Procrastination man - Part 2

As Doctor Who's latest series (season 1/5/31/Fnarg) came to a close two weeks ago, it looks as if the show has really taken a new life under the helm of the new production team.
In terms of writing, the entire season was full of small gems and there is no episode which is complete absolute tosh. The closest it came to that was Victory of the Daleks, and that had Spitfires in space. This season, we had possibly the greatest introduction to a Doctor who is no longer hiding his 1963 origins (how many times did we see William Hartnell this season?), followed by a slightly more conventional adventure romp with The Beast Below, by the scary return of the Angels (coincidentally, the army types dealing with them are from the church! Is there more to it?) and the mystery-shrouded River Song, two stories which were very much like OldWho in style (Vampires of Venice and the Silurian two-parter), a really unique concept with Amy's choice and a mind-blowing finale.
Throughout this season, what transpired was (a) the show playing with the viewer's expectations (spoiler ahead! the Doctor's snog, Rory's death, the absence of a Doctor and Amy painting by Van Gogh, everything about the finale) and (b) a sort of grown-up show which knows it doesn't have to explain everything (who is Prisoner Zero, who are the Smilers, what did River do, how did that space pollen show up, will the Silurians share the Earth in a millennium, what the h*** was a TARDIS doing in The Lodger). It's not out of laziness - it fits with the new direction the show has taken. Under RTD's great command, the show was character-driven and it was there that the evolution could happen. The plot was nearly secondary and therefore needed to be wrapped up. With Moffat, paradoxically, because it is plot-driven, there is no such need: it is perfectly acceptable not to know everything, because there is half a promise that it will be solved some way down the line.

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There is one exception to that - one episode in the entire series which was character-driven. And it is beyond the shadow of a doubt the best episode this series has to boast. Vincent and the Doctor is possibly the best thing I have seen on TV ever. As the title suggests, it was not about the Doctor, but about the guest historical star, Van Gogh. It makes sense that, for a man suffering depression on that level, his vision of the world gets projected onto the screen. The recreations of Van Gogh paintings in the flesh were particularly impressive, especially the Starry Night scene, which gave glimpses of the disturbed genius of the great artist. More importantly, the story was a great study on depression (with the invisible Krafayis a metaphor for it) and how it can destroy a man. This made the final scenes extremely moving, but was also a very bold move for pre-watershed, family TV. That the BBC then mentioned the existence of Headroom shows that the Beebs takes these issues seriously. For the first time, well, ever, Doctor Who was educational on matters that may concern the present lives of many (yes, Doctor Who has been educational on History a fair few times in the past, it has also served as political satire, but never in such a close way).
Vincent and the Doctor is reason enough to justify the show's existence, but is so special it cannot be used as a benchmark for the quality of other episodes.

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And rightly so. You wouldn't want it as a series finale. You want epic. And this season has delivered, bringing every monster the Doctor has ever encountered together and more to trap the Doctor into the Pandorica. And then a second part completely different but putting so many timestreams together that three viewings are necessary to start to understand it fully. The Moff has provided us with an intellectually satisfying finale, but one that does not wrap everything up. And a fez.
So bring on series fnarg+1!

