Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 13 - The Parting of the Ways

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 13 - The Parting of the Ways

Ooh, the recap takes all of the pre-credits sequence! I don't know why that's exciting. Anyway...

Cue title sequence...

On board the Dalek ship, the Daleks tell Rose that she will predict his actions, but she refuses, say she doesn't know, and she wouldn't tell them anyway. They fire missiles at the TARDIS, which is heading for the ship, but they are ineffective, as the TARDIS materialises on board, surrounding Rose and a Dalek. Jack blows the hell out of the enemy, as Rose and The Doctor hug, and then Jack demands one, because of course he does. Briefly back on the TARDIS ship, we hear a deeper Dalek voice...And then we learn a little more about the Time War, as The Doctor explains how the Time Lords were destroyed as they took the Daleks with them, but now it's obviously been all for nothing. Still, he puts on his best 'no point dwelling on it' Northern expression, and heads out to meet them. The Daleks immediately shoot him, but the TARDIS forcefield extends to cover him. The Doctor then boasts about his awesome nickname amongst Dalek legends, 'The Oncoming Storm', betting them that they're going to feel a bit of fear. Just then, the deep Dalek voice makes itself known - it's the Emperor of the Daleks. His ship survived, falling through time and crippled but alive. They waited in the dark space, rebuilding, quietly infiltrating the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity - all the criminals and other layabouts that came to the Daleks were harvested, one cell in a billion worthy of being used to repopulate the Dalek race. Don't call them half-human though Rose, it's blasphemy apparently. This is a new concept to Daleks though - the Emperor has proclaimed himself the Dalek god, and the rest of them have been driven insane by the waiting in the darkness, hating themselves for being half human, and more dangerous than ever. The Doctor decides it's time to leave, and leads Rose and Jack back to into the TARDIS.

They head back to Satellite 5, realising that Earth is defenceless against a Dalek invasion. The fleet begins to move, the Emperor telling his troops to reign fire upon the Earth, to turn it into his temple and their paradise. The Doctor proclaims that he can create a huge Delta Wave, which will fry all the Dalek brains, but he needs to speed up the process a bit, as it should take three days, and they only have a few minutes. As the fleet approaches, Jack tells how the forcefield will stop them firing outside the station, but they can still invade it personally. They move to secure the room, as the Dalek's plan will be to head up to there to stop The Doctor. Jack tells them both goodbye, as he knows he isn't going to make it, but that they're both worth fighting for - he also gives them both a goodbye kiss, because it's Jack. Rose asks The Doctor if Jack will be alright, but The Doctor can't answer.

A few floors down, Jack demands volunteers from the station's inhabitants. Roderick, the winner of The Weakest Link from the last episode, tells the crowd that the Daleks aren't real, but Jack tells them to consider that when they can hear everyone above them dying, and then heads into the lift with some brave volunteers. 

Back in the main room, Rose questions whether The Doctor can just go back in time a week to warn the station what's about to happen, but he tells her that he'd just become part of the events then. He gives her another option, leaving and letting history take it's course, but he knows that it never even occurred to her, because she's too good. Which is why we love her. The Doctor loves her all the more as she's given him the idea to use the TARDIS to cross his own timeline, which will generate enough power to charge the Delta Wave in time. He leads her into the TARDIS, telling her that he's programming it, and to hold on, but when he leaves to do something technical, it turns out he was sending her home out of danger. He looks mournfully at the disappearing blue box, as Rose sees an emergency protocol hologram appear, telling her it is only activated if he's id danger of death with no chance of escape. Well, that'd bum me out a bit too. The TARDIS is taking her home, and will not be able to return to him as he can't let the technology fall into Dalek hands. She is to leave it somewhere to become part of the scenary, and have a fantastic life, and dear God I'm starting to well up already. When the ship lands, Rose runs outside to find herself back home, Mickey running towards her. In tears, she falls into his arms.

On Satellite 5, Jack calls Rose to get her to read him some codes, but The Doctor informs him that he sent her away. Just as Jack questions whether the Delta Wave will be ready, the Emperor appears on screen, telling Jack that The Doctor has been hiding the truth - there is no way of refining the wave in time, meaning it will kill everyone on the station, not just the Daleks. Actually, not just the station, the Earth as well. The Emperor says that if he is the Creator of Worlds, then what is The Doctor? Hint: he's calling him Shiva, the Destroyer of Worlds. The Doctor argues that there are colonies of humans, but we know really that he's wiping out a huge portion of the human race to kill the Daleks, like he did with the Time Lords. Jack's fine with it though, if it means stopping the enemy. When The Doctor questions the Emperor on why Bad Wolf has followed them however, he denies all knowledge, which causes some very dramatic music to play.

Back in London, Mickey and Jackie talk about pizza, as Rose laments being 200,000 years away and unable to do anything. She flees the cafe they are in, unable to stand around doing nothing. Mickey tries to tell Rose to get on with her life, but she notices 'Bad Wolf' written on the ground and walls nearby, and starts to think it could be a message telling her how to return to the future, rather than a warning. In the console room, Rose tells Mickey they need to open the console so that she can look into the heart of the TARDIS and use it's telepathic nature to travel back to The Doctor. She hurts Mickey though by telling him that there's nothing left for her in London. Still, he goes and fetches his car, attaches a chain to it with the other end attached to the console, and tries to pull it out whilst driving off. It's not powerful enough though. They could use something with a bigger engine...and so Jackie comes to the rescue - when Rose tells her all about visiting her father in the past, and how she was the girl who held his hand as he died, despite initially fleeing, she realises how The Doctor has helped her daughter, and brings her a massive pick up lorry. They try again using the extra power of the lorry, and then YES! The console pops open, and Rose stares into the heart of the TARDIS, as the doors close, and the ship de-materialises...

Meanwhile, as all this is going on aboard the station (I've very handily separated the two events out in this review, as we switch back and forth every 30 seconds), Jack prepares everyone for the invasion, as the Daleks flood out of their ships. He tells everyone to follow his commands, and wishes them luck. The Daleks easily override and turn off the various defences that have been put in place, and then people start dying, their bullets useless against the Dalek shields. Anne Droid has a few successes, blasting three Daleks to Jack's joy, but then she gets shot so that's all over. The Daleks then head to the lower levels of the station to kill everything there, something that The Doctor and Jack didn't think they would bother with. Lynda then reports to The Doctor that the Daleks are bombing Earth, as we see images of all the continents distorting into new shapes. Jack and his volunteers open fire as the Daleks approach the area outside the main room of the station where The Doctor is preparing the Delta Wave, but they quickly start to fall. Lynda is killed too, and Jack has to flee down a corridor. He tells The Doctor that he has about 20 seconds, using up all his ammunition, and then getting killed - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BARROWMANNNNNNNNNNNNNN! 

