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!    

 

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES TWO

The intensely-magnificent Series One is over. Everyone is blown away by the triumphant return of Doctor Who. It's truly one of the best times ever to be a fan. 

Naturally enough, we want more Who and we want it as soon as possible. RTD is quick to comply. We get our first dose of David Tennant in the Christmas Special that year. And we also get our first real problem with the writing. RTD seems obsessed with the idea that a Christmas Special absolutely has to run for an hour. The Christmas Invasion, however, doesn't really have quite enough plot to fill the time. 

It is still an absolutely brilliant scene when Tennant does finally wake up and fight the Sycorax Leader. He really gives a great performance as a newly-formed incarnation making his first steps into the world. It's wonderful fun watching him trying to sort out who he is and deal with a major invasion at the same time. It's a gorgeous sequence. I love it when he says: "This new hand - it's a fightin' hand!" 

But, boy, does it take a long time for us to reach this moment. A lot of  the story is spent just watching Tennant lying around and not getting up. And all the characters lamenting about how helpless they are and needing the Doctor to save them. Basically, there's a lot of stalling going on, here. I know one of my bigger complaints in my last Review was that adventures that begin and end in just 46 minutes feel a bit too light. But, honestly, I would have preferred The Christmas Invasion had run at the standard time. If characters had done, at least, something useful without the Doctor's help, I wouldn't have minded all the time that was spent with Ten in bed. But to just watch everyone saying: "Doctor! We need you! Please wake up!" over and over for 40 minutes and then getting 20 minutes of actually engaging entertainment only sat so well with me.     

Sadly, this is only the beginning. More problems are going to ensue.... 

CHRISTMAS SPECIALS BE TRICKY

While we're on the subject of Christmas Specials, we need to discuss a certain degree of awkwardness that they will create for these Reviews. To all intents and purposes, Christmas Invasion should be in Series One. As it is transmitted in the same year that season was shown. But the DVD box sets put it in Series Two. Which does have a logic to it. It is the first story of the Tenth Doctor so it looks better in that arrangement. However, I'd also say that The Runaway Bride should be in Series Two as it works better as a coda to Rose's departure than it does as a starting point for the next season. But, of course, it gets placed in the Series Three box set, instead. As this seems to have become the tradition for where Christmas Specials go. 

What this really boils down to is that, as I write these Reviews, I will be placing the Christmas Specials where I think they properly fit. Which may, sometimes, be in line with where they end up in the DVD boxsets. While, on other occasions, a season may get two Christmas Specials in one year!    

This will be the case with Series Two. Christmas Invasion really does work best, here. But I also think Runaway Bride belongs in this season, too. 

SERIES TWO IS BAD 

Let's just get this out of the way: this season has aged very badly. I was very forgiving of it when it first came out because there was still so little New Who available at the time. I was just happy to have more Doctor Who! But, when I look back at it now, I see huge problems.

Truth be told, even when it first came out, I had some issues with it. My biggest one being that Torchwood had replaced the word Bad Wolf. It was now just cropping up all over the place. Shouldn't the Doctor, once more, be noting this? Why was he not turning to his companion and asking: "Rose? Have you been messing with the Heart of the TARDIS, again?!" But it all goes unnoticed, this time. Which struck me as rather silly. 

Giving us another season where a single word just keeps repeating itself struck me as some very lazy writing. Was this going to be the thing with every season of the show? Pick a word. Lace it through scripts over and over. Crank it out! Couldn't we come up with more inventive ways to create season-long arcs?    

I was even a bit bothered that Series Two was being used, mainly, to set up a spin-off series. It seemed a bit too early in the game to even be doing this with the franchise. Let's get a bit more content made in the main show before Production shifts its focus to side projects. I even think this has a bearing on the overall quality of Series Two. Had more attention been devoted to it rather than Torchwood, we would have gotten something better. It doesn't help that, at best, Torchwood was a very hit-or-miss television program. The episodes tended to be either quite good or rather awful. And there was an equal number of both!  

I do feel that once the excitement of getting more Doctor Who died down and a few more seasons of the show were made, I became much more objective about Series Two. Nowadays, I do feel it is quite bad. Even somewhat awful, in places. 

WHAT THE MAIN PROBLEMS ARE:  

Here is a not-so-short and far-from-sweet list of some of the main problems that keep recurring over the season. In some cases, we get them for the rest of the RTD era. 

Formulaic Writing

I've already started complaining about this a bit in this entry. I do not like that the "trick" for each season arc would be to just make a word re-appear again and again until its relevance is explained to us in the season finale. I do greatly dislike it when Doctor Who depends too much on just using the same formula every season. My Reviews of Seasons Eight to Eleven lament about this endlessly. To the point where hardcore Pertwee fans did start threatening my personal safety (Okay, they didn't really do that. But I'm sure they thought about it!). 

Series One was actually doing things that RTD would keep re-using. We just don't know that, yet, of course. Only as we embark upon the second season do we realize this. That's when the repetition truly begins.

One of the more obvious traits is the need for the season to always have a "historical celebrity". This is not unusual to the show. There were times in the Classic Series when the Doctor is travelling in an obscurer period in Earth's past and doesn't encounter any well-known figures from that period. Other times, though, he runs into people like Nero or H.G. Wells. 

The nice thing, however, was that there were plenty of seasons where there was no famous person from history making an appearance somewhere. But, suddenly, RTD has to give us this every year. Whether it be Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare or Agatha Christie - there's always one story that's devoted to them. This became tedious for me rather quickly. It made the meeting of a well-known character from the past feel less special. Because now we knew it was going to happen at some point during the season. 

Another strong example of the formulaic writing that weaves through all of RTD's period is the way every season starts in the present then takes one trip to the future and then another to the past (sometimes, the past trip and future trip reverse - but it amounts to the same thing).  Just for fun: how about two episodes in the present, three in the past and then one in the future? Just to mix things up a bit! Or something to that effect! No such luck, however. The pattern is set in stone.  And, once more, this convention gets boring quite fast. 

There are less-prominent patterns that present themselves throughout all four seasons. But they're there. And they definitely create a grind. By the time we get to the end of Series Four, I've had enough of it.

