Doctor Who Series 3
I am a bit conflicted on season 3 of NuWho, it’s
occasionally absolutely sublime, but the series has quite a lot of just
painfully average and forgettable episodes. I also ultimately have a struggling
relationship, ironically, with the character of Martha, RTD seems to flip-flop or
who he wants Martha to be, occasionally even bringing down the Tenth Doctor’s
character to create this hopeless romantic in Martha. It’s certainly a weird
one is Series 3; the latter half is occasionally stellar and occasionally terrible
but without further ado let’s look back at the series episode by episode.
Smith and Jones
‘Smith and Jones’ is my favourite series opener of NuWho, it’s
sharp, witty and wonderfully exciting with an interesting concept and compelling
villains the episode always provides an entertaining 45 minutes. The introduction
of Martha is immediately identifiably interesting, she comes across as relatable
and strong-willed, it is fantastic writing to have her introduction revolve
around her conflicting family as that is a strong motivator for her character.
She immediately bounces off Ten and the two share this mutuality of
intelligence and have excellent chemistry immediately. This is probably the
most fun Tennant performance, RTD realised that The Doctor is grieving but he’s
still the same character, (I’m looking at you The Snowmen) so he copes with it
in a way that feels authentic and clearly, he’s suppressing it and being overly
joyous and eccentric. The Judoon are an excellent practically designed race,
they look incredible and their present balances out the campiness with genuine
intimidation. However, the villain of a Plasmavore is a bit lazy, she’s a fun performance
but she’s a plot point of a villain and is one step away from being a McGuffin,
more of a lazy conflict device. The resolution is rushed in typical RTD fashion,
but it fits the tone of the episode, the highlight being Martha and Ten’s
interaction in the denouement as she agrees to one trip.
The Shakespeare Code
This isn’t a very good episode, Gareth Roberts clearly just
read a Wikipedia page on Shakespeare and strung together a collection of
jokes and references into some semblance of a Doctor Who episode. I’m really not
sure why, but I’ve just never seen the appeal in this episode, its 45 minutes
of entertaining the audience with referencing Shakespeare plays, at expense of
the plot itself. The characters and events just line up annoyingly conveniently
and really pulls me out of the episode as I just can’t be invested as there’s never
any fun or motivation in the mystery. This is also the beginning of the arc that
really ruins Martha as a character, her becoming Ten’s hopeless romantic, RTD
obviously likes romance to compel emotional character development. But the extent
of this soap opera arc for her is bizarre, to be honest, it just makes the Tenth
Doctor look like a bad person and Martha to come off as irritating. There is this weird hostility and arrogance that comes out of nowhere for Ten, Tennant
is trying his best to make it fun and quirky, but it struggles to make him compelling.
Overall a bit of a dud, not much really in it in terms of character and what is
there develops into one of the worst parts of the season.
Gridlock
I love ‘Gridlock’ from the bottom of my heart, it’s dark ambitious
and daringly enticing. I’m a big fan of high concept sci-fi and I think this
pushes on just what is believable in sci-fi. The Doctor and Martha visit New Earth,
but its not the same idyllic world from last season, instead most of the population
is trapped in an infinite traffic jam, holding out hope for the capital instead
of the poverty-ridden streets they live in. Most of the episode takes place in
this beautiful traffic jam, the CGI still holds up pretty well and the makeup on
the array of supporting characters is phenomenal and interesting. This is one
of those setting-based stories, the central conflict is Martha and The Doctor
getting separated and The Doctor learning about the state of New Earth. It’s
simple, yet tense and emotional, RTD fantastically brings Ten and Martha’s relationship
into a bit of context: The Doctor is full of guilt for not giving her enough
respect and time, he states himself ‘I was too busy showing off’ and that’s
exactly where the episode shines. Although the conflict resolution is typically
convenient, it is done in a beautiful way and the Face of Boe’s death is one of
the most surprisingly emotional scenes in the series. RTD breathes new life
into his central characters through a simplistic yet extravagant narrative and
it is a series highlight for me.
