DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON: SERIES THREE

To say Series Two was a bit of a disaster would be an understatement. It was an absolute mess. As I said in my Review of it, I was somewhat tolerant of the whole thing when it first came out. I was just so excited to be getting new Doctor Who at the time that I was willing to forgive a lot. But now that there have been several more seasons of the show I'm much more objective. Clearly, RTD was just in too much of a hurry to get some more Who on our screens. In his rush, he makes a whole bucketload of mistakes. 

My big hope as Series Three rolls in is that he has learnt from those mistakes. We saw in Series One that he can write some truly amazing stuff if he sets his mind to it. He can do so again if he doesn't just rush to get more content out. He just needs to take his time and think things through. 

For the most part, he accomplishes this. Series Three is another well-crafted season. 

THE PROBLEMS THAT REMAIN

Okay, let's get the negatives out of the way, first. There are some problems that persist this year. Some things that RTD never seems to learn his lesson from. 

The formulaic writing is probably still my biggest issue. I've ranted, already, about Historical Celebrities and how every season starts the same way. But I'm discovering another paint-by-numbers writing style in Series Three. We can't just have a companion travel with the Doctor - we have to learn about their whole damned family too!

Letting us see how the lives of Jackie and Mickey were impacted by Rose's departure with the Doctor was an interesting new way to present a companion. It was even quite compelling to see her various attempts to resurrect her father from the dead! Building this sort of family drama around her was refreshing. I quite enjoyed it. One of the few redeeming qualities a story like Love and Monsters had was how much it allowed us to understand Jackie better. It's quite touching when Rose calls her and it "spoils the mood" for her evening with Elton. 

To see this happening all over again now that it's Martha's turn aboard the TARDIS doesn't really work. Particularly since the characters in the Jones family don't seem half as well-constructed as the Tylers and Mickey were. It's a strong example of the shoe-horning effect paint-by-numbers can have. The formula has to be there, no matter what. Even if it doesn't really fit in. The truth is: Martha would have worked much better as just an independent character unencumbered by a bunch of family drama. But RTD forces his formula on us and actually makes her less interesting as a character because of it. 

To his credit, he handles the Return of the Master in a slightly different way than he had the Daleks and Cybermen. We don't quite get a mid-season appearance followed by a second clash during the finale. We do, however, get a few episodes towards the center of the year where Saxon is discussed quite heavily. To the point where Lazarus Experiment feels a bit like School Reunion. The subplot is emphasized more strongly than the main one. Like the Krillitane, Lazarus seems almost extraneous. 42, at least, remembers to focus on the appropriate plot threads. Saving the spaceship from a sentient sun is at the forefront. The continuing intrigue with Saxon takes the backseat it should have.

Ultimately, we're still getting the same treatment RTD gives all recurring baddies as they are re-introduced into New Who. The Master still has a strong presence in the middle of the season and then comes back at the end. But the Head Writer has handled things a bit differently, this time. So I will applaud him for giving us a bit of variation in his execution. 

NEW PROBLEMS

Since we're starting the entry by dwelling on the negatives, let's bring up a few new problems that RTD creates in the season. Naturally, these aren't the only issues I have. But they're the major ones. 

That Awful Kiss

Let me start this rant by saying I actually liked the whole idea that Martha develops a crush on the Doctor that he doesn't even actually notice. I think it was an interesting new dynamic to explore between the Doctor and a companion. But I do object to how Martha's unrequited love begins. 

First off, there's about a hundred different ways for the Doctor to leave his DNA on Martha and confuse the Judoon. Yes, the rhino aliens point their scanners at peoples' faces. But I'm assuming it does a full scan of their bodies. So all the Doctor really had to do was lick Martha's hand! 

But, instead, he kisses her. What happens next is, quite possibly, the most juvenile moment in the whole history of the show. That one kiss seems to cause Martha to instantly fall in love with him. Which may seem feasible if she were, maybe, a 13-year-old girl getting her first kiss. But she's an adult who's even being told that the kiss she's getting is not supposed to mean anything. It's all quite ridiculous and very cringey. 

