Now, that was good. The most anticipated story in the history of "Doctor Who" - based mostly on its title, which is in itself amazing enough - turned out to be one of the best as well. The build-up did no harm, the hype was by no means undeserved - instead, the episode more than fulfilled the possible premises of success, and greatness, and earned all possinle praise it would have been expected to gain. No more superlatives may do it justice, or explain it any further - "The Doctor's Daughter" was, in a word, fantastic; and that's in a Ninth Doctor-ish, überenthusiastic, extremely pleasure-filled sense. I had my moments of doubt, of course, and my severe scepticism beforehand - as to how in the devils' names they'd manage to pull off something like this; something so...critical; but after five minutes of watching, I realized that all my uncertainties were groundless. Well-penned and well-played, exciting to the last and extremely touching; this episode captured all the basic, brilliant WHO-elements and incorporated them into one single piece of concentrated superiority. There was emotion, and loads of it; a bundle of hilarious jokes and sweet confrontations; cool villains, massive weaponry, swell locations, beautiful CGI, and some classy aliens. With bubble jars for speach organs. Me like. Moreover, a whole gang of women, old and new and disposable. Human wimminz; as we've come to define them; and this time around, the TARDIS was more or less bursting with female presence. Still, it never got painfully crowded. First, there was Donna and Martha - the latter having joined in quite unwillingly, seeing that she wanted to go home to her fiancée and continue her new and normal(ized) life, after the whole Sontaran affair, but then got trapped in a wild ride with The Doctor's space ship. Along with him and Donna, she was left a powerless observer; holdning on tight as the Blue Box hurtled away, by its own will, into random space. The merry threesome eventually ended up on some alien planet called Messaline, where they would encounter a fourth and additional member to their group; Jenny the Clone, as played by gorgeous Georgia Moffet, who is linked to this show in so many ways, and has so many WHO-stories of her own, I don't even know where to start. According to Georgia, she used to believe "everyone's father was The Doctor", which isn't so strange, considering the fact that she's the daughter of Doctor no. 5, Peter Davison - who also starred in "Time Crash" last year, alongside David Tennant. She's also friends with the children of some of the other Doctor actors. And she auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler back in 2004. What more, she looks like Romana II's identical twin. She's a big fan, she loves David Tennant, she's even got a son who is a dedicated Whovian. And, really, when they were going to write such a challenging and awfully demanding story, there was no-one more suited for handling this role than a proper Doctor's daughter herself. Despite all the fanciful speculations (and worries), the background for her appearance wasn't so complicated - she was "grown" from the DNA of The Doctor's hand tissue; brought to life by a cloning device that also played a central throughout in the rest of the episode. Given she'd been offered what's probably the hardest, most exposed and character ever to appear on DW, I think she nailed it completely, and was absolutely perfect in her portrayal of the soldier-turned-ordinary girl. An actress of magical charisma, extremely lovable, stunning, and with a smile to melt solid ice. She shared a wonderful chemistry with both Donna and The Doctor - unfortunately, Martha was kidnapped by a fish and never quite got to know her. (Yeah, got that.) Which reminds me, Catherine Tate is GOLDEN; she's wonderful, she's clever, she's charming, she's fabulous, she's got the best costumes, she's the best thing ever; and, that being said, "Doctor Who" will never be the same without her. Series 4 has, so far, proved to be utterly amazing, possibly the best yet - in terms of overall quality - and Catherine is, mainly, to thank. Next to David Tennant's unbelievable acting. And the scripts. The best bits of Saturday's episode not only establishes why this one, in particular, became such a triumph, they also exemplifiy the exact reasons why "DW" itself - at the moment, and always - maintains its position as the most top-notch and outstanding of TV entertainment; and why it deserves this honour so very, very much. In the end, however, it's all in the details. A mechanic mouse, an impulsive hug, Donna's pen and paper-ingenuity. Some copycat-"Entrapment" acrobatics. Family ties and parental guidance and Donna's consistend mocking of The Doctor, including comments on "father shock". After which the show immediately proves its brilliance by turning the whole sequence upside down with a single remark: "I've been a father before", and there you have it. The sheer sentiment. Also, Donna's slightly bitter response about talking all the time and never saying anything was just priceless. And to the point. More than anything, this story dealth with the consequences of being a restless traveller, such as The Doctor; what it means to accompany him and what follows in his wake. "Doctor Who" is a show about very odd and alien mattes that are surprisingly easy to relate to. It certainly has a lot of mythology, and albeit this might not be that hard to grasp, it does pull you in - it evokes strong impressions that are bound to leave a mark. The memories of a DW story stays with you, for a long time, and it affects you in ways unparallelled by, as far as I can tell, any other program out there.
