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khaosworksSo: The Doctor's Daughter.
This is one of those oddly mixed reviews. On the one hand, as originally conceived and written, the episode would have been a collossal waste of time and would fit my prediction of one of those standalone insignificant episodes before the big two-parter that kicks the second half of the series into higher gear. On the other hand, the last two minutes or so of the episode (just barely) justifies slogging through a rushed, almost insipid mashup of good and bad ideas. On the other, other hand, there was some really good acting from David Tennant. On the other, other, other hand, it was a perfect waste of Freema Agyeman as Martha, and just proved to us again why, post-Barbara and Ian, three companions and the Doctor were tough to juggle (old fogeys will remember the fate of Nyssa in Kinda and Earthshock). On the other, other, other, other hand, Georgia Moffett is both hot and adorable.
So I really wanted to like this, and I liked bits, but the suck was slowly taking over. If it was a bad idea, badly done, I wouldn't be as annoyed or disappointed, but it had potential. And right up on my top ten things that piss me off no end is "wasted potential".
Let's get what is going to be an oft-abused term out of the way. Jenny isn't a Mary Sue: at least not in the way it's classically defined, as a author surrogate. If you're going to use it with the "everyone loves her" criterion, then it fails because the Doctor certainly doesn't love her on first sight. By that kind of reasoning, Captain Jack was a Mary Sue (and he wasn't). If there is a Mary Sue in the new series at all, it's Rose Tyler - no coincidence about those intitials and the first two initials of the executive producer's name, that. And the incessant harping on how she was the "best" got annoying real quick.
I've never really understood this obsession with Rose: she was a good companion, to be sure (and Billie Piper was excellent in the role), but nothing exceptional. If RTD had had the nerve to let Paul Abbott's script about Rose being "manufactured" as the perfect companion (similar to Sam Jones in the Eighth Doctor Adventures books) go through, it might have actually made sense. But as it is, I was left wondering what all the angst was all about. I could go on, but I digress.
But back to The Doctor's Daughter. From the commentary, we know that Jenny was supposed to die and not come back. It was Steven Moffat's idea that she be resurrected. Kudos to the Moff, because Jenny's too good a character, and Georgia Moffett's chemistry with Tennant also too good to waste. The problem is that as a result, it feels tacked on and needlessly manipulative. The bad guy making one final attempt to kill the hero just when the happy ending is nigh and the girl taking the bullet isn't just clichéd - it's old and lazy. And from the moment I glanced at the clock and saw a good ten minutes left in the episode, I had a feeling Jenny was going to return, and when I saw the lingering shots on her, I was dead certain. Not that I didn't want her to come back, don't get me wrong; I just wanted it to be done in a less hamfisted way.
This is the kind of episode that makes me long for the old days of the multi-part serials. Because at its core, the idea of a seven-day old war and thousands of generations being raised on a history of Chinese whispers is pretty interesting, and deserved to be explored in more detail. In the old days, Martha's trip overland could have taken a good episode all on its own, and Donna's figuring out the dates would have made a killer Part Three cliffhanger ("The war started just seven days ago!" Zoom in on Peter Davison's shocked face and cue beeeeeeeee-oooooow dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah dah...).
As it was, the sci-fi idea was struggling for supremacy with the emotional content, and we all can kind of guess which one would be on the agenda these days. Which again isn't necessarily a bad thing (see what I mean by mixed feelings?), but it does make the episode feel schizophrenic in tone and does both ideas a disservice. This could have rated a two-parter, and a defter hand than Stephen Greenhorne, and they just screwed it up. As I said, Martha was a waste: what, precisely, was her trek across the surface supposed to accomplish aside from killing off the random alien of the week whom we didn't even get to know well enough to feel sorry for? And as an alien concept, the Hath must have looked good on paper, but when your dialogue consists of "bubble bubble bubble" it's hard to work up any empathy.
I also had issues with the photography: Alice Troughton's a pretty good director, but the choice of the tight, claustrophobic camera angles which worked in the tunnels just didn't work when the feel of the garden at the end was just as claustrophobic. If you're not going to spend the money to give us a CGI terraforming at the end, at least try to give us a bit more Genesis Cave scope rather than making it feel like an arboretum extension to a bungalow (hell, the jungle in Planet of Evil felt bigger). This was a perfectly good opportunity to open the episode up, get a bit more cinematic, and they didn't take it. Maybe it was done on the cheap, and I'm being unfair. But even if it was, it deserved better.
