#12 (3.0): The Runaway Bride.

Donna (Catherine Tate)'s wedding doesn't quite go as planned...

1 episode. Approx. 60 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: Euros Lyn. Produced by: Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT

A stranger has somehow appeared in the TARDIS: A woman in a white wedding dress.

The Doctor gapes at the impossibility, particularly when he realizes that the woman, Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), is completely ordinary. Donna is enraged at being taken from her wedding to HR manager Lance (Don Gilet), right as she was walking down the aisle, and the Doctor has no explanation for how this could have happened. He does know that Donna is as irritating as she is irate, however, and resolves to get her to the church as quickly as possible.

The TARDIS gets her to the right city on the right date, and Donna hails a cab. Situation resolved... Until the Doctor notices that her driver is one of the same robotic Santas that he tangled with the previous Christmas. He manages to rescue her, but not in time to make her wedding. He instead delivers her to the reception, which has gone on without her.

While Donna reunites with her not overly-worried family, the Doctor reviews the video footage of the wedding. That's when he realizes that Donna has been infused with huon particles, energy which should not exist. When he learns that her workplace is an office building formerly owned by the Torchwood Institute, the pieces start coming together... And when he discovers a secret sub-basement in that building, he realizes that he's stumbled into a plot that traces back to the dawn of the Earth, and that just might spell the planet's ending!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Is intrigued by Donna's impossible appearance in his TARDIS - but when she notices a blouse of Rose's, he is uncharacteristically willing to forget that mystery just to get this shrill intruder out of his life as quickly as possible. It is only when he sees Donna in imminent danger that he gets pulled back into her situation. At the reception, while other couples dance, he keeps thinking of Rose - right up until he notices the videographer from the wedding, and is able to distract himself with the mystery. The climax, in which the Doctor grimly takes action against the villainous Queen of the Rachnoss (Sarah Parrish), is particularly memorable, with Tennant's Doctor actively frightening in this moment.

Donna: Barrels into the series with a shrill voice and a shriller attitude. For the first part of the episode, she is unbearable - loud, overly emotional, loud, unlikable, and loud. But once she has to accept that she's not making it back to her wedding in time, she settles down for a nice, contemplative scene on a rooftop in which actress Catherine Tate shows some terrific chemistry with David Tennant. That scene would be evidence in itself of why she was worth bringing back, even if Catherine Tate did not proceed to be terrific for the remainder of the episode. A noteworthy scene that ties in with the ending is when, after the attack at the reception, Donna tries to get the Doctor to help some of those who were hurt. He refuses to slow down, telling her that he needs to focus on "the bigger picture" - Which reinforces Donna's statement at the end, that he sometimes needs someone to stop him.


THOUGHTS

My thoughts on Donna's characterization are a microcosm of my thoughts on The Runaway Bride as a whole. The first 15 - 20 minutes are mostly unbearable: Overly broad, overly frenetic, and overly loud. There are actually a few good lines in there, with Donna's rant about pockets particularly amusing - But the stray good line can't help but get buried underneath the sheer busy-ness of it all.

Then, after a bizarre car chase (which is actually rather enjoyably staged), things finally settle down. We get some quiet bits, the characters of the Doctor and Donna start to properly emerge, and the whole story becomes so much more enjoyable that I can scarce credit that it all came from the same creative crew.

A particularly effective undertone is that Rose's departure is a raw nerve for the Doctor. This entire story is happening to him directly after losing her in Doomsday. This influences his attitudes throughout the story, and makes this a strong epilogue to the Rose era, reinforcing how important she was to him.

It should have stayed the final word on Rose, in my opinion, with only an occasional stray reference thereafter... But that's a complaint for another day.

The story itself is fairly clever. The explanation for how Donna was catapulted into the TARDIS for the Doomsday cliffhanger is not only given an explanation, it is made part and parcel of the story. There's also a nice end twist that is planted early in the story, but which is not blatantly telegraphed. The story also works nicely as a bridge between seasons, with the Doctor's reaction to Rose's departure following on from Season Two, and the planting of the name "Mister Saxon" near the end.

