N026 Army of Ghosts

Kablammo! This time we’re reviewing Army of Ghosts, the first instalment of the two-part Series 2 finale that – spoilers – builds towards the farewell of the revival Doctor’s first companion, Rose.

Not that big a spoiler, actually, as the episode starts with Rose saying just that…

Anyway, The Tenth Doctor and Rose are stopping by Jackie’s place for a cup of tea and are surprised to find that Jackie’s expecting Rose’s deceased grandfather to show up as well. It seems Jackie may have lost her marbles entirely, but it turns out she’s just the victim of an inter-dimensional prank played by Torchwood on all of mankind. Torchwood scientists are tearing through the fabric of our dimension to tap the neighbouring one for energy, and something that isn’t quite Rose’s granddad is coming through in the process.

It’s an episode, and indeed a two-part serial, with tonnes of plot holes, ridiculously illogical twists and an unexpected cameo by Freema Agyeman (who’d later portray the Doctor’s companion, Martha Jones) as a horny Torchwood stooge, but dogdurnit if it isn’t a pretty good one to boot!

(After this one, why not have a listen to our review of the continuation in N027 Doomsday? You won’t regret it!)

You'll enjoy these episodes, too!

N027 Doomsday
It's Rose's last episode (sort of), with Sarcastic Daleks, a Doc who doesn't give a damn, and a Tyler family reunion
N028 The Runaway Bride
A Killer Christmas Star, a frustrated bride, and it turns out our world is just cosmic dirt wrapped around a spider nest
N001 Rose
The doctor gets a facelift and a brand new companion in this opener to the 2005 revival.

Here's what we think of N026 Army of Ghosts

We rate Doctor Who stories on a scale from 0.0 to 5.0. For context, very few are excellent enough to merit a 5.0 in our minds, and we'd take a 0.0 Doctor Who story over a lot of other, non-Whovian stuff out there.

Leon | @ponken

4.0

Drew | @drewbackwhen

3.6

Nik | @nikulele

1.9