain why The Doctor is bumping into her much like how they found ways to explain that exact same thing when it comes to River Song and yet for one reason or another River got all of the love which she did rightfully deserve then Liz 10 did this is despite the fact that Liz 10 had more of the potential to be this cool character as they had to make up the fact that River was basically Indiana Jones in space where as with Liz even just by going off of this episode you see all of the potential that this character had and it makes all the more upsetting that the makers of this show didn't take full advantage of that by having her appear in more episodes, however tho given the fact that she is the Queen of the starship UK it would have been hard to find believable ways to explain why her character was always having these adventures with The Doctor without The Doctor having to keep on returning to the starship UK each and every time.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly forty one minuets and twenty seven seconds. Which is the bogstandard running time for this show is moving forward and to be fair to this episode whilst it doesn't really to be that long to tell its story the episode does take the time to make the Starship UK feel like a character in its own right and it's not something that could have been and still tell a good story if the episode had a shorter running time and if the episode was longer then it would have felt like that the episode was stretching an admittedly thin premise even thinner with the episode n the whole having just about the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet the episode doesn't use its running time all that wisely due to the fact that the episode doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot with this being due to the fact that the episode does have alot of plot lines going on with them all fighting for screen time where as if the episode but more focus on just its running time on just its main plot and not on several of the episodes other plots as all this does is make the episodes main plot feel less developed yet if the episode did take the time to fully develop its main plot then all of the episode other plots would have been all the more better and stronger. This is something does also effect the episodes character development as none of the episodes characters barring The Doctor and Amy get any kind of character development with it being pointless for Amy and The Doctor to get there character development in this episode as they have all of the other episodes of the show to get there character development and yet here we see The Doctor learning to trust humans again and we see Amy learn that lying can get her into trouble but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk abut the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us un this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. While the episode doesn't have that much in the way of action when it does ramp the story up and it does ramp up the excitement this is where the episode does begin to shine and while the episode doesn't have a single fight scene in it this is something that does work well for this episode as this is an episode that is more about exploring The Doctor and Amy as characters and that is somethin that doesn't demand alot of action. With the best action in the episode being when Amy and The Doctor find themselves in a creatures mouth and have to find a way out of it with The Doctor eventually getting the creature to sneeze which is a really good idea with this scene being the closest that we get to having a fully blown action scene in the episode as very thing else in the episode is more subdued with the episode relying more on scares rather then action with that action scene only working due t the fact that we get to see some of the wonderful chemistry and Matt and Karen have with each other as they both have some wonderful back and fourth with each other in that scene which us something that does make that scene be all the more exciting, heck one could argue that that action is a good way of getting the characters to try and find a creative solution to a problem that they had no idea about and to be fair to the episode that is something that des work well enough in the characters favor with the rest of the episodes action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall it is easy to see why this episode is as forgettable as it is as outside of the character of Liz 10 and all the potential that she had as a character there's nothing all that memorable about this episode and yet if there was more thought and effort put into this episode then this episode could have been a really solid episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very epsode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review rom Amazon . Co . Uk , Tardis . Wiki and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Tardis . Wiki really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Tardis . Wiki really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.