TMC
07-15-2015, 02:58 AM
http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/Peter_Dawson/When_Bad_Shows_Go_Good_The_Tenth_Doctor_Who.shtml
The History:
Christopher Eccleston proved to be a solid leading man for Doctor Who, but he'd decided he didn't want to be typecast so he decided to leave at the end of his only series on the show. Casting calls for a new Doctor came about right as the new series was about to broadcast, surprising many, and before long David Tennant (Viva Blackpool, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) had been cast. With Tennant came the introduction of the Christmas tradition of airing a Doctor Who special every Christmas, a full episode with usually at least some relation to the holiday it was being aired on. Ratings remained relatively the same under Tennant's run, with first-watch viewers virtually never dropping below 6.5 million viewers (roughly the equivalent of 20 to 30 million viewers when comparing UK to US populations). The Christmas specials however tended to on average actually see at least a two million viewer gain, making the experiment a big success and ensuring it would endure to this day. Russell T Davies remained the program's showrunner for Tennant's tenure, and it was during this time that the spin-off programs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures began airing (Tennant even making a guest appearance on the latter).
The Show:
Just as Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) tried to come to terms with her feelings for The Doctor (now David Tennant) he regenerated into a new form. Despite the change Rose decided to continue travelling with the Doctor, who would take her beyond the Earth to spaceships and mysterious planets. Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke), Rose's ex-boyfriend, joined for a time, and the Doctor would even run into one of his older companions in the form of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). Eventually the Doctor and Rose would be forced to part ways, medical student Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) joining him for a time, as well as his old ally Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). Throughout all his adventures, including those with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), The Doctor still had to deal with some lingering wounds of the Last Great Time War, as well as facing enemies both old and new, including the Cybermen, The Weeping Angels, the Daleks and the Sontarans.
The Breakdown:
While Doctor Who actors are no strangers to works such as Shakespeare (wouldn't shock me if its a requirement to be in at least one Shakespeare play to be an A-list actor in the UK), David Tennant has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare company, and this really comes across in his performance. The Doctor, in a way, needs to be Shakespearean, full of grand gestures and great speeches with more than a little wit at his disposal. Tennant's Tenth Doctor managed to fully channel a quirky sense of humour, complete with physical antics, while at the same time carrying a decent amount of badassery between his physical capabilities and his ability to be ruthless when his compassion has run out. The Tenth Doctor in a way played like a rejection of the Ninth, even less willing to hold a weapon (though in his first full appearance he got into a swordfight) and trying to be firmer in holding to both his compassion and knowing when to abandon it. Even when facing a man who had killed hundreds of millions of humans, a race the Doctor had effectively adopted as his own since the Time Lords were gone, The Doctor chose to offer forgiveness and sympathy over the ruthless ending of life.
The Doctor's companion pool this time around expanded quite a bit. Rose got quite catty when she met Sarah Jane Smith, and not in a good way, and the general constant allusions to her being in love with The Doctor really got kind of obnoxious. None the less Rose had some good moments, proving herself in a few situations and filling a classic companion role of firing a weapon (the Doctor has fired weapons before but minimizing this is always nice). Martha Jones had pluses and minuses, a big minus being she was also in love with the Doctor while on the plus side she had her medical knowledge, that always-required human empathy and quickly adapted to the expanded universe around her, her joining of UNIT later on fitting well. Jack Harkness's return was pretty good, it was nice to see the hanging threads from his story resolved and him working alongside the Tenth Doctor. Donna Noble however remains my favourite from this era, if for no other reason than she's not in love with the Doctor. I do, however, have other reasons, as while Rose was soft with a touch of catty and Martha was soft with a touch of tough girl Donna was both soft and hard at the same time. Lacking in self-confidence, Donna none the less wasn't afraid to get flat out angry with the Doctor and give him crap as well as act perhaps the most human in situations where she and the Doctor brushed with history. An uncertain but brash woman who is more of a best friend than a love interest to the Doctor was very welcome.