Disappointing? Yes, but then, considering the amount of hype there had been around it, there was no way The End of Time Part 1 was not going to be a bit of a let-down.
As ever, RTD wants to make his finales big. Friggin' big. With explosions and stuff. Flying Daleks, Cybermen AND Daleks, the Master as Lord of the Earth, Davros and the end of the Universe in a worse-than-Logopolis way... and now what? Now (spoiler ahead) the Master... well, six billion Masters who are even madder and more powerful with Jedi tricks than in Series three. Ahem.
Still, they work because through them, the characters get involved. Rose's shebang at the end of Series one allowed for the Doctor's sacrifice. Then there were the tear-jerking last few minutes of Series two (emphasised quite well by Murray Gold's music), then the epic-ness of a madman and the sorrow of the Doctor (along with the evolution of Martha) and finally at the end of Series four, the saddest ending ever seen for a companion.
So despite the bonkersness of the plot itself (especially its first twenty minutes or so), The End of Time could still be good; especially given the reveal at the end of Part one. Even though it didn't come as a complete surprise (we see part of the costume halfway through the episode) it is still a pretty big one and fanwanky moment. Its heavy reliance on show mythology is quite surprising for a Christmas episode meant to attract more casual viewers.
Similarly, Series three's penultimate episode was quite a let-down because the setting up of the plot seemed both a bit rushed and forced and made The Sound of Drums be little more than the sum of its parts. It would seem as though this is a constant for RTD's Master: a contrived, suspension-of-belief-stretching plot which allows for fantastic scenes. For RTD's Master is quite frankly awesome and well-written - even more in this episode than in the previous ones. A shame his resurrection destroys the emotional height of his downfall back in Series three. Still, now the set-up is over, we should have a lot of awesomeness on New Year's Day!
The plot can ergo be excused. By the second part. Possibly. But the more surprising bit is the sloppy direction that this episode suffers from. Euros Lyn, who very skilfully (nay, masterfully even) delivered Torchwood: Children of Earth seems to have been simply lazy this time. Oh, we can still recognise his touch (slanted camera in a certain type of shots for instance) but there's no feel to this, no consistency. The actors seem to slot into cliched roles. Even John Simm's only a copy of Gollum at the start, albeit a very good one. Production values are down a tiny notch too, which could be worrying considering Tracie Simpson is to deal with Series five too.
Still, it's not all bad. The format of this episode looks like it is made up of two separate parts, with a cut around 30 minutes in, which could herald a return to the old format. This could be good news for Series five. The main cast is awesome, with Cribbins, Simm and Tennant in top form (especially that scene in the cafe) and the music is up to its usual standards. Not too much to rejoice over, but hey.
When the much-hyped Christmas special is such a letdown compared to The Waters of Mars, it shows one of two things: either the November special was so awesome and played on epicness on such a level that anything that followed could not be as good. Or it really is a poor episode, which would be a shame for Tennant's swansong. Hopefully, the second part will make up for the shortcomings of the first one.
Predicted AI (for a 10.0m audience): 86.

It is a sad fact - today was the last broadcast of original televised Doctor Who until David Tennant's swansong at Christmas. With The Sarah Jane Adventures finishing their slightly disappointing third series last week, there is not even a little spin-off to slight our appetite.
But whilst Easter's offering was quite poor, even for the action romp it was supposed to be, both the November special and Dreamland were quite amazing. Starting with the doubtlessly canonical episode, The Waters of Mars, there is little doubt that aficionados will have been left with their mouth gaping open after the oh-so-unusual ending. A warning here - spoilers begin!
The November special was billed as the scariest Who yet. In many respects that is true, even though it is scary in an unconventional way: here it's not the monsters that make the situation gritty. It is the Doctor. For the first time ever in the 46-year-old history of the show, the Doctor just is wrong with no excuses for it. Yes, in The Twin Dilemma, we had glimpses of an unlikeable Doctor, but that was down to post-regenerative trauma and directed against one person who had alienated quite a bit of the audience anyway. The death of Katarina in The Dalek's Masterplan can also be considered as wrong, but this is not a point the show dwells on.
Because of that, The Waters of Mars is a point of no-return in the show. Much like fan favourite The Caves of Androzani showed a weak Doctor who died for the wrong reasons and did not save the day (and thus, as was argued in Doctor Who Magazine, was a point of no-return in the show), there is no way for the Doctor now to keep the moral high ground. Short of an epic Trial of a Time Lord-like story or another long hiatus, the Doctor will have to live with his guilt - and we don't want any of that.
The only workable solution is a different trial, and for the Doctor to have to pay for his crime against time. A possibility is that, still in God-mode, the Doctor un-timelocks the Time War and brings the rest of the Time Lords back. The ungrateful bunch then sentence him to exile and force a regeneration... hang on, that sounds familiar!
Still, like at the start of the Third Doctor's reign, this or any other punishment would mean a full reboot (and explain the new-style TARDIS) - a new era for Steven Moffatt. It very much looks as though 2010 Who will be nothing like 2005 Who. So enjoy the few episodes that are left while you can!^[1]