To Freema's credit, she's does her damnedest to sell the whole thing. But it is just a really awful scene for an actor to be handed. Another example of lazy writing on RTD's behalf. He could have, easily, built up the unrequited romance over the course of the season and made the whole thing feel quite believable. But, instead, he seems to be using the sort of devices you'd find in teenage romance novels. 

It's embarrassing.

Just Get Over Her, Already! 

Rose! Rose! Rose! That's all the Doctor seems capable of going on about throughout the first four or five episodes. Still pining for her in Runaway Bride actually worked quite well. It made sense for him to be missing her so much. She meant a lot to him and it wouldn't have been realistic for him to just suddenly keep adventuring on without her and not having even a passing thought about her. 

I'm even okay if he brought her up a bit in Series Three. Again, it makes things feel more real for him to do so. But he goes on about her way too much. To the point where I'm far more tired of hearing about her than poor lovestruck Martha could ever hope to be. It even damages the effectiveness of her return in Series Four. Because, really, we'd only stopped hearing about Rose for a handful of episodes. So her coming back feels like it happened way too soon. 

I'm Really not Liking Tennant Anymore 

As I said in my Series Two Review, I found Tennant to be at his best throughout that year. During this season and the next, I enjoy him less and less. 

I have no problem with the Doctor having a romantic life. So long as the way he falls in love seems to suit the character. Up until Series Three, he has been very earnest and sincere with the how things develop with him and a person he's attracted to. But Ten becomes more and more like a playboy. Like he does have a bedroom in the TARDIS and there are notches in his bedpost. We do see hints of this in his first season ("I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" does sound just a little bit arrogant!) but I don't feel it goes too far. But he does seem just a bit predatorial in these later seasons. His romantic relationships are treated more like conquests. Which is just not something I really like to see in the portrayal. 

And then, of course, there's the angst. This, too, gets worse and worse as his era continues. I'll re-state it: angst worked with the Ninth Doctor. Ten really needed to let it go and move on. Seeing perhaps a bit of it in Series Two would have been okay. But, from there, it should have slowly dissipated. Instead, of course, it happens more frequently. 

Between these two prominent traits, I'm finding it very difficult to really like this incarnation much. There's no Doctor that I absolutely hate, of course. But Tennant definitely falls very near to the bottom of my list. In fact, I have listed my Doctors from worst to best here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/11/book-of-lists-doctors-from-worst-to.html. You can see where he ends up.   

Foisting an Unpopular Writer on Us

This is a problem that starts in Series Three and extends into the next season. 

It's pretty safe to say that most fans are not particularly happy with Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks. It may even be the first story in the New Series that is, more-or-less, unanimously hated. 

By no means should Helen Raynor be expelled from the show, altogether, for this. Her talent still shows potential. But this is her first shot at writing for Who. Maybe she shouldn't have been handed the most popular recurring monster in the show and been told to compose two whole episodes about them. Assigning  her something a little less daunting to start with would have gone better. Because she was given a bit more than a newcomer can normally handle, it would have been perfectly acceptable to give her a one episode filler in the future and keep a close eye on her as she's writing it. That's a fair compromise. 

RTD, however, doesn't seem to learn this lesson. In fact, he is almost defiant towards the fans by handing Raynor another two-parter in Series Four. One that introduces the Sontarans for the very first time, no less! So, again, poor Helen is set up for failure. I have to admit: even before the episodes aired, I was feeling skeptical. It didn't make any sense that he did this. In any other profession, if an employee makes a pretty big mistake that doesn't actually earn them immediate dismissal - you send them for re-training and have them start small once they're working for you, again. But with the way he handled things, it's almost like RTD is saying: "You failed quite miserably when you held a position in Middle Management. So I'm going to make you the CEO, now!" 

It just seemed like the Head Writer was being arrogant by giving Raynor another weighty task after she fumbled with the first one. Like he was purposely trying to cause an affrontery to the fans. Which is never a bright idea!   

