And so I slowly continue re-watching Doctor Who.
It starts out strong with Jadoon on the Moon in Smith and Jones, we have more of the Face of Bo (Gridlock) and the Daleks (Daleks in Manhattan; plus, that one has Andrew Garfield!), several wonderfully creepy episodes (42 and Family of Blood), and a finale that was certainly spectacular even if it finally veered too much ‘magic’ and not enough science for me.
Oh, and of course this is the one with Blink.
There’s a reason this is the highest rated Doctor Who episode from the revival–despite minimal time with the Doctor himself.
A solid season. And now it’s time for Donna!
Episode by episode reviews (minor spoilers):
1. Smith and Jones
Martha!
The Doctor: They’re making a catalogue. That means they’re after something non-human, which is very bad news for me. Martha Jones: Why? [the Doctor looks at her] Martha Jones: Oh, you’re kidding me. Don’t be ridiculous! [pause] Martha Jones: Stop looking at me like that. The Doctor: Come on then.
The Doctor and a Doctor is quite amusing.
Jadoon!
The Doctor: What’s wrong with this computer? Judoon must’ve locked it down. Judoon platoon upon the moon…
On the moon.
Off we go again.
Mr. Stoker the first slurped is pretty funny though.
2. The Shakespeare Code
[after landing with the TARDIS]
Martha Jones: But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?
The Doctor: Of course we can. Why not?
Martha Jones: It’s like in those films: if you step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race.
The Doctor: Then, don’t step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?
And off we go, back to the past!
It’s all wibbly whimey (I suppose we haven’t gotten there yet though). Just go with it.
The psychic paper not working on Shakespeare was great fun. It’s interesting to think of the Doctor not having met him before.
Martha Jones: So, magic and stuff? It’s a surprise, it’s all a bit Harry Potter.
The Doctor: Wait till you read book seven. Oh, I cried.
Amusing both because Tennant was in the 4th movie (two years before this episode) and also because the 7th book released only two weeks after this episode aired!
My favorite scene?
[sees the Queen enter the theater]
The Doctor: Queen Elizabeth I!
Queen Elizabeth: Doctor!
[surprised]
The Doctor: What?
Queen Elizabeth: My sworn enemy!
The Doctor: What?
Queen Elizabeth: Off with his head!
The Doctor: WHAT?
Martha Jones: Never mind “what”, just run! See you, Will! And thanks!
[the Doctor and Martha run off]
Queen Elizabeth: Stop him! Stop that pernicious Doctor!
[Shakespeare laughs as the guards race after the Doctor and Martha]
Side note:
Expelliarmus.
All the Harry Potter references.
3. Gridlock
What if traffic… but so much worse.
And then… Boe.
Novice Hame: My lord gave his life to save the city and now he’s dying.
The Doctor: No, don’t say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left.
Face of Boe: It’s good to breathe the air once more.
Martha Jones: Who is he?
The Doctor: don’t even know. Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn’t that right? And you’re not about to give up now.
Face of Boe: Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most.
Novice Hame: The legend says more…
The Doctor: Don’t. There’s no need for that.
Novice Hame: It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller.
The Doctor: Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?
Face of Boe: have seen so much, perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind. As you are the last of yours, Doctor.
The Doctor: That’s why we have to survive. Both of us. Don’t go.
4. Daleks in Manhattan
Andrew Garfield!
The Doctor: They survived, they always survive, while I lose everything…
Tallulah: The metal thing? What was it?
The Doctor: It’s called a Dalek. And it’s not just metal, it’s alive.
Tallulah: You’re kidding me.
The Doctor: Do I look like I’m kidding? Inside that shell, there’s a creature born to hate… whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn’t a Dalek too. It won’t stop until it’s killed every human being alive.
Tallulah: But if that’s not a human being, that kinda implies… it’s from outer space.
[beat]
Tallulah: Yet again, that’s a no with the kidding, oy.