To sum up, each episode deals with so many conflicts on so many levels, with so many alterations, and all the while beholding so many great lines, turns and features, and so many wonderful co-stars, we find ourselves spoilt with joy. Here, they'd gathered numerous unfamiliar faces who were all superbly cast as the fighters in this gruelling war between The Hath (alien fishes with bubbly jars) and common folks, or as close as it gets, aka British (?) speaking, human-looking individuals dressed up in combat gear. Neat altogether. Jenny, of course, being born and bred due from their technology, yet soon drawn away from the society from which she originated. Exciting, to say the least, to observe how The Doctor handled this rather peculiar and emotionally straining situation. David delivered some of his finest perfomances thus far; the troubling, heart-breaking realizations filtered through every expression, embodied in his every move. Almost impossible; I don't think audiences can fathom the actual difficulty of having to act in such a fashion - to express such heart-wrenching emotion in front of a camera. I bow and applaud his talent, he truly is one of a kind. I can only imagine that any trials must have been somewhat lessened by working opposite the likes of Georgia and Catherine; incredibly talented people. Freema was good too, I have to say, though she didn't get that much screen time. What separates "DW" from other, similar sci-fi programs is the humanity, ironically or not, and the quiet moments of ceased fire, where the writers allow nice characters to enjoy nice dialogues, and powerful interaction. Scenes that'll leave you shattered, battered, in tatters. I was nearly crying, but managed to re-compose myself. I mean, it was a bloody fish. With a jar. By the end, though, I couldn't help tears welling up - and I didn't care anymore, either - but I'm not sure if they were running down my cheeks or got stranded out the corner of my eyes. I was mostly absorbed in the beauty of special effect-botany; proper futuristic gardening, as great as it possibly gets; and that certain last embrace of a certain couple. My God, that was sad. Once again, allow me to honour David T. and his facial expressions. Might destroy you, but you gotta love it nonetheless. On the whole, a very dark, moving, intense, action-packed and memorable episode - that fully lived up to all the nail-biting tension, and sailed in as an obvious Number One on the top-list so far.
On a side note, though, and thinking about said darkness, there is no denying that "Doctor Who" anno 2008 is something vastly different from the beginning of Series 1 in 2005. The series has taken on a whole new set of dimensions; an immense increase when it comes to budget, PR, appearance, ambitions and - most of all - size, in every aspect of the word; and by now, it seems a far cry from the more domestic world of one curious Doctor travelling with his best mate Rose; the very limited, almost innocent apporach towards a limited, equally innocent and almost harmless sphere - as presented through their (earliest) journeys together. The point of view as introduced by Nine and Ten, with Rose, was a much more kid-like, humorous and easy one, dealing with problems of a more, well, simplistic kind. Not that these stories were any less exciting, they were just...different - opposed to the extent of Series 3 and 4. And thus, one may observe, that the series itself has changed radically and become something of a dark and moody depiction of a whole Universe bordering on chaos; not the homey, cosey atmosphere linked with old cars, chav culture, denim skirts, Jackie Tyler and the Powell Estate. "Doctor Who" as a show has undergone severe developments, obviously, and has extended beyond its own limitations; so to speak; perhaps for the better, perhaps for the increasingly more complicated. The relations, this infamous human touch, might perchance get lost in the accelerating, advancing prospects; the big scheme of it all. They now deal with evilness on a whole different scale, and the obstacles grow proportionally. It used to be a dynamic, mutually dependent duo who had lots of fun whilst defeating aliens and defending the Earth. Now it's this one, lonely man; albeit together with his allies; fighting outside threats and countless impending disasters, trying to keep his continuously breaking hearts intact. We keep wondering, how far can they take it? How massive could this become? So far so good, and that's a fact, but I wonder how they'll manage to top the season we're in at the moment, how they can keep up with themselves and cough up equally brilliant ideas to create future stories that'll match these. My greatest issue of all, however, is that I really can't imagine where said Rose will fit in with everything; she can never become part of this brave new world of the Doctor's, these new thoughts and ideas and points of view. He has been through so much and become a somewhat unrecognizable individual, commiting acts we would never have believed him capable of before. Whereas Rose, on the other hand, should have remained the same girl with whom he once shared those lighter, brighter fairy-tale adventures and had such a laugh; such a trouble-free and brilliant time, compared to what he suffers these days; which in no way suits the persona he has gradually evolved into. The only way they can solve this is by having changed her character as well, and by altering their relationship. Which is hardly desirable, in any case, and might prove very unfortunate indeed. The Rose adventures were fantastic because they were different; they were fantastic in their own right. What I dread is how they'll fix the crossover, literally speaking, how they'll...mend the gaps. "The Doctor's Daughter" sort of proves the new status and showed every aspect of The Doctor's new personality and I don't know if Rose will find this too appealing. I hope she'll provide a change to happier tendencies, though, because we do need more humour and smiling and gags; like old times. Then again, that won't fit with a darker atmosphere - which has been the general theme of both the latter seasons. Still, they sure excelled themselves at letting The Doctor become a parent, and I keep my fingers crossed for them to come up with more pleasant surprise - like this one - also involving the love of his life, Rose Tyler. We may but hope.
1 comment:
Og jeg gjentar - hvor er interessen fra de engelske avisene...
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