Doctor Who (2005)

The Lodger

Season 5, Episode 11, Aired 6/12/10

Episode Summary

Location: Aickman Road, UK, Earth''Date: 2010''Enemies: 79B, Aickman Road''''An unidentified force traps the Doctor on Earth and strands Amy inside the TARDIS. The Doctor traces the force to a seemingly ordinary apartment and the mysterious second-floor tenant, and tries to pose as a human to board with Craig Owens, the downstairs tenant.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Matt Smith

The Eleventh Doctor
Karen Gillan

Amy Pond
James Corden

Craig

Fan Episode Reviews (11)

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Separated from the Tardis and stranded in modern day UK the Doctor finds himself a place to stay and a mystery to solve while he waits for the Tardis to finally land.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By AdrianCremona, May 10, 2011 Report Abuse

What a wonderfully brilliant epsidoe.

This story was a complete change of pace for the DW series. There was no imminent sense of danger to our travellers, in fact this was sort of an undercover holiday for the Doc while he remained incognito; gathering information on the sinister presence upstairs.

Amy meanwhile is onbaoard the Tradis, learning the nuances of the tempermental time travelling conundrum in a box. I quite enjoyed the scene where amy has to take two small steps to the right to get a control to work. It's reinforcing the new direction of the show which is definately quirky.

An obvious high-light was the Doc in shorts, playing soccer and i can't forget to mention the scene where a semi-naked Doc tries to fight evil with a toothbrush.

I think i'm starting to understand where they are taking us - we're meant to remember that that these guys are mystery solvers and they are going to do it in the most unusual ways - Amy's character has been written that she is more a co-conspirator than a companion - and this allows for a 'team' feeling that is often missing in DW due to the nature of the main character.

Yes, the crack was back. Please dont let this become Davies in its proportions and have this crack follow us for another 12 months. I'm pretty much over the crack already.

However, i'm loving the plots. This sort of zany sci-fi doesn't really have an equal on TV and that's what keeps me watching.

Of note is the Van Gogh post-card on the fridge.moreless

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7 1
It really isn't that good...

9.0

"Superb"

By noelveiga, May 07, 2011 Report Abuse

...but I still enjoyed it a lot. Does that make sense?

Here's the thing, the episode's plot is either completely irrelevant or merely setting up something for the finale. Either way, as far as the single episode is concerned, it's a thin excuse to get the Doctor playing a weird mix of ET and The Odd Couple for largely sitcom laughs.

But pretty good sitcom laughs, really. James Corden and Daisy Haggard are incredibly cute in their parody of TV unresolved sexual tension. Matt Smith proves once more that the comedic side of the Doctor is his strong suit and even the largely absent Amy (her convenient disappearance reeks of scheduling conflicts) manages to snatch the highlight of the episode when she sneaks in an "eew!" face in the middle of the climactic kiss scene. So yeah, I was amused and entertained, despite the potential of the premise for blandness. But why do I feel bad about that, then?

I guess because this season has this ongoing plot thing. The previous years had some leeway to do things like this because the overarching story was limited to a scribble in a wall or a poster. This season, time travel runs thick, foreshadowing includes major points and a few reveals and events that only relate to the finale have already taken place. The whole season is a single story and, because of that, dealing with the funny ha-ha episode just before the finale feels like wheel spinning.

The finale can change this, I guess, but I still feel that this season has been a downgrade since the Davies days. For everything it does well, and there are many things, it doesn't nail the classic feeling of dread and hard sci-fi of the classic series and it doesn't channel the simultaneously self-conscious and dead-serious take on it the previous seasons had. Oh, well, you can't argue with results. Like I said, I had a good time with this one.moreless

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7 8
I stopped watching the previous episode halfway through as I was so bored and desperately hoped this one would be better but unfortunately not. This is no longer Doctor Who in any recognisable format except for the familiar sight of the Tardis.moreless

3.0

"Bad"