All this sort of stuff amounts to what I like to call "paint-by-numbers writing". I get the point of it. It creates a sense of familiarity for the audience and makes them more comfortable with the show. But, more times than others, it also feels quite forced. Suddenly, we're shoe-horning in a story about Agatha Christie that actually damaged the flow of the season because, damn it, we have to have a Historical Celebrity every season. It can also result in some fairly lazy writing. An author just ticks off certain necessary boxes rather than having to come up with an original idea.

Because Series Two is hitting us for the first time with paint-by-numbers writing, I tend to notice it better. And, quite naturally, it irritates me more.     

The Soap Opera Drama has Come to the Forefront 

I mentioned in the Series One Review that is obvious that RTD has written for soaps. He does create some interesting subplots in certain stories that are based more on the sort of drama you'd see in that style of television rather than a science fiction program. 

But, because these are just subplots, it works. Sometimes quite effectively. I did say how much I enjoy that we care as strongly about what's going on with Mickey and Rose in Boomtown as we do about the sinister plans Margaret Slitheen is executing. 

Unfortunately, in Series Two, he really starts getting the emphasis wrong. School Reunion is one of the best examples of this. The most threadbare of plots about Krillitanes trying to control the Universe is stitched on to a great big drama between Rose and Sarah Jane Smith fighting over who the Doctor loves more. This, to me, is not how sci-fi drama should work. The main plot should still concern a serious conflict involving aliens or technology or some other such plot element that we commonly see in the genre. It should not be a cat-fight between the latest gf and the ex! 

Yes, School Reunion was actually written by Toby Whithouse. But, as the Head Writer, RTD still assumes some level of responsibility. He approved the script and allowed it to go out the way it did. And there were stories written by RTD in Series Two that also get the emphasis wrong with the soap opera elements. Reunion just exemplifies this the most clearly so I decided to highlight it. 

Rose has Become Annoying

Rose is so damned amazing in Series One. There's no denying it. The arc her personality moves through during that season was beautiful to watch. Because of all the great character progression she's given, we absolutely love her. 

Clearly, however, RTD has no idea where he wants to take her in Series Two. So he makes the somewhat insane decision of having her become rude and obnoxious. For most stories, she's only like this a bit here and there. But there are a few episodes where they really turn up the Annoying Factor. 

The Idiot's Lantern is one of the best examples of this. Thanks to some earlier scenes in the story, we do see that Tommy's Dad is something of a DB. However, Rose and the Doctor don't know this when they come knocking on the door to "conduct a survey". Because we've already seen what kind of a jerk the man can be, we almost don't notice that Rose is treating him like absolute crap as she barges into his livingroom. The Doctor isn't entirely nice to him, either. But Rose really is exceptionally ignorant. And there's no real justification for her to behave that way. 

Tooth and Claw is the other story that gives us Rude Rose at her most poignant. People are dying left and right from the attack of a werewolf. But Rose seems more concerned about getting Queen Victoria to say "We are not amused." than the loss of life. Which really makes her seem extremely cold. Again, the Doctor's not behaving particularly well, either. But, for some reason, Rose comes off worse. 

The difference between Rose in Series One and Two is Night and Day. So much so, that I'm actually a bit happy to see her go at the end of the season. 

Re-Writing History 

Once more, we have to put School Reunion on the hotseat. At no point during her travels with either the Third or Fourth Doctor do we get the impression that Sarah Jane Smith ever fancied him in the slightest. But as we find her again all these years later - she confesses to having some sort of weird unrequited love for him. 

This happens in other stories as well. In fact, I'll get into the Cybermen origins in a bit. But there does seem to be this trend to "fudge continuity when it suits him" starting to arise in the seasons RTD makes. In the case of Sarah Jane, it's glaringly obvious. But it's done more subtly in other places. And it's just a bit bothersome. Particularly since these re-arrangements of Who's past are usually done to make that soap opera element more prominent. Like having Sarah Jane be secretly in love with the Doctor the whole time. That definitely took the show in a somewhat cheap direction that it really didn't need to go in.  

School Reunion could have, easily, still dealt with the difficulties Sarah Jane has gone through since parting ways with the Doctor. It didn't need to make up a romantic pretext that never existed before. But creating drama without having Sarah be in love with the Doctor was too much work. So the easier path was chosen.     

Why do we Still Have the Angst? 

Sorry School Reunion! But, again, you have one of the best examples of this. 

Smack-dab in the middle of the episode, Ten suddenly has to deeply lament about "the Curse of the Time Lords." He goes on quite morosely about how much it sucks to live longer than everybody else (or, more realistically, almost everyone else. We have seen a few aliens that seem to have even longer lifespans than Time Lords). The moment is so melodramatic, one almost expects Tennant to start swooning. 

"Woe is me!" we expected him to proclaim with his hand to his forehead, "Being a Time Lord sucks so bad! Someone play Who Wants to Live Forever? by Queen!"      

When Eccleston portrayed angst, it worked. Because he recognized he was playing a heroic character and, therefore, needed to keep it under restraint. We like it when the protagonist fights against these sort of emotions rather than letting them overtake him. But this incarnation of the Doctor just wallows in his misery. And, for the most part, it's pretty cringey to watch. 

While I don't expect the Doctor to be able to completely put the Time Wars behind him, most of the guilt does seem to get resolved by the end of Series One. For me, that's when making the Doctor angsty should have ended. Whether it be about the Time Wars or being able to outlive your companions or whatever. I would have been much happier if that trait was, once more, removed from the character. 

In fact, I think having him keep it cheapened everything he went through in Series One. Still being angsty in his tenth incarnation does almost feel like he suffered from all that survivor guilt for nothing during the first season. He's still a miserable SOB, after all. 

STORY PROBLEMS 

Lately, I've been making these Reviews very much story-by-story. Which can work nicely, sometimes. But, since it looks like I'm going to be another damned Negative Nancy, let's mix things up a bit. 

The stories in this season have a lot of problems. This is, of course, a significant reason why the season is so bad. Rather than tackle the stories one at a time in chronological order, I'm going to cluster them into groups. They will be categorized according to the most prominent negative traits that they suffer from. 