I tend to think that Runaway Bride would have been better had it been the length of the regular episode. Most of the first Act is not necessary to the story, and the frenetic activity of that opening segment is the worst single feature of the show. On first viewing, I nearly switched off during the first 15 minutes; on this viewing, even knowing it improved, I still had to push myself through that first patch.

But it gets so much better after, that I still find myself awarding a strong score. This is a good episode - if one that requires just a touch of viewer indulgence with it.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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#11 (2.12 - 2.13): Doomsday.

Rose Tyler says an unwilling farewell.

2 episodes: Army of Death, Doomsday. Approx. 90 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: Graeme Harper. Produced by: Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor brings Rose home for a visit, only to learn that ghosts have been appearing all over the world for the past few months. They don't interact with anyone - They're just blurred humanoid outlines that appear at the same time every day. Over time, it has gone from terrifying to normal, and a perusal of TV broadcasts shows that their presence has been folded into people's daily lives.

The Doctor runs an experiment to track their origins and follows the trail to the Torchwood Institute, the modern version of the organization founded by Queen Victoria after her run-in with the Doctor. The Time Lord is eagerly greeted by Yvonne Hartman (Tracy-Ann Oberman), Torchwood's director. She is unfailingly polite to him and to Jackie, who the Doctor passes off as his companion. But she makes it clear that they are prisoners, even as she gives them the grand tour.

Yvonne shows off Torchwood's greatest secret: a mysterious sphere the Doctor recognizes as "a Void ship." She tells them that the Sphere came through a breach between universes, a breach Torchwood has studied ever since. Their experiments have allowed the ghosts to manifest... Which gives the Doctor just enough information to realize that something horrible is soon to happen.

He talks Yvonne out of starting the next experiment, but it is already too late. Key members of the staff are now controlled by an outside force. They start the shift against Yvonne's orders, and the ghosts appear, then solidify, revealing their identity: Cybermen!

But the Cybermen are not responsible for the Void ship. As the Sphere finally opens, the Doctor realizes to his horror that his two deadliest enemies are about to meet...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Knows instantly that there is something very wrong about the ghosts, as his ominous refrain of "a footprint doesn't look like a boot" indicates. He seems to already suspect the ghosts' true identity, and doesn't seem the least bit surprised when they are revealed as Cybermen. As in Rise of the Cybermen, he tries to keep everyone alive by urging that no one fights back. But when Mickey and his friends from the parallel Earth appear, the Doctor urges them to take the opportunity to save both worlds. David Tennant is back on form after largely disinterested performances in Love and Monsters and Fear Her. He dominates every scene he's in, even in those moments when the Doctor hangs back and allows other characters do most of the talking.

Rose: Insists that she will never stop traveling with the Doctor, which worries Jackie. She already sees her daughter changing, and is concerned about what that will mean for her future. "In forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman. This strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler, not anymore. She's not even human!" Billie Piper gives her best performance of the series. Rose's emotional torment when she's separated from the Doctor is palpable, and Piper also captures the lower-key but equally felt pain and longing when she finally gets to say farewell in the epilogue. My only regret is that this wasn't the last seen of her, as her later appearances dilute the impact - But that's a complaint I'll reserve for another time.

Mickey: I very much enjoyed the Mickey of this episode, who has become so much more confident than he has ever been before. Out of the Doctor's shadow, away from Rose's orbit, he has become his own man, and he is finally comfortable within his own skin. He is vastly more comfortable with Rose's closeness to the Doctor than in the past. He may make a comment about Rose's heart rate rising when she sees the Doctor, but it's more a humorous aside than anything - He's no longer competing, and so is no longer resentful.

Jackie Tyler: The bulk of the first episode pairs the Doctor with Jackie, which turns out to be an unexpected treat. Jackie clearly respects him, and follows his lead when the situation turns serious, but her caustic comments puncture his pomposity at just the right moments to make for some quite funny bits. The Doctor, in turn, plays at being exasperated with her, but is clearly having a good time bantering. In retrospect, their brief teamup feels like a preview of the Doctor/Donna relationship of Series Four, and it works for exactly the same reasons.