And then we have …
Tallulah: Hey, you’re lucky, though. You got yourself a forward-thinking guy, with that hot potato in the sharp suit.
Martha Jones: Oh, he’s not - We’re not - together.
Tallulah: Oh sure you are! I’ve seen the way you look at him, it’s obvious.
Martha Jones: Not to him.
Tallulah: Oh! I should have realized. He’s into musical theatre, huh? What a waste.
“Musical theatre”, eh?
Not to be outdone by … musical interlude!
Tallulah would have been a fun companion.
5. Evolution of the Daleks
Hybrids!
Daleks… learning and growing?
Nah. Daleks being Daleks.
Martha Jones: Do you reckon it’s gonna work, those two?
The Doctor: I don’t know. Anywhere else in the universe I might worry about them, but New York- it’s what this city’s good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses and maybe the odd pig-slave-Dalek-mutant-hybrid, too.
Martha Jones: [laughs] The pig and the showgirl.
6. The Lazarus Experiment
The Doctor: Black tie… Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens.
Martha Jones: That’s not the outfit, that’s just you. But anyway, I think it suits you. In a… James Bond kinda way.
The Doctor: James Bond? Really…
Oh those two.
Tish Jones: He’s a science geek, I should’ve known.
The Doctor: Science geek, what’s that mean?
Martha Jones: That you’re obsessively enthusiastic about it.
The Doctor: [grins] Oh, nice.
And again.
Plus all the Saxon name drops. Who could it be…?
Lazarus: I came here before, a lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child, the sound of planes and bombs outside.
The Doctor: The Blitz.
Lazarus: You’ve read about it.
The Doctor: I was there.
Lazarus: You’re too young.
The Doctor: So are you.
Well.
7. 42
42 minutes until we crash into the sun.
And 42 minutes left in the episode. I do love when shows include that little bit of detail.
Who had the most pre-download number ones? Elvis Presley or the Beatles?
Pop quiz that just so happens to be relevent to our time. Happy primes, though… 😄
BURN WITH ME.
…
The Doctor: Humans! You grabbed whatever is nearest and bleed it dry! You should’ve scanned!
MR. SAXON!
8. Human Nature
Well that’s certainly a cold open.
Just think, though. Soon boys like that’ll be running the country. 1913. They might not.
Oh time travel.
John Smith: Mankind doesn’t need warfare and bloodshed to prove itself. Everyday life can provide honor and valor. Let’s hope that from now on this country can find its heroes in smaller places. In the most ordinary of deeds.
Oh humanity.
9. The Family of Blood
Joan Redfern: Where is he… John Smith?
The Doctor: He’s in here somewhere.
Joan Redfern: Like a story… could you change back?
The Doctor: Yes.
Joan Redfern: Will you?
The Doctor: No.
Really leaning into the tragic alien aspect of the Doctor…
10. Blink
The Doctor: Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck.
Those people that say “start with Blink” might be pushing it a little far with how Doctor light this one is, but it’s quite a solid episode.
The Doctor: People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… time-y wimey… stuff.
Ten gets the best lines.
The Doctor: Fascinating race, the Weeping Angels. The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. No mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death. The rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. You die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had, all your stolen moments. They’re creatures of the abstract. They live off potential energy.
Billy Shipton: What in God’s name are you talking about?
Martha Jones: Trust me, just nod when he stops for breath.
The Doctor: Tracked you down with this. This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there’s stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I’ve learned to stay away from hens. It’s not pretty when they blow.
11. Uptopia
Captain Jack Harkness: Doctor.
The Doctor: Captain.
Captain Jack Harkness: Good to see you.
The Doctor: And you. Same as ever. Although, have you had work done?
Captain Jack Harkness: You can talk!
[looks confused for a second]
The Doctor: Oh yes, the face. Regeneration. How did you know this was me?
Captain Jack Harkness: The police box kinda gives it away.
Captain Jack! And trillions of years into the future.