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And you could start with Dreamland. The latest gap-year special offering (after an awesome Torchwood plus audio extras, a guest appearance in the Sarah Jane Adventures, ...) is an animated adventure of a companionless Doctor meant to be set after The Waters of Mars (though it could be set right before and it wouldn't make much difference except in the meaning of a specific line, which refers to the latest special rather than to Genesis of the Daleks now). The story, written by Phil Ford, is everything Doctor Who has been about in the Pertwee years: a fun plot with scary aliens and meddling but good-hearted military... Except that it's done with Tennant's style and is now action-packed in a much better way than Planet of the Spiders part 3.
The animation itself is very disappointing, especially considering the recent relative successes of The Infinite Quest and The Invasion. Yes, the backdrops look magnificent and some scenes are breathtaking - but the characters just don't work. They walk as if they were in a video game environment, the lipsync is not up to scratch and they look quite angular. It makes you wonder whether that story would not have been better suited to an audio adventure or a comic book story (the concept art looks awesome!)
Still, the 6-episode, 7-minute format works really well for that story. Much better than the splitting up did for The Infinite Quest and the voice actors are really really good. The music is its usual Murray Gold gold, especially considering it didn't sound like there was any new theme.
Dreamland works really well. It just doesn't fit well after The Waters of Mars because it lacks its gritty edge.

Yes, THREE! It is quite impressive that the second spin-off from NewWho went to such great successes, when you keep in mind how short-lived K-9 and company was...
But there are good reasons for that. Not only is Who a strong brand that will make any spin-off product work, the SJA are also a great show. It is aimed for kids, and it doesn't have the budget of either its sister-series, and yes, it does show in terms of special effects. Yet the writing and, to some limited extent, the acting, more than makes up for it. Prisonner of the Judoon, the third series' opener, is well-constructed and sees an old foe from Who meet Sarah Jane and gang. Despite having a target audience completely different from the one of Doctor Who, the Judoon stay in character - intergalactic thugs, as it were, stupidly bureaucratic. I would say they are almost French in their handling of things, but it would be a harsh judgement. The kid aspect of the programme appears in the jokes that crop up here and there, but never in a way that is detrimental to the plot.
And for the first time in the whole of the SJA, Lis Sladen's acting is first-class, and is met by most of her fellow cast. It's just a shame that Tommy Knight, whilst not being especially bad, is not up to his usual standard. Could it be that writer Phil Ford simply separated his "Sarah Jane's kid" aspect fromm his "boy genius" aspect when writing, and never used both at the same time? It would certainly explain the lack of depth in Knight's performance. Still, all is forgiven thanks to the sterling "posessed Sarah Jane".
So what's in store for the rest of the series? Well, exciting stuff. Including appearances by characters dear to us all. So tune in, and be more than 0.6m next time!

Despite Michael Grade's decision to cancel Doctor Who in 1989, the show lived on in spin-off media. At the time, I doubt it was simply a way to milk the fan-cow further: rather, it was a way to give them at least some Who. And boy, there's been a lot of material published: disregarding the Novellas, the novelisations and the short stories, there have been 33 Missing Adventures, 61 strictly speaking Doctor Who New Adventures, both published by Virgin, 76 Past Doctor's adventures and 73 Eighth Doctor's adventures (BBC Books). So a whopping total of 243 books. I am about one third of the way there.
Just like the original TV show, some of it is really good, some of it is really bad. There seems to be a tendency amongst fans to prefer Virgin's publications to BBC Books. It is true that, amongst the books I have read, the NAs were oh so much bolder in what they undertook than the EDAs. They started off - from their very onset - with a four-part story, albeit with a meh enemy, and pushed the Doctor further than he could have gone on TV.
So, to know chaff from wheat, here are a couple of useful pointers:

