Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead

One of these 19th century theatregoers is secretly dead:


Yep, the new Doctor Who series is getting into its stride.


Top episode by Mark Gatiss - I really enjoyed this. A deadly serious story, with sitcom characters (Sneed and Gwyneth have an established rapport from the start), some brilliant effects and a lot of fun. Doctor Who by numbers. Best of all, the story held together for me.

Well almost, the Doctor saved Rose from a zombie by… errr… removing its hand from her face. Really, why couldn't she have done that?


No, my only real problem with this episode is the same one I have with all zombie stories. This old lady's body has been weakened all the way to the point of death, yet here is the same broken body, without any healing, strongly fighting its way out of a coffin and killing people.

It reminds me a bit of the theory that Jesus, having been whipped, stabbed, crucified, lost blood, pronounced dead, mummified, entombed and starved for 3 days, actually came around, burst out of his bandages, shifted the rock that entombed him and escaped. I can't even see a completely healthy body being able to achieve that.

Technically, I suppose, this makes Jesus a zombie. It's nice that even zombies can relate to him.


8¾ out of 10.