|
The Doctor's Daughter Format Reviewed: TV Review This episode title alone was always going to cause a lot of controversy within the Doctor Who fan community. Without knowing the storylines, many images are conjoured of what could happen, many of these invoking memories of past companion Susan, and other possible eventualities. The dicision to write such a story was always going to shrouded in loud opinion, likely both for and against, with fans having some very strong opinions on the decisions taken in the production of this story. The TARDIS, of its own accord, takes The Doctor, Donna and a reluctant Martha to a planet called Messaline, where the Doctor's hand is forcibly placed in a pro-generator that clones a warrior based on his DNA, and is announced to be his Daughter, who is later named Jenny. The Humans fight off an attack from the Hath, but Martha is captured, and she pops a Hath shoulder back in its socket, thus being accepted as friendly. The Doctor goes back to Human HQ and discovers that the Humans are fighting the Hath, all searching for The Source that will win them the war. The Doctor shows them hidden portions of their tunnel map, and the location of the source is revealed to both Human and Hath factions. Both set off for The Source, with The Doctor and Donna going ahead with his Daughter, having escaped from their prison cell. Martha also heads for The Source accross the surface with a Hath, who unfortunately dies en-route. The Doctor makes it to The Source first, and discovers it is a terraforming device, used to create life on barron planets and succeeds in uniting the Hath and Human factions in creating the world, after discovering that the 'war' has lasted only seven days, but encompases so many generations through the pro-generator clones. The Human leader, General Cobb, fires at The Doctor but Jenny dives in the way and is shot. The Doctor reinforces his pacifist views on both Human and Hath, then leaves to take Martha home. Jenny then revives herself and steals a ship to escape. Due to the main theme, the creation of a 'daughter for The Doctor, this story really has the potential to be fantastically awful in many fans eyes. Procreation has always been a topic skirted around in Doctor Who, and many believe it should still be treated with kid gloves. To have a 'daughter' created by a machine unwittingly, this actually gave the scope for a one off adventure that could address the issues of parenthood in a dangerous situation, but be left there for the continuity. This was broadly achieved, until Jenny came back to life at the end. I assume that she is to either become a returning caharacter, or is intended to get a spin-off series, because I can see no good real reason for her resurrection. I was sat there watching the story thinking that they had gotten away with it, and expecting a 'Jedi' style funeral pyre, but to have the resurrection scene really brought the whole episode down. Some of the parts of the story are commendable, some pass fine, and the action barrells along nicely. But the decision to keep Jenny alive was a terrible one in my eyes. The regular cast of David Tennant and Catherine Tate give typical performances in their roles, with Tate settling down further into her role of Donna, and Tennant performing OK as The Doctor. What is more evident here, and something that has dawned on me from watching this story is that Tennant is excellent when it comes to the whimsical and personal stuff, but when it comes to anger and consternation all he does is shout and foam at the mouth. This I think is the problem with him as The Doctor, and one that many of his predecessors didn't suffer from. The real gem is the returning Freema Agyeman as Martha, who is a delight from beginning to end. Of the remaining cast, Paul Kasey deserves to be mentioned, as he has played most of the monsters in the new series, here he plays Hath Peck and again does well. The main guest cast member though is Georgia Moffett as Jenny. I think she does fine in the role. She looked slightly awkward in a couple of scenes but generally carries it off well. Elsewhere, Nigel Terry is good as General Cobb, and Joe Dempsie is fine as Cline, but there is little of note outside the pricipal cast. I firmly believe that what makes the best episodes and adventures in Doctor Who is a cracking story. This is where this episode falls down as there is precious little actual story in the 45 minute episode. I have long lamented the character pieces that the production team seem to adore, rather than the plot driven adventures that keep me coming back for more. Bar a couple of good journeys, this series so far has been more of a soap opera than a fantasy adventure series. This is carried on here and it is to the real detriment of the whole mystique of the series. Substituting forced emotion where there should be plot and intreague is not drama, it is soap opera and hopefully we will soon return to the stories that Doctor Who tells so well. There are many unanswered questions here. What was the point of dragging Martha along to this planet? There was no need of two companions in this story. Why spend more time hpilosophising at the end, when it is applied inconsistently thoughout the episode? These questions, and many more, make this story one that I personally would regret producing if I had had a choice in the matter Overall, The Doctor's Daughter has themes and plots that could have made the episode into a total disaster. It isn't a total disaster, but the decision to resurrect Jenny at the end of the episode is one that I cannot agree with. It was a poor decision, and one that the production may well regret later on. The episode is also devoid of a real story, and a plot. It is little more than a character piece that has made the show look like more of a soap opera than a fantasy adventure series. This makes the episode one that will live long in the memory for the wrong reasons. Rating:  |