Cybermen: Russell T. Davies proves his fanboy credentials by making his second series finale a "Daleks vs. Cybermen!" extravaganza. Part Two even includes a quite funny scene in which the Cyberleader and lead Dalek trade insults ("You are superior in only one respect... You are better at dying"). Both are also well-scripted individually. The Cybermen invade, and basically conquer, through stealth. They use Torchwood's "ghost shifts" to position themselves and send an advance guard to take control of the institute's machinery. When all is in place, all that is required for victory is to step through. This is perfect for the Cybermen, who have always been most effective when spending half the story skulking in shadows (ala The Moonbase or The Invasion), rather than when trying to conquer with force.

Daleks: By contrast, the Daleks burst into the story screaming "Exterminate!" at top volume. They keep Rose and Mickey alive because they can help secure their triumph, but they quickly dispose of the hapless Torchwood scientist with them. When Rose snaps that they didn't need to kill the man, the lead Dalek replies in its grating, metallic voice: "Neither did we need him alive." They are want only to secure their race's future while exterminating all in their path - humans and Cybermen alike. A memorable moment has the Doctor sizing up the four Daleks: "Sealed inside your casing, not feeling anything ever. From birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage, completely alone. That explains your voice. No wonder you scream."


THOUGHTS:

The two-part finale to Series Two is a big production, with a large guest cast and big-scale battle scenes. Very likely, the cheapness of the previous two episodes was in part to squeeze the budget for this, and it does pay off. Graeme Harper directs with confidence, finding some breathtaking visual setups, and the momentum is such that the two-parter passes in an eyeblink.

I've sometimes had issues with Russell T. Davies' scripts, in that he almost delivers strong character moments but has a tendency to lose control of his plots. This two-parter is the most controlled I think he's done. It's superbly structured. The first episode builds the mystery, laying out all the major pieces in a way that feels effortless. The big invasion comes at the end of Part One, leaving the second episode delivering the action in a big way - but without losing control of the narrative.

For all that it gets right, I can't quite award full marks. The near-invincibility of the Daleks makes the Cybermen impotent in the second episode - quite the achievement, given how frightening a presence the first episode has made them. They are further undermined when one subject overrides their programming in a particularly silly (and completely unnecessary) moment near the end - a bit that I find far worse than the annoying but very brief "Ghostbusters!" moment in Episode One.

Despite this, the two-parter holds up as being very good to excellent. It has spectacle without losing sight of the characters. It manipulates viewer emotions without becoming sappy. It also boasts one of the best incidental scores of the entire series, particularly the piece that runs over much of the (highly effective) epilogue. As season finales go, this story is one of the better ones.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

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#9 (2.10): Love and Monsters.

Elton (Marc Warren) discovers the Doctor's TARDIS.

1 episode. Approx. 45 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: Dan Zeff. Produced by: Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT

Elton Pope (Marc Warren) barely escaped the Auton attack from Rose, then witnessed the spaceship that crashed into Big Ben, and finally weathered The Christmas Invasion. In short, he has become all too aware of aliens on Earth. When he sees a picture of the Doctor on the Internet, he is shocked to realize that he saw the exact same man as a child... a man apparently in his thirties, who hasn't aged a day in the intervening decades!

Elton's search for more information brings him into contact with Ursula Blake (Shirley Henderson), who eventually brings Elton to meet some friends: A group of people who have all become aware of this mysterious "Doctor" who seems so connected to alien incidents. The group eventually names itself the London Investigation 'N' Detective Agency (LINDA)... though they quickly become more of a social club, meeting as much to connect with each other as to discuss the Doctor.

Everything changes when the wealthy Victor Kennedy (Peter Kay) joins the group, offering his considerable resources to help them track down the Doctor. What had been an entertaining social activity turns into a twisted obsession - One that takes a dark turn when the members of LINDA begin disappearing, one by one...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor/Rose: Are barely in this episode... Which is the good news, because when they finally properly appear, they are at their punchably smuggest. They arrive at the end to find Elton fleeing for his life from a monster that has killed his friends in a truly horrible fashion. So what is the very first thing our heroes do? Yell at him for upsetting Rose's mother. The Doctor does get around to resolving the situation, but he is so clearly unbothered that he comes across almost as unlikable as Rose does. Neither David Tennant nor Billie Piper are doing more than phoning it in, so there's nothing under the surface of their performances to compensate for their overall callousness.

