The Unicorn and the Wasp

There once was an author called Agatha, crime fiction was what really caught her, till a Vespiform arrived, vicariously alive, now it's the wasp, with the sting, in the cloister.

Unlike most filler episodes, this will not leave you scratching your head, maybe a little, as the Doctor and Donna investigate a hive of activity in 1926 with the assistance of the one and only Agatha Christie.

If season four has been a bit underwhelming so far, I think it picks up a bit here with "The Unicorn and the Wasp" which has several of the classic elements I've come to look for in this rewatch run. Classic British characters actors, check. Hollywood star in an early role, check. Foreshadowing, check. Call backs to previous episodes, check. Visual effects that aren't quite good enough, check.

The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) rock up at a country estate in 1926 - just in time for it to turn into a murder mystery weekend. This is apt because the guest of honour is none other than Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) who, together with the Doctor and Donna settle in to interrogate the suspects and identify the killer. But things take a more bizarre turn when Donna is attacked by a giant wasp.

Generally, I think the wasp element is the only bit that lets the episode down. It's not a great special effect and it's odd that sometimes it seems like it's an instinctual killer, when it tries to murder Donna - but at others, kills by human methods, such as pushing a gargoyle off a roof. It's a fun and funny episode around it though. Fenella Woolgar is a good Christie and is joined by Felicity Kendal and Tom Goodman-Hill as well as that early appearance for Felicity Jones long before a Galaxy far far away came calling. It's actually quite clever too, with its explanation for why things are happening as well as some of the more common tricks in the books of the age to disguise what was actually happening - a time spent bedridden to hide a pregnancy, for example.

A definite upturn in the season.

After being poisoned the Doctor runs into the kitchen and shouts "Ginger beer" at the male member of staff previously heavily hinted at as being gay. Either everyone is being too PC or polite or maybe it's lack of American knowledge but in rhyming slang "ginger beer" means queer.The servant reacts in a startled manner thinking he has been uncovered when in fact the Doctor is demanding actual ginger beer/ale in order to counter the effects of the poison. The scene is another little dig at the way in which those of high status in "polite" society at the time would cover up what would be seen to be unacceptable, not only because of the sexual nature but also because of the fraternisation with a "lower" class.

I remember a time when Gareth Roberts was well-regarded by Who fandom. His New Adventures novels were well-liked and his Missing Adventures efforts were seen by many as some of the best of the 90's Who novels (including myself). Granted Roberts didn't help his dwindling reputation (a result of silly revisionist thought when fans decided to be pretentious and ignore these fun romps in favor of the 'challenging drama' of some of the NA's) with last year's extremely disappointing "The Shakespeare Code", but he has matched some of his finest work such as "The Romance of Crime" and "The English Way of Death" with "The Unicorn and the Wasp", a fun and exciting little adventure reminiscent in several ways of Doctor Who's other television murder-mystery, "Black Orchid".

The only real flaw in this episode was essentially the plot and the way it was executed. This has always been a flaw in Gareth Roberts' writing but he more than makes up for it (again) by injecting ample wit and style into his dialogue, which the actors really do justice here. I did think Catherine Tate slipped into her comedy routine a bit here which does injustice I think to the fantastic way she's developed her character over the last few episodes, but that's a minor complaint.

This is possibly one of the best-directed Doctor Who stories, well... ever. Graeme Harper first directed Doctor Who in 1984, debuting with the truly legendary "The Caves of Androzani" and following that up with the excellent "Revelation of the Daleks". Returning for the revived series of Who with "Rise of the Cybermen", Harper has proved to be one of the best and most unjustly ignored television directors out there. "The Unicorn and the Wasp" succeeds largely thanks to his direction of the episode, as he creates fantastic atmosphere and chooses his shots very carefully and very well.

Fenella Woolgar is terrific here as Agatha Christie herself and the story is just excellent, fun, humorous entertainment all the way through. The CGI effects in series four thus far have been miles ahead of what we've seen previously and the very, very well-done wasp(s) are proof of this. What a memorable and fun tale.

8.5/10

I recently rewatched this episode to find that a lot of elements worked very well indeed. It's greatest strengths, I think, are in its idyllic evocation of upper-class 1920s England and the sheer blithe charm that it brings along with this. Fenella Woolgar is perfectly suited to the piece and very believable in her performance as Agatha Christie, and the script is an extremely witty one. David Tennant's Doctor is in his element here in the earlier decades of the twentieth century, jumping into the mystery with relish, and it makes one wish he would spend more time in this time period.

The main failing of "The Unicorn and the Wasp" is that, in an episode about a mystery writer getting involved in a real mystery, the actual mystery and alien-involvement plots get a little bit of the short shrift. This means that the long scene near the end in which the Doctor and Agatha Christie solve the mystery, while fun in its evocation of a genre-staple scene, seems a little unnecessary. This episode unashamedly goes over-the-top in its mimicry of the 1920s and '30s mystery genre. Sometimes this is really clever, and sometimes it feels a little too clever or gets a little too sweet in its loving homage.

However much it ironically lack fully-developed mystery plot while paying tribute to a classic crafter of mystery plots, it wins us over by being purely funny and fun all the way through, with a lot to love for those who appreciate the books and films of Agatha Christie's era, several great comic scenes, and many great turns for the Doctor and Donna. They, by the way, are developed very well through action as far as their friendship and working relationship are concerned, and Donna especially gets some nice character moments. It's nice to see the Doctor's relationship with a character grow quietly like that, without being underscored six times by a script and director eager to make a point of it.