In some cases, there will be overlaps. Stories will fall under multiple headings. When this occurs, I will analyze them more thoroughly while covering the category that fits them best. In the other groups, they'll just get an incidental mention. 

Okay, here goes: 

Problematic but Still Charming

I'm tackling this one first just so we can stick a bit to the season's timeline. 

Our first "true" story of the season fits in here quite nicely (I say "true" because some might say Christmas Invasion counts as the unofficial first story of the season). 

Right from its opening shot, I have problems with New Earth. The new incarnation of the Doctor firing up the TARDIS seemingly for the first time since regenerating seems just a tad too indulgent. Other new Doctors weren't given moments such as these. They just started steering the TARDIS with no real fuss or bother. Basically, right from the onset of this story, I was suspecting problems. 

RTD seems to have a lot of trouble understanding medical science. I'm not sure if having a ridiculous number of test subjects really would speed up the process of solving incurable diseases all that quickly. Nor does just mixing up a bunch of solutions into one big "healing cocktail" really work, either. 

He seems to have less of a grasp on physics. The Doctor sliding down  at top speed with that elevator cable between his legs should have produced a ridiculous amount of friction. His entire groin and a good chunk of his coccyx should have been worn away. Instead, though, he's just fine. 

Worst of all, however, is his "You have to go through me!" speech that he delivers to the Cat Nuns. It really doesn't work, here. I've compared it, before, to Five's speech about emotions to the Cyberleader during Earthshock. It has a similar vibe to that moment in New Earth but happens after we've gotten to know this new incarnation for the better part of a season. Because Ten gets all righteous so early on in his tenure, the delivery feels soooo much more sanctimonious. Even a bit unnatural. It's just too soon to have this new version of the Doctor become so morally upright. We needed to see Ten being mellow for a bit longer before unleashing this sort of holy fury.  

There are a few other minor issues that litter this story. Enough to make it definitely feel sub-par. But there is also a certain level of charm that I find in New Earth that stops it from feeling completely awful. There's enough fun moments to it that cause me to not absolutely hate it. It's not an entirely good story, either, of course. But I can tolerate it. 

There other stories like this. The comedy in Runaway Bride feels horrifically forced, in places. Especially with all the farty-sounding trumpet music that Murray Gold is using in the background. "Look!" he seems to be trying to say, "This must be funny! It's got farty-sounding trumpet music playing behind it!" But a lot of it really isn't all that amusing. It's just Catherine Tate yelling away at David Tennant for a while and trying her damnedest to make flat dialogue funny. The plot is also too light (which will put it in another category in a moment) and there are some fairly preposterous moments in it. But it also has a few clever scenes that make it quite entertaining. Like New Earth, it's weak. But I don't utterly despise it. 

School Reunion, I would say, also fits in here. I've listed any number of problems with it, already. But it does have enough redeeming qualities to stop it from seeming like utter drivel. 

Too Light on Plot

Once more, we're adhering just a little bit to story order. 

Tooth and Claw exemplifies, quite well, the next big problem with stories in Series Two. This tale comes perilously close to being passable. It certainly has a very nice build-up going on in its earlier scenes. But then we get to the werewolf transformation and realize that the bulk of the story, from this point onward, will consist of running up stairs and through hallways in an effort to escape from a CGI wolfman. Occasionally, a fairly-insignificant supporting character will nobly sacrifice himself to stall for time. The sacrifice might almost seem touching if it wasn't happening every few minutes! 

I have already griped about how light Doctor Who now feels because most stories are resolved in only 46 minutes. They feel ever lighter, of course, when there isn't enough plot to fill the 46 minutes! 

Admittedly, the intensity of this adventure does almost get us to forget that this really is just going to be 30 minutes of running away from a CGI wolfman. That, in and of itself, is a fairly impressive feat. But, overall, there's still just not enough, here. And the episode falls a bit short because of it.

Impossible Planet/Satan Pit is an even more glaring example of this. There's barely enough story to sustain one episode. Forget about two! It becomes really obvious during the first part when the writer, literally, creates four creepy moments in a row. Hoping this will get us to not notice that nothing is actually happening in the story. That we'll just be like: "Everything is moving at a Snail's Pace! But who cares?! I'm just so terrified, right now!" 

The leads and supporting cast are doing their damnedest to give us some great characters. We really do like them and hate to see the fates that some of them end up suffering. But this is, ultimately, a story with a whole lot of nothing happening in it for quite some time. It's never been an easy one for me to sit through because of this. As we near the end of the second half, it's taking everything in me not to just yell at the Doctor to jump down the pit, smash the damn vases and get it over with!  

As mentioned earlier, The Runaway Bride also suffers from this. It also doesn't have enough actual plot. Like Christmas Invasion, there's a lot of padding being thrown in just to fill out the hour.  

And I would say School Reunion fits in with this gang too. The plot involving the Krillitane feels so light that it almost seems extraneous. They could have just taken it right out and filled the extra minutes with a bit more weepiness from the Doctor and Sarah Jane. That's all the story was really about, anyway! 

The Truly Awful 

And now we do take a big jump further into the season to get to a group of stories that really are pretty low-quality. 

As I have previously disclosed in another series of entries, Fear Her is a Guilty Pleasure of mine (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/05/book-of-lists-top-five-guilty-pleasures_21.html). It's ridiculously shmaltzy and over-sentimental. But I still kinda like it. But, as I always say when we get to a Guilty Pleasure in these Reviews, I still wholeheartedly acknowledge that the story is bad. It's got a pretty clunky plot that only just manages to fill the run-time. It's interesting that Timeflight is another Guilty Pleasure. The two have the common link of being made when the production team is just blatantly out of money. 

Oddly enough, though, I still really enjoy this tale. But, from a non-sentimental standpoint, Fear Her has just too many issues with it. To the point where it just doesn't quite make it into that Problematic but Charming Category. Instead, it really is just bad. 

Folks tend to really come down hard on Love and Monsters. Clearly, it's going quite hard for the laughs. Perhaps too much. I do applaud it for trying to be weird and experimental. I love Doctor Who most because it tries so often to break its own mold and give us something unique. 

