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Doctor Who - The Shakespeare Code
episode 3.2
UK 2007
produced by Phil Collinson, Russell T. Davies (executive), Julie Gardner (executive) for BBC Wales/BBC
directed by Charles Palmer
starring David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Dean Lennox Kelly, Christina Cole, Sam Marks, Amanda Lawrence, Linda Clark, Jalal Hartley, David Westhead, Andrée Bernard, Chris Larkin, Stephen Marcus, Matt King, Robert Demeger, Angela Pleasence
written by Gareth Roberts, music by Murray Gold
TV-series Doctor Who, Doctor Who (David Tennant), Doctor Who (new series), Martha Jones, Shakespeare
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Doctor Who (David Tennant) takes his new companion Martha (Freema
Agyeman) to London 1599, to meet Shakespeare himself (Dean Lennox Kelly),
but almost immediately after they have arrived, mysterious murders seem to
occur that seem to have to do with Shakespeiare's new play Love Labours
Won, with the Globe Theatre and with witches. But the Doctor, a man of
science, doesn't believe in witches, and soon enough he finds young Lilith
(Christina Cole) and her two sisters (Amanda Lawrence, Linda Clark) being
actually the last of a long died out alien race who feed on words and need
exactly the right words to bring the rest of their race back to life ...
and who better to find the right words than Shakespeare, and where better
to recite them than in th eGlobe Theatre, which an architect (Matt King)
has built exactly to their specifications before going mad - and so at the
premiere of Love Labours Won, the alien race is indeed brought back
to life and immediately tries to take over earth ... but with the help of
the Doctor, Shakespeare finds exactly the right words to drive them back
to oblivion again ...
Angela Pleasence makes a cameo appearance as Queen Elisabeth, who wants
the Doctor's head.
Pitting Doctor Who against witches might sound like a fun idea ... but
when the witches are identified as nothing more than another alien
race trying to conquer the earth, this is a bit of a disappointment, and
when its said they can cast spells (and be bound by spells) just because
they feed on words, that's downright silly and lacks the typical sci-fi
mumbo jumbo the series has become famous (and likeable) for.
Still, a fun take on Shakespeare himself keeps this from being a total
desaster. Some pop culture references (Back to the Future, Harry
Potter) on the other hand seem terribly out of place in this
episode.
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