Jackie Tyler: Thankfully, Camille Coduri does give a fully committed performance, making the most of some character scenes we would never get to see from the Doctor or Rose's perspective. Victor sends Elton to spy on Jackie, in hopes that she will lead them to the Doctor. He is told to "find some subtle way to integrate yourself into the target's household." He doesn't have to work hard, since Jackie starts flirting the instant she sees him. When he gets back to her place, we see just how horribly lonely she is.  She's really more in search of someone to listen to her than anything else. When she discovers that Elton is actually trying to get to her daughter, she is bitterly hurt and kicks him out on the spot.

Elton: Marc Warren, whose star would rise with Hustle the following year, is easily up to the task of carrying Love and Monsters. The episode has its problems, but none of them can be blamed on him. Though Elton is only thinly-sketched as a character, basically drawn as a sort of nerdy Everyman to make it easy for the audience to empathize with him, Warren keeps him human and likable. He and Shirley Henderson, as Elton's friend/prospective love interest Ursula, make for an engaging pair, and the two of them do much to keep this episode watchable even when it begins to go off the rails.


THOUGHTS

Love and Monsters is a story that divides fans. About half of fandom seems to absolutely love it, while the other half is equally strong in its hatred. As can probably already be seen, I'm a lot closer to the latter camp than the former. There is a good idea here, and there are good elements. But in my opinion, it just doesn't come together as a good story.

The early part is enjoyable enough on its own merits. It's clear that LINDA is a stand-in for Doctor Who fandom, but it's a study of fandom (indeed, of any interest group) that feels entirely positive. We see how these people enrich each other through their interaction, to the point that the reason they meet ceases to be the Doctor and instead becomes the friendship they have formed.  It becomes less enjoyable with the introduction of Victor Kennedy, a villain portrayed as the kind of Superfan who bullies others with the mindset that there is only one proper way to discuss the Doctor. But even this might have been salvaged, had his characterization been confined to a simple human bully, a minor and very real villain who ruins what others enjoy without even realizing that he's doing it.

But instead, we get the monster...

The very last part of the episode reveals that Victor is a monster known as an Abzorbaloff, which absorbs its prey into its own massive body. This is played almost entirely for laughs, right down to the sight of Victor the Abzorbaloff chasing Elton down the street in broad daylight wearing nothing but a loincloth. The monster looks tackier and sillier than anything in the old series this side of Erato. Peter Kay's performance loses what little subtlety it had, as he goes ridiculously over the top with every line delivery and facial expression. The only thing that works is Marc Warren's performance, as he avoids sinking to his co-star's comedy level and plays Elton's horror completely straight.

So with Marc Warren and Elton keeping the scene clinging to a fragile thread of dignity, it is left to the Doctor and Rose to snap that thread. They barge into the scene with all the grace of an elephant in dancing shoes, the smugness of the characters combining with a quick fix by the Doctor that completely drains the scene of anything resembling tension.

I'll largely avoid mention of the ill-judged epilogue, except to say that any serious thought about Ursula's remaining life leads to the conclusion that she'd have probably been better off if the Doctor hadn't "saved" her. It's a terrible way to end an episode that begins with more promise than its worst detractors allow... but which lets all that promise gradually seep away, much like dirty water down a half-clogged drain.


Overall Rating: 3/10.

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#5 (2.4): The Girl in the Fireplace.

1 episode. Approx. 44 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: Euros Lyn. Produced by: Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT

The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey step out into a spaceship in the far future. Mickey is thrilled to find himself in an entirely different galaxy, but the Doctor realizes that something is wrong. There's enough power running through the ship to blast "a hole in the universe," he muses.

The ship is populated by clockwork robots, who have killed the crew and used their parts to repair storm damage. They are only missing one part now. For whatever reason, the robots have decided that the only possible replacement part exists in the past. They are using their immense power to create time windows, all of them opening to different points in the life of Reinette Poisson (Sophia Myles), also known as Madame de Pompadour. When they find the window that will lead them to Reinette at age 37, they will kill her.

