Saturday saw one of the most ambitious Doctor Who episodes since the anniversary Five Doctors special all those decades ago and what a stunning episode The Stolen Earth turned out to be!
I’ll be honest, there were flaws in the episode which I will come to in the spoilery segment and yet I’m still going to do that one thing that many people hate about me…I will say that this has well and truly lodged itself into my list of favourite episodes, despite it’s flaws. I know, I’m illogical but there’s the truth.
So without further ado…
Let’s start with companions as that was what this episode was all about really. Sarah Jane Smith was always one of my favourite companions, as a youngster I had a crush on her and she always had a good presence despite being a bit too much of a damsel in distress at times. I felt that her spin-off just didn’t fare so well up against either Torchwood or the host show itself, something I’ll put down to Davies obviously wanting to keep some of the essence of her show, a show designed with children firmly in mind. I know the arguments, Doctor Who is a children’s show, Sarah Jane Adventures is a lot more mature than your average kids TV show, it still felt like a slightly over-exaggerated children’s TV show in the end though and just didn’t sit very well with me.
Torchwood was Torchwood all over though and as a fan (I know, you either love it or hate it, I love it) I was overjoyed. The Hub, Gwen, Ianto, Jack in all his glory and even Owen and Tosh got a look in from beyond the grave. That said after all this you had to wonder why they couldn’t just have transferred that subwave network over to Mr. Smith and all teleported out with Jack…his little gadget was able to take three people last series.
The accolades still had to go entirely to David Tennant and I’m sorry to say this but also to Catherine Tate who really shone. She has managed a wonderful mix of emotional growth, clearly buckling under the weight of the prophecies even she can see forming around her while at the same time still exhibiting that feisty unstoppable force she had in The Runaway Bride. Tennant gave another fine performance as the Doctor, his grief over the loss of Earth, his sheer fear at coming face to face with the only creature to ever truly scare him and of course, the way he handled that scene we all wanted to see. I had worries that it would be too over-hyped or a complete let down, I worried they’d muddy the waters of the beautiful farewell we had in Doomsday by portraying both characters as having ‘moved on’ but this clearly wasn’t the case. Both appeared ecstatic and I’m sorry to say for all the naysayers out there but they also seemed as in love with each other as they were in that second season.
We can’t forget the oldest of ‘companions’ though, the ones who have been with the Doctor for the longest, travelled with him even though he would have preferred to have been rid of them. The Daleks were back on form, they wiped away the annoyance I felt when it was first revealed that they would yet again be returning and successfully resurrected that fear they evoked in me as a child with their cold and calculating performance. The Supreme Dalek did indeed leave me thoroughly confused and impatient for answers…who is in there? In fact, it also left me worried that there really is just a common/mildly enhanced mutant in there and not something far more ground breaking as many people are wishing for.
As for Davros…superb! Menacing, chilling, ranting, raving and without a doubt complete and utterly insane in every way. He far exceeded my expectations.
How about Dalek Caan and his worrying prophecies? I can only think of one ‘companion’ who could be classes as the most faithful and endure an everlasting death and that’s not Jack…it’s that living, breathing blue box that the Doctor has relied on so much in his travels and which we just saw burning in the brief teaser trailer for the finale. We’ve had the Doctor without a working TARDIS and the show fell apart (despite having my favourite Doctor, Jon Pertwee in the role) so I really can’t see them even attempting that, which makes me wonder what they do have in mind?
Harriet Jones…did she really die the heroes death many people wanted or is she really in league with the metal dustbins? I personally don’t think she did, I think there is something else going on there considering we never actually saw her death as we did with many others. Her inability to contact Rose really had me wondering and her scheming tone had me wondering even more…why is she so worried about the Osterhagan Key?
I somewhat rushed this review because I had my sights firmly set on that ending. It was beautifully done, perfectly timed. I’ve heard the rumours of how it plays out and quite frankly following that I want them to be wrong because it was stunning. Anything like what is rumoured would be a real let down to me personally. Also, if what’s rumoured is a huge well choreographed publicity bluff on Russell T Davies’ part then I think he really will make it into television history.
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