TV episode review (originally shown in six parts)
UK airdate 5 December 2009 (BBC Two, BBC HD)

The TARDIS lands in 1958 America not too far from the scene of the Roswell crash 11 years earlier…

Get past the slightly odd animation style – just how long are David Tennant’s arms and fingers anyway? And does anyone run in quite the style employed here? – and this is a pleasant standalone Who story that for the majority of the time would have worked very well as a radio play. Phil Ford provides a few nods to past Who adventures, as well as the many 1950s alien invasion movies off which this consciously riffs.

If it weren’t for the fact it’s animated, Dreamland would seem like a standard mid-season episode. A decision has clearly been taken not to take advantage of the opportunities for scale that the medium affords – like most of Tennant’s stories as the Doctor, this is Earth-based, with only a few flashy alien spaceships and a flying monster (none of which would be beyond The Mill’s capabilities to produce).

Director Gary Russell gets a strong performance from his cast, including Doctor’s Daughter Georgia Moffet and perennial Big Finish voice actor David Warner. And given that the script was written in six episodes, rather than as one 45-minute story, you’d expect there to be unnatural speed bumps every so often, but the cliffhangers serve as natural act breaks.

Nothing earth-shattering: just enjoyable Doctor Who. Peter Quentin

VERDICT: 7/10