Series 2, the Tenth Doctor's first series, actually runs into similar problems as Nine's. While The Christmas Invasion is definitely okay (and like I said there's a clip from that I frequently show people), New Earth and Tooth and Claw both kind of sucked (though once again are pretty much essential viewing), since the former introduces the New Earth planet in the title but also brings back Cassandra while the latter has gloriously goofy elements like warrior monks, werewolves and Queen Victoria but has awkward moments like Rose constantly trying to get Queen Victoria to say, “We are not amused,” when people are dying. School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel then form a solid four episodes, featuring the return of Sarah Jane Smith, the return of K-9 (a classic companion from the original run of the show), Anthony Head as an alien (I knew it!), a damn-good story where the Doctor meets a potential companion (that's The Girl in the Fireplace, a must watch), and then the return of the Cybermen on top of a visit to a parallel world complete with... zeppelins! Sadly after that episode were three terrible filler episodes (The Idiot's Lantern, Love & Monsters and Fear Her) and a decent-enough two-parter with The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit which saw the Doctor encounter... Satan, maybe? Probably didn't need two episodes but is an okay enough story that does introduce some aliens who become important later. The two-part finale, Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, introduce Torchwood proper and see the rather dramatic departure of Rose from the show. A decent two-part finale for sure but it does contain another 'God Dammit Rose' moment in that she seems prepared to risk destroying all life in not one but two parallel worlds because she loves the Doctor. I get that love is strong and such but you can't love someone if you kill everyone, including yourselves.
Series 3 opened with Martha Jones meeting the Doctor at her hospital, and Smith and Jones I have a fair bit of affection for since not only to the Jidoon show up (space rhino mercenaries, hell yes!) but you get stuff like a hospital getting stuck on the moon and psychotic alien in human form that drinks blood out of people using a straw. It's followed up with a fun outing where they meet Shakespeare (also a dated reference to Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows from before the book came out), and an okay-enough I suppose but important to watch episode where they go to New Earth. Unfortunately this is followed up by a terrible two-parter: Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks in which, well, stupid stuff involving pigmen (yes, pigmen are stupid, especially in this context), terrible 1930s musical numbers, bad American accents (including one provided by former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield!), terrible speeches and the Doctor helping the Daleks with their horrifying and relatively stupid plan. The Lazarus Experiment isn't so great either, since Martha's family plays a bit role in the episode and they're pretty obnoxious, plus the villain is relatively lame. Thankfully the last batch of episodes include the excellent Human Nature, The Family of Blood (The Doctor, is he made up, or did he forget who he is?), Blink (first appearance of the recurring threat the Weeping Angels), and the three-parter Utopia, The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Timelords, which are a lot of fun (despite some weird plot choices), plus feature the return of Jack Harkness and the reveal that the Doctor might not be the last Timelord after all. Martha ultimately departed on friendly terms, though she'd be far from gone for good.
Series 4 unfortunately starts off relatively weak, Partners in Crime full of funny moments but a really goofy threat. Fires of Pompeii (guest-starring future cast members Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi in different roles) was a pretty awkward and not terribly inspired one either, but these are the only episodes in the run I'd probably consider flat-out awful. Planet of the Ood, as awkward as it is, is a good one for Donna, and the two-parter The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky work pretty well at bringing back the Sontarans from the classic run of the show, as while perhaps played up a bit too much for comedy at points they are none the less quite dangerous. The Doctor's Daughter, despite the issues with a lack of subtlety and the twist not really adding up, does at least offer something new for The Doctor to deal with and does address some lingering questions fans might have had. The Unicorn and The Wasp is a fun send-up to Agatha Christie stories (featuring the woman herself no less), while Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead introduce another solid new threat (shadows that literally kill) as well as the fascinating character of River Song (Alex Kingston), granted River would get a bit obnoxious in later appearances. Midnight and Turn Left are then two excellent back-to-back stories (I'd call Midnight my favourite episode scripted by Russell T Davies honestly), both in a way de-constructing the show as the former examines what happens if the Doctor's usual tactics to take charge backfired while the latter examines a world without the Doctor in one of the most depression clip show-like tales I've ever seen. The Stolen Earth and Journey's End provide a very solid conclusion to the series (my favourite finale of this era for sure), seeing nearly every major supporting character from the Tenth and Ninth Doctors' runs show up to help battle a classic enemy from the old series, and thwart the destruction of reality itself. Can't get much more epic than that, right?
