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Turn Left Format Reviewed: TV Review After the companion light Midnight, we get the Doctor light episode when Tennant is likely on holiday from the filming schedule.This story really starts the run in to the series finale and marks the full return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. This had been one of the worst kept secrets in the show, but there have been subtle and unsubtle hints throughout the series so far of her impening return. Opinion appears to favour the return of Piper to the series, although I am personaly a bit 50-50 as it does feel slightly like going backwards rather than forwards. In a market on an alien planet, The Doctor and Donna are separated when Donna has her fortune told for free. During the reading a creature climbs onto Donna's back, and the fortune teller insists she should turn right. Donna is then in her car, before meeting The Doctor and it shows her originally making a left turn. We are then taken back to the time before Donna and The Doctor meeting, and a decision about whther Donna should turn left to go to one company or another, a left or right turn. We then see other people noticing something odd on her back. All the events since Donna has known The Doctor are then played out from a civillian perspective, only because Donna was not there to save The Doctor, he died defeating the Racnoss. A mysterious blonde girl, Rose Tyler, tries to help Donna. We then have the events of the spaceship Titanic, but it hits London and everyone is evacuated. Donna ends up in Leeds with her family, and eventually we see worrying patterns of xenophobia. Rose eventually gets through to Donna, and the beetle on her back is revealed, but cannot be released. Rose also tells Donna she is going to die saving everything. She is put back in time to go and save herself from turning right, therefore meaning she follws her original path and joins The Doctor. Donna achieves this by sacrificing her life causing a traffic jam, restoring the time lines. Back now with the fortune teller, the beetle falls off Donna's back, dead, and she escapes. She then finds The Doctor and tells him what happened, and reveals the secret message Rose gave her, it is Bad Wolf. The Doctor looks around, and discovers all the writing has been changed to Bad Wolf, Rose is coming back. As in the previous episode, Turn Left is rather setting the scene for the finale, and providing the calm before the storm. The stories that do this are often skirted over but are more often than not good in their own right. This is the case for Turn Left. In concept, it is basically the film 'Sliding Doors' in Who format, the 'what if The Doctor died' scenario. It is certainly a very interesting concept, and some of the scenes are played out with such a care and thought. The scenes in Leeds are a pure delight. The concept ostensibly shows what could happen if we do have malevolent alien visitors without a knowledgable force to combat it, i.e. The Doctor. To examin this in short form is probably the best way to go about it within the context of the show, as we want to see our hero succeeding. In this Doctor light episode, Tennant does very little. Catherine Tate takes center stage, and really does a fine job throughout, proving she is a leading actress. One criticism of Tate though, she should never be given running scenes. I am often criticised for looking like I am running in treacle, but Tate is not in the least bit athletic. We then come to Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. It is a strange return, different to before, older and wiser. This creates a lot of mystery. The bad thing is that she had some bridge work done too soon before filming, and consequently has an occasional pronounced lisp which is off putting as it is not in character. Bernard Cribbins is again excellent as Wilf, and Jaqueline King is fine as Sylvia Noble. There is a massive guest cast here, and nobody really lets it down. The highlight though is Joseph Long as Mr Colasanto who is a real gem. There is a slight sense that Russel T Davies is reliving some of his past glories, and the episode could be seen as akin to 'fill-in' episodes of American comedies where they play clips from the rest of the series. This is true to a certain degree, but there is a definite story to flesh it out to a good episode. Indeed, if what is rumoured to follow in the series finale is true, this will be a continuing theme. We see that Russel seems to want to bookend his tenure on Doctor Who bringing back all his past successes and failures. This aspect is unwelcome to a certain degree, but it doesn't detract too much from a good episode. Overall, Turn Left is a good story that provides the 'Doctor Light' episode for the series. There is a very interesting concept explored here, that suits the format of having a single 45 minute episode to complete the entire story. There is a somewhat unwelcome trend starting of Russel T Davies bringing back his past stories to seemingly bookend his tenure as the regular head writer and executive producer of the show, but this doesn't mask the quality of the story on offer. Rating:  |