Doctor Who Series 2 Episode 1 - New Earth - Review
Starring: David Tennant, Billie Piper, Zoe Wanamaker & Sean Gallagher
Written By: Russell T Davies
Directed By: James Hawes
As
much as I love The Christmas Invasion,
I have to admit that as the debut episode for a new Doctor, it didn't
really feature the Doctor all that much. This doesn't spoil my
enjoyment of the aforementioned episode in any way, and I actually
think it was quite a bold decision on Russell T Davies' behalf.
However, with the start of the second series, it's high time to see
the new 10th Doctor in action, and we kick off with New Earth.
Carrying straight on from the end of last year's Christmas special, Rose packs
her bags again and begins life with the new Doctor in the TARDIS. The
first place that the new duo visit is the planet New Earth in the year 5,000,000,023, a number
of years after the destruction of the original Earth. After receiving a summons on the psychic paper, the
Doctor and Rose visit a hospital in New New York. While the Doctor
discovers that they have been summoned by the Face of Boe, Rose
discovers that the Lady Cassandra is still alive and hiding in the depths of
the hospital.
As
the Doctor explores the hospital, he discovers the dark secret
harboured by the Sisters of Plenitude, the cat-nurses that run the
hospital. The Sisters have grown human bodies for experimentation,
and infected them with every illness in the galaxy, to find medical
cures. On paper, this is a really good premise for an episode of Doctor Who. Not only is it dark, but it's also making use of sci-fi to
explore relevant topics in today's world. Science and medicine has
advanced a great deal over the 20th
and 21st
Centuries, and continues to advance today. However, we have to ask the
question of how far we can go in our research and experimentation
before it gets unethical. Medical Ethics is a deep and engaging
topic, and I'm really glad that Doctor Who has decided to toss its
hat in the ring by exploring these issues. At least I would be if it
had actually stayed focused on this particular story.
Unfortunately, rather than deal with a story with so many possibilities, New Earth decides to go down the route of comedy, and does a pretty bad job of it. Really, there are two different stories going on here – we have the story of the Sisters of Plenitude growing diseased humans, and we have the story of Cassandra trying to find a new body in which she can survive. Sadly, the weaker of these two stories is in the foreground, as Cassandra's tale essentially dominates the episode, and leaves the better story feeling somewhat underdeveloped. In a desperate attempt to survive, Cassandra abandons her skin-form, and takes Rose's body. This leaves the rest of the episode with Cassandra quipping that she's now a “chav” or “living inside a bouncy castle”. When Cassandra later takes the Doctor's body, she makes quips such as “foxy” or that's she “beating out a samba!” Moments like this make the body swap comedy tedious to watch, and I end up desperate to go back to the better and deeper story. Cassandra taking over the Doctor's body doesn't really do the 10th's incarnation much justice either, as it just serves to limit the amount of time we can spend getting to know this new Doctor. When the Doctor is in control of his own body, David Tennant does do a great job at balancing the drama and the entertainment. His relationship with Rose at the beginning of the episode is sweet and charming to watch, but you know not to cross him in the more serious moments, as the Doctor's power dominates the screen.
In an effort to help further ease the transition between the 9th and 10th Doctors, Russell T Davies has decided to bring back some of the villains and friends from the 9th Doctor's tenure. Namely, we have the Face of Boe and Cassandra returning from The End Of The World. Compared to all the other aliens that were present in that story, these two were probably some of the strongest, but my problem is that the return of these characters isn't necessary. Cassandra's return leads to nothing but flat body swap comedy, and yet again her motive is purely one of money. Cassandra's role in this episode could be edited out and a moderate re-write of the script could see the Doctor and Rose deal with the diseased patients on their own. Admittedly, the Face of Boe doesn't have nearly as large a role as Cassandra, but the reason behind his reappearance is equally pointless. Boe mentions to the Doctor that he has to tell him something, but that it will have to wait until they meet again. Why? If Russell T Davies didn't intend for the Doctor to find out what the Face of Boe has to tell him, why include him in this episode?
Surprisingly for a new Doctor Who episode, I found the look and feel of the story to be somewhat questionable. Up until now, I have barely had a negative thing to say towards the quality of the production, makeup and the effects. However, New Earth appears to be contrary to this rule. While the design and look of the hospital wards looks very good, as well as the CGI city that we see on the horizon and the make-up of the cat-nurses and diseased patients, I can't really say the same for the darker and dingier areas of the hospital. Areas like Cassandra's hideout, as well as the areas where the nurses stores the patients they have grown, don't feel like a product of the year 5,000,000,023. I understand that they are supposed to look less appealing and dull, but all I see is maybe an abandoned 21st Century warehouse. Something such as futuristic technology, even if it were in a bad state or broken, could have gone a long-way towards making these areas feel more authentic. In a minor number of cases, the make-up of the patients on the brightly-lit wards is again questionable. For some, it doesn't look like they've got a life-threatening condition, but instead looks like they have got a group of extras and covered their bodies in red or white paint.