The Tenth Doctor had several TV specials in addition to his three main series. The Christmas Invasion was essentially an invasion plot where The Doctor isn't available until right at the end, which works okay but the drama of Rose reacting to the Doctor's first regeneration quickly got annoying, even if, granted, it was the first time it had happened on New Who. The Runaway Bride was a fun outing that introduced Donna Noble for the first time and had some pretty fun moments when reality continues to ensue during wacky events. Voyage of the Damned was overly-long and relatively awful (none of that to be blamed on guest-star Kylie Minogue though), with the big moments of what the hell being the human aliens (usually human aliens in the show had an explanation, even a brief one) and the villain of the story starting to talk like Dr. Evil. The Next Doctor had the delicious fun of Tennant teaming up with David Morrissey (yes, the Governor from The Walking Dead, but he's a good guy!), though the human villain the monsters of the story team up with was flat-out insufferable (and felt like a lame rehash of the one from Partners in Crime). Two more specials followed before the end of the Tenth Doctor, Planet of the Dead and The Waters of Mars. While Planet of the Dead introduced another supposedly awesome female companion for the Doctor (she was actually more insufferable than charming, a common problem with these types), she ended up not mattering with the only real fun part being how The Doctor connects with the people he ends up stranded with. The Waters of Mars meanwhile not only works as a decent horror plot (a single drop of water touches you and you become a zombie creature, and you're on Mars) but sees the Tenth Doctor's boldness get the best of him in what's really a solid story to queue up around Halloween.
The Tenth Doctor's final story, The End of Time, is both epic and kind of annoying. On the plus side the story does a good job of constantly upping the threat, though this can leave to some annoying exposition dumps. Another plus is that the episode heavily involves Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), Donna's grandfather, and he makes a great companion in the tale after being a supporting character in Series 4, being the old soldier who'd managed to avoid bloodshed but now might have to talk the Doctor into using violence to solve the crisis they're in. The Time War comes up again and a solid taste is given on just what was going on in the last days of the conflict. The big negative really is that there's a small but pointless subplot about Wilfred's group of wacky old people scouts (pointless but not necessarily terrible just kind of inserted goofiness), and that when it comes time for the Tenth Doctor to regenerate he really takes his sweet time to finally do it. Now, what forces the Tenth Doctor to regenerate is really solid, and a fact revealed during the Eleventh Doctor's time actually gives the scene even more powerful meaning (won't spoil it here), but his montage of visiting people he met over the course of his time is too much. Very little meaning is found in the Tenth Doctor's 'reward' montage (as he calls it), especially since most of the faces seen were already seen in Journey's End and seemed to matter more. It was like they had a good way to have the Doctor regenerate while surrounded by those he'd cared about the most in that incarnation, didn't make him regenerate, then realized they'd messed up and went for it again but with lame results. The only saving grace is one can argue that because the Tenth Doctor had time for a montage before he regenerated it explains why his regeneration sequence basically blew up the TARDIS, since he regenerated in the TARDIS last time with no consequence.
The Wrap-Up:
So can I recommend it? Yep! The Tenth Doctor era is arguably when New Who really hit its stride, and David Tennant's more or less five year run (beginning in June of 2005 and ending in January of 2010) is pretty epic. Each Doctor has plenty of good episodes but with three Series to work with for Tennant just by quantity alone has plenty of good episodes in the mix. The only three episodes I'd even recommend skipping are that trio from Series 2.
Next week, shall we look at Matt Smith-eleven... Huh, can't make a pun out of that name. Yeah, I'll just go.
