As promised, here is the first batch of my reviews for this past season…
Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by James Hawes
“I’m the Doctor. And if you don’t like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority…there isn’t one. It stops with me!”
Series two launches with flashes, bangs, and lots of OOMPH!. The effects work in New Earth is staggering for television: futuristic city-scapes, air traffic chaos, Borg-like hospital experiment chambers, astonishing feline make-up for the Sisters, staggering location work…it’s mini-Hollywood! A pity the story is fairly lame — not a lot of depth on display. The return of Cassandra is a welcome link to series one, but her body-swapping plans and attempted blackmail doesn’t exactly set hearts racing. As for the experimental flesh farm…it tries REALLY hard to be meaningful, and Tennant sells it for all he’s worth (with a nice moment of anger on his part), but it isn’t as effective as it might have looked on paper.
That said, as a season opener, it isn’t really concerned with plot, but with characters and impact…and boy, does David Tennant make an impact. All energy, passion, curiosity — he’s like Tom Baker’s Doctor might have been as a teenager…on acid! But the acting gets even better once Cassandra swaps bodies with Rose, and then the Doctor. Billie Piper is just phenomenal, as she channels the vain-glorious Cassandra…and then David Tennant gives her a run for her money! And you can rewind dozens of times to the wonderful scene where Cassandra-Doctor tells Rose that “you’ve been looking…you LIKE IT!”
So…not a lot of substance, but an amazing overload of style — the ultimate sugar rush of eye candy — and an ending that some people find a little unconvincing, but others (myself included) found rather neat & touching. Hardly a classic, but a nice way to dive into a new year of Doctor Who.
6
Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Euros Lyn
“I don’t know who you are, the two of you, or where you’re from…but I know that you consort with stars and magic, and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it.”
Now THIS is the stuff! Queen Victoria! The Scottish Highlands! A creepy house with Harry Potter-ish sensibilities! Kung Fu monks! A great big freaking WEREWOLF!
Only in Doctor Who can you possibly get away with all of these elements in a single story!
Tooth and Claw is one of Davies best scripts for the series: a flawless combination of legendary folk lore, alien influence, period elegance, and adrenaline-pumping action-adventure. Right from the astonishing teaser sequence, this episode builds and builds, taking just enough pauses to help ramp up the tension between moments of sheer terror, and moments of intense confrontation.
Pauline Collins (who’s done everything from Upstairs Downstairs to Shirley Valentine), forty years removed from her last appearance on Doctor Who, simply IS Queen Victoria, in a way I’ve never seen portrayed on screen. So much strength of will, yet visibly frail and terrified as the boundaries of her world threaten to crash down around her…and she simply WON’T accept it!
Tennant and Piper are on top form, and this time, we get an outsider’s perspective of their life, as Queen Victoria (twice) judges them as creatures that revel in the chaos and terror of the universe. Even as we’re excited by watching the Doctor’s assertiveness and passion (rude, sarcastic wall-licker that he is!) in solving the mystery of the wolf and its connection to Torchwood House, Victoria’s suspicion and anger flows like an undercurrent of damnation throughout the episode.
Ah yes…Torchwood. See here the foundation stone being set for the spin-off show…and see here the first indication that not everyone on Earth is waiting for the Doctor as a saviour. I sense a season story arc forming…
The music is incredible in its pulse-pounding intensity, the direction is breathtaking (the close-ups used for the gunfire…the wolf-transformation…and just look at the way the highlands are filmed — an oil painting come to life), and the conclusion will leave you going “BUT…BUT…!” This is definitely THE episode to watch on a dark and stormy night.
Even the CGI werewolf is brilliant. 
9
Written by Toby Whitehouse
Directed by James Hawes
“The Universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it’s a world or a relationship. Everything has its time and everything ends.”
School Reunion is an insidiously crafted masterpiece.
First of all, it manages to present to millions of new Doctor Who fans — only vaguely aware of its rich history of past characters — a fait accompli in shape of Sarah Jane Smith, companion from the Doctor’s past. However, the exposition is just enough to let new fans know about her history with the Doctor, her background as a journalist, and her place as the “Rose” of 1970s Doctor Who. She’s included in the drama as if she’s always been there; a combination of good writing, and the outstanding performances of David Tennant and Elisabeth Sladen. How many other long running series could get away with re-introducing a 30 year old character THIS effortlessly?
On the other hand, for the millions of long time Doctor Who fans who know Sarah Jane intimately…this is an unabashed love letter to classic Doctor Who. Sarah AND K9, together again…completely at home in new Doctor Who, as they were in classic Doctor Who. The more things change, the more they stay the same — THAT could be the motto for Elisabeth Sladen. Gorgeous and vital at 58, you’d think she’s spent her entire life travelling with the Doctor…preserved! Rose’s jealousy of the Doctor and Sarah’s relationship leads to some brilliant character revelations on the part of the Time Lord. He confirms the reason he’s always moving on, because he can’t bear to see those nearest and dearest to him age and decay. It’s fan heaven…without a trace of fanwank overload. And if you don’t cry during the final goodbye…and don’t jump for joy with the revelation that follows…then why are you watching this bloody show?
It’s all neatly wrapped up in a simple yet exciting plot to use school children to crack the creation equation…and the leader of the alien horde is EVIL GILES himself: the brilliant Anthony Head, late of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His confrontation with the Doctor beside the swimming pool is one of THE pre-eminent scenes in the history of the series.
Any episode that manages to do all this, AND make its audience laugh, cheer, and weep with sadness and joy, is worth its weight in gold. Absolutely splendid! And K9 kicks big-bat-people ass!
9
Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Euros Lyn
“One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.”
This isn’t ordinary Doctor Who…this is Doctor Who as pure art. It should have its own installation at the Tate Modern!
Watch as David Tennant gives the world an utterly magnificent performance. Watch him spend 45 minutes showcasing each and every facet of the Doctor’s psyche in a way we have NEVER seen before. His tightly-controlled passion, his twisted sense humour, his wonder at the universe, his all encompassing sadness at everything he’s seen and suffered…
…and his deep, aching loneliness. The lonely god indeed.
This is a Doctor-centric love story, but not simply a mushy-mushy boy-meets-girl runaround. This is the story of a god who, however briefly, opens himself up to a lowly but beautiful mortal, in the shape of Madame du Pompadour — played with stupendous poise by Sophia Myles. The god, for a brief, glorious moment, gives in to his desire to take the slow path, and sacrifices all to be part of something…to be part of someone’s life…to have an everyday life of his own…
…and then it comes to an end. Was there ever such a beautiful closing scene, as we transition from the dark, mourning halls of Versailles, to the Doctor reading his good bye letter in the vast, empty TARDIS…to that final revelation as the time machine dematerializes? I doubt it…
This is a work of unqualified genius. The dialogue is genius. The humour is genius.
Somewhere, in the midst of all this astonishing character work, we get a beautiful musical score that deserves an award, a series of masquerading clockwork robots that are works of art in their own right, Rose and Mickey on fine form as the first companion “team” in decades, and some of the most sumptuous production design to ever grace a Doctor Who story: from the gardens of Versailles, to the great hall, 18th century French cityscapes, and one very impressive spaceship, complete with lost horse!
This is Doctor Who as sublime perfection, one of the best episodes in the history of the entire series. A magical mix of fantasy, science fiction, farce, terror, and love…there are very few episodes that sum up the greatness of Doctor Who as well as The Girl in the Fireplace. This is Doctor Who as Da Vinci would have done it.
10
