Harry -
Well it's not every day you see the Doctor get slapped in the face with a whole new perspective on life, this time courtesy of the ladies around him.
Naturally, Donna is there. And so is the Doctor's daughter. Freeze frame! Record scratch! The Doctor's what?
This cold open has to be the most bonkers in all of Nu Who. The TARDIS is roaring through time and space. The Doctor clings to the console along with not one but two of his recent companions, Donna and Martha. They land in a blighted tunnel, and are immediately seized by Grunts With Guns. The Doctor's arm is forced into a piece of machinery. Bingo Bango Bongo, a woman emerges out of a smoky chamber and says "Hello Dad." I mean really, where can it go from here?
Sarah -
Just another day in the TARDIS. But we can’t really blame her when she is, in fact, the Doctor’s Daughter -- the Fifth Doctor’s daughter, that is. Georgia Moffett, soon to be Georgia Tennant in this timeline, gives a spirited performance as the Doctor’s progeny. She shares his DNA and love of adventure.
Harry -
This is becoming a season of reunions, crossovers and familial attachments on multiple levels. The Davison-Moffett-Tennant mashup is something Steven Moffat might have concocted in his idle imaginings.
Sarah -
I’m pretty sure all Doctor Who since 2005 is fans-turned-showrunners fulfilling their idle imaginings.
Harry -
What stood out most in this story was the Doctor going through a fairly standard adventure in a "colony in space" (obligatory Pertwee era shout out), but instead of wide-eyed companions in distress, he's surrounded by a team of speak-no-bullshit and take-no-prisoners types.
Sarah -
These people don’t play! Jenny is ready for battle from the moment of her creation.
Harry -
It begins right after the template separation of characters, when Martha is trapped behind a wall of rubble after the Doctor's "daughter" triggers an explosion in the tunnel in order to stave off an assault by an alien attack force. The explosion separates the two groups of combatants, and she then waves off the loss of a newcomer as collateral damage. Donna rounds on her immediately. "Her name's Martha. And she's not collateral damage, not for anyone. Have you got that, G.I. Jane?" Raging Donna is my favourite Donna.
Sarah -
You do not mess with Donna Noble.
Harry -
The Doctor announces that they are going to find Martha. Meanwhile, Martha makes a friend. It is through her eyes that we will experience the other side of this mysterious underground conflict. During the cave-in, one of the aliens suffered a dislocated shoulder. A doctor herself, Martha pops the shoulder back in and wins the favour of the Hath, a race of humanoid fish. As aliens go, I liked the design of the Hath, with their bubbling water tanks and soft expressions.
A parallel story ensues, with the Doctor and Martha leading the two separated trails back together.
Before we get there, the "daughter" gets some more character development. And I'm not sure she was all that likeable at the start. Despite containing the Doctor's DNA, her mind is programmed to remember only military history and tactics, making her a mindless instrument of war. As the Doctor and Donna learn more about the colony, it seems war is the only business here.
Sarah -
I like the way Jenny advocates for her own humanity while the Doctor dismisses her as soldier. I probably shouldn’t say humanity, as she does have two hearts and all. It’s like an episode of Jerry Springer meets Doctor Who -- “Yes, you are the father!”
The Doctor insists Jenny’s just an echo and being a Time Lord is so much more, which leads to more Gallifrey angst.
Martha and the Hath end up outside while Donna is paying attention to the numbers that are counting down as they proceed. She’s trying to crack the code, using her admin skills. The numbers are dates of completion for each section and the war has only been going on for seven days, with 20 generations per day. This is probably my favorite thing in this story -- that’s some proper sci-fi.
Harry -
Really the whole story plays out with the Doctor as a companion to the others.
Donna cracking the code reveals the reality of the situation. After losing her Hath friend to a pit of quicksand, Martha finds her own way back. And Jenny uses her physical skills to free everyone and guide them to the mysterious location on the map that everyone was driving towards. The Doctor still got to deliver his usual lines about hating guns and being the last of his kind, but he was just along for the ride.
Sarah -
I would be down with the Adventures of Martha, Donna, and Jenny as its own series.
Harry -
Everyone descends on the mysterious location and, as Donna quipped, it was something out of Kew Gardens. Lush plants and greenery. The source they were seeking out is a massive terraforming machine that was set up before hostilities between the clones broke out.
Sarah -
It feels magical after all the war and corridors and such.
Harry -
The pointlessness of the war becomes evident, and everyone in the colony can get back to their original mission and build a settlement on this planet. The Doctor declares the war to be over.
Unfortunately, General Cobb refuses to stand down. He takes aim and fires at the Doctor. Jenny steps in front of him and takes the bullet. Despite his attitudes earlier, the Doctor is devastated by her death. Cobb is presumably arrested and the colony begins to put itself back on course.
Jenny's body is left with the colonists, as the TARDIS takes off. Martha goes home and Donna continues her travels with the Doctor.
Back on the colony planet, Jenny suddenly revives. The mix of human and Gallifreyan DNA has produced someone who cannot regenerate, but can still come back to life. Having heard Donna's stories of travel through the stars, Jenny takes off in a spaceship to explore the universe.
Sarah -
I would like an alternate-universe series when Jenny joins the Doctor and Donna in the TARDIS for years of adventures. They’d have so much fun!
Harry -
And as far as we know she's still out there. Doctor Who has a knack for bringing everyone back eventually, so maybe we'll see her again.
Sarah -
I was disappointed Jenny never turned up again, but Big Finish has given Jenny her own life to live, so I won’t complain too much.
Harry -
I liked this story. It had some hard science elements, a far future setting, lots of dark settings, interesting aliens and fascinating exchanges between the main characters.
Sarah -
It’s a solid, pacey story that was better than I remembered. Ready to meet Agatha Christie?
Harry -
Best Line:
JENNY: So what do you do?
DOCTOR: I travel through time and space.
DONNA: He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures. And runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved.
Favourite Moment: Jenny blasts off for adventure.
Lasting Image: the Hath.
8/10
Sarah -
Best Line: Donna to the Doctor: “You talk all the time, but you don't say anything.”
Favorite Moment: When Donna tells Martha she’s going to travel with the Doctor forever. It’s bittersweet, but it fills me with so much love for Donna.
Lasting Image: Jenny. She’s just adorable.
6/10
Our marathon continues with Story #194: The Unicorn and the Wasp...
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