The Doctor starts searching the time windows himself, in an effort to stop the robots - and in so doing becomes a part of Reinette's life, entangling himself in ways he cannot anticipate.


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: This episode was produced in the production block after School Reunion and New Earth, and it shows in David Tennant's performance. He has truly found the part by this episode. Instead of running around frantically, he is able to maintain a certain stillness that makes his presence much more powerful. With regard to the Doctor, the episode actually makes a good follow-up to School Reunion. His interactions with Sarah Jane and Rose really brought out his essential, unending loneliness - the void which Madame de Pompadour picks up on and seems all-too-briefly to fill.

Rose: She seems to have gotten her bitchily jealous side sufficiently exorcised in School Reunion, and is far more sympathetic to Reinette. She still visibly reacts to the Doctor's bond with her, though. At the end, when she asks, "Why her," it takes a moment to clarify that she is asking why the ship targeted her. She clearly also wonders why the Doctor can cross that emotional line with Reinette, but isn't willing to do the same with her.

Mickey: His first trip in the TARDIS takes him into space, and he reacts with enthusiasm. He grins at the sight of the stars outside the ship, and is easily led into exploring the ship's corridors with Rose. He and Rose make an engaging pair as she essentially mentors him in what it means to travel with the Doctor. Rule one is apparently to break rule one and go ahead and wander off.

Madame de Pompadour: Sophia Myles is the object of affection for both the clockwork men and, ultimately, the Doctor himself. It's a risk, creating a character to act as an explicit romantic interest for the Doctor. But a combination of very smart writing and excellent acting brings it off. Myles is enchanting, with lively, intelligent eyes and a wonderfully expressive face. She's called upon to anchor the episode, to provide it with its heart. She succeeds splendidly.


THOUGHTS

The first genuinely great episode of David Tennant's tenure, The Girl in the Fireplace is a masterful construction. It's a single episode packed with disparate elements, every one of which pays off. It's remembered for its emotion, and it should be. But it also deserves credit for its structure. This is an episode with no fat, in which nothing is wasted. A single-parter that has more and richer content than most multi-parters.

From the Doctor's perspective, the entire relationship with Reinette occurs over a single day. From her perspective, it is a series of meetings across a lifetime. Somehow, the script and the two actors convincingly convey a relationship, or at least the potential of one. The look on the Doctor's face, when Reinette replies to his flippant "Wish me luck" with a tearful "No," is perfect. In that instant, the Doctor realizes what he's walking away from, and for at least one second regrets it.

Technical credits are outstanding. The set design for the spaceship is dark and ominous, an effective contrast to the bright color of the Palace of Versailles. The music score is one of the series' best, and I enjoyed the way the score evolved with the episode. Very tinkly, almost like a music box, when it is accompanying the child Reinette. Richer, full orchestral for the adult Reinette.

It's just one of those episodes where it all comes together. An expertly structured script, outstanding performances, strong technical credits. Plus that little something else that separates a good episode from a great one.


Rating: 10/10.

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#3 (2.2): Tooth and Claw.

1 episode.  Approx. 43 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: Euros Lyn.


THE PLOT

The Doctor and Rose step out of the TARDIS into 19th century Scotland - right into the line of fire of a squadron of English soldiers. It is an honor guard, escorting Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins). The Doctor uses his charm, a Scottish accent, and his psychic paper to gain the Queen's good graces, and he has firmly ingratiated himself into the royal party by the time she stops for the night at the Torchwood estate, home to Sir Robert (Derek Riddell).

Sir Robert's welcome is marked by a series of hints that all is not well. Hints that are ignored by the Queen, who wants to see the estate that her late husband so often visited. But the estate's mysterious new servants are revealed to be a renegade order of monks, who have seized control of the house in order to gain access to Queen Victoria. Not for assassination - but to infect her with the blood of the werewolf waiting in the cellar!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Finding himself in 19th century Scotland, the Doctor assumes the role of a Scottish doctor - rather niftily named after probably the series' longest-serving companion. This allows Tennant to use his normal speaking voice through most of the episode's first half. Once the crisis hits, the Scottish accent drops away as "The Doctor" emerges, something which Queen Victoria picks up on later in the episode.