- See more at: http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/Peter_Dawson/When_Bad_Shows_Go_Good_The_Tenth_Doctor_Who.shtml#sthash.rUdgdySR.dpuf
The History:
Christopher Eccleston proved to be a solid leading man for Doctor Who, but he'd decided he didn't want to be typecast so he decided to leave at the end of his only series on the show. Casting calls for a new Doctor came about right as the new series was about to broadcast, surprising many, and before long David Tennant (Viva Blackpool, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) had been cast. With Tennant came the introduction of the Christmas tradition of airing a Doctor Who special every Christmas, a full episode with usually at least some relation to the holiday it was being aired on. Ratings remained relatively the same under Tennant's run, with first-watch viewers virtually never dropping below 6.5 million viewers (roughly the equivalent of 20 to 30 million viewers when comparing UK to US populations). The Christmas specials however tended to on average actually see at least a two million viewer gain, making the experiment a big success and ensuring it would endure to this day. Russell T Davies remained the program's showrunner for Tennant's tenure, and it was during this time that the spin-off programs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures began airing (Tennant even making a guest appearance on the latter).
The Show:
Just as Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) tried to come to terms with her feelings for The Doctor (now David Tennant) he regenerated into a new form. Despite the change Rose decided to continue travelling with the Doctor, who would take her beyond the Earth to spaceships and mysterious planets. Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke), Rose's ex-boyfriend, joined for a time, and the Doctor would even run into one of his older companions in the form of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). Eventually the Doctor and Rose would be forced to part ways, medical student Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) joining him for a time, as well as his old ally Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). Throughout all his adventures, including those with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), The Doctor still had to deal with some lingering wounds of the Last Great Time War, as well as facing enemies both old and new, including the Cybermen, The Weeping Angels, the Daleks and the Sontarans.
The Breakdown:
While Doctor Who actors are no strangers to works such as Shakespeare (wouldn't shock me if its a requirement to be in at least one Shakespeare play to be an A-list actor in the UK), David Tennant has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare company, and this really comes across in his performance. The Doctor, in a way, needs to be Shakespearean, full of grand gestures and great speeches with more than a little wit at his disposal. Tennant's Tenth Doctor managed to fully channel a quirky sense of humour, complete with physical antics, while at the same time carrying a decent amount of badassery between his physical capabilities and his ability to be ruthless when his compassion has run out. The Tenth Doctor in a way played like a rejection of the Ninth, even less willing to hold a weapon (though in his first full appearance he got into a swordfight) and trying to be firmer in holding to both his compassion and knowing when to abandon it. Even when facing a man who had killed hundreds of millions of humans, a race the Doctor had effectively adopted as his own since the Time Lords were gone, The Doctor chose to offer forgiveness and sympathy over the ruthless ending of life.
The Doctor's companion pool this time around expanded quite a bit. Rose got quite catty when she met Sarah Jane Smith, and not in a good way, and the general constant allusions to her being in love with The Doctor really got kind of obnoxious. None the less Rose had some good moments, proving herself in a few situations and filling a classic companion role of firing a weapon (the Doctor has fired weapons before but minimizing this is always nice). Martha Jones had pluses and minuses, a big minus being she was also in love with the Doctor while on the plus side she had her medical knowledge, that always-required human empathy and quickly adapted to the expanded universe around her, her joining of UNIT later on fitting well. Jack Harkness's return was pretty good, it was nice to see the hanging threads from his story resolved and him working alongside the Tenth Doctor. Donna Noble however remains my favourite from this era, if for no other reason than she's not in love with the Doctor. I do, however, have other reasons, as while Rose was soft with a touch of catty and Martha was soft with a touch of tough girl Donna was both soft and hard at the same time. Lacking in self-confidence, Donna none the less wasn't afraid to get flat out angry with the Doctor and give him crap as well as act perhaps the most human in situations where she and the Doctor brushed with history. An uncertain but brash woman who is more of a best friend than a love interest to the Doctor was very welcome.
