Story #202 - The End of Time (2009-2010)

Harry -

We have finally reached The End of Time, and I'm feeling fine. Sarah let's break out the gin to toast the end of another era.

It's got to be over a decade since I watched this and the "victory lap" ending was as cringeworthy as remembered. However I was surprised to find the story leading up to it was better than I thought. Definitely better on a rewatch.

Sarah -

I was hoping to have the same reaction as you, but I think I liked it even less on this rewatch. At the very least, I know I won’t ever have to watch it again.

On the upside we have Wilf as the Doctor’s companion. Hooray! Unfortunately, it’s also Christmas time, so we know nothing good will happen. Cue the resurrection of the Master by some lame cultists devoted to him, which leads to the massacre of innocent people in a quarry. Remember how excited we were when John Simm was announced as the Master? How naive we were. I’d almost rather watch Eric Roberts’ performance. Almost.

Harry -

John Simm's Master was very jarring at first. Very hyper and over the top, a dark reflection of David Tennant's Doctor. As Doctor Who has rumbled on for over 50 years, each iteration of the Master has shed a layer of Roger Delgado's initial quiet coolness and become more bouncy-bouncy bonkers. We have watched this character grow increasingly insane over time. This Master continues the progression. I remember not liking him when this season first aired, but over time he's become a favourite, probably because of his performance in the Capaldi era which we will get to.

Sarah - 

I’m already counting the seasons to the return of the Master!

Harry - 

The resurrection scene was definitely bad. The cult, the massacre, the barely plausible Gallifreyan biology that makes Time Lords immortal, bleh. At least Lucy Saxon took a measure of revenge and threw a spanner into the works, screwing up the process and leaving the Master more a flickering flame than a fully-formed being again.

Speaking of comebacks, I wonder how tempted RTD was to write Donna back into one more story. If he really wanted, he could have found some way for the Doctor to restore and preserve her mind for at least one more adventure. New Who's showrunners seem to have carte blanche. However it's interesting that it didn't happen. Instead, we got Wilf as the companion and it was a smashing time. Wilf leading his own merrie branch of L.I.N.D.A., what a riot.

Sarah -

Donna’s return was one of my favorite parts of the story. I hope she’ll be very happy with her husband and that lottery money won’t hurt! Wilf’s band of Doctor-hunters were adorable, but I’m not sure about the lady who couldn’t keep her hands to herself. Still, he probably has it coming after the Queen Bess comment.

Harry -

And so the early part of the story bounces between three corners. The Master reborn and bonkers, the Doctor in pursuit, and Wilf & Co. in pursuit of the Doctor.

An air of mystery is added by a mysterious woman who delivers enigmatic messages to Wilf. Surprisingly, RTD let her remain an enigma.

After a couple of confrontations with the Doctor, the Master is kidnapped by some paramilitary thugs and the story kicks into another gear. The Master is briefly held captive by Joshua Naismith, a man of unlimited wealth and power. Briefly. Feigning that he will help Naismith harness a piece of alien technology that can supposedly make humans immortal, the Master rigs it up to instead transform all humans into Master-clones. A Master Race! Very clever. But like all of the Master's schemes in New Who, it's all high concept but filled with holes. We will see this pattern repeat itself: the Master/Missy creates a massive army, but fails to think through all the ramifications and the entire project collapses. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Sarah -

I feel exhausted just thinking about this nonsense. The Master is the, well, master of bonkers schemes, but this one takes the cake. Just what we need, a whole planet of the “Master” race. And when did he start being able to shoot electricity and fly? I can’t even tell you how much I loathe this plot line.

Harry -

It's totally in keeping with the modern era's Master in that his/her plots are nonsense, as if the point to the entire thing is to get a reaction from the Doctor. Get a room already!

Sarah -

The whole Obama/recession storyline is silly. And the mispronouncing of his name got under my skin. While I’m on a tear here, what the what with the creepy Naismith? The way he looks at his daughter may be the grossest thing in Doctor Who’s history.

Harry -

Eww eww Naismith. Please do not get a room!

Sarah -

And then we have the Time Lords, making their first return since Trial of a Time Lord in 1986. They’re as irritating as ever and I’m more than ready for Gallifrey to be destroyed.

Harry -

I don't recall if the return of Rassilon was known before this story aired. 

