Moments later, Dr. Kendrick is dead, body wrapped in electric blue at Lumic's command to his new child. Lumic turns and smiles to his airship captain on a screen, telling him to set sail for Great Britain.

Credit Tom MacRae for this two-parter, which is so chock-full of intriguing concepts and masterful character work that we can forgive the fact that not a lot happens in this episode. Although really, that's not entirely true. A lot happens, in that it's fascinating and well-paced, but nothing happens. We are introduced to Awesome Concepts #1 through #30, and then the hour's up, and next week we throw it all in a blender. Which is a fine way of writing a two-part story, though it might not seem so at the time --specifically, at the end of the first hour, which was rollicking as it went on, but then fifteen minutes later, you were hungry again. Let me tell you that, by Friday, you'll be glad of all the backstory, because the second half is freaking awesome, mostly thanks to all the setup this week. (Plus, I have a high tolerance for this kind of thing, since, like, every six episodes over on Battlestar Galactica we get the same two-part scenario: whole lotta hustle, not a lot of follow-through, and then BOOM! Too much crazy awesome!)

Over on the other side of Hell -- that is to say, our side -- the Doctor chills out with his current Companions: Mickey Smith, and his sometime girlfriend Rose something-or-another.