• Flee Gary Russell like plague if what you're after is a decent, consistent plot. If you're looking for lots of continuity references, though, he's definitely your man. Some of the author's worst offenses include The Invasion of the Cat-People, and more recently the IDW Comic Agent Provocateur. Instruments of Darkness is not too bad, but still doesn't quite work.
• Marc Platt, on the other hand, always delivers mindblowing works. Though they are generally not action epics, quite the contrary in fact, they all have in common a very intricate plot which makes a second reading very rewarding. Though Ghost Light, his TV offering, was at least one episode short in order to be fully understandable, his New Adventures books have all the space which is necessary to craft a great plot with care. Cat's cradle: Time's crucible has three different time zones which are interacting with one another and gives a nice glimpse of Gallifreyan history. Lungbarrow, the most expensive Doctor Who book to my knowledge, picks up on that history and is grand because it manages to explain the start of the 1996 movie convincingly, which is no meagre feat.
• The second most expensive Doctor Who book is, as far as I know, Lance Parkin's The Dying Days, the only Virgin book to feature Paul McGann's Doctor. It has in common with Platt a great care given to a well-built plot, but is not quite as good at mythology-building. Where Platt took on the show's history in his stride and expanded it, Parkin only uses it as a help for his books - which is completely, absolutely fine, given how much he delivers. Parkin's strength lies not in continuity, but in characterisation. All his characters are particularly well crafted, instantly loveable or despicable. His Father Time is one of the only BBC Books that manage to push the boundaries of the show as far as Virgin books had done.
• Then there's Steve Lyons. His work is pure genius, unleashed in books. He does not only push the boundaries of what Doctor Who is, he plays with the concept of the book. He is, to date, the author of the only book I've read to break the fourth wall as a plot device (Conundrum). His Crooked World is very simply a joyride. The Witch Hunters is one of the very very rare pure historicals, and is worth every penny. A shame that the monsters he created for The Murder Game and Final Sanction haven't got that much depth - still, both books are still very entertaining.
• Terrance Dicks's books are just that. Entertaining, and well-crafted, but not really interesting beyond that. Timewyrm: Exodus is still one of the best NAs I have read to date, and his Players arc, revisited in Endgame, is definitely a great plot device.
• In the pantheon of Great Doctor Who Writers, there's also, in no particular order, Paul Cornell, Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum, Andrew Cartmel, though I must admit that, with the exception of Seeing I and maybe Atom Bomb Blues, none of their books has delivered to me yet...
• And then there's the one-offs: great books that simply are awesome. Fear Itself, The Banquo Legacy, Asylum, Eater of Wasps are among them, and they're all wonderful page-turners.

So there's a lot out there - a lot of great new companions (well. Bernice, Fitz and Chris Cwej are worth it, I'm not going to say about the other ones) and a lot of less good ones. But the good books are most definitely worth the poorer ones.
All links above are, when available, to The Cloister Library, a great resource to find out whether books require prep reading or not. When scouring ebay for these books, please consider using http://www.buy.at/revelation!

In a Doctor Who gap year (where there is still a lot of activity for Tennant, from an animated series to cameos and specials), the news that Torchwood's third series would be limited to five episodes over one week received mixed receptions.
Whilst John Barrowman reportedly considered this reduction unfair, some (including myself) considered it a bold move which should pay off if the story was strong enough. And considering how strong a brand Doctor Who is, the production team probably would not have chosen this format if they were not sure about it.

And by Jove they were right. Torchwood: Children of Earth is new, darker, harrowing and the tension that is maintained throughout would have suffered from a multi-week format. The choice of one single story pays off as well, as every character is developed with utmost care - Frobisher and his aide most specifically. (Careful, spoilers start here!)
But more importantly, choosing a new format also meant pushing boundaries back. Not quite a clean slate, but after the death of Owen and Toshiko at the end of series 2, there were quite a few degrees of freedom for the writers. In the same way that, in Doctor Who, the only constant is (pretty much) the TARDIS, in Torchwood, the only constants became the Hub and Jack Harkness at the start of this third series.
Not quite. Day One sees the Hub being blown to smithereens, along with Jack. Nothing can ever be the same again. The mechanisms that we saw used to recruit new members of Torchwood turn out (very sadly) to end up quite badly. The action is not centered in Cardiff anymore at the end of Day One, but in London. This is the first indication that, in this series, everything changes.