The Doctor finishes the Delta Wave, just as the Daleks come into the room. He tells them that they will all die if he activates the wave, but the Emperor tells him that he wants to see The Doctor become just like him - 'Hail The Doctor, the Great Exterminator!'. He asks is The Doctor a coward or a killer, and The Doctor has to relent and admit he is a coward. The human race will be harvested because of his weakness, and he will be exterminated, but just before it can happen, the TARDIS materialises. Rose appears in a the doorway, a gold glow around her. She tells him, in a very ethereal way, that she looked into the heart of the Tardis, but The Doctor tells her that is the Time Vortex itself, and no-one is supposed to see it. The Daleks called her 'the abomination', and try to exterminate her, but she just catches the death ray. She declares that she is the Bad Wolf, and that she creates herself, scattering the words through time and space, leaving herself a message to lead her here. The Doctor pleads with her to give up the power now, but she won't as she needs to protect him from the false god. She can see every atom of the Daleks existence, and she scatters them, turning all the Daleks into dust. She declares that 'the Time War ends', with the destruction of the Dalek fleet and all it's members. The Doctor pleads again for her to let go, but she asks how can she, when she can bring life, and swiftly brings Jack back to life (Oh, thank you Rose! Thank you!). The Doctor tells her it's wrong to control life and death, but she won't give it up, telling him that it hurts, and that she can see everything that is and was and ever could be. He tells her that she needs a doctor, and he kisses her, absorbing the Time Vortex - I don't think this counts as the kiss she's been craving, but still, it must be close. She collapses in his arms, safe, and then he expels the Time Vortex back to the TARDIS. 

Jack staggers to his feet, bloody confused about how he's alive, and all the dust on the floor. He hears the TARDIS, but is too late to get there before it leaves. On board, Rose awakes, asking what happened. The Doctor tells her that he sang a song and it made the Daleks go away. He's glowing a bit though, which can't be good. He tells her that he was going to take her to so many places, such as the planet Barcelona. She asks why can't they still go, and he tells her that she will, just not with him. He suddenly bursts with a glow of energy, and tells her that all the cells in his body are dying because he absorbed the Time Vortex, which no-one is supposed to do. She asks if there's anything he can do, and he tells her yes, but he'll have to change (in case you hadn't guessed, he's going to regenerate). He tells her one last time that she was fantastic, and then in one last slightly big-headed way that only The Doctor can do (well, alright - The Master is pretty good at being big-headed too in Series 3), he tells her that he was too. And then bright orange energy shoots out of him, as he regenerates into David Tennant. Who has new teeth, which are weird. 

And so ends Series 1. I'm going to do a more detailed blog post looking back at it shortly, as well as a post solely about Christopher Eccleston's performance, but for now let's just wrap up with this episode. It's a cracking end to the series, full of excitement and capping off the previous cliffhanger very well indeed. There's a genuine sense that anyone can die, especially when Jack is killed, and there's only a few criticisms that you could level at the ending, namely that it's a bit Deus Ex Machina, i.e. 'let's just make Rose invincible'. To be honest, this doesn't really bother me at all, as it's still a legitimate ending, but I can see how it's a bit of an easy way of getting rid of the Daleks which should otherwise be impossible at this point. It's much better than the telepathic field of Series 3, or the cancelled regeneration of Series 4 though.

Eccleston's performance gets more and more frantic as The Doctor tries to get his plan together to wipe out the Daleks once and for all, and it's a perfect showcase for how he can be just as much of a manic ball of energy as Tennant and Smith at times. It's so pleasing too that he gets such a brilliant last line:

'Rose, before I go I just want to tell you that you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I!'

He really has been fantastic all series long, growing in strength and moving away from the slightly angrier Doctor of the first few episodes, although knowing what we do about the Time War and the sacrifice that he had to make, all that anger was fairly understandable.

There's also a great comparison between the sacrifice that The Doctor made when he sacrificed all the Time Lords to stop the Daleks in the Time War, when he puts a plan into motion which will effectively do the same to humanity. It's not a subtle parallel at all, but it's an important one for the character, and shows just how badly the Time War affected him. True, most of humanity would have been wiped out in the Dalek attack on Earth, judging by the way the shape of the continents was changed, so it's not as if he'd be murdering the same numbers as before then anyway, but it's obvious that he can't bring himself to kill that many innocent people again, even for the greater good.

Billie Piper's performance is fantastic too, especially when she laments being unable to help The Doctor after being sent home to safety. As Rose becomes more hysterical, we feel her pain at being helpless, and Piper continues to show why Stephen Moffat said that it was her show for the first two years. I think he's right in many ways, probably because, unlike Eccleston, fshe wasn't an established actress at this point, so it's even more impressive how well she plays and develops the character. She's the beating heart of the show at this point, and our gateway into The Doctor's world, and we feel her pain when it seems like there's nothing she can do to save him.

I'm glad they had more of Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri as Mickey and Jackie before the end of the series. They've made such a strong supporting cast, albeit only used for half a season or so. The look on Mickey's face as Rose tells him there is nothing left for her in London sums up perfectly how he's been treated throughout the series, and the fact that he still agrees to help her despite her obliviousness to how much she hurts him shows how truly loyal he is. If only she'd realise it...

Special mention to the visual effects too - it's rare that we really praise the visual effects in Doctor Who, as the BBC really doesn't give it much of a budget for this, and it's impressive that they manage to do a decent to good job each week on a regular basis, but the site of all those Daleks flying through space on their way to invading Satellite 5 truly is a fantastic sight. I also love the colour change when someone gets shot by a Dalek death ray. Wonderful stuff, very evil looking.

The music has also been exceptional throughout the series, as it will continue to be up until the present day with Series 7. Murray Gold sure knows how to write a powerful piece of music, the 'Bad Wolf' theme being the standout for me this series. It will be surpassed by the 'Doomsday' theme in Series 2, and again by 'Martha's Theme/The Doctor Forever' in Series 3, but it's one of the best pieces of incidental music on British television. The 'Dalek Theme' is also exceptional.

Bad Wolf Sightings
We learn that Rose IS the Bad Wolf after staring into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbing the Time Vortex, and scattered the words throughout time as clues to how she could help The Doctor.

Where It Fits Into The Series As A Whole
Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor regenerates into David Tennant's Tenth.

The occasional Bad Wolf sighting will still occur over the next few series.

The Daleks are supposedly wiped out again, bringing the Time War to an end.

Captain Jack is revived, and is now immortal - at least, every time he is killed he will come back to life shortly afterwards.

Overall
A great way to end the first series of the modern Doctor Who. An episode full of excitement and danger, even if the solution to the Dalek problem is a little too easy. Christopher Eccleston bowed out on a brilliant note.

9/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 12 - Bad Wolf

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 12 - Bad Wolf

Ooh, looks like we’re returning to Satellite 5 from The Long Game.

100 years later in fact…

The Doctor is in a room spinning round and…wait, is that the Big Brother theme tune …and the Big Brother house…and Twist from Spaced? Yep, The Doctor is a housemate, and just 5 minutes before eviction. Davina summons him to the diary room, and of course she reminds him not to swear.

Cue title sequence…

Rose is lying on the floor somewhere, with Patterson Joseph looking over him, a spotlight on her. He tells her to ‘do what the android says’. Hold on, that looks like the set of The Weakest Link! Sure enough, she takes her place on the podium, with an android version of Anne Robinson asking the questions.

