After an ace opening episode, any follow-up was going to have trouble maintaining the quality, but watching
The Beast Below again has made me realise that although things perhaps get a bit too grim (I'm not disputing this year's season being dark, but the tone isn't handled well here) this is still a relatively strong episode. We see the Doctor and Amy investigate the secret that keeps Starship UK from disintegrating, with the help of Queen Elizabeth the Tenth (Liz 10 for short) and the threat of the sinister Smilers. Well, sinister in the sense of their look, but we never really see them in action properly, and the once again iffy CGI of the titular
Beast's talons detracts one step further from the experience. This sense of dangers that never fully emerge pervade a story that's clearly struggling to adjust back from 60 minutes to 45, not to mention set up what race the Doctor is, the events of the Time War and his failed attempts at non-intervention again for Amy and new viewers. However, look past those gripes and you can still love the gags, the scale and the mostly excellent direction found in
The Beast Below.
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