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One aspect of Doctor Who that I haven't really touched upon this year is the visual style. This is partly because there is a general tendency to view television as less visual than film since it's a writer-driven medium rather than director-driven one. This is more than a little wrong-headed, obviously, because they are so similar, but the quicker production schedules and generally lower budgets of television means that it takes something special - a Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, for example - to really stand out as something that needs to be discussed in terms of its direction. It's also in part due to the fact that, as I've mentioned in the past, the show maintains such a generally high, professional sheen over everything that it's rare to see something that really stands out as exceptional about the way the show is put together. Generally, it's the performances and the writing that draw the attention, not the direction.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule, and unfortunately for Doctor Who, the visuals and direction tend to only deserve much comment or consideration when they are egregiously bad. This episode was one such example since it was a case of sloppy execution undermining a strong script, interesting concept and fine performances. The only thing that kept it from being probably the best episode of the current run was that it seemed to be put together in such a slapdash way.

Picking up where "The Crimson Horror" left off, with Artie and Angie, the two children Clara nannies for discovering that she is a time traveller, this episode begins with The Doctor taking the three humans to Hedgewick's World of Wonder, a kind of decaying galactic fun fair that has fallen into disrepair and is now occupied by a small military unit. It also plays host to a group of deactivated (*wink wink*) Cybermen who remain as museum pieces to commemorate the war in which the Cybermen were exterminated (*WINK!*).

Aside from the military personnel, the only people remaining are the proprietor, Webley (Jason Watkins) and Porridge (Warwick Davis) a chess champion who operates a Cyberman who has been converted into a chess playing machine. They do their best to show the humans a good time, but The Doctor discovers some strange insects scurrying about the place, and he decides to keep everyone around long after they have exhausted the meagre wonders of Hedgewick's world. He tells the kids that they should stay put - because there's absolutely nothing to worry about - but his advice falls on deaf ears, and it's not long before Angie, Artie and Webley have all been infected by the insects, which are actually Cybermites, disgusting little organisms that reactivate the Cybermen and take over the bodies of those they infect. And that number soon includes The Doctor.

Easily the best parts of the episode came from the scenes in which The Doctor, post-infection, does battle with the creature trying to take over his mind. As in "The Crimson Horror", it was fun seeing Matt Smith play a different variation on his manic persona, and I have a soft spot for any story in which an actor has to argue with themselves convincingly. As both Time Lord and malevolent program, Smith seemed to be having a great time, particularly during the scenes which took place entirely inside his own head. (Visually, these scenes were also a highlight of the episode since they reminded me of the work of Dave McKean, though I'm not sure if I made that connection because the episode was written by Neil Gaiman, who has frequently collaborated with McKean over the years). If the whole episode had just been Matt Smith trying to outdo himself, it would have been great.

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