Jack, meanwhile, is on an operating table, ready to be given a makeover by Trinny and Susannah.The ‘defabricator’ burns away all his clothes, leaving him naked, because it’s John Barrowman, so of course it does.

The Doctor tries to break his way out of the Big Brother house with his sonic screwdriver, but to no avail. Housemate Lynda pesters him about what the outside world thinks of her, but he’s more interested in where the TARDIS has gone. They’d been in Japan, 1336, when they were kidnapped. The fact that something could penetrate the TARDIS means there’s something bigger going on, and his points at the camera in a very Northern way to leave the people behind the scenes under no illusion that he’s not best pleased. The chap monitoring this tries to speak to his colleague, but she’s monitoring The Weakest Link with Rose. Rose enjoys herself at first, even getting a maths question correct, but the behind the scenes team note that it’s as if she doesn’t know what happens to the weakest link in each round (ooh, that sounds like it could be something sinister!). Coupled with the person arriving in the Big Brother house who doesn’t know anything about it, and they reason that it’s as if the games are running themselves. Surely not…that would just be bizarre!

Jack flexes in front of a mirror, trying out a vest and trousers and choosing a jacket, caressing one of the android’s boobs, and then learning that to get cosmetic surgery they’re about to melt his face off. On The Weakest Link, Rose answers Anne Droid’s questions, getting a little confused when the lady she nominates starts crying, and then realising that it’s all because Anne Droid is a psychopathic android who straight up disintegrates the weakest link. Don’t think Rose will be laughing anymore…One of the other contestants tries to run, but Anne Droid blasts him too. As Patterson Joseph tells her, ‘Don’t try to escape. It’s play, or die.’ Would that have saved The Weakest Link from being cancelled in the present day? Probably best not to think about that.

In the Big Brother house, The Doctor is still trying to escape, but Lynda pleads with him to sit down as instructed so that they aren’t all punished. Davina Droid addresses them, evicting Crosby. Lynda and the other housemate look heartbroken, but The Doctor protests that it’s only a gameshow, and that she’ll make a fortune on the outside. Uh oh, from the actions on the monitors that doesn’t like it’s going to happen…She gets disintegrated too, and now The Doctor starts paying attention. Looks like she’s been evicted from life.

The behind the scenes team discuss the rumours that there is something hidden behind the transmissions, but that ‘The Controller’ would know. The chap says that it could have been missed through human error, but the woman says that’s just the point, she hasn’t been human for years. The camera turns, to show a lady attached to a bunch of wires, with blue light bathing her, and cool contact lenses.

Back in the Big Brother house, The Doctor learns that contestants are now chosen at random, and there are 60 games running at once. The winners get to live, which the other housemates think is enough. Jack, meanwhile, is rocking a tennis outfit. Stage 2 is now ready and waiting , which appears to be to get naked again. And then we learn it’s time for the ‘face-off’, which is literally to tear Jack’s face off. How will Jack get out of thi-oh, I see. He had a gun up his bum. Of course he did. Goodbye Trinny, goodbye Susannah! On The Weakest Link, it’s down to Rose and Patterson Joseph, who voted off the strongest contestant so he can face Rose in the final, because he thinks she’s an easier opponent, which is exactly how I’d play it. Also, apparently it’s ‘The Bad Wolf Corporation’ who run the games - time for a quick montage! She realises that she probably isn’t here by mistake.

In the house, The Doctor has earned his eviction. Goodbye Doctor…no, wait, the system powered down, just as he hoped – someone brought him into the game for a reason, and they’re not about to kill him off. He sonic screwdriver’s his way out, letting Lynda come with him. Exiting, he realises that he’s in one of the cargo bays from Satellite 5. It was re-named to 'Game Station' 100 years ago, and there are now 100 different games played. As we learn that executions for not having a TV license are commonplace, Lynda suggests that she could go with him when they leave, which The Doctor seems to consider a possibility, but he's soon distracted when Lynda turns on a light to reveal that 'The Bad Wolf Corporation' are in charge.

Behind the scenes, the chap decides that The Controller needs to handle this latest twist. Her response is to 'continue working', even when the chap worries that it's a security breach and the lady wants to enter 'Archive 6'. Someone doesn't want The Doctor harmed...

Jack creates himself a gun from some of the destroyed machinery, and uses it to locate The Doctor. Lynda and The Doctor are looking down upon Earth, which is now a polluted mess. There's still no Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. 100 years ago though, all the news channels shut down, freezing the planet - no government, no economy, just 100 years of hell. Bit of a guilt trip for The Doctor there then. 

Rose and Patterson Joseph (oh, he's called Rodrick apparently) are in the final. The Doctor, reunited with Jack at last, are trying to track her down, but not having much success. The Doctor says the computer systems are transmitting something more than just the television signal, although he can't figure out what, but then they finally locate her, taking the lift up to find her before she can be executed. They'll need to hurry, as she's just lost the game...Hmph, there's no need to gloat so much about it Rodrick. The Doctor bursts in but HOLY HELL ROSE GOT SHOT AND TURNED INTO DUST! OH MY GOD! ROSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

As our hearts pound furiously, The Doctor looks shell shocked, not reacting as guards come in to capture them all, Jack shouting away in the background. They interrogate The Doctor about his sonic screwdriver, but he can't get over the fact he has gotten his companion killed. They are to be transferred to the Lunar Penal Colony, but apparently this is not OK, as The Doctor, Jack and Lynda rather easily over power the guards and get the hell out of there, heading for Floor 500. The behind the scenes team are a bit scared, as well they should be seeing the size of the gun they are bringing. When they arrive, The Doctor questions the The Controller, but the chap informs him that she can't answer. She's plugged into the system, and can't recognise him as he isn't staff. Jack makes his way into Archive 6, which happens to house the TARDIS, and discovers something strange. The Doctor meanwhile questions the staff about strange goings-on, demanding to see the archives. As a solar flare causes the systems to fluctuate, The Controller suddenly acknowledges The Doctor's presence, telling him that she has been waiting for him, and that the solar flare is hiding her from her masters'. They have been hiding in the 'dark space', shaping the Earth for many, many years. Their name is forbidden, but they fear The Doctor. The solar flare ends before she can speak their name. Jack returns to tell him that the TARDIS has figured it all out. Jack momentarily appears to go crazy, disintegrating Lynda with the say beam that killed Rose, but then returns her. Turns out it's a transmat beam, not a disintegrater, and therefore Rose is still alive. We then see her wake in some sort of chamber, but that's not the big twist - she spots something that scares the hell out of her, and we know what it is - it's only the bloody Daleks returned from the dead! The Controller manages to give The Doctor Rose's co-ordinates just before they transmat her to Rose's location and execute her. Though there is nothing visible at the co-ordinates, The Doctor tells them that the transmat beam is there to hide a second signal which is hiding whatever is around Earth. He unearths it, and then we see what it's hiding - 200 ships, 2000 Daleks on each. The evil pepper pots themselves open communications with The Doctor, telling him that there stratagem is nearly complete, and not to interfere or Rose really will be killed. He tells them to get stuffed, that he's going to rescue Rose, save the Earth, and then wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky. All the Daleks throw a hissy fit at this but too late, The Doctor is coming!

YES! 

