I think Flashheart works better here than in "Bells", because he's a more integral part of the episode, and provides fine target for Blackadder's withering scorn. I could understand disliking him in the earlier episode, but he's put to brilliant use in "Private Plane"

"My God! "
"Yes, I suppose I am."

Oh my God, my earmuffs have fallen down!

I sit on Avaitor

Oh! It was a scythe!

Tick! Sounds a bit rude, doesn't it? Sounds like …bum!

It takes me right back to our wedding night…. We had raw turnip that night too.

Heh heh, he does look like Al Gore!

Unlikely, sir ; they spell and pronounce their names differently.

Such self-help videos as 'Smoke Yourself Thin' and 'Get Confident, Stupid!'

Pffft, that's your excuse for everything.

*pushes glasses up nose*

It's not just dodgy special effects that let it down, though : the design is just too messy and unmemorable. The Lazarus monster probably cost a lot more to put on screen than the Weeping Angels ; that the latter became iconic had nothing to do with quality effects work.

If he said that, then he had a good point, because 'Smith and Jones' does all of those things ; 'The Eleventh Hour', of course, does them even better.

"Big Bang", eh? Sounds like the title of a 'Doctor Who' episode to me.

I'd love it if Alasdair continued on to review Season Four, as it would allow him to close out the Tennant era, and extend the themes he's been discussing here. I've read Keith Phipps' reviews from when that season originally aired, and they're good as immediate responses, but it'd be interesting to read Alasdair's…

Hey, I've become spambot-fodder! I don't know whether to feel proud, or violated.

As far as the Doctor inspiring Torchwood only shortly (in subjective time) before he fights at Torchwood One is concerned, yes, it's convenient, but it's also one of the playful pleasures of a time-travel story : more than a century's-worth of repercussions can be experienced in a short span of time.

Then we agree! In any event, I suspect its reputation is in fact higher among people who aren't committed fans than it is among the devoted fanbase.

Yea, this is sort of the pivot of Martha's arc as companion. In '42', she and the Doctor take turns saving each other, and (without being spoilery) from here on I think he depends on her more often than she on him.