But, ultimately, the experiment does fail. There's just too many poor choices that were made in the story-telling. 

But, for me, the biggest turd of Series Two is The Idiot's Lantern. What a sharp turn Marc Gatiss' writing has taken! This should, technically, be in the Too Light on Plot Category. But I wanted to address all of its problems, here. 

There is just so little to the whole story: Evil disembodied being wants to suck all of Britain's souls out during the Coronation. Doctor finds out what she's up to and makes a MacGuffin to stop her. There's a sort of BS storyline of the police being up to some kind of no good. But it's very quickly revealed to be the time-filler it is and is nipped in the bud. The Doctor and Rose openly harassing a family is, perhaps, one of the most painful-to-watch scenes in New Who. Aside from causing us to really hate the leads, it's also just stalling for time as much as it can. Without the padding, Idiot's Lantern has about eight minutes of legitimate plot. 

The actual geography near the end of the story is extremely wonky. Magpie hops in a truck and makes it to the transmitter in minutes. But then the Doctor and Tommy take all the time in the world to build a contraption and run over to that same transmitter. Strangely enough, Magpie has barely begun his climb during all of this. He should have been up and down that tower four times in the time it has taken our heroes to get there. It really makes the whole ending feel very disjointed and unrealistic. 

Also, Mister Gatiss, you ought to know full-well that a Doctor Who story should never go near a line of dialogue that even vaguely resembles: "Nothink in ze world can shtop me now!" It's always going to be painful to watch! 

These three really bad episodes, along with a mostly-bad two-part finale, cause the whole season to just, sort of, peter out rather than become the explosive climax it was meant to be. 

 

THE CYBER-STUFF 

I decided to just devote an entire section to how the Return of the Cybermen was handled this season.  As it is a fairly complex mess that deserves special attention all on its own.    

One of the first impressions I get from the whole process of bringing back these notorious cyborgs is another dose of paint-by-numbers writing. Like the Daleks last year, we first meet the Cybermen midway through the season. Then they come back again for the finale. Even before we get into the actual stories, the way in which they're arranged is already irritating me!  

The paint-by-numbers issue is still more of a minor quibble, though. Where I take bigger issue is RTD's attempt to create a new Origin Story for the Cybermen. In my Review of Series One, I mention how  leery I am over the fact that he appears to be trying to make Doctor Who just a little too accessible to a modern-day audience. That, in doing so, he's going to sacrifice too many important core elements of the show. Fortunately, this doesn't actually happen during that first season. It does happen during Series Two, though. And re-booting the origins of the Cybermen is the best example of this. 

I get it, of course. The Cybermen do have a slightly more convoluted origin story than a lot of other recurring baddies. But is it really so complicated that it needs to be, pretty much, dumped and replaced with a totally new one that takes place in a silly parallel universe (rich people live in blimps. Really?!) In the end, RTD just needed to say: "They started on Mondas. They moved to Telos for a bit. Now they travel in big fleets." Amusingly enough, he really just had to create something similar to that flashback sequence in Earthshock that he claims to dislike so much. 

Instead, we get the mess that is Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel. Where we must suffer through a Poor Man's Davros and a plot so thin that it suddenly needs to steal the Above, Between, Below premise from The Five Doctors. 

Worst of all, we have to sit through the really cheesy goodbye scene between Rose and Mickey. That whole sequence is just horribly-written. Basically, it's the most overlabored dialogue you could give to two characters in a farewell scene. The actors do their damnedest with what they've been given - but it's not enough. I found the whole moment ruined so much of what we saw built up between Rose and Mickey. Rather than bringing it to a touching conclusion. 

But we're not done with the Cybermen, of course. They have to come back for the season finale and create more menace from their Parallel Universe of Blimps. Because, of course, that's what the formula demands of them. It would have probably been better to give them a rest so that RTD can really think over what he wants to do with them next. To, perhaps, contemplate whether or not parallel universe Cybermen were such a good idea, after all. But he can't do that. He's trapped in the pattern he's created. 

Fans have dreamt for years of what it would be like to finally see the Cybermen and Daleks go to war against each other. I don't think any of us envisioned the mess that was created in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday. RTD - pretty much - got everything wrong, here. Even in something as minor as the first confrontation between Daleks and Cybermen. He decides to cut away from their dialogue so that Mickey can make a dumb joke about someone disabled! If Russell really wanted so badly for that line to stay in, it could have been placed at a better point. Essentially a time when neither the Cybermen nor the Daleks are actually talking. Because that is the dialogue we want to actually hear! Not some tasteless joke referring to the fact that one of the greatest geniuses of our time needs to use a special device to communicate. 

The whole story seems more like an attempt to establish a "hierarchy of monsters". Daleks are at the top. They've got the best firepower and strongest defenses. Cybermen are somewhere below. In a season and a bit, we'll see bullets being able to take out Sontarans. So that we know they're even lower on the totem. It all seems a bit too forced and even slightly ridiculous. It would have all been so much more interesting if the Cybermen had seemed to stand a chance in the battle. But the Daleks are the clear victors. I definitely like it better in Flux when all the worst monsters of the Universe seem to be on fairly equal footing. But it really does seem like the bulk of the plot for Army/Doomsday was constructed to just show us that Daleks are better than Cybermen. Really, we needed a bit more than that. 

"Wait Rob!" some of you might be saying (and it's been a while since any of you have spoken up like this. I had been hoping you'd stopped!), "What about the whole plotline with the Genesis Ark?! That's an extra layer to the story!" 

The point is valid, I'll admit. But that "extra layer" would only be effective if it wasn't so dumb! 

The Time Lords are well aware that the Daleks are irredeemable. Particularly now that they've had a war with them. All Time Lords know that every Dalek that is allowed to exist is a threat to the Universe. So, if they have the opportunity to place a bunch of them in a trans-dimensional prison - why are they stopping there? Why aren't they doing like the Doctor did in Revolution of the Daleks and crushing them like paper cups? Placing a huge army of Daleks in a jail but not destroying them can really only lead to one thing: providing an army for any Daleks that might need them at some future juncture. Why would the Time Lords do that?!  