Wow, that's a hell of an ending. It's an incredibly tense finale, right from the moment Rose is shot and we think she's dead (which seems entirely possible at this late stage in the series), to The Doctor meeting The Controller, and then the discovery of the Dalek fleet. The rest of the episode is a brilliant nod to 20th Century culture, in a much less cheesy way than in the second episode of the series, with the mystery of why they have been brought here at its core, and it brings together the Bad Wolf running plot brilliantly. We'll find out in the next episode that it isn't actually the Daleks who are the Bad Wolf, as you might guess at this point, but that's irrelevant - it's clear that all the sightings have been leading to a big reveal at the end of the series and we're going to see it next time. Very exciting stuff.

We also have one of modern Who's greatest quotes:

The Doctor: I'm going to rescue her. I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!

Damn right you are Doctor!

So, what about those 20th Century culture references? Well, personally I thought they were great. As I said above, they're a vital part of the plot, not some cheesy piece to get a cheap laugh. They were three of the biggest and most recognisable reality TV shows at the time the episode was made, twisted into an even more messed up version. This is part of the point, of course - the human race is off course, manipulated from an unseen enemy, and the people are none the wiser that things are wrong. 

The humour that comes with it is brilliant, and has been the case for most of the series. Some of it is very subtle - it’s only fleeting, but the part where Jack rubs Trinny and/or Susannah’s android boobs is so out of the blue, but so in character. Or so Barrowman, whichever you prefer. On a semi-serious note, should the fact it’s just an android stop this being as un-childrens-tv-like as it would be if he caressed a real woman’s boobs? 

Also, he had a gun hidden up his bottom. Marvellous.

Elsewhere, there's some brilliant dialogue:

Anne Droid: So Rose, what do you actually do?

Rose: I just travel about a bit. Bit of a…tourist, I suppose!

Anne Droid: (deadpan) Another way of saying unemployed.

And:

The Doctor: Do you mind flirting outside?

Jack: I was just saying 'hello'!

The Doctor: For you, that IS flirting.

And oh how I laughed with Davina Droid’s comment of ‘You have 10 seconds to say your farewells, and then we’re going to get you!’. Brilliant wordplay on her actual catchphrase, and a hint as to what is to come for the audience who now that all is not what it seems. 

There's also a wonderful glimpse of what’s to come, as Torchwood is mentioned as the answer to one of the questions on The Weakest Link. Won’t mean anything to anyone now, but come Series 2…

What's done fantastically is how this really does feel like a perfect penultimate episode - everything in the series so far has built towards this moment, and when The Doctor threatens the Daleks, his greatest enemy, at the end, we really do feel prepared for a final battle in the last episode. When I think to how well it's done here, and how much this was missing from the penultimate episode of Series 7, it makes we appreciate it even more. Russell T Davies will always get criticism for how he resolves cliffhangers, but he's a true master at writing them. 

How It Fits Into The Series As A Whole

The Daleks survived the Time War, clearly - we found out exactly how in the next episode.

Bad Wolf Sightings

The name of the group in charge of all the television is the Bad Wolf Corporation.

Overall

A fantastic cliffhanger showcasing everything that has been brilliant with Series One - it's funny, exciting and tense, with a great mystery running through it as to why The Doctor, Rose and Jack have ended up where they are, and it sets up the finale perfectly. Wonderful stuff.

10/10

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 11 - Boom Town

Revisiting Doctor Who – Series 1, Episode 11 – Boom Town

Six months on from the Slitheen invasion…

A Welsh gentleman informs a lady (who is off screen) that they need to stop a project before it’s too late and people die. She agrees that she has no choice, and then we see it’s Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, human-alias Margaret Blaine, or ‘the woman Slitheen’ to those of us who can’t remember any other way. She jokes about being a maniac, and then reveals it isn’t a joke as she ‘disposes’ of him, just as he speculates that it’s almost as someone WANTS the project to go wrong, and Cardiff be wiped off the map…

Cue title music…

At Cardiff train station, Mickey gets off a train – hello Mickey! I’d forgotten about him, after Captain Jack appeared to steal our hearts in the last two episodes. A wide panning shot of Cardiff shows a huge dribbling metal waterfall, and the TARDIS next to it. Mickey knows on it, only for Captain Jack to open it. Unimpressed that his girlfriend is travelling with TWO men now, Mickey muscles his way in, immediately becoming the brunt of everyone’s jokes again. He’s brought Rose her passport, although this hammers home to Mickey that she’s staying. They’re in Cardiff because the rift running through it is now a scar which can refuel the TARDIS – it’s all very exciting apparently, because they share a superhero team high-five, which leaves Mickey open-mouthed.

As they exit, Captain Jack throws around a few innuendos, and Mickey gives him one of the all-time great comebacks – ‘What are you? Captain of the ‘Innuendo Squad’? Ouch, fetch Jack some ointment. Seriously, this is up there with a toilet store. As they head off explore the city, Blaine (now Lord Mayor) announces to the press her plans for a nuclear power station in the heart of Cardiff, which will generate plenty of jobs. Everyone seems pleased by this, although Blaine doesn’t like having her photograph taken. Cardiff Castle will be demolished to make way for it. She pledges that as long as she walks on the Earth, no harm will come to her citizens – let’s hope that isn’t a cunningly disguised message to us viewers that she’ll flee just before the harm begins, because that would be really sneaky, and we don’t like sneaky people. A reporter, Cathie Salt, approaches her to say that some of the workers believe it to be cursed, and that there have been an unusual amount of deaths to do with the project.  She voices concerns that one of the people who died had posted his belief that the reactor wasn’t safe, and Blaine decides that they might need to have a more ‘private’ word in the toilet. As Cathie tells her she fears that an accident worse than Chernobyl could happen, a nuclear holocaust caused on purpose, Blaine takes off her costume. Goodbye Cathie…

Except, maybe not. As Cathie begins to talk about her husband and her unborn baby, Blaine seems to get rather emotional, reflecting on the fact that all her family died a few episodes back. She sends Cathie away, under the pretense of neading a bit longer on the loo. It's strange how those big Slitheen eyes evoke a tinge of pity. Then we remember that she was part of a conspiracy to destroy the world and sell it for profit, and we think 'Meh, haters gon' hate', and move on.

In a cafe, Jack shares a story about being naked with friends, when The Doctor snatches a paper from a nearby chap with Blaine's face on it. The gang head to the town hall to confront her, Jack immediately formulating a military-grade plan of attack, before The Doctor reminds him who's the boss around here, and gives him a verbal spanking, before going ahead with the plan. The Doctor tries to gain entry to her office, but she climbs out of the window when her aide tells her that he is here to see her, and the gang set off in pursuit.  After a short case only slightly less dramatic than the opening of Casino Royale, Blaine teleports away. One short press of the sonic screwdriver later however, and she teleports back, running towards them. She turns, teleports away...and is sonic screwdrivered back. A couple more escape attempts later and she gives up. 