Don't get me started on the stove lighter rifles.
In the end, only a few bright, glimmering spots, and all down to the actors rather than the script. Tennant's playing of the Time War and the speech about how a Time Lord is more than just biology is played brilliantly, rising miles above the source material because of the subtlety and the passion. Moffett's devil-may-care smile that could light up several cities on its own makes the last line of the episode delightful rather than banal. Tate, despite having to re-emphasize Donna's Supertemp abilities, does a great job in once again showing she's a damn good companion (Could Rose have figured out the dates? I don't think so). But poor Freema, reduced to soaking herself in gunge and entering a crying jag that would make Korean soap operas embarassed.
Full marks for the character of Jenny. Minus a whole bunch of marks for the execution. Let's hope that when we see her again (and it does seem inevitable), it's in more competent hands. Jenny Who has a nice ring to it...
This is one of those oddly mixed reviews. On the one hand, as originally conceived and written, the episode would have been a collossal waste of time and would fit my prediction of one of those standalone insignificant episodes before the big two-parter that kicks the second half of the series into higher gear. On the other hand, the last two minutes or so of the episode (just barely) justifies slogging through a rushed, almost insipid mashup of good and bad ideas. On the other, other hand, there was some really good acting from David Tennant. On the other, other, other hand, it was a perfect waste of Freema Agyeman as Martha, and just proved to us again why, post-Barbara and Ian, three companions and the Doctor were tough to juggle (old fogeys will remember the fate of Nyssa in Kinda and Earthshock). On the other, other, other, other hand, Georgia Moffett is both hot and adorable.
So I really wanted to like this, and I liked bits, but the suck was slowly taking over. If it was a bad idea, badly done, I wouldn't be as annoyed or disappointed, but it had potential. And right up on my top ten things that piss me off no end is "wasted potential".
Let's get what is going to be an oft-abused term out of the way. Jenny isn't a Mary Sue: at least not in the way it's classically defined, as a author surrogate. If you're going to use it with the "everyone loves her" criterion, then it fails because the Doctor certainly doesn't love her on first sight. By that kind of reasoning, Captain Jack was a Mary Sue (and he wasn't). If there is a Mary Sue in the new series at all, it's Rose Tyler - no coincidence about those intitials and the first two initials of the executive producer's name, that. And the incessant harping on how she was the "best" got annoying real quick.
I've never really understood this obsession with Rose: she was a good companion, to be sure (and Billie Piper was excellent in the role), but nothing exceptional. If RTD had had the nerve to let Paul Abbott's script about Rose being "manufactured" as the perfect companion (similar to Sam Jones in the Eighth Doctor Adventures books) go through, it might have actually made sense. But as it is, I was left wondering what all the angst was all about. I could go on, but I digress.
But back to The Doctor's Daughter. From the commentary, we know that Jenny was supposed to die and not come back. It was Steven Moffat's idea that she be resurrected. Kudos to the Moff, because Jenny's too good a character, and Georgia Moffett's chemistry with Tennant also too good to waste. The problem is that as a result, it feels tacked on and needlessly manipulative. The bad guy making one final attempt to kill the hero just when the happy ending is nigh and the girl taking the bullet isn't just clichéd - it's old and lazy. And from the moment I glanced at the clock and saw a good ten minutes left in the episode, I had a feeling Jenny was going to return, and when I saw the lingering shots on her, I was dead certain. Not that I didn't want her to come back, don't get me wrong; I just wanted it to be done in a less hamfisted way.
This is the kind of episode that makes me long for the old days of the multi-part serials. Because at its core, the idea of a seven-day old war and thousands of generations being raised on a history of Chinese whispers is pretty interesting, and deserved to be explored in more detail. In the old days, Martha's trip overland could have taken a good episode all on its own, and Donna's figuring out the dates would have made a killer Part Three cliffhanger ("The war started just seven days ago!" Zoom in on Peter Davison's shocked face and cue beeeeeeeee-oooooow dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah dah...).