Sarah - 

I definitely remember being surprised the first time around, so I’m guessing not. 

Harry - 

Timothy Dalton's performance was scene-chewingly amusing, but I'm not sure what we were meant to think at the end. Was Rassilon not all that great after all, his scheme broken up by the lightning-flinging Master? Or had the Master evolved into some entirely new kind of being, able to fling lightning at the mighty Rassilon? Best not to expend too many brain cells on it. After all, Wilf is knocking.

And so the Tenth Doctor meets his demise. Not by the Daleks or Cybermen, not by some stupendous new monster, but by poor old Wilfrid Mott trapping himself in a chamber that's about to go nuclear. Ever since "The Caves of Androzani", I've wanted to see another story where the Doctor sacrifices a life in order to save just one person, not in some grand space opera setting but in a quiet corner of the universe. We got that here and it should have been great but for RTD blowing the regeneration up into the most self-indulgent, eye-rolling ordeal of all time.

Sarah - 

Right? It would have been perfect if the Doctor just regenerated and moved on. To be fair, if there’s one person worth dying to save it’s Wilfrid Mott. 

Harry - 

There's no need to go over the victory lap. It sucks and I'm not a fan, but it was RTD's farewell and he deserved to have his way after resurrecting the greatest TV show of all time. I really can't say anything else nice, so let's wrap it up.

Sarah - 

The victory lap may be the most egregious thing ever in Doctor Who, let’s leave it be. 

Harry - 

Best Line:

Wilf enters the TARDIS for the first time: "I thought it would be cleaner."

Favourite Moment:

Tough to pick one. I liked some of John Simm's manic moments. Gross but riveting.

Lasting Image:

Wilf's final goodbye to the Doctor.

5/10

Sarah - 

Best Line: 

Doctor: "I'd be proud."

Wilf: "Of what?"

Doctor: "If you were my dad."

Favorite Moment:

The return of Donna Noble!

Lasting Image: 

Wilf hugging the Doctor

3/10

Story #197 - Turn Left (2008)

Harry -
That was some heavy stuff. Kind of timely, but deeply grim. I've not been looking forward to watching "Turn Left" again, and it was just as bleak as I remembered.


Sarah -
We watched "Turn Left" over a month ago, shortly before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.


Harry -
Yeah, things have gotten in the way of our marathon of late.  But we are still here!


Sarah -
I’m still not sure I’m ready to discuss it, but we’ve got to get through it.

On the positive side, it’s a well-crafted episode, from RTD’s script to Graeme Harper’s direction. The cast is amazing, especially Catherine Tate. Everything else is heartbreaking.

On an alien planet, Donna meets a fortune teller who launches her into an alternate timeline where she has never met the Doctor. Every day that was saved by the Doctor is undone - the Racnoss Webstar attacks London, Sixty million Americans are killed when they turn into Adipose babies, ATMOS covers the planet in a toxic fog and the Torchwood team dies trying to stop the Sontarans, and Sarah Jane Smith’s death is reported. NOT SARAH JANE!


Harry -
During the Judoon action on a hospital in London, medical student Martha Jones is also killed. Not Martha! Incredibly bleak, and it keeps getting worse for planet Earth.


Sarah -
So much sadness. What else could possibly go wrong? I guess Donna could have a massive beetle on her back, which is creepy as heck and a fanwank Sarah Jane spider callback at the same time.

In the midst of the chaos, Rose returns, looking for the Doctor, who is apparently dead, and reminding Donna about the raffle ticket she bought at work. Surprise, she wins the raffle prize of a Christmas break at a spa in the countryside -- when the Titanic crashes into Buckingham Palace and a mushroom cloud rises over London. The Doctor wasn’t there to stop it.


Harry -
Following the story through Donna's eyes, the continuous appearances by the mysterious blonde woman were very unsettling.


Sarah -
Right? Who the heck is she and why does she keep turning up? With Chiswick destroyed, Donna, Sylvia, and Wilf become refugees and resettled in Leeds, sharing a house with two other families. Soon, the lovely Italian family they live with is shipped off to a “labour camp.” Can things possibly get more bleak?


Harry -
The point to the story was to show just how many times the Doctor and his friends had saved the Earth, and without him there would be global catastrophes in short order. The story could have been titled "What If?" I don't know if an entire episode of the season needed to be dedicated to this. The story could have been told in future-flash-forwards or something. By the time Rose reveals all and Donna accepts her role in correcting the course of history, I really wanted it to be over, especially when the stars in the sky all started going on. That added an element of cosmic horror to the whole thing.


