Doctor Who: Army of Death

The final part of the “Mary Shelley trilogy” sees the Doctor take the eponymous author into our future for the first time, rather than just her own. The action takes place on a human colony world that's supposedly peaceful and prosperous - naturally the Doctor manages to turn up at a time of great conflict anyway.

The conflict in question consists largely of armies of walking skeletons attacking a city, again emphasising the Gothic feel of this particular trilogy. Mary, unfortunately, doesn't get quite as much to do in this story as in the previous two, even though she is once again separated from the Doctor for most of it. This is more to do with lack of opportunity than with any inconsistent portrayal - certainly she seems willing to take an active role, but the chance to do so doesn't really present itself.

There are also some oddities in the plot, with a couple of apparently significant plot points being entirely ignored after they are mentioned - one suspects that they may have meant more in an earlier draft of the script. On the other hand, there is some good imagery, with the final monster being impressive, if a bit over-acted, and the local continent basking in perpetual twilight (one assumes the planet is tidally locked to its star, but this is never stated).

One would have thought that Mary visiting an alien planet would warrant more of a mention from her, but we're blithely told that there have been other adventures between this and its predecessor that we haven't seen, which blunts the impact. On the plus side, there is some well-written reflection on her feelings about the Doctor, and how that evolves as the story, and her time with him, progresses - ultimately, her decision to leave at the end makes perfect sense.

It's not really a great story, although it's by no means a bad one, either. A few good points are offset by missed opportunities, and the trilogy as a whole doesn't live up to the promise of its first part.