As it was, the sci-fi idea was struggling for supremacy with the emotional content, and we all can kind of guess which one would be on the agenda these days. Which again isn't necessarily a bad thing (see what I mean by mixed feelings?), but it does make the episode feel schizophrenic in tone and does both ideas a disservice. This could have rated a two-parter, and a defter hand than Stephen Greenhorne, and they just screwed it up. As I said, Martha was a waste: what, precisely, was her trek across the surface supposed to accomplish aside from killing off the random alien of the week whom we didn't even get to know well enough to feel sorry for? And as an alien concept, the Hath must have looked good on paper, but when your dialogue consists of "bubble bubble bubble" it's hard to work up any empathy.
I also had issues with the photography: Alice Troughton's a pretty good director, but the choice of the tight, claustrophobic camera angles which worked in the tunnels just didn't work when the feel of the garden at the end was just as claustrophobic. If you're not going to spend the money to give us a CGI terraforming at the end, at least try to give us a bit more Genesis Cave scope rather than making it feel like an arboretum extension to a bungalow (hell, the jungle in Planet of Evil felt bigger). This was a perfectly good opportunity to open the episode up, get a bit more cinematic, and they didn't take it. Maybe it was done on the cheap, and I'm being unfair. But even if it was, it deserved better.
Don't get me started on the stove lighter rifles.
In the end, only a few bright, glimmering spots, and all down to the actors rather than the script. Tennant's playing of the Time War and the speech about how a Time Lord is more than just biology is played brilliantly, rising miles above the source material because of the subtlety and the passion. Moffett's devil-may-care smile that could light up several cities on its own makes the last line of the episode delightful rather than banal. Tate, despite having to re-emphasize Donna's Supertemp abilities, does a great job in once again showing she's a damn good companion (Could Rose have figured out the dates? I don't think so). But poor Freema, reduced to soaking herself in gunge and entering a crying jag that would make Korean soap operas embarassed.
Full marks for the character of Jenny. Minus a whole bunch of marks for the execution. Let's hope that when we see her again (and it does seem inevitable), it's in more competent hands. Jenny Who has a nice ring to it...
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 09:33 am (UTC)I did like this episode, but I understand how you might have felt manipulated by Jenny's resurrection. I just sort of figured it was going to happen. ;)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:11 am (UTC)There are better ways to do this, and certainly more gutsier ways. Which feeds back into how Doctor Who is getting way too cozy again.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 10:28 am (UTC)Mercifully, the main thing I remember about Earthshock is the exultation at them getting rid of Adric, the Wet Companion To End All Wet Companions.
*dons flameproof underwear* ;-)
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 10:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-15 08:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 10:44 am (UTC)Why, oh why, did this ever sound like a good idea?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:11 am (UTC)As for Jenny's death/resurrection, I felt far more manipulated by her death, partly because it was so very obvious that it was going to happen. And so, as a result, I found myself caring much less about her during the course of the episode. Now, after she was dead, it was also clear that she would come back, but I was less manipulated by that because that suspicion only lasted some five minutes before it was confirmed.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:17 am (UTC)Presumably the Hath weren't born with that remarkably unworkable-looking breathing apparatus grafted to their schnozzles. And if they need it to function in human-compatible atmospheres, then where's the Hath terraforming device, or how is this remotely a co-colonisation project?
There were good things in there somewhere, and I can look at Georgia Moffett till the cows come home (and probably after that: cows really don't compete) but there needed to be more, and my willingness to cut nuWho some slack evaporated a long time ago.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-12 11:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-13 03:01 am (UTC)I agree with you that this could have been a much better story than it was, and for the same reasons.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-13 01:21 pm (UTC)So this has been 7 days - all the soldiers are dying off and are "born" as healthy 20 somethings with a complete battle knowledge and tight pants... so how come Cobb is a guy in his 50s with a completely out of place West Country accent.
Unless they also all age and die at several hundred times normal it just doesn't work and that doesn't bode well for the continuation of the human-Hath colony.
Oh, yeah, and what happened to the Tardis translation system?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-13 01:25 pm (UTC)I think the system was working though. Just not for us as far as the Hath were concerned. :P
Jenny Who
Date: 2008-05-19 02:10 am (UTC)1) Basically, I agree on both the pluses and minuses you mention.
2) According to IMDB, Georgia Moffett is the daughter of Peter Davison. Nifty!
3) Anyone else reminded of Ray Bradbury's "Frost and Fire"?