THE GOOD STUFF: PART ONE - FIRST THREE 

Okay, all my negative comments are out of the way. If anything, I've dwelt on them too much. I am quite happy with this season. It's a definite improvement over the last one. So let's focus on happy things for the rest of the Review. 

Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code and Gridlock are all very solid. A great way to start the season. What I appreciate most about them is that there actually is an adequate amount of plot in all three episodes to fill the run-time. There were sooooo many stories during the last season that were ridiculously light. Episodes that consisted mainly of just running away from werewolves or being creeped out by something that may or may not be Satan. We're not really having this sort of problem in Series Three. It's particularly re-assuring that the first three episodes of the year sit on the very solid foundation of an adequately-sized plot.  

Smith and Jones gives us a nice story that's different from the average present-day adventure on New Who. Aliens are visiting us again but it's not with the intent to invade or exploit us in some way. We just happen to have gotten caught up in an investigation by intergalactic rent-a-cops. The Judoon are a great alien race that deserve all the return appearances that they've gotten. Hope to see more of them. 

Being someone that works full-time in theatre automatically makes me like Shakespeare Code all-the-more. My love of the Bard's work was a key factor in drawing me into the industry. So I was very happy to see him finally featured on the show. The Doctor, of course, has name-dropped him on several occasions. It was great to see them meet for what seems to be the first time for Will. Four will probably come along in his future and get to know him much better (apparently, he even helps him write Hamlet!). There was this weird fan opinion circulating for a bit that claimed the whole episode was a rip-off of Harry Potter. I address the issue here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2017/07/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-silliness.html. 

Gridlock would fit well in the Seventh Doctor era. It has all the hallmarks of one of those notoriously-controversial Oddball Stories. The Doctor even says he's taking down another corrupt system in one night. Just like he did in Happiness Patrol. If you've read my reviews of Sylvester McCoy's seasons, you'll know that I quite enjoyed the Oddball Stories. So I'm happy to see another good one being made in New Who (emphasis on the word "good" - Love and Monsters could also be seen as a bit of an Oddball Story but I would not assign that particular adjective to it). Bringing back the Macra after all these years was a great little fan gesture. The death of the Face of Boe was also quite touching and introduced an important arc in the season in a new and interesting way. The Face said a whole sentence rather than just a word or two like: "Torchwood" or "Bad Wolf"! 

I wouldn't call any of the stories absolute Classics. But they all accomplish what a good Doctor Who story should. They are engaging and hold our interest. Even provide us with a bit of fun. And, most importantly, they all have substantial plots! 

SLIGHTLY SHAKY GROUND - BUT I STILL LIKE IT! 

And then we get to that Dalek story I've already been talking about. This one definitely took a lot of flack when it first came out. And I can't disagree with some of the criticism. The narrative does feel just a little wonky, in places. I'd even say it's just a bit light on plot to fill its two episodes. So we get lots of running around in sewers to pad things out. 

I'm not sure why fans seem to get so upset about how the Doctor inserts his DNA into the Human Daleks. There's a butt-load of pseudo-science going on with Dalekanium and Gamma Radiation and all that other stuff. A Time Lord perching himself on a lightning rod might be all it takes to corrupt the whole experiment. I'm more puzzled over how the Daleks were able to mass-produce egg whisk tommy guns for their entire army when they seem to be running on such limited resources! But then, there's all kinds of high-tech stuff that we're seeing everywhere in their lab and I have to ask myself: "Where did it all come from?! We're in the 1930s!" 

Most would probably consider this to be the worst story in New Who to feature the Daleks. In all honesty, I'd take this over Army of Ghosts/Doomsday any day. I'd even say it's on equal footing with Victory of the Daleks and Stolen Earth/Journey's End. Ultimately, it's not at the absolute bottom - but it's fairly close. 

I also believe it's a passable story. With enough strong points to outweigh the bad ones. It is, however, the lowest point of the season. But I still wouldn't say it's as rotten as some fans claim it is. Its shortcomings become more noticeable because most of the rest of the season is very solid. This does damage its reputation even more. However, I still wouldn't call it a failure. 