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We were promised an epic - and we are deceived. Tricked. The story is of epic proportions, as are the production values (hats off to Euros Lyn for a really great direction. A great shame that Torchwood seems like it's over, as he seems very much more suited to adult material than kids TV), but it is not an epic as much as it is an overblown modern drama/tragedy. Jack is portrayed in the first two series of the show as some weird kind of hero, but a hero nonetheless. The end of Day Three proves otherwise, and the end of Day Five puts the last nail to the coffin of the idea of Jack as a hero.
Children of Earth is grim. Harrowing. Shocking. In that respect, it fits in the continuity of Torchwood's second series (remember that episode where a mother says she'd rather not have found her son again), but blows it hundredfold. That the ones who could help are chased for politicians' reasons, that there is no consideration at any moment amongst the powers that be to refuse giving over the children is chilling enough, but when the hero follows the same path and kills on-screen and knowingly a child, all the rules of television are broken. It does not help that it is made worriyingly realistic by going to take kids from various schools but also various anonymous homes, or through the passing reference to league tables (one of the most chilling quotes ever). And through a very delicately crafted background for Frobisher, we see how it is possible that governments would decide this way.
So yeah, the 456 might not look much (but the reason they want children is quite nicely planted from Day Three), there might be minor plot holes (e.g. why does the army stop, or the end of Day Two) but the season grows from strength to strength. Even Day Four's big shock gets topped in Day Five. And Russel T Davies manages to write a conclusion without a deus ex machina (well... at least it was planted before the climax). For all these reasons, Torchwood: Children of Earth is great - better even than quite a lot of Doctor Who episodes. Iplayer it as soon as you can!

In this year of Doctor Who famine, Planet of the Dead, the first ever Easter special and 200th story (yes, I like being controversial), should have been an explosion of Doctor Who goodness. Anticipation was high, and so were the expectations.
I’d love to say I was blown away by the episode, but the truth is I was not. Don’t get me wrong, it is a neat little story, very enjoyable, very well directed and acted, but it just does not match the expectations I had for the episode.
Planet of the Dead’s story, even though fairly formulaic and at the end of the day simple, is not easy to sum up – because it is the sum of many small, underexploited threads, and a bigger one: the Doctor is stuck on a planet the other side of the universe, with a cat-burglar, and needs a) to find a way to get off the planet and b) to close the gateway through which he came, or else Planet Earth is doomed.
Many plot-holes have been spotted on the Outpost Gallifrey forums but they are actually really easy to fix, even without waving the wibbly-wobbly sciencey technobabble artefact. UNIT was back in shape, the music was good, the acting was spot-on (despite the Welsh accent of Malcolm). Seriously, UNIT was the strong point of this episode: for the first time we can see something of the old UNIT in the new UNIT.
So what is the problem? On the one hand, the story is a bit too simple. As opposed to Moffatt’s stories, Planet of the Dead is little less than an enjoyable ride. There are no themes (which is disappointing coming from RTD), and the whole thing only gains interest from the fact that it is a Doctor-Who-free time. And from the new assistant.
Lady Christina is the best companion to date: she is what Romana Mark I should have been. Feisty, leading, and taking no smeg, intelligent, equipped, and taking the initiative. And that allows for very very interesting dynamics. However, she is not someone who could have lasted long as a companion. You need someone to be in danger, someone to explain stuff to, someone to be basically there on behalf of the audience. And with Christina, you just cannot get that, which is why (leaving aside dubious ethics) she had to leave.
In a bus.
In a flying bus. (shakes head in disbelief).
Ah well, at least the next special’s trailer looks fairly awesome:

I used to be fairly blase concerning the new range of Doctor Who books. In fairness, the early books were fairly formulaic and, while very enjoyable, did not do much exploring around the show. Thus, out of the first six books, only Only Human was pushing the concept of Doctor Who by having a multi-timezones story (something that had not been seen yet on the TV Series - now thankfully the Moff has given us two extraordinary pieces).
A new step was made towards originality with Sting of the Zygons: the books brought back a classic monster that has yet to appear in the new series.
But it's in the latest batch of books that we find the most daring writing that has ever been found in the new series:

• The Story of Martha changes the rules: it's not one story, it's many. The arc does not even see the Doctor appearing. And instead of being a stand-alone story that more or less fits somewhere in the continuity of the show, the arc itself fills in a specific gap in the TV series: the year that never was. While the format of the short story does not seem to be the best for some of the authors invited to write in this book, Dan Abnett's bits are awesome. What could have been a simple throw-away line in the TV Series, "the Isles of Japan burning" take a whole new meaning here.
• Beautiful Chaos brings back another monster from the classic series (not telling what it is), and the choice is about as unexpected as that of the Macra appearing in Gridlock. It fits brilliantly within the continuity of the show - and more specifically the first and last few pages are the most exciting any Donna-lover will ever read. The plot is secondary here - the book aims to explore Donna's family, which was never given as much spotlight as Rose's. And the consequences of Journey's End. Beautiful Chaos is daring, it is beautiful and most definitely worth a read.
• The Eyeless is probably the most disappointing of the batch. Lance Parkin's writing is crisp, as usual, and the story works on two different gears, but all in all it is a fairly conventional tale, where the monsters don't quite work. Still, it pushes the limits of the books once more by showing the Doctor without any companion.