Sarah -
It’s such an emotionally draining episode. I was absolutely ready for it to be over asap.


Harry -
And then, enter UNIT! Or rather, Rose and Donna enter a secret UNIT location. There, a recovered TARDIS has been wired up for a longshot attempt to send Donna back in time, to the fateful moment where her timeline changed course and set all of these catastrophic events in motion. It makes one's head spin to think of how many insignificant decisions may have altered one's life entirely. For Donna, it was a matter of changing directions at an intersection.

But she's not even sent off with a cheer and a surge of inspiration. Right before the switch is thrown, Donna learns that what Rose and UNIT have put together is essentially a roll of the dice with no certainty to succeed. And by the way, Donna will die so that her parallel self can live.

I don't know at what point in the writing process RTD completely abandoned the notion that Doctor Who is a children's show, but good grief!


Sarah -
It’s horrifying and I don’t think I ever want to watch this episode again. Donna is the hero, but we have to watch her die. And this isn’t even the worst thing that’s going to happen to her this season.


Harry -
Anyway, the roll of the dice leads Donna to put herself in the path of a truck, causing a fatal collision and sending her other self back on the "correct" life path. By the end I felt nothing but grim, hollow feelings for this story. In a parallel universe, maybe the alien fortune teller could have delivered all of this context to Donna through a spell or trance, and let her and the Doctor get on with a merry adventure.


Sarah -
Anyway, it’s over and that’s enough for me.


Harry -
So things aboard the TARDIS are back to normal, but for the two mysterious words that the blonde woman asked Donna to relay to the Doctor: "Bad Wolf." Judging by his reaction, the trouble has only just begun.


Sarah -
It’s careening our way. Ready to wrap up this season?


Harry -
Best Line: the one that stuck with me was Rose's quiet, devastated reaction to learning that the Doctor was dead. "I came so far."

Favourite Moment: This one was an ordeal from start to finish.

Lasting Image: Donna and Rose.

4/10


Sarah -
Best Line:
Donna: "Well, what do you keep telling me for? What am I supposed to do? I'm nothing special. I mean, I'm, I'm not. I'm nothing special. I'm a temp. I'm not even that. I'm nothing."
Rose: "Donna Noble, you're the most important woman in the whole of creation."

Favorite moment: Everyone singing Bohemian Rhapsody

Lasting Image: Donna with the beetle on her back. 

5/10

Our marathon continues with Story #198: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End...

Story #196 - Midnight (2008)

Harry -
Here's a dark little story that feels overlooked as this season builds up to its blockbuster finale.

The end-of-season and regeneration blockbusters have become a staple in New Who. I always thought an interesting regeneration story would be similar to this one. The Doctor is trapped in a contained space with a group of people whose lives he saves but at the cost of his own. This is why "The Caves of Androzani" is one of my favourites. The Doctor dies in order to save a single life.


Sarah -
I LOVE this story. It may be my favorite of series 4. There’s little I love more than a successful bottle episode -- base under siege in a very small space!

"Midnight" was written in a weekend by RTD when the original script was deemed too similar to "The Unicorn and the Wasp". I can’t resist making a comparison to "Horror of Fang Rock", my favorite Doctor Who story, when Terrence Dicks was called in on short notice and created one of his greatest stories.


Harry -
Winging it is an established highlight of each era of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
The Doctor and Donna are taking a break on the leisure planet Midnight. The Doctor has signed up for an excursion to see the Sapphire Waterfall, while Donna’s plan is to relax at the spa. (Having recently watched "Orphan 55", I couldn’t help but think of Graham, “I am going to sit over there for three hours, then I'm going to get up and sit somewhere else, and then cocktails.” That’s my kind of holiday.) We’re off on our companion-light adventure, with the Doctor, six other passengers, and three crew members on the shuttle bus to the waterfall.


Harry -
He could not persuade Donna to come along, but the Doctor's enthusiasm is still infectious. He's practically bouncing in his seat like a youngster embarking on a school trip. He's very cute here.


