It’s a short one today, as we’re presented with a tiny mini-episode, written by competition-winning schoolchildren, originally broadcast as part of Doctor Who Confidential. As is the format for any tiny mini-episode, it’s the current Doctor and one other person, on board the TARDIS, with a pre-existing monster. The Doctor’s fez summons Albert Einstein through time; it’s an entertaining premise, and the dialogue between the two is sharp and funny.
It does go a bit weird though. Einstein – a theoretical physicist from 20th century Earth – has invented a potion that turns him into an Ood. The Einstein-Ood then starts chanting “death is the only answer” for no adequately explained reason. Was the inclusion of this phrase a requirement of the competition? Because if not, that’s a little disturbing to have come from the HB pencils of junior schoolkids.
Then a big bright light appears out of nowhere and turns the Ood back into Einstein. Total deus ex machina. Buck your ideas up, Oakley Church of England Junior School.
RATING: 6