And then, of course, we get to another cheesy farewell scene. Admittedly, not as bad as the one we got at the end of Age of Steel. But still pretty bad. It doesn't help that Rose has been largely unlikeable for a good chunk of the season. So it's really not that sentimental of a moment for me. Had we lost Rose at the end of Series One - I might have been an actual blubbering mess. But, by this point, I'm a bit glad to see her gone . I also find that opening this whole debacle with Billie Piper in voiceover saying incredibly bad dialogue like: "This is the story of how I die." makes her departure feel even more ludicrous. How can you be telling us how you die if you're meant to be dead?!     

This brings me to another trend in RTD's writing that I dislike that will continue to flourish over the next few seasons. "False advertising hype" - as I like to call it. We'll get told in a later season that another companion is going to die. But she doesn't. We'll get teased that we're seeing a future incarnation of the Doctor. But we're not. It all becomes quite tedious. 

This whole nonsense begins in Series Two with the false predictions being made that Rose will perish. Such levels of cheap sensationalism go even lower than soap opera writing. It now feels more like we're getting tabloid headlines! 

ANYTHING POSITIVE?

Clearly, I'm not happy with Series Two. Next to Season Seventeen, this one is my least favorite. RTD has even admitted that he put tons of thought into Series One but wasn't expecting there to ever be any more Doctor Who to make after that .When the BBC actually gave it the Green Light, he had to scramble to put the whole season together. 

I would have been happier if we'd had to wait so that he could take some proper time to think things out a bit better. There is the harshest of contrasts between the quality of Series One and Series Two. Again, when it first came out, I was much more merciful. Re-watching this season, however, has been far from easy! 

Since I don't consider Series Two to be much better than Season Seventeen, I probably don't have much of anything nice to say about it. But there are a few things I like: 

I Like Tennant Best, Here

This season does push Ten's eccentricity and quirkiness the most. Which I enjoy. He seems much more "Doctorish" in Series Two. More alien, in general. Which is how I like my Doctor. It's fun to see that there are certain types of behavior or etiquette that humans engage in that he just can't get his head around. I love it, for instance, when Tegan and Nyssa are hugging goodbye at the end of Terminus and the camera cuts briefly to Five as he watches them. The expression on his face seems to indicate that such a gesture is just beyond him. It's a great touch that shows us that he may look human but, psychologically, he's something very different.  

Stuff like that happens quite a bit in Series Two. I especially adore how the Doctor and Rose do this sort of shtick where Ten doesn't realize he's being a bit rude and she has to tell him. This does carry over a bit with him and Martha next year, but not as much.  

In Series Three and Four, Ten becomes much more of an angsty pretty boy that most folks seem to actually like but I don't find particularly entertaining. Whereas, in Two, those traits are kept to a bare minimum. Which also makes him feel more like a real incarnation of the Doctor rather than the "always charming" version of him that we tend to get in his later years. 

Girl in the Friggin' Fireplace 

You may have noticed that, as I was discussing the problems that arise in various stories of this season, I never brought up The Girl in the Fireplace. And that's because there are no real problems with it. Once more, Moffat hits it out of the ballpark. This tale is head-and-shoulders above the rest. Already, I'm warming to the idea that he should become the next Head Writer. He just seems to know the show better than RTD does. He understands where to modernize the tone and where to keep things Old School. He also just writes a beautiful story. 

I do actually enjoy how the Doctor falls in love in Fireplace. A dyed-in-the-wool hardcore fan such as myself should object to this, of course. But the romance is handled very well. Especially since it has to happen within that very short 46-minute format. Moffat tailors the whole relationship in a way that allows us to see its potential rather than make it a love that is fully-fledged. He recognizes that there's just not enough time to accomplish this. But that's part of what makes it so heart-breaking when the Doctor ends up missing most of her life. Something that could have been is lost. Which is a special sort of sadness that can tug at the hearstrings just as hard as if the Doctor had actually spent the rest of Reinette's life with her. 

There are all sorts of other gorgeous nuances to the plot that Moff weaves in. There is that great central message to the episode that Madame de Pompadour brings out quite eloquently during her encounter with Rose: "The Monsters are worth it if  the Doctor comes with them. (or words to that effect)" You can see in the reaction Piper gives to the statement that the two characters understand each other perfectly and treasure what they have. It's just one of so many absolutely splendid scenes. Maybe the only moment I enjoy more is when the Doctor smashes through the mirror on the horse. The effect may not have aged well. But it's still one of those times where you can't help but punch the air a bit. The Doctor is at his most heroic, here. He's willing to sacrifice an entire lifestyle just to save one person. It's great stuff. 

If there was anything that didn't work for me, it was Ten's little inside joke about bananas. This is one of my bigger problems with New Who, in general. It became too self-referential too quickly. Even Moffat succumbs to this over-indulgence. 

Otherwise, though, this is the Jewel in Series Two's Crown. Sadly, there's very little else there that's all that great. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

Every once in a while, I meet someone who wants to start watching Doctor Who. I always recommend that they begin at the most recent "jump-on point" that the production team has created. However, sometimes the newcomer decides they want to start at the very beginning of the New Series. Which I can respect, of course. Although, they'd impress me even more if they went all the way back to An Unearthly Child!  

As is always the case, Series One blows them away and they are hooked. Christopher Eccleston is their hero and they are practically in tears when he regenerates. I try to get a vague idea of what speed they are watching the show at and purposely check in with them when they are about halfway through Series Two. I contact them and ask how they're enjoying the show. They've just made it through the First Cybermen Debacle. They're starting to struggle a bit. I don't wait long before I get a hold of them again. They're on Love and Monsters, now. 

"Rob!" they'll admit, "I'm about to give up! This season is soooo bad compared to the first one!"

"Hang in there." I'll re-assure them, "It will get better next season!" 

The fact that this seems to happen with anyone who tries to watch New Who right from its very beginning speaks far louder than any conclusive statement I can make in this Review.  This season is so bad that I need to almost hover over new fans and offer them encouragement to push through it. 

Fortunately, I wasn't giving them false promises. Series Three is a marked improvement over what we got this year. 