Sarah -
The trip begins with an announcement by the Hostess, who is never named, that they will be taking a different route due to a diamond fall on the usual route, but no worries, the in-trip entertainment will keep them occupied. No one is very pleased with what’s on offer, so the Doctor sabotages the system, forcing everyone to talk to each other. The Doctor swaps stories with Val and Biff, provoking eyerolls from their surly son Jethro; discusses travel and breakups with Sky; and chats with Dee Dee about the Poosh and how her paper on it led to her role as Professor Hobbes. The good times continue as Hobbes presents a slide show on his research on Midnight, which seems to be the worst place to create a holiday destination. No one has set foot on Midnight due to Xtonic radiation that would vaporize any known form of life in seconds. Typical humans and their stupids ideas. This story really does have a lot in common with "Orphan 55".


Harry -
Completely unrecognizable from his previous roles in Classic Who, Hobbes is played by David Troughton aka King Peladon. Hobbes is just getting to the meat of his slide show when the excursion craft abruptly stops. What was to this point a cheery trip pivots to horror. The passengers and crew are about to encounter an unknown monster, while the Doctor is about to face another: the worst impulses of frightened humans. Loud, irrational and not to be reasoned with. The Doctor has his work cut out for him here.

Having checked in on Driver Joe and Mechanic Claude, who haven't the faintest idea why the shuttle has stopped, the Doctor returns to the cabin and tries to reassure the others. That lasts all of a few seconds when something starts banging on the vehicle. Everyone panics as the banging escalates. No matter how much Hobbes declares that nothing could possibly survive outside, the panic escalates with the banging until the ship is rocked violently. The forward section is torn open and Driver and Mechanic are vaporized in the radiation.

Everyone freaks but the Doctor tries to calm them down. Someone notices that one of the other passengers might be injured. At the front of the cabin, Sky Silvestry crouches with her head down, possibly hurt, possibly in shock.


Sarah -
Things are happening fast and the Doctor tries to take control of the situation, but nothing goes the way he expects. He so often walks into a situation taking charge with the help of a companion, but this time he just comes off as an arrogant ass and no one trusts him.


Harry -
It was fascinating to see the Doctor find himself in a situation where he couldn't charm his way past the skepticism of others.


Sarah -
Sky seems to be possessed by another being and when the Doctor starts talking she begins to say everything as he speaks. Then the Doctor starts repeating everything Sky says.


Harry -
This is a fantastic performance by Tennant and Lesley Sharp. I imagine it would have been just as grueling to rehearse this series of lines in synch as it would be a dance number or fight scene. This moment is one of the highlights of the season for me.


Sarah -
They are really amazing. I can’t imagine how long they had to rehearse to get that down.

The two women of color, Dee Dee and the “Hostess,” whom I must point out again is never given a name, are the only ones who don’t believe the Doctor is possessed. The mob mentality is so out of control that they are ready to throw the Doctor off the shuttle, goaded by Sky.


Harry -
Stupid humans!


Sarah -
In the end, the Hostess saves everyone, sacrificing herself by dragging Sky off the shuttle.


Harry -Un-fucking-believeable that the nameless Hostess sacrificed herself for the tourists. I'm this close to launching into my first-ever Marxist interpretation tirade.


Sarah -
The passengers who were ready to kill the Doctor are now filled with remorse, saved by a woman whose name they never bothered to learn.


Harry -
Did you catch that look the Doctor gave to Val Cane? Minutes earlier, she had been yelling to throw the Doctor out of the shuttle. Now she meekly tried to save face by blaming Sky. Ohh, if looks could kill. Absolute disgust!


Sarah -
That look could definitely kill! In the end, we also never find out what it was that threatened them on the shuttle.


Harry -
The best horror is unseen, right?


Sarah -
Always.

The Doctor returns to the spa, reunited with Donna and still shaken by his experience. We don’t know what happens to everyone else, but I hope Dee Dee gets a new job with someone who appreciates and respects her.


Harry -
Hobbes was probably still in denial at the end.  

What a great story. I have such bad memories of the way everyone behaved under stress that I've never been eager for a re-watch, but the opportunity to see it again as part of our marathon was very satisfying.


Sarah -
There’s so much going on, you can almost miss the Rose cameo on the shuttle’s monitor, shouting, “Doctor!” We move closer to the series climax!


Harry -
Something's building up!


Sarah -
Best Line: Donna keeping things in line, “That’s a date. Well not a date. Oh you know what I mean. Oh get off.”

