I really liked this – Catherine Tate was great as the Bride, snarling, bitchy and scared

TV REVIEW – DR. WHO – THE RUNAWAY BRIDE.

I really liked this – Catherine Tate was great as the Bride, snarling, bitchy and scared - but gradually
gaining some sympathy as the episode went on.

I don't think her husband to be being in on the spider's plans was too much of a revelation - The spider looked impressive, a cross between Shelob (From The Lord Of The Rings) and Tim Curry in Legend, though it was rather melodramatic with
its ' bleating 'my children my children' cries.

The TARDIS-Taxi chase was breathing taking - the kind of effects that would have been impossible in the old series.
The finale, with Tate turning down a companion trip in the TARDIS but telling the Doctor that he needs someone with him to 'stop him' was good - even his snowstorm had merely served to frighten her.

There were a few flaws – The sonic screwdriver was heavily over-used for getting out of every danger going, and the Santas were a bit too like Autons, - The Torchwood base seemed to have been abandoned fully operational - have
Torchwood simply stopped operating in London after the Canary wharf battle? Their mention was just a tenuous link to the companion series. (See TORCHWOOD)

The Thames Flood Barrier seems to be a big thing for the BBC now – The adventure concluded with Catherine Tate getting completely soaked in her bridal gown as the Doctor used the Thames to drown the spider-monster – There were good images of Tate clamouring up a ladder to get clear of the cascading water. I wondered if this was the same set used in the recent BBC episode of Spooks located at the Flood Barrier too.

It’s a shame Tate didn’t become a regular companion. Her excellent TV characters in her own comedy sketch shows might well have come out in the fullness of time. The thought of her being confronted with a Dalek hell Benton her extermination, and shouting to it, ‘Am I bothered?’ seems a lost opportunity somehow.