Here's my Guilty Pleasures Review of Fear Her, again:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/05/book-of-lists-top-five-guilty-pleasures_21.html

 

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES ONE

Doctor Who is back. For real, this time. We're not just getting a quick tease like we did in the mid-90s (that was meant to be taking place in the late 90s). This isn't a quick feature-length TV Special that will never show its face again. It's a full and proper season. And, if enough people like it, we'll get more. 

I was quite excited when news of this came out. It really seemed hopeful that my favorite television program was coming back. I expected that the show would get radically modernized. That most of the conventions we were getting during its initial run would no longer be used. I was certain we wouldn't even get cliffhangers. Stories would be completed in just a single episode. I was both surprised and delighted to learn that there would be the occasional multi-part story in a season. 

Seeing the Ninth Doctor's costume for the first time brutalized me quite badly. I suspected he wouldn't be going for something too Old School. That the outfit would be less eccentric-looking than most (we certainly weren't getting another Sixth Doctor costume!). But I didn't think they were going to alter his look this much! The Doctor almost appeared to be a normal person! I was starting to legitimately wonder if, maybe, Production was taking things just a bit too far in their efforts to modernize the show. Still, I would give New Who a fair chance and watch the season before passing any kind of judgement. 

But I was still a bit apprehensive...

STARTING THINGS OFF 

I talked a bit in my Review of the Eighth Doctor Era (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2023/08/doctor-who-season-by-season-special.html) about the lesson RTD learnt on how not to re-boot the series. Nine arrives on the scene without a regeneration preceding him (although the comment he makes as he sees his reflection in a mirror lead us to believe one happened shortly before Rose begins). Which is a far smarter way to introduce the character. 

But RTD makes some other good choices. He recognizes that this is a show with a massive amount of backstory to it. There's no way he can reveal all of it to a new audience in just one episode. So he stretches things out over two. Rose lays down quite a few fundamental premises. We learn that the Doctor is a time traveler who likes to fight for good. That he travels in a transdimensional Police Box and uses a sonic screwdriver. That he comes from the North. And, of course, that lots of planets have one. 

But The End of the World continues to explain a few more important elements of the show. We see that the TARDIS has a special translation feature (something we were never actually told in the Original Series but, sort of, suspected). That the Doctor does come from the North - but he is a Time Lord. Most significantly, of course, we discover that a horrible war went on during the Wilderness Years that wiped out the rest of his species. 

Even after two episodes, there's still some elements of Lore that won't get revealed till much later. The Doctor, for instance, doesn't finally admit that he actually stole his TARDIS until several seasons later in Planet of the Dead! 

Both these stories do show nice strong links to Who's past without having to beat you too hard over the head with it. Rose is more obvious. The Nestene Consciousness is making its third attempt to invade the Earth. End of the World is a bit more subtle. But it, basically, displays an event that other stories like The Ark and Frontios make reference to. 

All in all, this has been an absolutely perfect way to re-start the show. Even if Eccleston's outfit is a bit off-putting!   

FIRST FILLER 

With the foundations laid, we move on to Unquiet Dead and the First Part of The Great Slitheen Debacle. 

Something new happens, here. For the first time in the history of the show, we experience filler episodes. In Classic Who, there were stories that had significant things happen in them. The Doctor would regenerate or visit Gallifrey. Or the Daleks would show up. Clearly, such tales get more attention paid to them. But, ultimately, everything did feel of equal importance. It's a major event, for instance, when the Doctor saves the entire Universe from entropy at the end of Season Eighteen. But his visit to Argolis at the beginning of that year feels no less relevant. 

Yet, somehow, as we watch these three episodes, we get the impression they won't matter quite as much as other episodes in the season. We even feel certain that there will be more stories like this later. 

By no means do I consider Unquiet and Those Crazy Slitheens to be inferior to other content in this season. I particularly enjoyed Mark Gatiss' first writing contribution. It tells an interesting story that gives us even more of an insight into the current state of the Doctor's moral compass. It's quite witty when he considers the Gelth's use of corpses to, basically, be "recycling". And the way he tells Rose to just accept what they're doing to corpses or stop travelling with him is actually a bit shocking. 

Simon Callow does a brilliant job of playing Charles Dickens. It's great to see the show already getting Big Names in to play key roles like this. We also see just how much more Doctor Who is going to focus on the emotional beats of a plot. Things do get a tad weepy and depressing towards the conclusion of End of the World. But Dickens' renewal of spirit at the end of this episode has an even stronger impact on the viewer. Doctor Who is definitely going to be a much more sentimental series in its new state. 

Aliens of London/World War III is a fun little runaround. It's a two-parter. Which means we get our first cliffhanger of the New Series. Which, somehow, felt very exciting. I know some fans complained about all the fart gags. But, honestly, Doctor Who seems like the sort of show that would have flatulent aliens in it. So I was fine with it. The fact that we, eventually, get a pseudo-science explanation for why they are so gassy makes things all-the-more amusing!  

Our first set of filler episodes are just fine. Even a bit great. Regardless of the fact that they are not really all that necessary to the bigger story Series One is trying to tell. 

THE PEPPERPOTS ARE BACK 

And then we get to a really important episode. Quite possibly, the most significant episode in the whole history of New Who. 

It was inevitable that the Daleks would have to return at some point. They are a crucial element of Doctor Who. You knew that, no matter what, the BBC was going to work out some sort of deal with the Estate of Terry Nation. 

What was far more instrumental to the success of the show was how the Daleks were brought back. They had to make a strong first impression. They needed a great introductory tale. Getting Rob Shearman to adapt his Jubilee script was a great call on RTD's behalf. It "stripped back" the Daleks to their basest level. We saw how dangerous and fanatical a single Dalek could be. Which struck just the right level of menace into the hearts of a whole new generation of British children. Production also chose to keep the silly salt shaker design. Which was totally the right thing to do. They're too damned iconic and you can't really mess with that image.  Even if egg whisks and plungers look a little ridiculous! 

A new layer also gets added to the Lore. We learn a bit more about what happened in the Time Wars. We now know that the Daleks were the key combatants. And that, somehow, the Doctor ended the war by committing some serious levels of superweapon damage. 

This is a pivotal story in the season. Definitely not filler. But, more significantly, it's really well-written, performed and directed. A brilliant episode that I might even call a Classic.     

