I wish today could be like every other day
Apr. 3rd, 2007 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enthusiastickDoctor Who had its series premiere this weekend (in the UK and on the internet, anyway. I have no idea when it will air in the states.) The episode was titled Smith & Jones and introduced the tenth Doctor's new companion Martha Jones. I've had a chance now to watch it a few times and let it stew in my head. On the whole I'm happy with it -- conflicted, but happy with it.
SPOILER WARNING: David Tennant commented in an interview on Doctor Who Confidential that he felt that a little bit of time had probably passed between the Runaway Bride episode and this one, and that seems right to me. He's clearly taken Donna's advice to heart and is on the lookout for a new assistant, and spends much of the episode very consciously auditioning Martha, gaging her reaction to the situation with the Judoon.
But the thing is: her flippant remark at the end of the episode about being "not remotely interested" in the Doctor? Transparent bullcrap, she's so into him -- just look at how she reacted to being kissed by him earlier. And, if I'm taking what Russ Davies said in the accompanying Doctor Who Confidential at face value, her love for him is destined to be unrequited. This is intended to contrast to the Doctor's relationship with Rose, where the feelings were mutual. Hence all the parallels in the episode, including the point where he clasps her hand and says "Run!" Or how he has to follow up the offer of travel through space with an offer to travel in time in order to convince her to come with him.
And I buy that, honestly I do, its potentially workable. Unlike some people I could mention I never had a problem with the idea that the Doctor loved Rose romantically. I understood her shortcomings as a character (she was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, for one thing) and I saw how it was possible the Doctor overcame them because they were a good match and because they complemented one another. Its like what Davies was trying to write for Torchwood and never quite pulled off, where Gwen is meant to be the humanizing emotional intelligence influence on the more analytical, sterile characters.
Just look at the way the Doctor responds to being ardently kissed by Rose (or Cassandra in Rose's body, in any case) in New Earth. That's more than him being an adorable geek. That's the fluster of genuine mutual attraction, and the realization that the change in their relationship due to his regeneration may in fact signal a shift from his being a paternal figure in Rose's life to one more acceptable of amorous intentions. (You have to do a lot of reading between the lines, of course, but that's just one of the quirks of the show at this point -- there's a deeply entrenched longstanding taboo against saying anything explicit about the Doctor's love life. Its actually kind of fun, in my opinion, but then I'm clearly drinking the Doctor Who Kool-Aid and have been for some time.)
And the Doctor's reaction to Martha's flirting at the end of the episode is just perfect, rising from annoyed to cross at just the right pace, finally putting just the right warning edge on his voice that if she pushes him any further he'll be genuinely angry. So there's good tension there. Martha obviously isn't the type to follow the Doctor around like a lovesick puppy just because she has a big sloppy crush on him. She'll make a good companion, going out and getting into trouble, not shrinking from danger too much.
And yet I find I wish we had gotten a little bit more of the Doctor alone. I know in my head that it happened, that he traveled by himself a while, and I understand why the producers can't linger on that too much when they've only got 13 episodes to work with. Still the Doctor has gone it alone before in the history of the series and I think that, on the whole, at least one episode of him doing just that (and not acquiring a companion for the day like Donna) would have been preferable. Oh well. Moving on.
And speaking of moving on! Episode 3 of this season, just two weeks away, is titled Gridlock and will feature the return of the Face of Boe. He will finally unveil his secret to the Doctor and kick off a plot that's been shelved since the start of the second series. Is the rampant speculation on the internet correct? Are there, in fact, other Time Lord survivors of the war? Or will it be something else? I don't know, but I know that I'm excited. And that bodes well for series 3. END SPOILERS.
SPOILER WARNING: David Tennant commented in an interview on Doctor Who Confidential that he felt that a little bit of time had probably passed between the Runaway Bride episode and this one, and that seems right to me. He's clearly taken Donna's advice to heart and is on the lookout for a new assistant, and spends much of the episode very consciously auditioning Martha, gaging her reaction to the situation with the Judoon.
But the thing is: her flippant remark at the end of the episode about being "not remotely interested" in the Doctor? Transparent bullcrap, she's so into him -- just look at how she reacted to being kissed by him earlier. And, if I'm taking what Russ Davies said in the accompanying Doctor Who Confidential at face value, her love for him is destined to be unrequited. This is intended to contrast to the Doctor's relationship with Rose, where the feelings were mutual. Hence all the parallels in the episode, including the point where he clasps her hand and says "Run!" Or how he has to follow up the offer of travel through space with an offer to travel in time in order to convince her to come with him.
And I buy that, honestly I do, its potentially workable. Unlike some people I could mention I never had a problem with the idea that the Doctor loved Rose romantically. I understood her shortcomings as a character (she was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, for one thing) and I saw how it was possible the Doctor overcame them because they were a good match and because they complemented one another. Its like what Davies was trying to write for Torchwood and never quite pulled off, where Gwen is meant to be the humanizing emotional intelligence influence on the more analytical, sterile characters.
Just look at the way the Doctor responds to being ardently kissed by Rose (or Cassandra in Rose's body, in any case) in New Earth. That's more than him being an adorable geek. That's the fluster of genuine mutual attraction, and the realization that the change in their relationship due to his regeneration may in fact signal a shift from his being a paternal figure in Rose's life to one more acceptable of amorous intentions. (You have to do a lot of reading between the lines, of course, but that's just one of the quirks of the show at this point -- there's a deeply entrenched longstanding taboo against saying anything explicit about the Doctor's love life. Its actually kind of fun, in my opinion, but then I'm clearly drinking the Doctor Who Kool-Aid and have been for some time.)
And the Doctor's reaction to Martha's flirting at the end of the episode is just perfect, rising from annoyed to cross at just the right pace, finally putting just the right warning edge on his voice that if she pushes him any further he'll be genuinely angry. So there's good tension there. Martha obviously isn't the type to follow the Doctor around like a lovesick puppy just because she has a big sloppy crush on him. She'll make a good companion, going out and getting into trouble, not shrinking from danger too much.
And yet I find I wish we had gotten a little bit more of the Doctor alone. I know in my head that it happened, that he traveled by himself a while, and I understand why the producers can't linger on that too much when they've only got 13 episodes to work with. Still the Doctor has gone it alone before in the history of the series and I think that, on the whole, at least one episode of him doing just that (and not acquiring a companion for the day like Donna) would have been preferable. Oh well. Moving on.
And speaking of moving on! Episode 3 of this season, just two weeks away, is titled Gridlock and will feature the return of the Face of Boe. He will finally unveil his secret to the Doctor and kick off a plot that's been shelved since the start of the second series. Is the rampant speculation on the internet correct? Are there, in fact, other Time Lord survivors of the war? Or will it be something else? I don't know, but I know that I'm excited. And that bodes well for series 3. END SPOILERS.
