So, Death of the Doctor. I’ve only seen it through once, same with The Empty Planet, and I was on holiday at the time. Part One, from what I can remember, is a little over the top, and a standard RTD script. Like The End of Time and The Waters of Mars (review of that coming soon), there were too many trailers and clips – and the clip that ruined the fact that the Doctor was in fact not dead. Of course we knew this anyway, but still.
The return of Jo Grant was lovely. It’s nice to see her back, but in true RTD style she spends most of it reminiscing. Still, it is nice to have her back in the world of Doctor Who. Her entrance is an interesting one, and in my opinion, completely uncharacteristic of Jo Grant, even if she has aged somewhat after her last appearance in The Green Death. The explanation of Jo’s family is a good thing. They take after her, and it’s the type of family Jo Grant would have. So yes, Jo Grant’s family was a good thing. The introduction of Santiago Jones was a good idea, clearly taking on the role of a slightly less clever Luke. Even his RTD style back story was a good idea. The only disappointment with the casting of Santiago… is that the guy who played him didn’t even know what a TARDIS was. He’s clearly been living in space….
Part 2 was better than Part 1. While it had the reminiscing of Jo Grant on another planet about the married couple (though the joke about the planet on a honeymoon made me laugh), it was still a good episode. The plot was well developed and more serious than other SJA episodes, and follows on well from the other series episodes. The Doctor’s throwaway line about him regenerating 507 times is a load of rubbish. While I’m confident he can regenerate more than 12 times and have more than 13 lives, he won't have 507.
The Shansheeth were a great villain, even if they do look like hand puppets. The Groske were utterly terrible, and a complete waste of time. Though at least they didn’t turn bad. The Doctor was in fine form as always, and the fact Russell T Davies was writing for him didn’t affect or change the way he was acting at all. RTD had written for Matt Smith, not David Tennant, which was brilliant. We also got an explanation of David Tennant’s long regeneration, the fact that the Doctor thought over everybody when he last regenerated, which was a lovely touch.
The point about reminiscing is an interesting one. I LOVE THE FLASHBACKS! The way they defeated the villains was typical SJA, but the flashbacks they showed were absolutely brilliant. The fact Jo Grant was upset for not continuing her travels was a little pointless, but the flashbacks were FANTASTIC!
Ok, so, overall. The episode was very good. It shows that Russell T Davies can write scripts! It showed his skill, it showed how he belongs to Doctor Who. He didn’t show that enough in his era of Doctor Who, but he’s shown he can write Doctor Who! He’s shown he can do it, this episode was brilliant. While covered a little with the normal SJA stupid, silly bits, it was a grown up story. It had good characters, good stories, good flashbacks, and it was a joy to watch. Everyone was on top form, from the script and from their acting, this is a good SJA story.
Keep it up SJA!
Next time: The Empty Planet
James
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