It’s finally here – the new season of Doctor Who and with it comes another roundtable for Fractal Matter as we give you our thoughts on the series and links to any weird and wonderful offshoots.
What are our hopes going into this season?
Alasdair Stuart (AS): A definite tonal change after the lumpy and at times, narrative requirements notwithstanding, WAY too smug second year. I’d like to something darker, something that emphasises how alien the Doctor is and something which finally forces him to confront what happened to the Time Lords and his role in it.
Also, UNIT.
Although The Master would do.
Mo Ali (Mo): I’d like to see some more backstory re: Gallifrey and the Time Lords, as opposed to just vague ‘Time War’ references. A few more alien worlds. Someone from the Doctor’s past, besides the Daleks and Cybermen, by which I mean specifically the ‘Master’ or ‘Rani’. There seem to be hints and clues to this, so you never know.
Russell Hillman (RH): Overall I’ve been pleased with the previous two seasons, so the least I can hope for is more of the same. As Mo and Alasdair have said, a little more detail about the rest of the Time Lords and what happened in the Time War. A little less over-the-top than some of last year, a little less gurning and clowning.
James Dodsworth (JD): I think the previous two seasons have been very strong, so hopefully they won’t mess it up third time around. I’m looking forward to some great episodes from Moffet and Cornell amongst others.
Mark Peyton (MP): Got to go with wanting to know more about the Time War and its ramifications. I’m also hopeful that because of the presence of the Paul Cornell two parter that we do get a look at the darker aspects of the 10th Doctor, that we saw alluded to in The Runaway Bride.
So our first impressions of Martha Jones?
Mo: Too good to be true? I’m not sure, but the companions should have some negative aspects. On the whole though she’s different enough from Rose in personality and the type of intelligence she brings to the TARDIS. It’ll be interesting to see how the family left behind reacts to her ‘vanishing’. Perfect casting.
AS: Much better than I expected. Freema Agyeman has the dubious honour of being one of the worst of the C-list actors in year two and when she was announced I was, shall we say, concerned. However, ten minutes in it was all forgotten. She’s whip smart in a way which is similar enough to Rose to ease fans into her arrival and different enough to be interesting and the banter between her and Tennant felt natural and unforced. Plus, the scene on the hospital balcony tells us everything we need to know about Martha in two minutes flat. Utterly fearless, up for a challenge and not prepared to put up with any of the Doctor’s crap. This ought to be an interesting season.
RH: Reasonably impressed. She seems smart and capable, and up for adventure. Different enough to Rose to make a difference, and yet still very close to the usual companion style.
JD: Wasn’t too sure at first, but her attitude with the Doctor was done very well and I liked her a lot more by the end of the episode. Initially she is a lot less grating than Rose, but time will tell if she has emotional resonance with the Doctor.
MP: I’ve got to say that on first impressions compared to Rose I’m a lot more positive. Rose annoyed me by being quite bitchy in season 2 and Jackie and Mickey really did not come across well in their initial appearances. If we can limit the family onscreen time then I’ll be much happier.
Sad Doctor?
RH: Not any more. With Martha on board, the Doctor can start afresh, and I think that he has.
JD: Thank god, no. It was very important to wipe the slate a little with this episode, and it’s god to have the more upbeat Doctor back. Even if he has some serious hair issues during the episode.
Mo: If anyone hadn’t seen the Runaway Bride, then they might be forgiven for thinking that the Doctor doesn’t seem overly troubled by past events (losing Rose), however I can understand the creators wishing to start the series with less emotional baggage.
AS: Not at all. I think the Plasmavore nailed it with that line about ‘Laughing in the darkness’. This isn’t Sad Doctor - this is a very distanced, very grim Doctor who in the first episode isolates himself from the TARDIS because he’s curious about something. He’s getting, if not fatalistic, then certainly careless and given the rumours about the back end of the season especially, that’s a very intriguing direction to take things. Plus, let’s not forget, he effectively killed himself. In the first episode.
Plus, Tennant’s on blistering form here. It’s weird, the first season with a new Doctor is always a bumpy ride and his first year was no exception. Here though, he’s on cracking form. What Charlie Brooker called the ‘Ohhhh! SPACE!’ boisterous smugness is still there but it’s in context now and he appears to have brought back the idea that this Doctor is brilliant, incapable of shutting up and more than a little absent minded. The obsession with his destroyed Sonic Screwdriver was great, as was the ‘And AGAIN’ kicking off the second chase. He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s clearly slightly mad and he’s in total control of the character. Nicely done.
MP: I’ve got to disagree with most of my colleagues again. Maybe it’s that I’m watching for things, but the ‘laughing in the darkness’ line was spot on. Ignore the bit about the Sonic Screwdiver and notice that he just killed another being. After the deaths caused in The Runaway Bride and he’s starting to add up the kills. So quite a damaged Doctor now and hopefully by taking up with Martha he’s recognised he needs the check to keep him balanced.