Back in the council chambers and the model of the nuclear power station, they quiz her on her plan. Turns out that she's been housing some technology that will protect her following the explosion on the base of the power station model. The Doctor, however, is more interested in the fact that she has named the project Blaidd Drwg, Welsh for 'Bad Wolf'. Rose says that she too has noticed it before. They've seen it everywhere they go, and it's following them...nah, The Doctor says it's coincidence, like hearing a word on the radio and then hearing it again all day. If he says it, it must be true. Anyway, Blaine can't go back to her home planet of Raxicaricofallapatorius as she'll be executed as the family Slitheen were tried in their absence years ago and sentenced to death, which puts the gang in a moral quandry about whether to turn her in. He tries to tell her it isn't his problem, but we know The Doctor. 

Inside the TARDIS, Blaine marvels at it's technology, and once again accusing them of being her executioners if they send her home. None of them can look her in the eye. The technology she was going to use to escape will knock 12 hours off the charging time however, so time is ticking to decide. Outside, Mickey and Rose look to rekindle their relationship, planning a meal and hotel trip. I'm quite young and innocent, but I think a quiet night in front of the TV and an early night's sleep is exactly what they need. The Doctor watches them go on TARDIS-cam, looking slightly jealous, as Blaine tries to guilt-trip him again. She asks for a last meal out in a restaurant she grew fond of, and he agrees to take her. She'll be wearing special handcuffs to prevent her fleeing.

All in all, they look like they're having rather a jolly date, laughing and joking like old flames. She tries to drug his drink, but he's too canny for that, swapping it with hers. Poison dart finger doesn't work either. Nor does poison breath. Rose, meanwhile, is sharing more stories, but Mickey looks a bit troubled - he confesses that he's started seeing someone, and Rose says that's good, in a manner completely unconvincing to either of them. Talk isn't much better in the restaurant as Blaine reveals she'll basically be melted to death. The Doctor points out that she'll just do it again, and that she's talking using the skin of a woman she already killed. He doesn't believe that she'll change. Outside, Mickey is still trying to get her into a hotel room, but Rose lets her jealously out about his new flame, and then Mickey lets out his emotions about how she upped and left him. I've gotta say Rose, awesome as you are, he's got a point. Back in the restaurant once more, Blaine pleads again by pointing out how she didn't eat Cathie earlier, but The Doctor won't budge - every so often, a killer lets someone go, and uses it to justify why they should be forgiven. Blaine points out, however, that this sounds like it comes from a killer, and The Doctor's face shows it all. She wants to be that one. Outside again, Rose thinks she hears thunder, but then changes her mind, and The Doctor hears it too, noticing the glasses and cutlery beginning to shake. The windows then all blow out and the streetlights spark out, as Mickey gets his priorities wrong by shouting at Rose about how she'll always choose The Doctor over him, whereas he really should be running after her to help rather than moaning like a wimp. 

Reaching the TARDIS with Blaine, The Doctor sees a vortex spinning into it out of the sky, and declares that the rift is opening. Entering the TARDIS, Jack tells them it just started going crazy, and The Doctor says that the whole of Cardiff is ripping open. Rose runs over the cracks starting to appear in the ground, making her way back to it, before Blaine takes her hostage as she reveals this is all her doing. The extrapolator (technology-thing underneath the power station model) was designed as a backup, to lock onto the most advanced power source and open the rift. However, as she prepares to ride the rift, one of the Tardis consoles comes off with it, exposing the heart of the TARDIS (remember this plot point for the next two episodes...) - Blaine is mesmerised, as The Doctor encourages her to look at it more intently. She thanks him, before her Slitheen body disappears leaving behind just the human skin. The Doctor doesn't think she's dead however - within the skin they find an egg, and if she is taken to a new family she might be brought up to be a wonderful person. The heart of the TARDIS is telepathic, and so she must have wanted this to some extent, which explains why in the next episode when (I'll stop now - wait for the next couple of reviews...).

The TARDIS is powered up, but Rose and Mickey have left on bad terms. Maybe things'll pick up soon. Oh well, until then, off to Raxicaricofallapatorius.

First things first, it’s good to have Noel Clarke back again. His banter with The Doctor has always been great (‘I don’t mind you hanging out with old ‘big-ears’ over there’), and he plays well off Captain Jack too, another alpha-male for him to look bad against. You can’t help but feel sorry for him with how he’s treated by the three, but he keeps proving his worth and in many ways he shows the most character growth of the first two years. Hearing Mickey, Jack and The Doctor’s fast paced testosterone-filled banter when Mickey first gets in to the TARDIS is a perfect example of how good the writing is on this show. And who couldn't laugh at his reaction to their superhero team high-five? Magic. Also, contrast Jack's athletic leap over a serving trolley when chasing Blaine, with Mickey's tumble straight into one - no wonder Rose flirts with Jack!

Rose and Mickey's relationship does start to grate a little bit towards the end of the episode, however. Whilst it's important to look at the effect Rose travelling with The Doctor has on their relationship, Mickey whines and moans a bit too much, and although it's perfectly understandable why he does, I'd rather seen him start to try and win her back than mope around. 

We also hear, for the first time in the modern series, about why the TARDIS is stuck as a blue police box. It’s a lovely little history lesson, with Mickey’s perfectly fair question about how it would surely get noticed as it’s out of place, quickly dismissed in fun fashion by The Doctor pointing out that the human race walk past it all the time. This sort of moment is top-notch, almost a sly wink to how Doctor Who can have been going for so many years without humans discovering aliens yet during the present day. All will change soon, of course...

I’ve always enjoyed little nods to the viewer, and hearing Blaine’s excuses for the deaths of the project workers are excellent. From the deaths of the French safety inspectors (‘It’s not my fault if ‘Danger: Explosives’ was only written in Welsh!), to the team from the Cardiff Heritage Committe (‘The electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural wear and tear!), it’s so obviously a cover up, and it made me laugh a lot. Topping the lot is the following:

Cathie Salt (reporter): And then just recently, Mr Cleave, the government’s nuclear advisor.

Blaine: Slipped on an icy patch.

Cathie Salt: He was decapitated.

Blaine: It was a very icy patch.

Also great is how Blaine's aide tells The Doctor that she is deep in paper work, only for The Doctor to reply 'She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?', and the aide to confirm this. 

I'm really very fond of the humour in the episode. As well as all the above, there's Blaine's reaction to being caught after the mini-chase:
Blaine: What did I ever do to you?

The Doctor: You tried to kill me, and blow up this entire planet!

Blaine: Apart from that?

It's full of moments like this, and I wish I could write them all down (no, I haven't done it, even if it might seem that way!), but I'll just mention how The Doctor calmly prevents all her attempts to assassinate him on their 'date'. Marvellous stuff.

Having said all that, I still can't shake the feeling that as a whole it's just a bit of filler. It's wrapped up in a story about whether or not Blaine should be taken to her death, but at the end of the day she DID try to destroy Earth, so it's a bit of a pointless argument in most respects. This isn't real life - it's a TV show with an evil alien, so of course we're going to want her punished. I enjoyed it more than the second episode, The End of the World, but it's more skippable because the second episode showed Rose's first adventure. It's important really only for the point in the following paragraph (although this could surely have been included in another episode in a slightly different format). 