Favorite Moment: Everyone being chummy on the shuttle before things fall apart.

Lasting Image: The passengers on the shuttle set.

8/10


Harry -
Best Line: The thing inside Sky suddenly takes control: "Oh look at that, I'm ahead of you." Creepyyy!

Favourite Moment: the Doctor bouncing with excitement during boarding.

Lasting Image: the Doctor and Sky face to face.

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #197: Turn Left...

Story #195 - Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (2008)

Sarah -
River, at last! I don't think I've watched "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" since they first aired and I've been really looking forward to our rewatch. It's a whole different experience after watching River's story arc play out. If I remember correctly, you weren't a big fan of Professor River Song the first time around.


Harry -
First off, let's have a toast to mark our 10th year here on the Sofa. This unhurried marathon of ours kicked off in 2010. It's been a fantastic experience not only rewatching everything together, but also compiling a record of our discussions of every Doctor Who ever. Granted, we didn't begin until late December 2010, but I'm making a big production of this now in case we forget in December. Cheers old girl!


Sarah -
Time flies when you’re watching Doctor Who! It doesn’t feel more than five years ago.


Harry -
One of the best things about our rewatches has been comparing our "now vs then" contemplations about each story. This one is a brilliant example.

I remember not liking River Song the first time this story aired. Then, we all experienced her through the Doctor's eyes. She was a mysterious character who knew a lot -- a hell of a lot -- about the Doctor's future. She had a fancy sonic screwdriver, she had a diary of their adventures together, she even knew his name. Astounding stuff, and I wanted to know more, know everything! She knew, but she wouldn't tell. It was frustrating that she wouldn't share anything because, "spoilers." You could see it eating away at the Doctor as the story progressed -- he's practically grinding his teeth in one scene where the diary sits within reach. However it's all brought home at the end when the Doctor offers Donna a peek inside the diary so she can learn her own future, and, like most of us probably would, she declines.


Sarah -
Given River’s reaction to meeting Donna, it’s understandable that she doesn’t want to know. Yet another companion who believes she’s going to spend the rest of her life with the Doctor.


Harry -
Donna's fate was being foreshadowed and we barely noticed.

As for River, the viewing experience is completely flipped this time around. We now know her entire history with the Doctor and we get to experience this encounter through her eyes. Of course she wouldn't reveal anything! Of course she'd let him know she was important to him but without spoiling anything. Now, her every action makes total sense. I loved that her "Hello Sweetie" went totally unremarked when she said it to the Doctor, even though there was so much meaning to it from her side.


Sarah -
It’s an entirely different experience this time around. I liked River immediately but it was so frustrating not knowing who she was or what was going on with her story. Honestly, it never occurred to me at the time that we’d see River again. In retrospect that seems naive, but I’m so grateful Moffat brought her back.


Harry -
We may never know just how much of the complete River Song story was already worked out by Moffat, but her instant popularity ensured that she'd become an entrenched character in the Whoniverse, returning again and again.


Sarah -
It makes me happy to know now that shortly before visiting the library, she spent a twenty-four year night on Darillium to see the Singing Towers with the Twelfth Doctor, where he gave River his sonic screwdriver. Imagine going from that experience to a new Doctor who has no idea who you are. It would be heartbreaking.

Running parallel to the Doctor-River story, we have a classic horror invasion story. The library is infested by the Vashta Nerada, microscopic, carnivorous creatures that use shadows to hunt and latch onto their prey. River is leading an archeological expedition to investigate the final message from the library -- "4022 saved, No survivors." I find the Vashta Nerada as terrifying today as I did the first time around. In classic horror style, they waste no time picking off members of River’s team one by one. Chilling.


Harry -
Moff did it again. He turned something as blasé as dust motes floating in sunlight into absolute horror. He's mad! He's brilliant!


Sarah -
Most of us probably don’t have angel statues in our houses, but there’s always plenty of dust around!


Harry -
The instantaneous destruction that the Vashta Nerada can wreak intensifies the horror. Watching the characters being freaked out by shadows was agonizing. Because Moffat is ruthless, he threw in the ghosting effect that occurred in the communicators of the newly deceased. Miss Evangelista's ghosting was brutal to witness. Other instances like "Hey, who turned out the lights?" were not as devastating as that first one.


Sarah -
I found all of the deaths very disturbing. The whole idea is so horrifying.