The story?
Mo: I quite liked it, what’s not to like about talking Rhinos? The premise was a bit forced I thought (blood-sucking fugitive in the hospital) but overall it was fun. Raining on the moon. Brilliant.
AS: Intro stories always drag, that’s the law. If Rose and Smith and Jones had been swapped, then people would have complained that Rose dragged and that’s arguably the best intro story Who has ever done. Nonetheless there was so much going on here (Hospital! On the moon! Rhino cops! Leather aliens! Roy Marsden! Dead Roy Marsden! X Ray Machine of Death! MRI of ULTIMATE Death!) that you didn’t really have time to realise how much architecture was there instead of plot. Plus, whilst I thought the actress in question was great in Dinnerladies, an old lady with a straw does not a frightening villain make. Ever.
Nonetheless, nice ideas all the way through and I suspect this episode may be put in a very different context later on. The Mr Saxon reference did not go unnoticed, and neither did the Plasmavore’s line about ‘Terrible things to come’. Why was she running from Earth? Why were the Judoon sent to Earth to find her? Who hired them? The Doctor had a brother?
Lots of questions, some good jokes and only one horrendous scene (See below). As intro episodes go, this was pretty good. As setting out the shop for year three goes, this has the potential to be fantastic.
RH: There were obvious comparisons with Rose’s introduction (Deliberately highlighted with the hand grab/”Run!” and Martha’s walk into the Tardis then back out and around), but most of those were the obvious background details to be ticked off - job/family/background/initial response to Doctor/aliens/Tardis. The Judoon made a reasonable threat, and the visual of the upward rain and the hospital on the moon was very interesting. An old woman in a dressing gown holding a drinking straw is not the most terrifying threat, but any little kid who went to see their Grandma on Sunday morning and was offered a straw to drink through may feel otherwise.
JD: Certainly a lot going on what with a hospital being ripped from London and transported to the moon, animal headed aliens, spaceships and blood sucking grannies. It was only after the episode finished I realised just how much they had crammed into the story. Not a bad effort from RTD, certainly better than some of his previous episodes.
MP: At least in this story they acknowledged previous alien encounters, rather than take the mass hysteria explanation which only goes so far. I did enjoy that Roy Marsden’s consultant who was sucked dry by the pseudo vampire was one B Stoker. It followed on well from Runaway Bride and various themes for this season seemed to be set up. They were less than subtle with the Mr Saxon connection to run in the background this season, but maybe it will just ramp up the anticipation. As a first story it was quite fun and bodes well for the rest of the season.
Special Effects?
Mo: The rhino animatronics weren’t perfect but worked. The CG was very good involving the ships and the ‘H20 scoop’.
AS: The Judoon are a great design (Loved the brutalist spaceships) and idea and bless ‘em, the BBC are definitely getting better at prosthetics. Slightly awkward but they worked. The scenes with the hospital on the moon, the H20 scoop and the Judoon landing were excellent though - the perfect mix of kitchen sink and pulp insanity that Doctor Who does so well.
Plus, motorcycle couriers in full kit win, hands down, the award for best cheap alien henchman idea, EVER.
RH
JD: Pretty good from the Beeb. The aliens were pretty well done, with the important budget saving helmets running amok. I thought the spaceships were particulary well done, mind.
Overall impression of the start of the season.
Mo: I like the energy and sense of adventure which Russell T Davies has given to the start of this season, not always easy and even more difficult with the past events that have taken place.
AS: Orders of magnitude better than last year, which I actually liked. The dynamic between Martha and the Doctor is tons of fun, we got a lot of events in a small space and the whole thing moved so fast you forgot the plot inconsistencies. However, my one concern is Martha’s family. That last scene with them was pantomime and if I have to sit through twelve bloody episodes of Martha’s dad yelling ‘I’M PUTTING MY FOOT DOWN!’ whilst his bimbo witters on about shopping I will NOT be a happy bunny.
RH: Impressive, more so than New Earth. It will be interesting to see how Martha’s family are handled by comparison (Although a companion whose parents are happily married would have been nice). I have high hopes for this season.
On the other hand, we have a companion whose first adventure was aliens attacking her workplace, and the next two stories are a trip to the past to meet a well-known writer, and a trip into the year five billion - it seems very familiar.
MP: I think the Doctor is going over old ground to try and get back some of that Rose magic, and I predict that Martha will notice and tell him to knock it off.
JD: A good, if not amazing, start. I would go with the worries about Martha’s family though. We know how important RTD sees “normal” characters in order to ground the series and the companion, but “normal” seems to consist of loony families with soap-opera stories.