Daleks in Manhattan/ Evolution of the Daleks
Oh dear. This is the beginning of the tedium of The Daleks
in NuWho, due to a rights issue, we had to have an appearance from the classic villains
every series, which resulted in lesser impact from their appearances and
writers desperately trying to do something new each time. The ‘something new’
this time was a 1950s America setting, creating an energetic and entertaining
portrayal of this time period, however, the other ‘something new’ was the Dalek’s
new-found obsession with genetic mutation, resulting in the Dalek-Human Hybrid;
one of the most disturbing strange misfires in Doctor Who history. It is such a
bizarre undermining of what makes the Dalek’s scary, The Doctor stumbles into
this story and it never feels like the Dalek’s presence has an impact on him,
other than a couple hammy lines he doesn’t have any compelling response to this
situation. No one really does, Martha’s first run into the Daleks is undermined
by her obsession with the Doctor and anything interesting and political to do
with the time is so bogged down in this packed story so none of the side
characters have that much of an impact. The third act is a ridiculous plot contrivance
of hubristic writing that really is the nail in the coffin of the Dalek’s first
but not last bad episode in NuWho.
The Lazarus Experiment
It’s Gatiss time again! But this time it’s a weird vanity
project. The Doctor decides it’s time to take Martha home, because apparently, he
still doesn’t want a companion, but then becomes distracted by a present-day
mystery involving a Professor Lazarus (subtle) building a de-ageing machine. I couldn’t
tell you what the point of this episode is at all. It's so routine yet so bizarrely
over the top, I think it might be an homage to classic horror films with a beat
by beat predictable set of clichés making up the plot. Nothing really stands
out or makes an impact in ‘the Lazarus Experiment’ except for maybe the
horrific CGI, it could be skipped entirely except for the development of Martha’s
family. This is the real beginning to the fantastic Harold Saxon arc, and it is
helped an incredible performance by Adjoa Andoh that develops the family’s
perception of The Doctor. This is one of my favourite staples of RTD’s Who, every
episode has this tether to earth to make it feel more relatable and track and
emotional and conceptual storyline throughout the series. Although the episode
itself really isn’t of that much impact, the build of Martha and Ten’s
mutuality playing in conflict with her family’s suspicion creates a really compelling
set of story beats that I prefer to the weird nonsensical plot of ‘The Lazarus
Experiment’.
42
There is something fascinating about ‘42’ as it boasts and presents
itself as a conceptual episode, using an adventure that takes place in real-time
with a stellar supporting cast and a strong visual aesthetic, but it is in fact
one of the most classic episodes of Doctor Who, The Doctor and Martha find
themselves in a ship in danger, with 42 minutes before it crashes into space
and a mysterious villainous presence is on board with them. It’s tense, fast
and compelling and I really like ‘42’, I think it uses everything great about
Doctor Who and turns it up to make one hell of an entertaining piece of
television. Martha comes into her own in this episode, up until now her dependence
on ten has been exhausting but here she takes thing into her own hands,
becoming genuinely an important device in the plot. The villain is creepy,
weird and unnerving, the fact he is a visual indicator of everything the episode
is setting up is incredible, using the red claustrophobic environment and
making the villain this unstoppable force of fire is amazing. A strong, fast
and highly compelling 42 minutes of my life.
Human Nature/ Family of Blood
I guess it is kind of unconventional to say this is my
favourite Doctor Who story of all time because it isn’t really a conventional
episode of Doctor Who. Adapted from Paul Cornell’s iconic novel, this story is
a quiet, emotional and surreal take on identity and humanity, and I love every
second of it. The Doctor has disguised himself as a human, to hide from a Family
of aliens, he shelters in 1913 and starts a life as a teacher with Martha as
his maid. It is a fascinating turn of convention, the plot is compelled by
Martha as a strong character, she lives in fear and isolation and it instantly
makes her so much more likeable. The villains are iconic, Harry Lloyd’s incredible
creepy performance as Baines and this entire family with their scarecrow army
are unnerving and threatening. Oh, and this is David Tennant’s best performance
by far, he is empathetic and charming and his relationship with Jessica Hynes’
character (who is just stellar) almost makes you wish he didn’t go back to
being The Doctor. Seeing this man learn of who he is, coming to terms with
having to leave his perfect life behind will crack even the toughest of eggs,
this is, in my opinion, one of the most emotional stories Doctor Who has ever
approached. After the iconic ‘fury of the timelord’ speech, we are treated to an
homage to the veteran community and it perfectly closes out an emotional and
downright perfect Doctor Who story.
Blink
Surely after the previous two-parter there is no doubt that
Doctor Who can’t maintain this perfect run. Yes, it can, and it does, and it’s ‘Blink’.
You know how good ‘Blink’ is, Moffat returns to create NuWho’s golden hour, a mind-bending
ambitious take on the horror genre, making a Doctor-Lite story a clever and
subversive experience. The characters of the Weeping Angels became instantly iconic,
they are unnerving and downright terrifying and Moffat hasn’t been able to recreate
this magic blend of genuine terrifying Television with a fantastic cast of characters.
