Doctor Who "The Shakespeare Code"

Doctor Who “The Shakespeare Code”




9/10


Plot - After our quick introduction to Martha and her dysfunctional family (sigh, why????) The Doctor takes Martha on her first trip in the TARDIS. Arriving in Elizabethan England, they go to the Globe Theater and see a performance of “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and meet William Shakespeare who is writing his play, Love's Labour's Won (a lost play listed in many codecs, but never found, it is a sequal to “Love’s Labour’s Lost”.) Of course, the promise of seeing the lost play, and especially finding out why it was lost, intrigues him. So, he sighs and agrees they need to stick around. Classic Doctor Who trouble detecting ...






Shaky is a bit of a rake, the “rock star” of the Elizabethan era, but the Doctor sees genius in him and he does have a lot on the average superstitious people who throw their own shit out of the window. After a brief awkward scene of the Doctor and Martha sharing a bed (in which the Doctor is completely oblivious to Martha’s flirtations) we quickly, again very quickly in the new Doctor Who, find that evil, witch-like Carrionites plot to end the world by placing a code in the new play's closing dialogue.

And, as the tag line said a million times, Shakespeare will have to give the performance of his life in order to save the Earth.

My Rant - Well, it is the same old plot almost verbatim as season 1’s (or season 27 as it should be known) Dickens oriented “The Unquiet Dead” and to some extent, “Tooth and Claw” from last year. Famous writer and his mysterious, uncompleted work (or unfound) work involved in an alien invasion from some sort of prison, etc. Weave in as many references to the author as possible and have that author important to solving the problem itself.

That being said, there isn’t much that can be complained about here apart from that. Everyone is on their very best game here and the production team were even allowed to film in the actual Globe theater (which is a first, btw.) You have the 3 witches and Shakespeare stealing lines (and even the Sycorax) from the Doctor right and left.

My Review - This is a good, if somewhat light second episode. Last year’s “Tooth and Claw” was almost note for note perfect Doctor Who, including the creepy middle bit where there is a bit of calm before the storm. This story isn’t quite as good as that, but is better than “The Unquiet Dead” for maximizing the use of Shakespeare as a character.




A few nice special effects shots are used to create the full realization of Elizabethan England ... and the Queen hershelf appears at the end, though she is clearly not happy to see the Doctor.