So up to this point, New Earth has got a considerable amount wrong, is there anything that can redeem it? Well, the resolutions of each plot were both handled very well. Firstly, the Doctor's solution for the diseased patients was quite clever, and something that I didn't see coming. Making use of something that just provided a minor laugh early on, to actually solve a huge problem, was some good writing. While some may question whether you can cure every illness by using every medicine, it's something that I'm prepared to overlook. Despite its poor execution, the resolution to Cassandra's story was easily the best thing about it. Easily being the best scene of the episode, the Doctor's final act of mercy towards Cassandra was really moving, and the final scene between the still-humanoid Cassandra and her future self in Chip's body, was beautiful.
Overall, as a start to a new series, New Earth does a pretty poor job. If the episode had actually focused on the story of the Sisters of Plenitude and the diseased patients, it would be dramatically improved. Instead, it chose to focus on a much less endearing story that had to deal with the problem of the well-meant but unnecessary return of established characters, dismal body-swap comedy and a lack of time spent actually getting to know the new Doctor.
New Earth
Unfortunately, rather than deal with a story with so many possibilities, New Earth decides to go down the route of comedy, and does a pretty bad job of it. Really, there are two different stories going on here – we have the story of the Sisters of Plenitude growing diseased humans, and we have the story of Cassandra trying to find a new body in which she can survive. Sadly, the weaker of these two stories is in the foreground, as Cassandra's tale essentially dominates the episode, and leaves the better story feeling somewhat underdeveloped. In a desperate attempt to survive, Cassandra abandons her skin-form, and takes Rose's body. This leaves the rest of the episode with Cassandra quipping that she's now a “chav” or “living inside a bouncy castle”. When Cassandra later takes the Doctor's body, she makes quips such as “foxy” or that's she “beating out a samba!” Moments like this make the body swap comedy tedious to watch, and I end up desperate to go back to the better and deeper story. Cassandra taking over the Doctor's body doesn't really do the 10th's incarnation much justice either, as it just serves to limit the amount of time we can spend getting to know this new Doctor. When the Doctor is in control of his own body, David Tennant does do a great job at balancing the drama and the entertainment. His relationship with Rose at the beginning of the episode is sweet and charming to watch, but you know not to cross him in the more serious moments, as the Doctor's power dominates the screen.
In an effort to help further ease the transition between the 9th and 10th Doctors, Russell T Davies has decided to bring back some of the villains and friends from the 9th Doctor's tenure. Namely, we have the Face of Boe and Cassandra returning from The End Of The World. Compared to all the other aliens that were present in that story, these two were probably some of the strongest, but my problem is that the return of these characters isn't necessary. Cassandra's return leads to nothing but flat body swap comedy, and yet again her motive is purely one of money. Cassandra's role in this episode could be edited out and a moderate re-write of the script could see the Doctor and Rose deal with the diseased patients on their own. Admittedly, the Face of Boe doesn't have nearly as large a role as Cassandra, but the reason behind his reappearance is equally pointless. Boe mentions to the Doctor that he has to tell him something, but that it will have to wait until they meet again. Why? If Russell T Davies didn't intend for the Doctor to find out what the Face of Boe has to tell him, why include him in this episode?
Surprisingly for a new Doctor Who episode, I found the look and feel of the story to be somewhat questionable. Up until now, I have barely had a negative thing to say towards the quality of the production, makeup and the effects. However, New Earth appears to be contrary to this rule. While the design and look of the hospital wards looks very good, as well as the CGI city that we see on the horizon and the make-up of the cat-nurses and diseased patients, I can't really say the same for the darker and dingier areas of the hospital. Areas like Cassandra's hideout, as well as the areas where the nurses stores the patients they have grown, don't feel like a product of the year 5,000,000,023. I understand that they are supposed to look less appealing and dull, but all I see is maybe an abandoned 21st Century warehouse. Something such as futuristic technology, even if it were in a bad state or broken, could have gone a long-way towards making these areas feel more authentic. In a minor number of cases, the make-up of the patients on the brightly-lit wards is again questionable. For some, it doesn't look like they've got a life-threatening condition, but instead looks like they have got a group of extras and covered their bodies in red or white paint.
So up to this point, New Earth has got a considerable amount wrong, is there anything that can redeem it? Well, the resolutions of each plot were both handled very well. Firstly, the Doctor's solution for the diseased patients was quite clever, and something that I didn't see coming. Making use of something that just provided a minor laugh early on, to actually solve a huge problem, was some good writing. While some may question whether you can cure every illness by using every medicine, it's something that I'm prepared to overlook. Despite its poor execution, the resolution to Cassandra's story was easily the best thing about it. Easily being the best scene of the episode, the Doctor's final act of mercy towards Cassandra was really moving, and the final scene between the still-humanoid Cassandra and her future self in Chip's body, was beautiful.
Overall, as a start to a new series, New Earth does a pretty poor job. If the episode had actually focused on the story of the Sisters of Plenitude and the diseased patients, it would be dramatically improved. Instead, it chose to focus on a much less endearing story that had to deal with the problem of the well-meant but unnecessary return of established characters, dismal body-swap comedy and a lack of time spent actually getting to know the new Doctor.
New Earth
4/10
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