Written by Stephen Greenhorn
Directed by Alice Troughton
“He saves planets, rescues civiliztions, defeats terrible creatures…and runs a lot. Seriously, there is an outrageous amount of running involved.”
Ok…let’s get the stuff that makes this less than perfect out of the way, because (to be perfectly honest) it’s absolutely outrageous…
(1) The plot is ridiculous - a B-movie assembly of cliches and characters that wouldn’t be out of place in the William Hartnell era of the program. The set up is pure 1950s pulp SF (heroic blue-eyed humans vs. evil fish people), and if you don’t believe me, check out many of the scripts written by Terry (creator of the Daleks) Nation. In particular, The Keys of Marinus, Planet of the Daleks, and The Android Invasion - if you weren’t paying attention to the opening credits, you might just believe Mr. Nation returned from the dead to add to his collection of classic so-bad-they’re-good stories. No one twists their ankle, but Martha does fall down a hill…
(2) The coda wasn’t necessary…or, at the very least, rather abrupt. I like the fact that Jenny lives, and all the accompanying possibilities…but it’s so bloody contrived - far more than usual, even for Doctor Who.
OK…the above issues aside, I simply adore The Doctor’s Daughter for one reason: the acting. This was a story carried solely by the acting and the dialogue, and it’s simply brilliant!
Let’s start with Martha, who is given one more adventure that puts her through the ringer, and makes us realize, once again, (a) just how good she really is, and (b) how much of a toll traveling in the TARDIS has taken on her. I wasn’t expecting the Hath’s self-sacrifice, or Martha’s howl of anguish at his…a surprising & powerful scene.
Then we have Catherine Tate. Someone recently remarked that she was becoming the Jiminy Cricket of Doctor Who — the Doctor’s voice of conscience and voice of reason. Is this really the same loud-mouthed, over-excited bride we met two years ago? With each episode, Tate is more surprising, more delightful, and more amazing. Her relationship with the Doctor has developed into a friendship that should be the dictionary definition of truly adult behaviour…something I haven’t seen since the glory days of the 4th Doctor/Romana pairing of the late-1970s. They are remarkable together…but having a bit of pre-knowledge of what is to come, her happy exclamation of “I’m going to travel with this man forever” came close to breaking my heart…
Georgina Moffett is next on the list - literally, the Doctor’s daughter (she’s the eldest child of 5th Doctor Peter Davsion), and she proves herself to be a genuinely warm and engaging actress. Much of the role is scripted as a cliché, but that’s the key to the success of Jenny. She was birthed as a cliched, pre-programmed solider…but a bit of exposure to her “father” and she flowers into an amazing individual. She manages to fill the screen with her shining presence, and she bowls both the audience AND the Doctor over with sheer force of personality. If there was any justice in the universe, she should have survived long enough to leave with the Doctor & Donna, giving us one hell of a potential TARDIS team…
…then again, there is THAT CODA…
Finally, we have David Tennant, offering us one of his most mature performances ever at the Doctor. We haven’t seen the Doctor this hurt, this vulnerable, this melancholy about the Time Lords and the time war in quite some time… However, instead of raging and sputtering, his quiet exchanges with - and admissions to - Donna are something absolutely special to watch. His cradling of Jenny after her death makes for an interesting counter-point to the Master’s death in Last of the Time Lords. There’s a sense of maturity, resignation, and detachment that conveys his sadness and loss in a far quieter (though no less effective) manner than on that previous occasion.
It’s a B-movie nightmare, lifted into the stratosphere by an astonishing collection of high caliber performances. This isn’t Terry Nation-style Doctor Who. It’s Terry Nation ideas beaten into submission by a director with iron-clad discipline and clear focus (let’s give a big hand to Alice Troughton). It’s far from perfect, and yet the emotions and overall satisfaction border on the sublime. So let’s compromise on this feel good classic and settle on a score of…
8
Oh, and I love the Hath. Fish people should always be this Star Wars-ish in their goodness. 