Series 2, the Tenth Doctor's first series, actually runs into similar problems as Nine's. While The Christmas Invasion is definitely okay (and like I said there's a clip from that I frequently show people), New Earth and Tooth and Claw both kind of sucked (though once again are pretty much essential viewing), since the former introduces the New Earth planet in the title but also brings back Cassandra while the latter has gloriously goofy elements like warrior monks, werewolves and Queen Victoria but has awkward moments like Rose constantly trying to get Queen Victoria to say, “We are not amused,” when people are dying. School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, Rise of the Cybermen and Age of Steel then form a solid four episodes, featuring the return of Sarah Jane Smith, the return of K-9 (a classic companion from the original run of the show), Anthony Head as an alien (I knew it!), a damn-good story where the Doctor meets a potential companion (that's The Girl in the Fireplace, a must watch), and then the return of the Cybermen on top of a visit to a parallel world complete with... zeppelins! Sadly after that episode were three terrible filler episodes (The Idiot's Lantern, Love & Monsters and Fear Her) and a decent-enough two-parter with The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit which saw the Doctor encounter... Satan, maybe? Probably didn't need two episodes but is an okay enough story that does introduce some aliens who become important later. The two-part finale, Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, introduce Torchwood proper and see the rather dramatic departure of Rose from the show. A decent two-part finale for sure but it does contain another 'God Dammit Rose' moment in that she seems prepared to risk destroying all life in not one but two parallel worlds because she loves the Doctor. I get that love is strong and such but you can't love someone if you kill everyone, including yourselves.
Series 3 opened with Martha Jones meeting the Doctor at her hospital, and Smith and Jones I have a fair bit of affection for since not only to the Jidoon show up (space rhino mercenaries, hell yes!) but you get stuff like a hospital getting stuck on the moon and psychotic alien in human form that drinks blood out of people using a straw. It's followed up with a fun outing where they meet Shakespeare (also a dated reference to Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows from before the book came out), and an okay-enough I suppose but important to watch episode where they go to New Earth. Unfortunately this is followed up by a terrible two-parter: Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks in which, well, stupid stuff involving pigmen (yes, pigmen are stupid, especially in this context), terrible 1930s musical numbers, bad American accents (including one provided by former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield!), terrible speeches and the Doctor helping the Daleks with their horrifying and relatively stupid plan. The Lazarus Experiment isn't so great either, since Martha's family plays a bit role in the episode and they're pretty obnoxious, plus the villain is relatively lame. Thankfully the last batch of episodes include the excellent Human Nature, The Family of Blood (The Doctor, is he made up, or did he forget who he is?), Blink (first appearance of the recurring threat the Weeping Angels), and the three-parter Utopia, The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Timelords, which are a lot of fun (despite some weird plot choices), plus feature the return of Jack Harkness and the reveal that the Doctor might not be the last Timelord after all. Martha ultimately departed on friendly terms, though she'd be far from gone for good.
Series 4 unfortunately starts off relatively weak, Partners in Crime full of funny moments but a really goofy threat. Fires of Pompeii (guest-starring future cast members Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi in different roles) was a pretty awkward and not terribly inspired one either, but these are the only episodes in the run I'd probably consider flat-out awful. Planet of the Ood, as awkward as it is, is a good one for Donna, and the two-parter The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky work pretty well at bringing back the Sontarans from the classic run of the show, as while perhaps played up a bit too much for comedy at points they are none the less quite dangerous. The Doctor's Daughter, despite the issues with a lack of subtlety and the twist not really adding up, does at least offer something new for The Doctor to deal with and does address some lingering questions fans might have had. The Unicorn and The Wasp is a fun send-up to Agatha Christie stories (featuring the woman herself no less), while Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead introduce another solid new threat (shadows that literally kill) as well as the fascinating character of River Song (Alex Kingston), granted River would get a bit obnoxious in later appearances. Midnight and Turn Left are then two excellent back-to-back stories (I'd call Midnight my favourite episode scripted by Russell T Davies honestly), both in a way de-constructing the show as the former examines what happens if the Doctor's usual tactics to take charge backfired while the latter examines a world without the Doctor in one of the most depression clip show-like tales I've ever seen. The Stolen Earth and Journey's End provide a very solid conclusion to the series (my favourite finale of this era for sure), seeing nearly every major supporting character from the Tenth and Ninth Doctors' runs show up to help battle a classic enemy from the old series, and thwart the destruction of reality itself. Can't get much more epic than that, right?