Harry -
It's all a fantastic puzzle that the Doctor has to work out over two episodes. Donna was whisked away to virtual reality for most of part two, but River was there to step in. It must have been obvious even on first viewing that Donna's sudden new life was not real. The pieces slowly came together to confirm this, but the agony she experienced over losing her imaginary family was still painful. Catherine Tate, delivering drama as well as comedy.


Sarah -
The virtual reality scenes were as disturbing as the dead people repeating themselves. Doctor Moon showing up to make suggestions, like, “Why don’t you take a walk by the river?” and then Donna suddenly walking along the river gives me the heebie-jeebies. (I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever typed heebie-jeebies.) And the girl changing channels to watch the Doctor and Donna’s stories along with us. So freaking creepy.


Harry -
There was something exquisitely terrible about the fact that the Vashta Nerada rampage was triggered by the destruction of their forests. That destruction had been ordered just so that a library could be filled with specially-printed hardcover books. Augh, don't make books carry any culpability! Moffat really put us through the wringer with this one.


Sarah -
Angels bad? Fine. Dust bad? Fine. Most technology bad? Fine. Just leave the books alone, Moffat!

The Doctor and River are on the run in the library, trying to avoid Vashta Nerada and dead colleagues. The Doctor still doesn’t know what to make of River. She finally convinces him by whispering his name in his ear. It’s a quiet moment that shakes the Doctor’s world and convinces him that she’s going to be important to him in the future.

Donna eventually breaks out of the virtual reality, with a little help from Miss Evangelista, whose consciousness was uploaded when she died, and a meltdown on the part of the little girl. Turns out she’s the hard drive of the computer running the library. She was dying of an incurable disease, so her father made an imaginary world for her to live in with every book ever written and Doctor Moon to watch over her. The stress of having so many minds integrated into her own is causing her to overload, initiating the self-destruct to destroy the planet.

The more I think about this story, the more terrifying it becomes.


Harry -
Layers upon layers of fear and terrible things.

It culminates with River's death. The Doctor found a way to save Donna and the other thousands of people who were uploaded, by transferring them out of the data core. The computer's memory is insufficient to handle the transfer, so the Doctor plans to hook himself to the computer and let it borrow some of his. River objects, knocks the Doctor out, and wires herself into the computer instead. The Doctor goes apeshit, but River tells him that the moment was destined to play out this way. She knew all along that they would meet here. If he were to die, they would never have met, and River cannot give that up. So she sacrifices herself, to save everyone and preserve her timeline with the Doctor. What a way to go.


Sarah -
It's so heartbreaking!


Harry -
But she's not completely gone. The Doctor manages to upload her into the computer, where she can live on in virtual reality.


Sarah -
She looks so happy at the end, but in my head cannon, she's immediately working on way to break out of the VR universe.


Harry -
For sure!

This story is a keystone in the series. It introduces a character who will play a huge role throughout the coming Moffat era. It also foreshadows the coming end of Donna's journey. So many terrible things happen that it's hard to feel anything but drained at the end. I think it might be a while before we put ourselves through this one again, would you agree?


Sarah -
I loved watching it again, but I don't think I'll be putting it on for some light Doctor Who viewing anytime soon.


Harry -
Best Line: Among all the zingers delivered by River and Donna, I keep going back to phrases that have stuck in my mind all these years. Things like "Hey who turned out the lights?" and "Donna Noble has left the library, Donna Noble has been saved."

Favourite Moment: River enters the Doctor's life with a "Hello, Sweetie."

Lasting Image: the skeletons inside the suits.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "Hello, Sweetie." It means so much more this time. 

Favorite moment: River telling the Doctor his name. 

Lasting Image: definitely the skeletons in the suits. 

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #196: Midnight...

Story #194 - The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008)

Harry -
Ah, a Doctor Whodunnit with special guest detective Agatha Christie. What a treat!


Sarah -
A whodunnit at the country estate of retired impresario Henry Gordon Jago! (It’s my head cannon, so go with it.)


Harry -
The timing might line up just about right.


Sarah -
It’s lovely to have Christopher Benjamin back on the team!


Harry -
After putting Donna through several wringers, the TARDIS finally lands somewhere grand. "Never mind planet Zog. A party in the 1920s, that's more like it!"

