The Lodger feels like the first episode of a particularly daft sitcom, where a wacky outsider moves in with a relatively normal flatmate and shenanigans ensue. Who fans weren't especially enamoured with the idea when it first came to light, especially when it was revealed that the flatmate in question would be played by James Corden, the overexposed star of Gavin & Stacy whose profile seemed to be rising far beyond his talent. As it turns out, everything that could have gone wrong about The Lodger went absolutely right: Corden's straight man routine works perfectly as an anchor for the utterly unhinged Smith, clearly relishing the opportunity to flex his comedic muscles to the full. In the space of forty-five excellent minutes, Smith lets Eleven's freak fly in a tour de force of physical comedy. Whether air-kissing everyone, regurgitating wine, handing over large sums of 'rent' in a small paper bag or breaking out the twinkle toes on a football field - a real-life talent of Smith's, who captained the Leicester City youth team before a back injury forced him to give up his dreams of playing professionally - it's impossible to take your eyes off him as Corden's Craig finds his life being taken over by the mercurial man next door. There's also a nice nod to Eleven's introduction as we see him take a shower, the first Doctor to do so since Pertwee (no sign of any snake tattoos this time though), who also stole his costume from a hospital dressing room. And for the fangirls, he accidentally drops his towel en route to save Craig from being killed by the alien upstairs. What works particularly well about The Lodger is that its comedic trappings work in aid of a bigger idea. The Doctor's lunacy may steal the show, but his arrival also serves to highlight the rut that Craig has allowed his life to settle into. Craig and Daisy's plutonic relationship is the believable product of two people just comfortable enough in their boring lives to make them completely risk averse, whether it be pursuing their dream careers abroad or telling their best friend how they really feel. The scene where the Doctor coaxes a spark of long-lost passion out of Daisy is a beautiful encapsulation of the spirit of a character who centuries ago abandoned the staid culture of the Time Lords to go gallivanting around the universe with his granddaughter. The more traditional aspects of The Lodger are its least interesting - the alien threat upstairs is hastily sketched and the power of love ending is all kinds of corny despite making thematic sense - but apart from that unnecessarily conservative final act, The Lodger is an exceptionally charming and silly outlier in Who canon and all the better for it.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