AND THEN A FEW MORE FILLERS 

And back we go to stories of lesser consequence. 

Although you can't call The Long Game total filler. It is setting some important things up for later in the season. But, overall, it has the same inconsequential feeling that earlier filler episodes had. 

We are also starting to see one of the great limitations of most of the seasons of New Who. Telling a whole story in the span of just one 46-minute episode feels a bit too "light". In the Classic Days, the standard four-parter that we got most of the time had double the run-time of what we are now receiving. Thus creating plenty of time for character development or deeper explorations of a story's theme. That's just not really happening anymore with most of the tales in a season. An adventure, oftentimes, flies by too quickly. On some levels, I get it. Viewers don't have the patience they once had. Things need to move at a cracking pace to keep them engaged. Still, it does make it much harder to accept that what we're seeing really is Doctor Who. It does often feel like another show entirely. 

I know there's a certain segment of people out there who feel they must moan about every single alteration Chibnall made to the show, but I was so thankful he decided to change the length of an episode to around an hour. Stories now had more time to "breathe". Which made us feel much more like we were getting real Doctor Who. 

Still, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Ultimately, I still quite like The Long Game. It seems to be the one fans dislike in Series One. I'm not sure why. It's a pretty tight plot that explores some interesting ideas about news media and how it affects us. And it's got another Big Name giving us a great turn. Simon Pegg continues to be one of the great Hollywood actors that I envy most. He gets parts in every single sci-fi franchise that I adore! 

And then there's Father's Day. The story I was anticipating the most this season. I loved all the books Paul Cornell wrote during the Wilderness Years. They were always brilliant. And so is this episode. Once more, there's a ton of emotional resonance going on. I've never been able to make it through this story without shedding, at least, a few tears. It hits me all-the-harder, now, because my own Dad is gone. But it's also another very tight plot that gets us to nearly forget that it has little or nothing to do with the bigger narrative that the season is telling. Paul Cornell should have written another twenty episodes, by now. I'm not sure why they haven't commissioned him more often. My only guess is that everyone is just too savagely jealous of his talent. 

"ARE YOU MY MUMMY?"  

Our second two-parter of the season introduces us to some more incredible writing talent. Unlike Cornell, this particular author would write another 20 episodes over the the years. Even more than that! 

But it all starts with The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. His first impression is a strong one. Many, in fact, consider this to be the best story of the season. 

If I'm being honest, the first part only impresses me so much. It's off to a very awkward start. Rose ends up hanging off of a barrage balloon in the most preposterous of ways. Like there's almost a "Part One Cliffhanger to Dragonfire" vibe going on. Essentially, someone finds a highly-unlikely manner to put themselves in danger. 

Fortunately, Captain Jack Harkness comes along and the story really starts to spice up. He's a very charming and devilish rogue. I'm quite glad that he becomes a companion. I even wish he'd hung around longer during his initial run (at least he comes back a lot). The whole weird thing that's going on with the Empty Child is also grabbing my attention. I was a bit put off, at first. But, by the end of the episode, I'm interested.  

It's Part Two that really gets me. So much happens in it that is an absolute delight to watch. The mad chase through the hospital where sonic devices become double-entendres. Rose and the Doctor having a moment together listening to Glen Miller and they cause "dancing" to also become a double-entendre (this is the same man who wrote Coupling - so there's bound to be a lot of this!). The absolutely gorgeous conclusion where, just this once, everybody lives. Moff very competently changes the tone of the story from saucy to something genuinely touching in a heartbeat. It's a very impressive feat. Once more, I'm tearing up as I watch Doctor Who. Not something that happened this often during the Classic Series.  

And then there's the great little coda where Jack thinks he's about to die and the Doctor and Rose ever-so-casually rescue him. The whole little final speech that he delivers when he thinks he's done for is a great moment. But the slow pan back that reveals the TARDIS has latched on to his ship is truly awesome. Jack becomes a companion in the coolest of ways. 

As ridiculous as the whole barrage balloon sequence was, it's completely forgotten by this point! 

This probably is the best story of the season. It's very difficult to gauge, though. Because it does have a substantial amount of competition. 

MORE SLITHEEN (CAUSE THE FANS WANTED THEM BACK SO BADLY!)

While most seem to dislike The Long Game, Boomtown is probably my least favorite of the season. Overall, it's still quite good. I quite like how it really changes the tempo of things. Its more contemplative nature almost gives us a bit of a rest before the season finale kicks in. 

I've already remarked that I quite like the Slitheen. So I'm fine with the fact that Margaret (or Blon) has survived and is, once more, causing trouble. The plot is fairly light. But there's just enough to sustain the episode. We're definitely seeing that RTD  wrote soaps. Following the rocky relationship between Mickey and Rose is a crucial subplot that is propelling the whole story along. This is not really the sort of thing you normally see on Doctor Who. But it's actually quite engaging, nonetheless. 

The thing that really works against the story is this weird trend that starts developing in RTD's writing. He seems to like to have villains try to call the Doctor out on some of his personal flaws. We see this for the first time during the Doctor and Margaret's dinner. They discuss several things. But for a few minutes, the Slitheen goes out of her way to criticize the Doctor. Which is a silly thing to do when someone else is holding your life in their hands. Personally, if I was in that situation, I'd be paying them every compliment I could! 

That moment seems ever sillier, though, because Margaret is an absolutely wretched creature who has done all sorts of horrible things to others. But now she's pointing out a minor blemish on the Doctor's record. It's a bit like a severe alcoholic telling a friend who drinks a bit here and there that they seem to have a problem. The alcoholic might even have a valid point, but he still really doesn't have the right to make it. So the whole argument feels dramatically ineffective. When Harriet Jones does something similar only a few episodes later, it works. Because we now have one high-principled character criticizing another. The remarks are legitimately scathing. But, here, it all just seems rather flat. Margaret and the Doctor debate any number of other things during that dinner. I wish they had just explored one of those other topics more deeply rather than go into the accusations she launches against him. 

Other than this issue, however, I do quite like Boomtown. I'd even say I enjoyed it better until RTD started having all kinds of other villains in future stories suddenly start trying to tell the Doctor how much of a jerk he is!    