THE GOOD STUFF: PART TWO - THE NEXT TWO AFTER THE DALEKS 

I had a strange time re-watching The Lazarus Experiment. It's not usually a story I enjoy that much. Technically, it does a similar trick to Timelash. There's not enough plot so they kill off and then resurrect the main villain to add a bit more padding to the story. As I already mentioned, the whole tale seems a bit more concerned with building on the Saxon arc than it does on the main idea of a man who has invented the Fountain of Youth.  

And yet, as I watched it this time, I found myself enjoying it more than I normally do. It could be that I have been too hard on this story and some time away from it has caused me to see this. Or it could just be that I was in a better mood than usual that day so I was just more patient with it! I'll re-watch it again in a bit and see how I feel...

I will say that Gatiss is great as Lazarus. I am glad that Who has given him chances to show off both his writing and acting talent. The other occasions where he's played a role on the show have been very impressive too. But I think I like him best as Lazarus. He's especially impressive when they aged him with all that make-up. The mannerisms he assigns to the character while he's under that make-up cause him to totally pass as a man in his 70s. But he's also a great as a man in his 70s suddenly living in a much younger body. 

I've always found 42 to be  highly underrated. I may even do an Unsung Classic entry on it someday. It certainly had the potential to seem very dated as it was, basically, trying to emulate the show 24. But it still remains a very exciting episode that is brilliantly-paced. Graeme Harper was the absolute best choice for directing this one. No one is better at making a TV episode feel like it's moving at a breakneck speed. 

I particularly enjoy Tennant's performance during the total mental breakdown the Doctor has while being kept in stasis to fight off the influence of the sentient sun that has possessed him. Instead of angst, we get a sense of wild panic from him. It was a great way to suddenly make the character vulnerable for a bit. I wish we'd seen more of this from him during this era. It made him far more likeable than the usual "woe is me" stance that he takes when facing genuine hardship. 

Overall, these two filler episodes do their job. They build nicely on the Mystery of Saxon. In the case of 42, though, they also tell a really fantastic story. 

THREE ABSOLUTELY AWESOME EPISODES 

I love how the Series Three DVD boxset has Human Nature/Family of Blood and Blink on one disc. This is, essentially, three of the best episodes of Doctor Who all on the same piece of tangible media!    

Many novels were written during the Wilderness Years that were meant to be a continuation of the Doctor's televisual adventures. Some were quite good. None were better than Human Nature (although I like Interference by Laurence Miles a lot too). With the show back on the air, I consider all the stuff created during that time to no longer be canon. Even though it's kinda lost its relevance, I still re-read this book every few years. It's just so magnificently-written that I need to re-enjoy it on a regular basis ("re-enjoy" is totally a real word - did not make it up. I swear!).    

Adapting the novel into a two-episode TV story was an absolute stroke of genius. Cornell does a great job transferring his prose to the screen. He makes a few necessary changes to the plot and characters that get the whole thing to work brilliantly. Nature/Blood is an amazing period piece with the most moving of stoylines. 

I found it just a bit ironic that some fangirls, at the time, complained that John Smith's love interest is too much of a "Plain Jane." Apparently, David Tennant is just too damned hot-looking and should only get super-models for girlfriends! It seemed like an especially sexist comment to be making. Particularly since it only seemed to be women who were saying it. I always wondered if, perhaps, it was just too painful for them to watch Tennant fall so deeply in love with someone who wasn't them! 

Joan Redfern may not be the most conventionally-attractive woman in the world, but she is still absolutely beautiful. Her strength of character gets us to fall madly in love with her (even if she is just a tad racist!).  It's especially touching as she starts understanding that Martha is right: John Smith is actually an alien who can save them from the other evil aliens. As she forces Smith to see this, we can't help but admire her. She knows she's going to lose the man she loves but she presses on, nonetheless. He must learn the truth of himself. 

There's about a million other great things I can say about this story. It made it into my Top Ten so you can read about it here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-fave-who-stories-9.html

While this probably doesn't make any kind of proper sense, Blink is not in my Top Ten Favorite Who Stories but I do consider it one of the best episodes the show ever made (Read more about it here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.htm).