Sally Sparrow is likeable and compelling as handover protagonist and Mulligan
really sells her as a means to connect the audience to the ambitious plot. How Moffat
handles time travel is the first time in NuWho where time travel feels like an
interesting part of the plot, it isn’t a means to travel to a certain location
and start the plot, it is a part of the narrative creating as The Doctor
describes it a ‘wibbly wobbly’ narrative experience. It doesn’t quite get
smarter than ‘Blink’, the first time you watch it there is this fear and
tension and confusion that is euphoric.
Utopia
Although technically a start in a three parter, I see ‘Utopia’
as strong enough to stand on its own two feet. The return of Captain Jack Harkness
results in The Doctor and Martha ending up at the end of civilisation, before
that became a Moffat cliché. It is a dark, grim and slow-paced turn and lead up
to those glorious final moments propelling the series into the finale. The
opening act is a fast-paced exciting sequence, but the rest of the episode is a
slower more philosophical build up, which is a really nice way to handle this
reveal. Seeing Jack and The Doctor back together and their dialogue with Martha
feels satisfying as well as quite melancholy, the two discuss Rose and
immortality and it almost acts as a moment of closure for Ten and I really
think his character benefits a lot from that. Derek Jacobi is of course just outstanding
as Professor Yana, it’s a shame we never got more of him as he plays this confused
and slightly sinister genius on this level of subtlety that makes the ending surprising
yet believable. I love Utopia, it does a lot with a little and the final
moments is one hell of a cliff-hanger, Simm lights up the screen as The Master indulging
on the campiness in an RTD fashion making the finale one very highly
anticipated two parter.
The Sound of Drums/ The Last of the Time Lords
This finale is nothing more than a glorious, ambitiously exciting
wonderful story that I sometimes love or and I sometimes hate which basically
is the perfect way to finish the series. The Master is prime minister, and he’s
hypnotised the whole world to allow him to bring on the apocalypse. The stakes
are high, the tension is addictive and Simm is so over the top, so entertaining
and genuinely menacing. As a Doctor Who fan, I just kind of can’t help but take
this as a guilty pleasure, ‘The Sound of Drums’ is a politically charged spy
thriller that beautifully captivates The Doctor/Master relationship in an over
the top tense ride with such a just glorious third act that makes me smile. ‘The
Last of the Time Lords’ probably just tips over the line of camp into ridiculous,
yet the quieter moments are some of the best in the series, Martha’s journey is
downright incredible. Her emotional drive and the stakes and the globe
travelling adventure is glorious, this is her redemption and if you ignore the
pay off for what is set up, it works wonderfully. For me, the big let down is
RTD makes this compelling high stake adventure and tucks it up a bit too neatly,
the only way this plot could end is with convenience and that is disappointing,
I love the idea of it, I love spreading a message of The Doctor across the
world as it is emotionally satisfying, just Jesus Doctor is a bit much. The Master’s
death is genuinely emotional and feels like no better time to shout out Murray
Gold’s score that makes this episode as incredibly epic as it is. Martha’s
final moments feel earned and a brilliant end to her character and I think the good
outweighs the bad for me on this ridiculous, beautifully over the top finale.
Voyage of the Dammed
The Christmas specials just never work, do they? This
episode just really doesn’t work or add up or stick the landing in any capacity
which is really disappointing because this should be the turn of a new Doctor. After
losing Martha, Ten was supposed to mature, to calm his ego and to treat other
people with the respect and admiration they deserve. But instead we get a weird
attack on capitalism, tourism and religion with Kylie Minogue? I just don’t get
it. Its such a big farce of an episode, with the focus being on effects and
action and aliens designs but lacking all of RTD’s character and impact,
throwing it away for a over zealous ego boost for Ten with the dramatic
speeches that would become downright exhausting as The Doctor becomes more and
more vain. Kylie Minogue is fine I guess, she isn’t really the most
accomplished actor and feels way too whimsy for this story. It is one of the
only ‘specials’ that falls into the category of feeling like a ‘special’
episode, with cameos and spectacle over anything that genuine to the series
arc. This episode gets on my nerves a bit if you can’t tell I just don’t see
the appeal.
In conclusion, before writing this review I was a lot more
negative than I remember but I thoroughly enjoyed this series again, it is a
bit more messy and entertainingly ridiculous than the others. But it does have
some of the most emotional heights of the show, I see some stories as genuinely
near perfect and the rest have at least some entertainment factor to them. Thanks
for reading!