AN ARMY OF DALEKS 

At last, we reach the Season Finale. What a finale it is! 

There's some amazing stuff, here, that works brilliantly: Lethal Reality Shows. The Daleks secretly behind it all (even though the "Next Week" trailer at the end of the previous episode already told us!) A wicked cliffhanger. An army of Daleks that actually looks like one rather than a massive collection of Dapol toys. A gorgeous tear-jerking holographic message. And so much else! 

But the real beauty of these two episodes is more than just the spectacle we're witnessing. What really makes all of this great is the absolutely splendid character development that is reaching its fruition 

On the supporting cast front: we have Mickey and Jackie. Both have a somewhat selfish relationship with Rose. Which is why, of course, they want her to stay. Both, in their own way, realize that if they truly love her, they should help her to find the Doctor again. It's great to watch them come to terms with the fact that unconditional love means you help someone to do something that may cause you to lose them. A great evolution for both their characters.

On a slightly more significant scale is Captain Jack Harkness. He's been behaving himself better since he climbed aboard the TARDIS. But he develops into a true hero, here. I love the speech he delivers as he tries to gain more support against the Daleks. He's, basically, saying: "I've stopped being a scoundrel. Now it's time to do what's right." I'm also really impressed with Barrowman's delivery of the "Wish I'd never met you" line. It's clear he means the opposite. He knows he's about to die, but he's glad of the death he's chosen. 

And then, of course, there are the leads. They will show significant progress because we've been following them the most closely. Rose's development took a very interesting path. In her first story, she has a conversation with Auton Mickey about her future now that she has lost her job. Clearly, she lacks direction in her life. The most obvious outcome at the end of the season would be for her character to figure out what she wants to do with herself. 

"Thanks Doctor." Rose might say just before the credits roll for the final time that year, "Traveling with you has made me realize I want to be an orthodontist." 

Or something to that effect...

But RTD does something better with the character. Rose still doesn't know what she wants to do by the season's end. But she has made a more important resolution. She might not have chosen a career path yet, but she does want to make a difference. Doesn't matter what she ends up doing for a living, so long as she is helping those who can't help themselves. This is best exemplified, of course, by her need to get back to Satellite Five and save the Doctor. That scene in the restaurant with Mickey and Jackie is where she truly makes the all-important choice. And it's a beautiful moment. Her character arc reaches its completion and we are truly in love with Rose, now. She may have nearly destroyed the world when she rescued her Dad, but we've forgiven her!

And then, at last, we come to the Doctor. Some of you will, no doubt, get upset with me over the next few Reviews. I am not the largest fan of RTD's writing and I will be voicing some of that disdain in future posts. 

But not here. In this season, I can only marvel at what he's done. And one of the best examples of his talent is the redemption arc he puts Nine through. We don't actually witness what it is he's trying to redeem himself from till the 50th anniversary! But we see the pain the act created in him. Partly through Eccleston's brilliant acting. But RTD's writing had a big roll to play in it too.

When Nine declares: "Coward. Every time.", we see clearly that he has moved on and laid his guilt to rest. Even though we never saw the atrocity he was forced to commit. It's an amazing piece of work on the Head Writer's behalf. 

But even without all the great character development, Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways is an absolute masterpiece. A great plot with some excellent set pieces. But what makes us want to desperately see a second season of the show is all the wonderful growth. Jackie, Mickey, the Captain, Rose and the Doctor have gone through on this wonderful journey. Because of this madly brilliant season finale - we absolutely need to see where it goes next...

THE SEASON WAS FANTASTIC

Often with these Reviews, when I come to a season I love, I proclaim my affections for it in the opening paragraphs. I decided to take a different tact with Series One and wait till my Conclusion to really start harping on about how great it is. So I'll start: 

This is still the best season of New Who. And, of course, one of the best seasons of Doctor Who, ever. 

The writing is one of the strongest contributing factors. There was a lot to sort out in the show's first year. RTD and his gang couldn't just re-create where the show had left off 16 years previously (trying bring to back the Doctor Who we got 9 years ago didn't seem like a great idea, either!). The four 23-minute-episodes-per-story formula was definitely too clunky and unwieldy for a modern-day audience. The authors had to strip the show down and build it back up into something new and different that would still pay respect to the past. They did a magnificent job of it and gave us a set of adventures that were, at the very least, above-average. Many of them were excellent. 

Or should I say: "Fantastic"?!  

Much can also be said about the two leads. Billie Piper surprised everyone by showing us that pop stars can, sometimes, also act. She made Rose feel very real and 3-dimensional. There's not a moment where I don't believe she's a 19-year-old girl from 2005 who's been whisked off into space by a mysterious stranger in a gorgeous leather jacket. She also does a great job of portraying Rose's personal growth throughout the season. It's a perfect performance all the way through. 

But I really do think the best thing about Series One is Eccleston, himself. His acting was brilliant. He gave us an emotional trait we'd never seen in the Doctor before: angst. He pitched it perfectly. We always feel sympathy for the Doctor as he mourns the loss of his people. At no point, does he make us cringe. Which is an extremely tricky thing to do with a character like the Doctor. Being angsty shouldn't work for a role like this at all. But Eccleston pulls it off magnificently. 

In many ways, Nine is highly distinct from all the incarnations that would come after him. Even Capaldi's moodier interpretation still comes across as a high-energy fanboy who spews out 500 words per minute. Whereas Nine is much more understated than the rest. Even when he's in "fanboy mode" with Charles Dickens, he approaches it with a very different kind of vibe than Tennant-Onwards. 

I think we can safely attribute the difference in the portrayal to the actual actor. While he didn't know how generic the character would become, he still puts in a distinct effort to truly make this version of the Doctor his own. Which causes him to shine all-the-brighter during his very short time in the role. 

Thank you, Christopher Eccleston. I actually count you as being the biggest reason Doctor Who returned to us and became, once more, the institution that it is. 

We owe you a lot. Sorry the BBC were such jerks to you!     

My Review of the "Eighth Doctor Season":  

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2023/08/doctor-who-season-by-season-special.html