My re-watch of Blink is a testament to its quality. I had finished off Family of Blood and was ready for a bit of sleep. I thought: "I'll just keep Blink on and doze off to it." I often do this with Doctor Who when I'm nodding off. Just letting the DVD continue to play as I pass out relaxes me quite nicely. Even though a Doctor Who story can get quite noisy, at times!    

Blink, however, is such a gripping story and is so well-put-together that it kept me awake the whole time. It's just that engaging. Even if you're tired, you'll stay up for the entire episode! For a show about time travel, Doctor Who doesn't really tackle non-linear plots all that often. When it does, though, it tends to do a brilliant job of it. I do think, for instance, that Mawdryn Undead is a great little tale, too. 

But, of all the stories that use time travel to scramble the plot around a bit, Blink is the best. More than likely, it always will be.    

AN INTERESTING FINALE 

This year's finale is quite curious. It's our first three-parter in New Who (the equivalent of a six-parter back in Classic Who). A longer format definitely allows for a narrative that can really stretch on and tell a more epic story. Which is definitely something we get with The Return of the Master. 

But then something odd occurs as the tale unfolds. Utopia is yet another absolutely brilliant episode. We're now up to four utterly fantastic episodes in a row. Dalek did give us a great first appearance of a Classic Who Monster in the New Series, but Utopia offers us something even more exciting. Suddenly discovering that Yana is the Master was mind-blowing. But the Master then regenerating moments after the Big Reveal was wickedly awesome. Stealing the TARDIS and leaving the Doctor to die at the hands of Future Kind was a great cliffhanger, too. 

I'm quite happy with both The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. I do recall complaints about the "Tinkerbell Ending" or making Tennant look like a gnome. But I was okay with it. I'm not so sure about the Master's little musical number. His Rasputin Dance is great in Power of the Doctor, but things don't go so well, here.  

Nonetheless, the whole story worked quite well for me. The Master allowing himself to die was actually brilliant. This was the best way for the him to "win". The tease at the end that would lead to his resurrection in his next story was also quite nice. It was re-assuring to see that steps were being taken to show how he would escape his latest horrid fate. We weren't going to get another "I'm indestructible! The whole Universe knows that!" moment like we did in the 80s. 

But Utopia is a blatantly superior episode to the rest of the story. Which makes the whole tale feel rather skewed. We got the best part quicker than we should. It's a bit like the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a man on a hot date: The climax happened too early! 

Overall, I'm still quite happy with the season finale. Much better than last year's mess. It could have even been on the same level as the end of Series One. But it doesn't quite get there. Mainly because of the weird imbalance in the quality of the episodes. I know there's no real way Utopia could have been the final episode of the three-parter, but it still feels wrong where it is. 

FINAL WORD 

As Series Three ends, I am feeling a lot of relief. The show definitely feels back on track. I'm happy with every episode in this season. In some cases, I'm genuinely ecstatic about a few of them!    

While I loved Rose in Series One, I'm not so thrilled with her during her second season. It's good to be back to adoring the companion. In fact, I'd say Martha is viciously underrated. Freema did a great job portraying her and I really enjoyed the arc she journeys along as she comes to terms with the fact that the Doctor is a wonderful person, but they will never be anything more than just friends. The story she tells in the final few minutes of Last of the Time Lords about her friend is nicely done. It displays quite well all the growth she's gone through.  The tease that she'll be back for a bit in some future episodes feels very promising. Because, quite simply, she's a great character. 

There are, of course, a few reservations that I still have about this season that makes it clearly inferior to Series One. The biggest being that I'm just not fond of what's being done with the Doctor, himself. The paint-by-numbers writing is also getting a bit tedious. These problems would persist and even become worse in Series Four. 

Regardless of the problems, I am largely satisfied with what we've been served in this season. I feel hope for the future, again. Whereas I wasn't so thrilled about the state of the show as Series Two wrapped up. So this is a very good feeling. 