Rose: Is obnoxious. Seriously. This is by far the worst episode to date (possibly ever) for the character of Rose Tyler. The running gag in which she tries to get Queen Victoria to say, "We are not amused" isn't funny the first time it's brought up, and becomes progressively more grating as the episode goes. I think there is too much of a comfort level between Rose and Tennant's Doctor. Rose's ordinariness acted as a sort of anchor for Eccleston's edgier Doctor. Opposite Tennant, she just sort of settles into a smug, rather unlikable blandness.

Queen Victoria: Pauline Collins returns to Doctor Who for the first time since 1967's The Faceless Ones. In the almost 40 years between that story and this one, Collins achieved a strong reputation as an actress - one which shows its merit in her performance as the queen. Collins has enormous presence, and it's her performance which anchors the episode. As she sees the Doctor and Rose giggling over having met a werewolf mere seconds after we have heard the screams of one of the wolf's victims, she is appalled - with good reason.


THOUGHTS

Tooth & Claw is a good, entertaining action piece. There is a lot of energy, a lot of momentum, and a few highly effective moments.  All of this is tremendously well-directed by Euros Lyn, whose confidence and polish behind the camera makes him a natural for stories like these. It is definitely a good episode.

But it's not a great one. The script has some visible holes, particularly with regard to the monks. The teaser makes much of the monks, as they cast aside their robes and reveal themselves as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-style martial artists, complete with flying. As soon as the werewolf is unveiled, they are relegated to a plot device, keeping their intended victims inside the house. They disappear completely at the end. I guess once the plan failed, they used their Shaolin powers to fly away.

More successful is the setting up of Torchwood, which will come into play first at the season's end, then in the Torchwood spinoff. This episode shows us Torchwood's genesis, and it's not a bad origin story. A house that's already linked to the supernatural, a queen who sees the very worst side of our overly-smug heroes, and a final decree to "be ready."

The transformation is the single most effective scene in the episode. There is something genuinely disturbing about the human-form werewolf. Ironically for a werewolf story, the wolf is far more frightening in human form than after it transforms. The black orbs as eyes, the unearthly quality in its voice as it tells its story to Rose, the taunting of Rose having "something of the wolf" about her... It intercuts dramatically with Sir Robert's story, and then the monks' chanting. All finely calculated to have viewers on the edge of their seats by the time the actual change begins. The momentum continues for a good 10 minutes or so after that, with the episode only stopping for breath again when the Doctor, Rose, Sir Robert, and the Queen lock themselves into the study. An excellent transformation scene, followed by a terrific action set piece.

The climax is adequate, though it doesn't match the intensity of the transformation. Stronger than the Doctor's defeat of the wolf is Queen Victoria's admonition of the Doctor and Rose. An admonition that they utterly ignore, given that we see them laughing about werewolves in the royal family, and hear them mock howling from inside the TARDIS, as the episode fades to the "Next Time" trailer.


Rating: 7/10.

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#2 (2.1): New Earth.

1 episode. Approx. 42 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: James Hawes. Produced by: Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT

The Doctor takes Rose further into the future than ever before, bringing her to the world of New Earth, settled during a wave of human nostalgia that followed the destruction of the original Earth. This isn't entirely a sightseeing tour. The Face of Boe is dying, but has a message to relay before he passes. Assuming he ever wakes up from his coma.

There is more afoot than just the Face of Boe. Cassandra, who survived her apparent death on Platform One, lurks in the hospital's basement. She knows that the humanoid cat-nurses are hiding a secret. When she sees Rose Tyler enter the hospital with this all-new Doctor, she uses stolen technology to lure the girl into her cellar. She transfers her consciousness into Rose's body, using Rose's relationship with the Doctor to find out what the hospital's secret might be.


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Early in the episode, he half-jokingly describes himself as a "new new Doctor." It's an accurate description. The Ninth Doctor had a certain melancholy hanging about him, even in his lighter moments. He was, effectively, the shellshocked Doctor, always haunted by the ghosts of his past. The Tenth Doctor is exuberant, embracing all that life, the universe, and everything has to offer. The dynamic between him and Rose is more comfortable than the one Rose and the Ninth Doctor shared, and he seems perfectly fine with it when Rose describes their first sojourn into the future as their "first date."

