3.7 - 42

42 has a mixed reception. And, while it's certainly an interesting experiment, it's also hard to deny that it's utterly vapid and forgettable. Sure, there's some good ideas, a decent plot, some good acting and some fantastic direction and effects work, but 42 feels distinctly unmemorable.

One thing that 42 does well is in steering away from monster-filled action. Sure, we have possessed humans with the 'burn with me' catchphrase. However, this all feels grittier, and the story feels better for it. It's a realistic presentation of space travel, which, while good in some ways, is also a little bit of a drawback. At this point in the RTD era, 'realistic' space travel (of the Alien variety) was very much the order of the day for future set stories (like Gridlock and The Impossible Planet), and I think it's here that this approach starts to get a little bit wearing. 42 also suffers from massive structural and pacing issues: leaps of logic just happen because the story needs them to happen, and the real time gimmick just falls apart because of this. Were this a two-parter, this could easily have succeeded a lot better, as it would have had time to flesh out the plot and develop the characters.

That said, there is a lot of good in 42. Some of the acting, especially from Michelle Collins is very impressive, while Who stalwart Graham Harper's direction is fabulous. And even the CGI here is fairly impressive. It's just a shame that because this was a single 45 minute episode, the story had to feel so compacted. Still, it's forgettable, so you won't be wound up for long.

Far better than its reputation, this episode has a lot working for it. The direction by Graeme Harper is spot on with some beautiful visuals throughout. The acting is superb as Martha faces her own mortality and the Doctor struggles against becoming thrall to a murderous alien.

It's a tense fast moving script that manages to sprinkle in a few nice bits of humor. Probably the story's biggest flaw is that this episode's guest characters are not quite as good as in similar stories. I'd prefer the crew in the Impossible Planet/The Satan's Pit. Still, it's an above average episode and a solid entry for the Tenth Doctor and Martha team.

This is a spoiler review.

Chris Chibnall will be the new showrunner of Doctor Who come 2018, so let's take a look at his first episode for Doctor Who: 42. 42 was written in response to the popular TV series 24, in which the action takes place in real time over 24 hours divided into 24 one hour episodes. Chris Chibnall took this concept and applied it to an episode of Doctor Who, having the entire episode taking place over 42 minutes in real time.

To me, this really benefits the episode. It makes it feel 'real', as though we're watching events take place as they actually unfold. It's a clever concept and one that I applaud Chris Chibnall taking from 24. Kudos to him also for making a Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy reference by having it 42 minutes as opposed to 45 (although this episode isn't quite the answer to life, the universe and everything). The story follows the Doctor and Martha arriving on the spaceship S.S. Pentallian after receiving a distress call and find that it is out of control hurtling towards the sun. The sun starts possessing the crew angry at them for illegally using it as fuel and the Doctor and Martha have 42 minutes to save them and the ship. This is a fun and lively action-orientated episode of the show but it also has a few very creepy moments such as when the Doctor also finds himself possessed. It features one of the greatest moments you can have in Doctor Who that has been done a few times in the new series, where the Doctor himself is no longer in control and is scared of the situation. If the Doctor is scared, you know they are in deep trouble and Chris Chibnall plays this brilliantly.

It's not all good; it isn't the best episode by a long mile. It can feel a little generic and the scene at the end with Francine's call being monitored by a group of people working for Mr Saxon feels a little shoehorned in. It doesn't get the recognition it deserves though as a great episode of series 3. It is definitely among the strongest Chris Chibnall has written for the show.

One of the greatest soap actors Michelle Collins features too. Michelle Collins is known for playing Cindy in EastEnders (a show that I personally hate) and Stella in Coronation Street. Here, she plays Kath McDonnell and provides one of the best supporting character performances of the show. She is very believable and whilst not good enough to be recurring character status, provides a very strong portrayal of a character who is desperate in the circumstances of the ship's crashing. David Tennant and Freema Ageyman are on top form, especially David Tennant who is unbelievably scary when he is possessed by the sun. I think this is one of David Tennant's finest performances as the Doctor; it's just chilling when he utters 'Burn With Me, Martha'. Those four words have a powerful effect on the audience in not only showing the lead character possessed but also in David Tennant's performance that there is still a bit of the Doctor there who's scared and doesn't quite know what to do. This is why David Tennnant is the best Doctor; he gave such a layered performance in the role.

Overall, 42 is a great episode told in real time with strong action scenes and some scary moments. Some may find it generic and the end scene is a bit forced to suit the Mr Saxon arc of series 3 but Michelle Collins is great as Kath McDonnell and David Tennant is terrifying as the possessed Doctor.

Just watched this recently, and it wasn't as good as I remember it, sadly. I have mixed feelings about the phone calls, they do kind kind of undermine the tension for me but the story is so fast paced it kind off needs the diversion. The speed at which this moves along is what's key here for me, funnily I was watching a Chibnall video recently where he says, "...Go into a scene as slow as you can, and get out as quickly as possible..." I think that's what's wrong with this. We enter the story at 100mph, never get a feel for the characters who all express heart felt concern for each other even though some are total strangers to each other and the viewer. The guy stuck in the life pod with Martha as they plummet towards the sun as we see them chat just before the scene cuts he kisses her on the forehead. OK, maybe that's nit picky, but it's just one example that we they have known each other minutes and faced with a near death situation where the reaction feels mawkish. Another might be just before they attempt to freeze the Doctor the dialogue between him and Martha feels protracted. If they had eased us into this, and perhaps cut out the phone dialogue which undermines the claustrophobic atmosphere, then it wouldn't be so two dimensional, yet it seems to be a deliberate choice to make it all about speed. As it stands, I think it suffers because of this.