purplecat | The Lodger

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It's been pointed out that one of the few genres Doctor Who hasn't really turned its hand to in the past is the blokey flat-mate sitcom. So, in one respect, this episode was trying something genuinely new and, what is more, something which you would expect to play to Moffat's strengths - except, of course, that he didn't write it.

My immediate thought after watching it was that, although it had been suitably light and fluffy, it was all a little slight. Given twice the time I felt it contained about half the content of your average sitcom episode. Of course The Lodger was burdened with the need to do the set up and resolution of a whole sitcom series and cram in a "Doctor Who plot".

The sitcom bits were nicely observed and acted, but there wasn't really enough of it to get your teeth into, while the Doctor Who plot, which was basically "when will the Doctor work up the courage to check upstairs?" with a bit of random space mold thrown in, never really capitalised on its premise. The Doctor's indecision about ascending the stair case never really seemed to fit in with Craig and Sophie's own indecision about their lives and in fact, the Doctor's indecision (an interesting premise in itself) never really went anywhere, except as an excuse to get him to stay in Craig's flat.

Half of The Lodger I found rather sweet and charming but the other half I found rather pointless. I'd like to see the show attempt something like this again but, like with Vincent and the Doctor, if they must cram in a "Doctor Who plot" at the same time, I'd like to see it done with a bit more finesse.

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purplecat

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