Doctor Who: Persuasion

The first part of a trilogy of stories in which the Doctor, nearing the end of his seventh incarnation, teams up once again with '90s UNIT scientific advisor Elizabeth Klein. Klein's complicated backstory is only alluded to here, and knowledge of it isn't necessary to follow events, although that may well change in the next two stories.

In fact, the story is relatively sedate, with the action, such as it is, unfolding quite slowly. The Doctor is clearly looking for something, although it's quite a while before he owns up to what it is. Most of the story is set in 1945, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, but it doesn't really make much use of the setting, taking place in relatively isolated locations as various aliens pursue the same target.

The main villains, the Strewwelpeter, sound rather scary from their description, but are rather less so once they turn up (they also appear in cutaways during the main story, but don't really do a lot). The relentlessly cheery Klecht, operating in the background, offset the dark tone of the main story with some dashes of humour, but necessarily make only brief appearances. The remaining aliens are characterised largely by having silly voices, which just feels out of place.

Which leaves us with not a lot, really. Klein, shorn of her original background, is less interesting here than in her earlier stories, and new temporary companion Will is basically a twit who, for the most part, has to be cajoled into doing anything worthwhile at all. It is well acted, there's a nice sense of mystery in the first half, and the slow pace leaves time for some good character moments for Klein and the Doctor. But, ultimately, not much really happens, and, while the ending is left open for the next part, there's not much of a sense that it's going anywhere interesting.

And why are the Klecht so keen to get their hands on the maguffin, when they appear to have a gas that does basically the same thing anyway?