Key to this series is the first on screen acknowledgement that 'Bad Wolf' has been seen elsewhere, as The Doctor questions Blaine on where she came up with the name 'Blaidd Drwg' (Welsh for Bad Wolf). They dismiss it quickly, but we know it means more than that. Not just because there's a spine tingling few seconds where the 'Bad Wolf' theme plays in the background. If you don't know which theme this is, I've embedded a clip (you'll certainly recognise it once you've heard it - it appears throughout Series 1).

Bad Wolf Sightings
As above - the nuclear power plant project in Cardiff is called the 'Blaidd Drwg' project, which is Welsh for 'Bad Wolf'. The Doctor and Rose finally acknowledge that they've seen the words 'Bad Wolf' everywhere they go, although The Doctor dismisses it as coincidence.

How It Fits Into The Series As A Whole
There are two main bits here. First is the acknowledgement of 'Bad Wolf', discussed above. The second is the discovery of the rift in Cardiff, which will play a major role in Torchwood, and at least one future Who episode. Torchwood 3 is also running from around this area of Cardiff.

Overall
The general plot and feel of the episode is very generic, but there are some fantastic bits of dialogue that are genuinely hilarious. If there was a compilation of funniest moments from the episode, I'd suggest just watching that instead.

6/10

The Journey To Publication Hood - Part 2 - The Difficult Third Book (And That's Before They've Even Been Sent To An Agent...)

The Journey To Publication Hood - Part 2 - The Difficult Third Book (And That's Before They've Even Been Sent To An Agent...)

So, last time we spoke I had one complete picture book text, one almost-complete picture book text, and one first draft of a story that should have been a picture book but ended up being so long it turned into the first in a compilation of stories. Having researched into the process for getting picture books sent to an agent, I had discovered that a lot of them suggest sending up to three manuscripts together, so I was still searching for an idea for a third book. As my first two are rhyming based, I've been looking to do a 'regular' style of picture book. It's taken a couple of attempts but I'm finally there I think.

Firstly, after a brain storming session with my wife and mother-in-law, I hit upon the idea of a story about a young boy whose mother is pregnant, and as she gets larger his father keeps commenting how 'it looks like you've got a hen/pig/cow/horse growing in there!' He panics that there isn't enough room in the house for each animal, so he builds her a chicken coup/pig sty/cow shed/horse stable etc. It's an idea I think could be funny, but I just can't get the words down very well at the moment.

After this idea stalled, I came up with another story about an alien crash landing in the garage of a boy called Magnus. He has to help the alien refuel his spaceship and get it in the air, and drawing inspiration from my son, the alien is like a demanding toddler who speaks in 'toddler babble'. I like it, but again I think it's a bit long for a picture book, so it'll need refining before it's ready to submit.

However, tonight I've stumbled across an idea for the third book which I think is the best one yet. It's called 'Clarence, Where Is All The Food?', and it stars Clarence Giraffe again, and a suspicious looking badger. It's written as if the narrator/reader is talking to Clarence on each page, with Clarence replying underneath (using plain text across the top of the page for the narrator, and speech bubbles for Clarence). The narrator is trying to prepare for a party by bringing food and balloons into the room, but every time he leaves for a second, Clarence eats what he's left. It basically forms every conversation my wife and I have ever had as our fictional giraffe-counterparts, so to me and her it's funny, but I hope it will be to everyone else as well. All that's left now is to refine it in a second draft (it's 34 pages at the moment, when it really needs to be 32), and I might just have three picture books ready to send off.

Which means exciting times!

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 10 - The Doctor Dances

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 1, Episode 10 - The Doctor Dances

We begin by re-capping last week’s episode, getting more and more freaked out by gas mask people and Jamie, the child, in particular until…

The Doctor tells all of the patients creeping towards him, ‘Go to your room!’. He tell them how angry he is with them and repeats it, until we see Jamie walk off looking upset in the house, and the patients following his lead by returning to bed. The Doctor’s pleased that it worked – they would have been terrible last words.

Cue title sequence…

Watching Jamie walk away through the window, Nancy gets teary. Well, you would do watching your little brother who got his face turned into a gas mask walking away like an upset little boy, with your powerless to do anything. In the hospital, Rose asks why they’re wearing gas masks, but Jack points out that they’re really flesh and bone now. His con was to convince a Time Agent to buy the Chula ‘warship’, take 50% up front, then allow the German bomb to fall on it so he never learns the truth about it being an ambulance. Naughty Jack! He even jokes about Pompeii being a great place to pull the same con, but The Doctor isn’t in the mood for joking when Jack inadvertently caused this problem. The air raid sirens start up, and they leave the ward.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Nancy is about to leave the house when Jamie appears! Oh no, wait, it’s just another kid in a gas mask, but boy does he look similar. They all look the same these scary children with gas masks. As Nancy tries to flee the house, the owners return, shoving her into the shed. At the hospital, The Doctor leads them to Room 802 where Jamie was first taken – he makes Jack use his Sonic Blaster from the 51st Century to open the door, and we learn that The Doctor blew up the factory that made it. Not important, but a nice little aside. He also likes bananas. Rose, meanwhile, likes Jack’s gun.

Inside the room, it’s a bit of a mess. Clearly, either something powerful or angry was in here, or a teenager (I’m 27, I can make those type of jokes). In a side room, there are hundreds of drawings and children’s toys. Recordings of meetings between Doctor Constantine and Jamie reveal nothing new – the child wants its mummy. Those drawings of his mummy look awfully like Nancy, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. Rose asks why the child doesn’t know if anyone is his mummy. The Doctor just stares ahead.

Back in the house, the owner is shouting at Nancy, asking if she’d like anything. She responds with a request for wire cutters and a blowtorch, and by pointing out that he seems to have rather a lot of food considering rations are in order. Turns out he’s been messing around with Mr Haverstock, the butcher. She lets herself out.

The Doctor paces round the room, asking Jack and Rose if they can hear something in the child’s voice, and that it’s coming out of the walls, and that humans have small brains. The child’s voice plays on throughout (did I just notice the tape has run out though and is flapping everywhere?). The Doctor speculates that one of the children who comes out at night might have been infected. The child calls out ‘I’m here!’ but they don’t notice. The Doctor realises that he sent it to its room, i.e. the room they’re in at that very moment. It calls ‘I’m here!’ again. Rose notices the flapping noise again. Uh-oh. He’s behind you. Jack tries to shoot it but his banana isn’t loaded – The Doctor swapped it for Jack’s gun a while back, and uses it to melt a hole in the wall. Bananas are a good source of potassium though, so The Doctor makes Jack bring it with him. The digital re-wind in the gun puts the hole back in the wall. Outside though, Jamie begins to smash his way through the wall, and the other patients appear to block them off from leaving. Whilst Jack and The Doctor argue over their sonic instruments, Rose decides to do something and melts a hole in the floor for them to drop through. They drop into another ward filled with patients though, so they have to flee into a side room. The Doctor and Jack argue a bit more, Jack and Rose flirt a bit more, The Doctor and Rose plan a bit more, and then with a twinkly noise Jack disappears.

