episode received overnight ratings of 7.13 million viewers, a 36.95% audience share and an increase over the past two weeks. When final ratings were calculated, the figure rose to 7.68 million. The episode received an Audience Appreciation Index score of 82. SFX described "Boom Town" as a "format-breaking episode". The reviewer acknowledged that it "certainly misfires on some levels, and leaves various elements underdeveloped", but praised the moral dilemma, including the dinner scene. However, the conclusion with Margaret being reverted to an egg was seen as a "little too handy and provides the Doctor with a moral get-out clause", and the Rose and Mickey subplot was called "weak" due to the lack of evidence he and Rose were ever close. Arnold T Blumburg of Now Playing gave the episode a grade of B+, writing that it "sacrifices a bit of plot and logic" for a good exploration of the characters and plot threads. He praised the dialogue and Murray Gold's score. Digital Spy's Dek Hogan was more negative, feeling that it "really didn't work", calling bringing back Margaret a "poor idea", and he criticised the pace for dragging too much. In 2013, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times particularly praised Badland and the dinner scene, though he described the whole episode as a "peculiar short-story, a low-cal filler sandwiched between the dramatic juggernauts of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who debut and Russell T Davies's dazzling finale." The A.V. Club reviewer Alasdair Wilkins gave the episode a grade of B, noting that it required more suspension of disbelief than usual. He felt that the plot was included out of necessity while the episode was more focused on character moments, and that this did not work as well as "Father's Day" because Margaret's fate was "less clearly motivated." On the other hand, Wilkins called Rose and Mickey's subplot the most effectively handled part of "Boom Town". In Who Is the Doctor, a guide to the revived series, author Robert Smith? (the ? is part of his nom de plume) called the episode "highly entertaining" and "thoughtful", despite not being well-plotted with an "unsatisfying" deus ex machina ending. He praised the character material and comedy. His coauthor Graeme Burk was less enthusiastic, describing it as "nothing more" than a "fun romp". He felt that there were many good scenes but "no real story", and pointed out how the moral dilemma did not matter because the