The Doctor: The ripe old smell of humans. You survive. Oh, you might have spent a million years evolving into clouds of gas and another million as downloads, but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental human. End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable, that’s the word. Indomitable!
And a blast from the past.
Time travel yo.
12. The Sound of Drums
The Master: This country has been sick, this country needs healing, this country needs medicine - in fact I’d go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now, is a Doctor.
He’s been here… ALL ALONG!
The Master: And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all; and I thought it good.
13. Last of the Time Lords
Oy that’s an ending.
On one hand, there’s a showdown between the Master and the Doctor. Worth it that. And worth more when you see the pain of the Doctor going toe to toe with (so far as anyone knows) the only other remaining Time Lord. Trying to save him, despite everything.
On the other hand, you have ’everyone in the world will chant the Doctor’s name’ and now he can float style magic.
For the most part, I strongly prefer Doctor Who when it tends towards scifi over fantasy/magic. This is no exception. It’s a fun enough episode… it just doesn’t make any sense, for how spectacular it’s supposed to be. Especially contrasted to the whole ’end of the universe and beyond’ schtick they’ve had going on this season.
So it goes.
And then right at the ending (minor (IMO) spoilers):
Captain Jack Harkness: But I keep wondering, what about aging? Cause I can’t die but I keep getting older, the odd little, gray hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?
The Doctor: I really don’t know.
Captain Jack Harkness: Ok, vanity, sorry. Yeah… can’t help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid, living in the Bo-shang peninsula… tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency, they were so proud of me. The Face of Bo they called me… hummm! I’ll see you!
[Jack turns and leaves]
Martha Jones: [Martha gets an stunned look on her face and taps the doctor on the arm to get his attention]
The Doctor: [in disbelief] No.
Martha Jones: [incredulously] It can’t be!
The Doctor: [still in disbelief] No. Definitely not, no.
Martha Jones: [Martha begins to laugh]
The Doctor: No!
I wouldn’t put it past Jack to have heard about the Doctor’s relationship with the Face of Bo and deciding to just mess with him… but it very well might have been true. Funny one that.
14. Christmas Special 2007: Voyage of the Damned
[the Doctor presses a button. There is an almighty crash as a steam powered ship collides with the Tardis]
The Doctor: [bewildered] What?
[coughs as dust settles]
The Doctor: What?
[picks up an old fashioned wooden lifebelt and turns it over to find the words: ‘R.M.S. Titanic’ printed on it]
The Doctor: [ominously] What?
That was such a delight of a transition for quite a fun episode!
The Doctor: Good, so, um… tell me - ‘cause I’m an idiot - where are we from?
Robot Angel: Information: the Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures.
The Doctor: Titanic. Um… who… thought of the name?
Robot Angel: Information: it was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth.
The Doctor: Did they tell you why it was famous?
Oh, I do love the characters in this one.
Mr. Copper, with his degree in Earthonomics:
Mr. Copper: I shall be taking you to Old London town in the country of UK, ruled over by Good King Wenceslas. Now human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner, like savages!
The Van Hoffs:
Foon Van Hoff: Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous, these buffalo. So many wings.
Bannakaffalatta:
The Doctor: Rickston, Mister Copper and you, Bannakaffalatta. Look, can I just call you Banna? It’s going to save a lot of time.
Bannakaffalatta: No. Bannakaffalatta.
The Doctor: All right then, Bannakaffalatta.
And of course… Alonso!
The Doctor: What’s your first name?
Midshipman Frame: Alonso
The Doctor: [in disbelief] You’re kidding me!
Midshipman Frame: What?
The Doctor: That’s something else I’ve always wanted to say! Allons-y Alonso!
That’s… pretty much it for him.
And of course there’s Astrid Peth. A temporary companion that could have been more. I don’t know if that was ever in the cards, but I think they missed out there. They had a great dynamic and it would have been a lot of fun to have a human companion that wasn’t from Earth.
So it goes and ONWARDS!