Kate Heron and Briony Redman adapt their own script for the television episode Rogue.You know the episode, its the one with the kiss. The lovely big kiss between The Doctor and Rogue. Which had a few people clutching their pearls. Well you know what they say; Pearly dew drops drop...or something like that. Actually thats just some lyrics from a Cocteau Twins song from back in the day.
And waht a jolly nice job they do of that adaption. There is a welcome lightness of touch at play here, which may have come from them not feeling it necessary to improve on material which some one else created. It was their baby, it was their kiss too. There, when all is said and done is the moment most people will remember this story for, when our lonely alien finds a brief moment of happiness with a fellow traveler. The story where The Doctor kissed the other leading man of this episode. Or rather, the story where The Doctor is kissed by Rogue. Its Rogue who really goes for it but The Doctor really returns to sender, so to speak. Its not the first time we have seen someone fall under The Doctor's spell and iniated a physical gesture to best demonstrate the affections. He is a bit passive and reactive to these things, is our dear old pal. The lonely can be like that. They are screaming inside for affection but lock themselves off from the possibilty of getting what they want.
Kate and Briony do not make too much off this.Which means their script should age well. Never feeling like a clumsy artifect from a point scoring age. Off all the eras and locations it is so strange to think of The Doctor finding love. Georgian Englad being an era of great extremes. There was a lot of beauty but so much brutality and injustice as the people of that era were groping against all the odds to find some reason and decency, where a human being might be sold to another. The foundations for the social mores of the era being built atop much human misery. Historically it were ever so. I like to believe The Doctor forgives us our cruelties, knowing that in time we will do better. Otherwise how could he justify dancing beneath the chandiliers and having a merry old time when we know that just outside the walls of this guilded cage human misery and cruelty abounds. Er, maybe I am overthinking the limitations of a one hour television story. Sometimes a knees up is just a knees up. And oh boy,this was a knees up all right.Well, apart from a few of the guests being murdered.Ruby looked like an angel. As did ncutti. This Tardis team were well walloped with the handsome stick. Although, both were upstaged in these sticks by the uncannilly handsome Jonathan Groff who plays Rogue.I am used to seeing him in much more serious fare and I do believe I saw a twinkle in his eye as he performed in this story. As though he could not quite believe he was being given a chance to play with someone else's toys. Indira Varma brought a touch of class to her character The Duchess. As the leader of these cosplaying bird like aliens. Despite the complexity of her alien make up she plays it with a knowing humour, by turns murderously petty and greedy for experience. She shrugs and twitches to transform and wears it well. The episode is grafted in beatifully crafted detail. A very endearing story with some equally endearing character moments.
Talk about loving the alien.
