3.3 - Gridlock

The Doctor takes Martha to New Earth and the city of New New York which he visited previously with Rose. This time he finds the city has descended into a dystopian society where people travel on motorways for years in the hope of finding a better life than the squalor of the streets but there are creatures controlling things and the Doctor has met them before. They are the Macra. Another 'old face' (quite literally!) the 'Face of Boe' is also there and has a message for the Doctor.

The greatest strength of this story is the different levels on which it works. It is a fun adventure with humour and silliness. It also has a deeper, darker theme about society and presents a dystopian vision of a future where humans use drugs to control emotions and are willing to travel on a 'motorway' indefinitely and unquestioningly in the hope of a promised better life many years down the line. Additional, and best of all, there is a dark and emotional aspect in terms of the Doctor's feelings about the Time War, the loss of his home planet and fellow Time Lords and his relationships with companions. There are wonderful scenes where the Doctor talks about Gallifrey which link in to the classic series account of the planet. These scenes are beautifully acted by David Tennant and are very touching. Freema Agyeman continues to impress as Martha and her acting throughout is also great. The support cast are good with varied characterisations.

The effects are good and the ideas are interesting. The use of hymns is incredibly effective and overall this is a very enjoyable episode reminiscent of ideas from the classic series but done in a new way with improved effects. Nice to have the Macra given a return with CGI making them work for a new audience.

9/10.

I must commend Davies for being great at silly , brilliant and inbetween. Gridlock while revisiting the same setting of a early s2 story new earth is kind of like that better sequel for me. New earth is always a bit of a cheesy idea but for me that aside this tale is great in that it analyses the darker side of that pretty not so utopia. Returning characters and suprise macras all added to this being excellent fun. Season 3/4 really do open solid and execute the pres/past/future set ups best. Yep even partners in crime has grown on me.

Bare in mind below that the macra terror is only relevant due to their cameo, merely added it for younger fans curious about giant crabs of classic who !

I'll be honest, I think Gridlock often gets forgotten by people. They don't seem to remember it at all, and those that do think that it's little more than filler. But, rewatching Gridlock, I've found it to be an underrated gem of Russell T Davies Who. It avoids the usual pitfalls that Davies' scripts often fall into, and manages to tell a complete story in a fun and engaging way.

Gridlock continues the Davies-era tradition of taking something very everyday and spinning it off into a Doctor Who plot. But whereas those things normally end up feeling very wink wink, nudge nudge, Gridlock actually manages to ingrate it into a futuristic setting. The idea of people being trapped on the motorway for years is a genius one, and the whole thing reminds me of stories like The Face Of Evil and, particularly, Paradise Towers. In fact, with it's colourful cast of characters, strange and bizarre setting and occasionally brooding and melancholic Doctor, this could have been a perfect story for the Seventh Doctor. The characters in this story are excellent: certainly, there are a few that are mostly stock elements, but each are presented convincing enough for you not to care. The acting across the board is uniformly excellent, especially from Freema, Travis Oliver, Lenora Crichlow, Anna Hope and Ardal O'Hanlon. Even David Tennant is good in this, although some of the trademarks of his Doctor are presented as irritatingly as in other stories from the era.

Coupled with some standout direction from Richard Clark, some CGI work that, for the most part, still stands the test of time and a very good Murray Gold score, Gridlock is, for the most part, one of the better episodes of the Tennant era, and strong proof that solid writing and sci-fi ideas will always win out over big, blockbuster-style action and maudlin character drama.

The first of many gimmick stories. Not especially interesting and the 'old enemy' are barely even in it.