Rose: Notice the difference between the way Rose says goodbye to her mom and to Mickey. She recites a series of effusive "I love yous" to her mom. When Mickey says he loves her, she simply responds, "Bye." Don't think Mickey won't be reflecting on that. She is still adjusting to the differences in this "new new Doctor," but she does seem very comfortable with his youthful new persona.


THOUGHTS

New Earth is not a good episode, but that should come with a qualifier. For 3/4 of its running time, New Earth is actually pretty good fun. My problems with the episode have little to do with the forced comedy, enough of which actually works to make up for the hackneyed body-switch plot. My problems have nothing at all to do with bad science at the climax. I don't care if the way the Doctor applies the cure for some nonexistent sci-fi diseases doesn't line up with real medicine.

No, my problems with New Earth rest almost entirely with its last 10 minutes. Everything's running along smoothly. The story is wafer-thin, but it is a fun action/comedy romp. Then Cassandra pops into the head of one of the zombies... and is apparently so overwhelmed by what she finds that she suddenly becomes a completely different character inside of about two minutes' screen time. "I'm dying... but it's all right" may be a noble sentiment. But it's one that goes against everything about a character who has been defined by clawing for more life, trampling over the lives of others in the process.

That could be effective, too, if it was the result of convincing character growth. But Russell T. Davies' teleplay simply takes one two dimensional character and flips her into becoming a completely different two-dimensional character. As a result, everything about the ending simply comes across as mawkish and false.

In an episode whose virtues were fairly mild to begin with, an ending such as this is a disaster. The result is the worst new series episode I've reviewed to this point... though worse will eventually come.


Rating: 4/10.

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#1 (2.0): The Christmas Invasion.

1 episode. Approx. 60 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: James Hawes. Produced by: Phil Collinson.


THE PLOT

The TARDIS comes literally crashing down to Earth in the middle of Rose's Council Estate, where her mother and boyfriend are startled to see the doors fling open and a stranger emerge, babble excitedly at them, and then collapse. They are even more surprised when Rose tells them that this stranger is the Doctor, having undergone a transformation.

The Doctor is unconscious, recovering in Jackie's flat. This would be no particular problem... but as ever, the timing is as bad as could be. The Sycorax are coming to Earth, and they are using a blood sample from an unmanned Mars probe to control 1/3 of the Earth's population. Prime Minister Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) is given an unthinkable ultimatum: Surrender half of the Earth's population to slavery, or the blood-controlled third of the populace will die!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: David Tennant's debut... sort of. There was a five-minute, one-scene Children in Need special, which basically acted as a supplement to the ending of The Parting of the Ways.  But this is his first full story... and he spends most of it unconscious.

Which actually works rather well, because it makes his return at the end hugely dynamic. Up to that point, the characters are wondering who this new Doctor is... and when he emerges from the TARDIS, a hyper ball of energy ready for action, it turns out that he doesn't know who he is yet, either. Tennant is terrific, particularly when he turns from glib and hyperkinetic into suddenly grim and a little ruthless, as in his elimination of the Sycorax or in his final dealings with Harriet Jones. A very promising start, that takes limited screentime and turns it into a virtue.

Rose: Berates herself as "useless" without the Doctor, but she actually doesn't do half-badly. Given the resources at her disposal, her prioritizing getting her people (Mickey and Jackie) to the safety of the TARDIS is really the only option and a perfectly sensible one. Once confronted with the Sycorax directly, she has the presence of mind to yell for Mickey to close the TARDIS door, knowing that it is vital that the Doctor and his time machine don't fall into their hands. She makes an attempt to deal with the Sycorax, bluffing by using the names of races she has encountered in her travels with the Doctor. The attempt fails, and only the Doctor's sudden recovery saves her, but she makes a valid effort and keeps her head while doing so. Not a bad showing at all.

Mickey/Jackie: Very much in the background, basically presented as the "normal people" that Rose feels she has to protect. Jackie gets a nice character beat, as her shrill comedy overtones drop away briefly for a well-done scene in which she cares for the unconscious Doctor. Mickey gets to further realize that Rose has already drifted away from him, a realization he voices at the end when he says, "You're never going to stay, are you?" Both actors have long since found their footing in the roles by this point, and their cartoonish portrayals in Rose are happily a distant memory.