Nancy, meanwhile, finds some of the children hiding in a building, although she’s irked because they aren’t meant to stay in the same place twice. One of them is typing too loud on a typewriter which annoys her more, but she calms down a bit and explains that she needs them to think clearly so they can look after themselves if she doesn’t come back. She’s off to the bomb site, realising that the child always comes for her specifically, not the other children. There are things he hasn’t, and can’t tell them. She proves that she needs to go, when the typewriter begins typing itself. No prizes for guessing the message.

Back in the side room, the radio clicks on and Jack appears, telling them he activated his ship’s emergency transport. He can connect to anything with a speaker grill, just like the child. Jamie proves it by suddenly informing them that he’s coming to find them, and his mummy. So not creepy…like, at all…like, I wouldn’t be scared if that happened…no way…

Nancy begins cutting her way through the wires around the bombsite. Wow, that’s a very short sentence. I think I’ll pad it out a bit to make it longer, more worth your time in reading it. If it was only one sentence, would it even count as a paragraph? It wouldn’t seem right to stick it in the middle of the previous paragraph and this next one, so it had to go on its own really. But it still seemed pretty short. Oh well, on we go.

Rose listens to the music that she and Jack danced to on top of his ship, as The Doctor uses his screwdriver to try and loosen the window bars. Rose says that, as well as saving her life in the same way dental floss does, Jack reminds her of The Doctor, which is why she trusts him. Except The Doctor involves less dating and dancing. He assures her that he most definitely does dance, and even though he’s busy resonating concrete, he’s about to prove it when he notices that she doesn’t have burn marks on her hands from when she hung from the barrage balloon. She explains that Jack fixed her, and teases The Doctor when he appears to suffer ‘Captain-envy’. One minute they’re just starting to sway, the next they’re suddenly in Jack’s ship. The Doctor tells Jack to take them to the crash site, but he needs to repair the navi-comp first.

Nancy makes her way into the crash site, and reaches theship, only for a bunch of lights to flash up and focus on her, as well as several guns belong to soldiers from the British army, who tell her not to move.

Jack reveals that he used to be a Time Agent, but now works as a conman because the Time Agency stole two years of his memory and he wants them back – for all he knows, The Doctor is right not to trust him. The computer comes back on line.

Nancy is brought into a warehouse, where a soldier who is clearly about to turn into a gas mask-face. The soldier calls his superior ‘mummy’, and then begins to change as Nancy pleads for him to let her go. The Doctor, Rose and Jack arrive outside the site, and Jack assures them that he has a better chance than Rose of distracting the guard in charge. However, when he reaches him, he too begins to change. Jack tells the other guards to stay away, as The Doctor realises that the gas mask virus has become airborne. There’s only a few hours left for the human race. They notice singing coming from the shed, and The Doctor finds Nancy singing to keep the soldier asleep. He uses the sonic screwdriver to free Nancy from her handcuffs, and then they all remove the covers from the Chula ambulance. Jack causes it to spark when he tries to get in, activating the emergency protocols and a siren following the crash. Jamie and the other infected patients all begin to head for the crash site. They move quickly to secure the area, as Rose lets Nancy know that they are all time-travellers – she’s seen enough to believe them. Rose assures her that everything will be alright despite the war, although Nancy has a hard time believing this part.

Back at the ship, The Doctor informs them that he’s figured out what’s happened – Jack’s ship was also a Chula ship, and so the crashed ship has the same nano-genes. When it crashed, they were released and are trying to do their job – rebuild damaged matter. However, the first person they found was Jamie, who had been killed whilst wearing his gas mask. They’ve never seen humans before, unable to tell the difference between flesh and gas mask, so after fixing Jamie they head off to ‘fix’ the rest of the human race, as they believe they all should be like him. Bit of a mistake then Jack, all that conning. Should have known it would lead to this really. The Doctor says there’s nothing anyone can do. The ambulance is a battlefield ambulance, and therefore has super-powered Jamie, meaning that all the other gas mask patients are now soldiers under his command. He’s a terrified child looking for his mummy, with all the power in the world to make it happen, and no-one to stop him. As Nancy declares that it’s all her fault, the bombs begin to drop around them, and Jack teleports away (you COWARD Jack! I loved you!), we learn that Jamie isn’t her brother at all – it’s Nancy that’s his mummy. She hid the truth because she was only about fifteen when she gave birth. The Doctor tells her to trust him, and tell Jamie that yes, she’s her mummy. Although he doesn’t understand to start with, when she gives him a hug the nano-genes appear around them, healing all the damage. He’s back to being a little boy. The Doctor nearly cries, as he explains that the nano-genes recognised Nancy’s DNA as the superior information – mother knows best! To top it all off, Jack appears with his ship to capture the bomb in its tractor beam before it could fall onto them and the ship – I knew you were a good guy really Jack! I knew it! Bless you! He flies off, but not before flirting one last time with Rose (he likes her t-shirt). The Doctor sends the nano-genes onto all the other patients, declaring that ‘Just this once Rose, everybody lives!’ in a rather scary, maniacal manner. But still, he’s happy. All the patients look a bit confused, especially the lady who only had one leg before this happened. The Doctor sets the Chula ambulance to self-destruct, as history recorded an explosion and he might as well make one happen.

Everybody lived? Hmm. That bomb that Jack took with him?It’s going to explode and there’s no chance that he can get away. Uh-oh. No more Barrowman. There’s just time for one last drink before the ship explodes.

No, wait, the TARDIS appears to rescue him. Rose and The Doctor are dancing as the familiar 40s music plays, as Jack comes on board. The Doctor welcomes him to the TARDIS, as they get down to a bit more dancing. All good fun.

I’m sure this is because I’m now a parent, but watching The Doctor tell Jamie to go to his room, and seeing the child walk away with his head down is strangely heart-breaking. Couple it with the fact that, as far as we know at this point, he’s just a scared child who misses his mummy, and it doubles in its heartbreakedness (awesome word I’ve just invented there, I must say). As Nancy begins to break down at the crash-site because he’s just a scared little boy who misses his mummy, and we learn that she IS his mummy, it really highlights just how powerful an episode this is. How can a scared little boy be the bad guy? And what a quote – ‘There isn’t a little boy born who wouldn’t tear the world apart to save his mummy.’Fantastic stuff. It’s topped off by Nancy telling him that yes, she’s his mummy, and she always will be. Christ, I nearly burst into tears. It’s wonderful.

Even with all the flirting between Rose and Jack, when she tries to make The Doctor dance you can still tell where her heart truly lies. The connection between them isn’t as fully formed as it will be, come the end of Series 2 of course, but all the groundwork is being laid. It’s almost as if she’s testing the water when she says that Jack is like The Doctor, but with dating and dancing. She’s definitely in full on tease-mode when she accuses him of having ‘Captain-envy’.  There’s a nod to the audience as well, when Jack notes that ‘most people notice when they’re being teleported’, but they were so caught up starting to dance that they didn’t.  The whole sequence is ended brilliantly with the following exchange:

Jack: You two get back to whatever it is you were doing.

The Doctor: We were talking about dancing!

Jack: It didn’t look like talking…

Rose: It didn’t feel like dancing!

According to The Doctor, in the 51st Century mankind is spread out amongst the stars, where their whole mission is to seek new life and ‘dance’. No wonder Jack is so charming.