And so she and the Doctor play party crashers and join the gathering guests at an Edwardian manor home. The set up was classic, as one by one we meet the cast of characters as they arrive for Colonel Hugh and Lady Clemency's garden party. It was so great to see Benjamin make his return, even if his colonel was bound to a wheelchair. Here come the others: the curious Professor Peach, the cheery Reverend Golightly, the glamorous Robina Redmond, young Roger Curbishley and the very attendant attendant, Davenport, and the guest of honour, Agatha Christie!

Gobsmacked, Donna and the Doctor barely get a chance to say hello before a cry of "murder!" rings out. Miss Chandrakala has found a body in the library, and the mystery begins.

There's something so quaint about a British murder mystery. The historic setting, the engaging characters, and the intrigue of a Christie plot. Even though someone is already dead, it still feels like a holiday.


Sarah -
Despite the corpses, this story is an opportunity to catch a mid-series breath before we plunge into the rest of the series -- and we’re going to need it.

"The Unicorn and the Wasp" isn’t meant to be more than a romp and I have to admit I enjoyed the rewatch more than I expected. My memories of it weren’t terribly positive. The wasp is a little dodgy, but this is Doctor Who, after all, and Graeme Harper’s direction more than makes up for any challenges in the production.


Harry -
Graeme Harper can spin mud into gold, and he did it again here. Lots of quick cuts, interesting angles and nonstop pace.  If this is the only light story of the season, so be it.


Sarah -
Fenella Woolgar is an excellent Agatha Christie in our latest celebrity historical. I always have mixed feelings about these stories. It’s fun to see the TARDIS team interact with characters we know (or think we know), but things can quickly get annoying -- Rose trying to get Queen Victoria to say, “We are not amused,” the Doctor feeding lines to Shakespeare, etc. There are a few of those moments in this story, which I guess are inevitable.


Harry -
What I liked here was that the Doctor didn't immediately take over and dominate, with everyone trying to keep up. It felt like there was a distinct lack of chemistry between the Doctor and Agatha. She was perplexed by his rapid fire outbursts, but not swayed, and kept pursuing her own lines of investigation.

You are right about the wasp. It was too out of place because of its oversized scale and made the story too much of a fantasy. Perhaps if they had made the alien into a swarm of wasps instead of just one giant one, that might have worked better and upped the horror. Once the big bug lost its stinger, it lost its most threatening feature and it was just a matter of time before it got killed. After the hilarious kitchen detox scene, I expected the Doctor to return and whip up some kind of bug killing powder.


Sarah -
The detox scene is classic David Tennant.


Harry -
One of the few Doctors who can pull off that kind of manic physical comedy.

After a merry round around the house and a couple of close calls, we get to the traditional reveal scene. It played out very traditionally, with some funny moments to keep it light. The unicorn was exposed as -- gasp! -- none other than the glamorous (and actually very cockney) Robina. It's funny how in North American film and television a criminal is often made more villainous by giving them a received British accent, while in actual Britain, the criminals are often given cockney accents.

Anyway, shock horror, the real killer is a gigantic alien wasp. Run away!

And everyone scatters as Reverand Golightly morphs back into the Vespiform.  Christie drives off to a nearby lake, providing Donna with the setting to kill off the alien by drowning it.  With the menace defeated, Christie passes out with amnesia and the mystery of her 10-day disappearance is sorted.  

All of that to demonstrate why British people never call the police after a murder.


Sarah -
It’s been a fun romp, but now I’m ready for a library visit. Onward?


Harry -
I believe the term "game changer" was coming into popularity everywhere around this time, and we are about to run into one of Doctor Who's all-time game changers.  Let's do it!


Sarah -
Best Line: 
Agatha Christie: Agatha Christie.
Donna: What about her?
Agatha Christie: That’s me.
Donna: No! You’re kidding!

Favorite Moment: 
The detox scene

Lasting Image: 
Donna in her 20s garb.

6/10


Harry -
Best Line:
DOCTOR: A terrible day for all of us. The Professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala taken cruelly from us, and yet we still take dinner.
CLEMENCY: We are British, Doctor. What else must we do?

Favourite Moment: 
The detox scene for sure.

Lasting Image: 
Agatha and the Doctor conducting their investigation.

7/10

Our marathon continues into a new decade with Story #195: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead...

Story #193 - The Doctor's Daughter (2008)

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...