THOUGHTS

If Spearhead from Space was the classic series' "second pilot," then The Christmas Invasion fills the same role for the new series. Many of the same trapping as Rose are here: the recognizably modern-day setting, the alien intruding on the mundane world and turning it upside down, the story seen entirely through the eyes of 21st century characters (mostly Rose and Harriet).

With Christopher Eccleston's rapid departure, care is taken with the introduction of the new Doctor, and the entire concept of regeneration. Eccleston's huge popularity in the role (and yes, in 2005 Eccleston was hugely popular) leaves the production team taking care to overcome audience resistance to the recasting. Rose dismisses him as not being "the proper Doctor" just as some members of the audience might. And then, after a brief action scene near the beginning, the story withholds the Doctor, allowing the situation to become increasingly dire in his absence.

Only at the end does he come back awake and in charge of his own wits.  By then, as he beams energetically at us as much as the characters and asks, "Did you miss me?" Well, the answer is already a firm "Yes," and that last ten minutes belongs to Tennant, with every aspect of the script and direction designed to make him utterly dominant.

Almost everything about the Sycorax plot works. The gradual build of the threat, leading up to the moment at which people around the world stand at the edge of rooftops thanks to the Sycorax blood control, is beautifully executed. The Sycorax craft is a superb piece of design, organic and malignant all at once. When it enters the atmosphere, it looms above the London skyline like a malignant tumor.

Not everything works, though. Early in the episode, there's a sequence involving evil Santas and a killer Christmas tree. This serves no purpose whatever, is never really linked to the main plot, and seems to be there just because Russell T. Davies thought it would be cool, regardless of lack of context. This five minutes could have been cut from the episode without affecting any of the rest of the show... and in my opinion, that's exactly what should have happened.

Finally, no discussion of The Christmas Invasion could be complete without addressing...


HARRIET JONES AND THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Harriet's decision at the end, and the Doctor's reaction to it. If you somehow haven't seen the episode yet, and have somehow missed all the reams of discussion about this ending, then this would be a good place to stop reading.

I can't help but wonder what alternate reality this show is set in, wherein Harriet's action against the Sycorax would have destroyed her political future. Remember the context of the episode. The Sycorax planted a full third of humanity on rooftops, threatening to make them jump. This means very, very, very few people would not have known somebody on one of those rooftops, and many of them would have directly witnessed the chilling sight of a friend or loved one suddenly under complete alien control, thrust directly into harm's way. That's not even addressing the third of the population actually under that control, or the question of how aware they were of losing control of their own bodies.

Whether it was right or wrong, Harriet's decision to destroy the Sycorax ship and all aboard would almost certainly have been a popular one, rather than one greeted with a response of "Cold-Blooded Murder," as one of the news crawls at the bottom of a television screen declares it to have been. Rather than being villified for having "blood on her hands" (another news crawl glimpsed at the end), she would have been largely applauded by the public at that time in that situation. Her decision would only have been second-guessed after the fact. A long time after the fact.

(And yes, I'm aware this was meant as a close parallel to the sinking of the General Belgrano at the start of the Falklands War. To which I would point out: (a) That incident did not destroy Margaret Thatcher's career, and the subsequent war did quite the opposite; and (b) That incident did not involve a foe that had directly placed 1/3 of the population in jeopardy.)

The way the ending plays out also means that the Doctor's furious response to a possibly misguided, but highly understandable, human action directly paves the way for the next couple of Prime Ministers (see The Sound of Drums, Last of the Timelords, and Torchwood: Children of Earth). But let's not dwell on that point, either, given that the show itself never will...


Rant aside, this is a strong hour of television. The pacing of the Sycorax story is tightly controlled and well-executed, the acting of the regulars is terrific across the board, and Tennant's entrance simply could not have been handled better. A minor niggle about the "pilot fish" moment and some difficulties with the ending don't really get in the way of this being a very good episode. Easily the best first story for a new Doctor since Castrovalva, a full quarter-century earlier.


Rating: 8/10.

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