Barrowman continues to excel, and shows that he can do regret just as well as charm, when he realises that all this mess is technically his fault. He’s also hilarious, especially with his bit about how the last time he was sentenced to death he drank a load of vodka, and woke up with both his executioners the next day, who also stayed in touch. It would have been easy to have killed him off, destroying The Doctor’s delight that everybody was saved, but I’m so glad they didn’t. I understand how Barrowman could irritate people, but I love him. Captain Jack should have his own show…

I had to laugh when Jack produced the banana instead of a gun, and then The Doctor wouldn’t let him leave it behind as it’s ‘a good source of potassium’. That’s a doctor for you. Also, watching them arguing over their sonic devices is great fun (apparently The Doctor made his sonic screwdriver when he was bored one day). A screwdriver isn’t really thatthreatening, is it? ‘At a pinch, you could put up some shelves.’ Ah Captain Jack.

For once, The Doctor gets to declare that ‘everybody lives!’ This is probably especially important to him following the Time War, and highlights just why we love The Doctor – he really does care about everyone, and he really does try to save them.

Bad Wolf Sightings

The bomb that is scheduled to hit the Chula ambulance, before Jack tractor beams it away, is labelled ‘SchlechterWolf’, which is German for ‘Bad Wolf’.

How It Fits Into The Series As A Whole

Captain Jack Harkness joins Rose as a temporary companion of The Doctor. He will, of course, go on to have his own show, commanding Torchwood 3 in Torchwood.

Overall

A wonderful end to a wonderful two-parter, it’s a powerful and emotional episode that is all about re-uniting a lost child with its mother. Some excellent humour interwoven with a dark plot, and the (temporary) addition of Captain JackHarkness to the TARDIS crew. It’s dark, moving, and one of the best double-episodes of all-time.

10/10

Doctor Who - A Note On The Absence Of Other Doctors In The 50th Anniversary Special

Doctor Who - A Note On The Absence Of Other Doctors In The 50th Anniversary Special

 

We’re getting ever close to the 50th anniversary special, and we now know, of course, that the 12th Doctor will be played by the magnificent Peter Capaldi. I’m super-hyped about seeingCapaldi in the role, and I’m even more excited about seeing David Tennant back in the role for the special, especially alongside Matt Smith. John Hurt as the mooted ‘forgotten Doctor’, who caused the genocide of the Daleks and all but two members of the Time Lord race? Mind constantly going into supernova.

However, there’s one thing which is raging inside me constantly, causing me no end of geek-pain.

Why, oh why, oh why, could Christopher Eccleston not agree a deal to appear in the special?

I’m currently re-watching all the episodes of the modernDoctor Who, and I’m coming to the end of Ecclestone’s sole series. It’s easy to forget about him when he place him next to David Tennant and Matt Smith, both younger and full of manic energy, but re-watching Series 1 really hammers home just how fantastic an actor he is, and how much of a shame it was that we only had him in the role for one series. His angst at what occurred during the Time War is evident, as is the love he has for Rose. If we are to see the Time War during the anniversary special, how disappointing that we aren’t going to see it from his point of view.

Or are we?

Might I point out this quote from this year’s San Diego Comic Con – ‘I have lied my arse off for months. You know nothing so don’t make presumptions.’

Now, here he’s responding specifically to a question about John Barrowman playing the role of Captain Jack Harkness in the special, Barrowman having been very vocal in his disappointment at not being a part of it. But surely he’s not JUST referring to this? Surely he’s teasing us about other involvements?

Allow me a minute to speculate about the trio of inclusions that I’m hoping he’s lied about:

Firstly, Christopher Eccleston. My brain just cannot accept that he isn’t going to play a role in it. It’s well publicised that he didn’t get on with members of the Doctor Who team during his short tenure, but time heals, Steven Moffat is in charge now rather than Russell T Davies, and it’s the 50th anniversary.If we really do see John Hurt as the missing link between PaulMcGann’s Eighth Doctor and Christopher Eccleston's Ninth, surely the biggest treat that the fans could get is to see the regeneration into Eccleston. We never saw it, after all, and whilst I’m not sure that they’ve been leaving it deliberately for seven series just for this moment, it has to be too big an opportunity to miss. I don’t even care about him interacting with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors  - please, just some new footage.  I’m not about to get ridiculous and state that ‘they’re letting us, the fans, down’ if this doesn’t happen. I hate it when fans believe they deserve something. We’re privileged enough with what we DO get. I just fear that no matter how brilliant it is, a little part of me (and thousands of otherWhovians) will be a little disappointed if Ecclestone doesn’t show.

Talking of regenerations, for years we’ve believed that PaulMcGann regenerated into Christopher Eccleston off screen,and that was that. The scene of the Ninth Doctor looking at himself as if for the first time in Jackie and Rose Tyler’s apartment in the opening episode of Series 1 suggests that he’s come straight from a regeneration, so we’ve all been hoping that we’ll get to go a few minutes into the past and see it happen. With the possibility of John Hurt’s Doctor being wedged in the middle, however, and playing a part in the 50thspecial, this opens up the possibility that we might just get to see McGann playing a small role, leading up to the regeneration into Hurt. Oh, how I hope we’ll see it. Now, admittedly, this one is less likely than the regeneration into the Ninth Doctor, simply because we think that Hurt’s Doctor will be the one to commit genocide, and we could jump into the story at a point where this is about to happen. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the whole lifespan of this ‘missing’ Doctor?

Thirdly, there’s Captain Jack Harkness. Now, I’ve no idea what contribution he’ll play in the special, but I just love John Barrowman, so it’d be great for him to feature. Also, he’s changed throughout Torchwood, especially following the events of Children of Earth, so it’s be a different Captain Jack on show. Moffat’s quote above could be a double red-herring, but you’d be stupid to bet against him making an appearance now.

So, those are my three wishes for inclusions. I’ll be honest, and say that I won’t be disappointed if the other Doctor’s don’t appear. We saw technology bring them into the show in the Series 7 finale, and it was one of the goosebumpiestmoments of my televisual life, but I could happily have that again and walk away satisfied. I can remember snippets of repeats of the show from when I was younger, but that’s it – I haven’t been watching them religiously since 2005 as new episodes appear, and I’m not invested in them as I am the ‘modern’ Who. I love references back to the older Doctor’s, but I’m happy to leave it at that. McGann and Eccleston are a different kettle of fish, however. Whilst the movie was a mess, McGann was great, and he’s the link to Eccleston, making him vital. The Eighth Doctor regenerating into the Ninth is as big as the Time War in the sense of things we haven’t seen but would love to. And John Hurt wedged in the middle makes it even more exciting.

I know that, no matter what, I’m going to love the 50th special. I’m building it up in my mind, which can lead to unreachable expectations, but I don’t think this is the case here – just knowing that Tennant and Smith are going to be alongside each other lets me know that it’s going to be memorable. I trust Moffat implicitly, and he’s never let me down (well, a couple of things from Series 7…but let’s stay positive). There are just a few bits that I know could make it even more special.

Let’s hope that Steven Moffat thinks the same.