By samquinn2006, May 06, 2011 Report Abuse

It's hard to believe that Steven Moffat could have taken all that was good and great with the previous series of DW and morphed it into something so unrecognisable and sad.
This episode was yet another tragic example of how far he has gone from what makes DW so great. Ho hum, the Doctor ends up in England in 2010 again. What's the chance of that?
Then it proceded along at such a slow pace it was like a cheap episode of Eastenders with some sad attempts at humour and Matt Smith reinforcing yet again that he is wrong for the role. Semi naked skinny man falling around a house and playing village football for goodness sake. Just kill him off at the end of the season and replace him with Alex Kingston as the new Doctor - she's beautiful, has amazing presence on screen, can balance gravitas with humour, and it would be a terrific twist.moreless

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3 15
When the TARDIS can't land properly and the Doctor is stuck outside, what does he do? He goes to a flat to be its new lodger. Ha!

8.0

"Great"

By 10thdoctorfan, Apr 09, 2011 Report Abuse

With this episode, the Doctor is shown to be extremely unable to fit in with humans.
Unlike his last self, who was humanish as his 5th & 8th, the 11th Doctor has the hardest time fitting into human life. As he gets better aquainted with Craig and his love Sophie, the Doctor helps improve his life bit by bit and even saves his life when he was poisoned by the rot on his kitchen ceiling coming from the failed attempt at building a tardis on the upper foor. Like his 5th self being good at cricket, the 11th is a master Soccer player due to the actor Matt Smith once having a promising career for it, but a back injury put him in line for the part of Doctor 11. Meanwhile in the tardis part of the episode, Amy is actually wearing pants! I know, instead of a skirt, she actually wore pants for once.moreless

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1 0
Matt Smith is developing his Doctor pesonal in such a cool way! Funny, fast, intelligent, whippy and deep at the same time.

10

"Perfect"

By jwilon, Feb 10, 2011 Report Abuse

OK ... 100 words is hard. But here we go.... I love where the characters are going... the Doctor's depth of caring for two people who are obviously (from the outside) in love ... I think it is a really cool addition to the Doctor's character. This is one of the easiest Doctors to get used to! He has an extraordinary depth that the character needs, and his caring for the wellbeing of two strangers who are obviously (to outsiders who are observant) in love ... this is a really cool twist to the character. And, his actions also help to save the planet ... again. Not to mention FUNNY! This man was MADE to play the Doctor!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The Doctor fills a teapot with teabags to cure Craig. However, when he tips the teapot to Craig's mouth, only clear water comes out of the teapot. Edit
- Geronimo is said again in this episode, by Craig, who risks his life to save the galaxy and the Doctor. Edit
- This episode shows little of Amy, much like Midnight only showed Donna Noble in the beginning and end. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- The Doctor plays football in this episode. Matt Smith once had a promising football career, until he suffered a serious back injury, which caused him to focus on acting instead. Edit
- This episode shares a title (and a writer) with a comic story featured in Doctor Who Magazine #368. The comic featured the Tenth Doctor being seperated from the TARDIS and Rose, and being forced to live with Mickey Smith. Edit
Quotes
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- The Doctor: Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue, please state the nature of your emergency. Edit
- The Doctor: Dry rot? Craig: Or damp, or mildew. The Doctor: Or none of the above. Craig: I'll get someone to fix it. The Doctor: No, I'll fix it. I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister. No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister. Edit
- Craig: Listen, Mike and I had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, (winks) okay?. The Doctor: (winks back) ...Why would I want that? Craig: Well in case you want to bring someone round, a girlfriend or a... (glances at the Doctor up and down) boyfriend... The Doctor: Oh, I will. I'll shout... If that happens. Something like... I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS!! Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- The Doctor: ...Please state the nature of your emergency. This is similar to what the Emergency Medical Hologram (Who is also known as "The Doctor") says whenever he is activated in Star Trek Voyager; The only difference is that the EMH places the word "medical" before "emergency". Edit
- The Doctor: Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue, please state the nature of your emergency. International Rescue is a technologically advanced secret rescue organization featured on the classic British adventure series Thunderbirds. Produced by Gerry Anderson and using his signature Supermarionation techniques (ie. sophisticated marionette actors), the show was an international sensation originally running from 1965 to 1966 and it continues to live on in syndication. Edit