Review: The Beast Below

   THE BEAST BELOW

• Possible Recurring theme of Zero: Prisoner Zero, wrong-doers are sent to Floor Zero

• Reference to “escaped fish” – Prisoner Zero again?

• “This or Leadworth – What will Amy Pond choose?”, possible reference to episode Amy’s Choice?

• Magpie Electrical, the company from The Idiot’s Lantern, is shown.

• Is it just me or are there lots of Star Wars references? “Help us, Doctor, you’re our only hope” (A New Hope); the Doctor and Amy finding themselves in the mouth of a giant creature (The Empire Strikes Back). Even the shot of the Doctor and Amy gazing out at Starship UK from the huge window looks like a nod to the end of TESB.

• If you listen carefully, at 14:22, after the Doctor and Liz 10 first meet, it appears the TARDIS can be heard. Another example of the Doctor travelling back to fix things?

• The voting booth identifies Amy as human, full name Amelia Jessica Pond, which should probably put paid to any rumours of her being the Rani. Unless she’s been Chameleon Arched but there’s been no hint of fob watches around her. Also the booth gives her age as 1306, but the screen says 1308. An error, or another clever hint that all is not what it seems with her?

• Is it significant that Amy chooses to forget? As we see in the next episode, she has forgotten the Daleks’ hostile takeover too.

• A minor niggle, but how does Liz know Amy’s name? The Doctor never mentions it to her yet when they first meet she calls her by name.

• I’m possibly really scraping the barrel here but two episodes in a row there have been significant sentences beginning with “Basically…” i.e. the Doctor “Basically… run” in the Eleventh Hour and Liz 10 here with “Basically… I rule.”

• I’m confused about Liz 10 repeating her reign over and over. She forgets the previous ten years, yes, but does she not wonder why nobody from before those ten years is around?

• This is the first time this Series that the Doctor meets an alien that is the last of his kind. The Daleks in Victory of the Daleks are also the last of their kind, as are the Saturnynians in Vampires of Venice, while the Weeping Angels in Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone are on their last legs.