Day 745: The Unicorn and the Wasp

As I approach the end of the blog, I'm looking forward to the luxury of being able to watch episodes of Doctor Who without any sort of structure attached to how I watch them. Indeed, I think that I'll mark my freedom by watching some relaxing and fun episodes, like The Unicorn and the Wasp, one of my favourite episodes in the history of Doctor Who.

The Unicorn and the Wasp doesn't set out to be a particularly deep and meaningful story, instead it just wants to be a lot of fun in 1920's England with Agatha Christie. And it succeeds at that point, with some excellent writing from Gareth Roberts and some very interesting directorial choices from Graeme Harper. Roberts' writing is perfectly light, with any real moments of danger being underpinned with comedy, leading to a lighter story overall. The scene where the Doctor is poisoned, for instance, whilst the music and camera suggests that this is a stressful and dangerous moment, Roberts' script calls for it to descend into a farcical game of charades that is excellently played by the actors. It creates a memorable scene as it brings fun and joy back into the dangerous adventures that normally plague a Doctor Who story.

And it's moments like the scene above that remind me how much I love Doctor Who, because it can be perfectly fun and light whilst still being a remarkably exciting programme.