Sadly, however, that happiness will largely die away next year..

Coda 1: 

"Wait Rob!" some of you are saying, "What are you going to do about the Christmas Special, this year? Are you going to tack it on to the beginning of the next season? Or will it be in the Series Three Review?"   

Being as self-contained as it is, Voyage of the Damned could really fit in either season. It does, however, link directly into the conclusion of Last of the Time Lords. After crashing into the Titanic (and doing his famous "What?! What?!"), the Doctor does decide to investigate the doomed vessel. What transpires once he gets onboard the ship bears little or no relation to anything that happens in either Series Three or Four. But, at least, Three flows immediately into the story. So we'll put it here. However, since it is so separate and distinct from everything else, I decided to review it as a bit of an afterthought rather than include it with the rest of the season. 

I have reviewed this story before when I did a BOOK OF LISTS on Christmas Specials. There's not much to the actual story so I'll be a bit repetitious in what I have to say.  

Voyage of the Damned is a tribute to the various disaster movies that were made throughout the 70s and 80s. Particularly The Poseidon Adventure. There's not a lot of good things to say about these types of films. Basically, they're pretty awful. So my biggest issue is: why do an homage to bad movies? Inevitably, your own creation won't be that great since it's basing itself on weak source material.

There are some fun moments in the story. The Doctor finally finds an Alonzo and I love it when the Queen thanks him for stopping the Titanic from crashing into her. The plot, itself, is adequate. I didn't see the Surprise Max Capricorn Reveal coming even though it was in my face the whole time. 

Aside from that, however, Voyage of the Damned is not particularly easy to sit through. Most of it is just trudging through a busted spaceship. The episode is mildly exciting, in places. Most of the characters that are trying to survive are difficult to care for. Not so much because one of them is a ruthless rich bastard, but because they are all quite caricaturesque. It's hard to feel empathy for individuals who just seem largely silly. 

In the end, it's a passable adventure. Provided you go into it with that "Not Expecting Much Out of a Christmas Special" attitude. 

Coda 2:

Way back in Prehistoric Times, I wrote some "Introductory Entries" that explained the rough parameters this Blog would operate within. One point that I was very specific on was the issue of what I would consider to be canon. I explained that, outside of Night of the Doctor and Time Crash, I would only view transmitted episodes as "Proper Doctor Who". Anything from the Expanded Universe (novels, audio drama, spin-off shows, etc...) would not enter into my discussions concerning the show's Lore. Talk to me 'til you're blue in the face about how great of a companion Bernice Summerfield is, she never properly appeared on television so she never truly existed!   

During my Review of "The Paul McGann Season", I wrote about what I thought of Night of the Doctor. Now we've reached the point where we can look into Time Crash. In fact, if we want to get really chronological, I should have covered this webisode before examining Voyage of the Damned. But, for some reason, it just felt better in the "Coda 2" Slot! 

There are, in fact, a few problems with Time Crash. History appears to be getting re-written again. The fifth Doctor could get a bit tetchy, at times. But, in these very few short minutes that feature his return, he is ridiculously cranky! So much so, that some fans claim it feels more like we're getting the sixth Doctor rather than Five. And I can't really disagree with that point. 

Time Crash was actually written by Steven Moffat. Who would also exaggerate the first Doctor's more conservative values during Twice Upon a Time. But, at this point in time, RTD is still the Head Writer. This discrepancy is happening under his watch. He could have fixed this during editing but didn't. So I lay the blame at his feet for giving us a somewhat inaccurate depiction of a previous Doctor. 

Also, David Tennant saying the line: "You were my Doctor" is just really bizarre. For just a second, he stopped being the Doctor and spoke to Five as if he was a fan. It really doesn't fit in. The line should have been either cut or re-written to make better sense. 

Having said all that, it's still quite exciting to see some Multi-Doctor action going on for the first time in New Who. To be quite honest, even more bad choices could have been made in the making of this little yarn and it would probably still come out on top. I really do like it. 

It's also just a bit surreal to be watching Peter Davison playing a scene with the man who would someday become his son-in-law!