Doctor Who: Absolute Power

The Doctor and Constance arrive at an archaeological dig on an alien planet shortly after they uncover a mysterious artefact covered with ancient runes. As such things are wont to do, it contains an ancient evil, albeit an alien one rather than something like, say, the being in The Satan Pit. The basic concept, while perhaps not hugely original, is decent enough for Doctor Who, and would serve as a respectable mid-season story.

There are a couple of drawbacks, however. The American accent of the human villain is particularly poor (granted, I wouldn't do any better, but nobody's going to pay me to do accents, American or otherwise). This is somewhat grating, and there's no particular reason for it that I can see.

Then there's the fact that much of the second half of the story relies on a particularly clumsy plot device in the form of a technological gimmick of the Doctor's that will (presumably) never be mentioned again despite its obvious utility. The device adds nothing to the story that could not have been achieved with more mundane means, and it feels like a cop-out - partly because it's driving the resolution rather than just cutting out the dull bits as the sonic screwdriver does (at least, when written properly).

Having said all that, I don't truly dislike the story; much of it is fun, there are some call-backs to the Second Doctor's run, and, that one accent aside, the acting is good. But there's nothing particularly new to it, and it fades into the background in comparison to other releases in the series.