The Tenth Doctor had several TV specials in addition to his three main series. The Christmas Invasion was essentially an invasion plot where The Doctor isn't available until right at the end, which works okay but the drama of Rose reacting to the Doctor's first regeneration quickly got annoying, even if, granted, it was the first time it had happened on New Who. The Runaway Bride was a fun outing that introduced Donna Noble for the first time and had some pretty fun moments when reality continues to ensue during wacky events. Voyage of the Damned was overly-long and relatively awful (none of that to be blamed on guest-star Kylie Minogue though), with the big moments of what the hell being the human aliens (usually human aliens in the show had an explanation, even a brief one) and the villain of the story starting to talk like Dr. Evil. The Next Doctor had the delicious fun of Tennant teaming up with David Morrissey (yes, the Governor from The Walking Dead, but he's a good guy!), though the human villain the monsters of the story team up with was flat-out insufferable (and felt like a lame rehash of the one from Partners in Crime). Two more specials followed before the end of the Tenth Doctor, Planet of the Dead and The Waters of Mars. While Planet of the Dead introduced another supposedly awesome female companion for the Doctor (she was actually more insufferable than charming, a common problem with these types), she ended up not mattering with the only real fun part being how The Doctor connects with the people he ends up stranded with. The Waters of Mars meanwhile not only works as a decent horror plot (a single drop of water touches you and you become a zombie creature, and you're on Mars) but sees the Tenth Doctor's boldness get the best of him in what's really a solid story to queue up around Halloween.
The Tenth Doctor's final story, The End of Time, is both epic and kind of annoying. On the plus side the story does a good job of constantly upping the threat, though this can leave to some annoying exposition dumps. Another plus is that the episode heavily involves Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), Donna's grandfather, and he makes a great companion in the tale after being a supporting character in Series 4, being the old soldier who'd managed to avoid bloodshed but now might have to talk the Doctor into using violence to solve the crisis they're in. The Time War comes up again and a solid taste is given on just what was going on in the last days of the conflict. The big negative really is that there's a small but pointless subplot about Wilfred's group of wacky old people scouts (pointless but not necessarily terrible just kind of inserted goofiness), and that when it comes time for the Tenth Doctor to regenerate he really takes his sweet time to finally do it. Now, what forces the Tenth Doctor to regenerate is really solid, and a fact revealed during the Eleventh Doctor's time actually gives the scene even more powerful meaning (won't spoil it here), but his montage of visiting people he met over the course of his time is too much. Very little meaning is found in the Tenth Doctor's 'reward' montage (as he calls it), especially since most of the faces seen were already seen in Journey's End and seemed to matter more. It was like they had a good way to have the Doctor regenerate while surrounded by those he'd cared about the most in that incarnation, didn't make him regenerate, then realized they'd messed up and went for it again but with lame results. The only saving grace is one can argue that because the Tenth Doctor had time for a montage before he regenerated it explains why his regeneration sequence basically blew up the TARDIS, since he regenerated in the TARDIS last time with no consequence.
The Wrap-Up:
So can I recommend it? Yep! The Tenth Doctor era is arguably when New Who really hit its stride, and David Tennant's more or less five year run (beginning in June of 2005 and ending in January of 2010) is pretty epic. Each Doctor has plenty of good episodes but with three Series to work with for Tennant just by quantity alone has plenty of good episodes in the mix. The only three episodes I'd even recommend skipping are that trio from Series 2.
Next week, shall we look at Matt Smith-eleven... Huh, can't make a pun out of that name. Yeah, I'll just go.
- See more at: http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/Peter_Dawson/When_Bad_Shows_Go_Good_The_Tenth_Doctor_Who.shtml#sthash.rUdgdySR.dpuf