The logical next step for the book series is to create a new ongoing companion. Doctor Who Magazine comics have done just that, with Majenta Price (a companion I'm not too fond on, because I don't feel her stay in the TARDIS quite works. It is a bit like Tegan, except that she can leave whenever she wants). The gap year in the TV series gives just enough scope for that.
Or they could push the limits of the format even more - which is what they did, to a limited extent, with The Darksmith Legacy. Creating a series of 13 monthly releases, forming one single story, is brave and new. Yet they didn't want to risk the "normal" format so the series will be published alongside the normal releases.

Woohey!!! A nice little trailer for the third series of Torchwood has been released by the Beebs.

This series will be a bit particular - where series one and two were 13 episodes long, series three will be five episodes long and be broadcast over the course of one week. No broadcast dates have been announced yet, but it is expected to air in late Spring.
And this new series looks pretty awesome. Maybe it was the plan all along - maybe this is where we will get to see why the "Twenty-first Century is when everything changes"...
From the trailer only (no other sources!) it looks like an old enemy is back, and that they're controlling children all over the planet. Personally, it reminds me of the Sycorax in Doctor Who's The Christmas Invasion. Whoever it is, we get to see UNIT! So yay!
A final note on the format of Torchwood: it seems that, when Doctor Who's format is pretty fixed and not tampered with too much (many cannons are established, in different media, but there is no official variety), Torchwood manages to explore different formats easily: after two series, including one cross-over with Doctor Who over three episodes, it seemed to have reached maturity - but the creators are bold and brave, and create a special audio adventure that will probably be referred to later, and a whole new format! Hats off for the courage... and I can't wait!

Beware - if you have not seen The Next Doctor yet, this review will include big spoilers, so avert your eyes!
BBC One gathered over half the TV viewers last night at six, for a Christmas special of Doctor Who. While there were "only" 11.7 million people watching it (overnight figures), it is safe to say that those were drawn in by the appeal of the show itself, rather than by the star effect of Kylie Minogue last year.
And those viewers must have been pleased: of all the Christmas specials, The Next Doctor is the one that feels most Christmassy, with plenty of snow, children and a scenery and photography (at the beginning) which reminds slightly of Nativity scenes (admittedly, at a push). Victorian London, in any case, feels very much like it's taken straight from Dickens's books. Storywise, it was bigged up quite a bit by the sparse leaked information: the title, The Next Doctor gave quite a bit away, especially as David Morrissey was reportedly cast as "the Doctor" and had an assistant called Rosita (and even, we find out, a TARDIS!) and as David Tennant is reportedly leaving the show after this year's specials. The Cybermen were back in it as well, which would have been quite a biggie were it not for the multi-doctor aspect of the story (remember the end of series four teaser?).
And, just like in series 4's The Doctor's Daughter, we are cheated! David Morrissey is not the next Doctor, but through rather clever story devices, he has assimilated some facts about the Time Lord, and believes himself to be him. He has a screwdriver, which is sonic (as in, makes sound), a hot-air balloon, which is his TARDIS, and many more similarities with the Doctor. Now, while the plot device to explain this assimilation is subtly introduced at the beginning of the story, it remains no more than a plot device that accidentally also serves as a weapon, and in the end, the viewer is left to wonder why the Cybermen needed those in the first place (let alone how they have archive footage of the Third, Eigth and Ninth Doctors, and if they are the parallel universe Cybermen, how they have any of any Doctor except for the Tenth!).
But the plot works fairly well, and is the occasion for a few nice continuity references, some more subtle than others (Blink, Human Nature twice -once obviously, the other time less so-, The Runaway Bride gets a nod at the end, Last of the Time Lords at a push... very much at a push... if you find it, kudos, you're as much a geek as I). The dialogue is crisp, and the acting awesome on Tennant's and Miss Hartigan's side, quite good on the Next Doctor's and Rosita's too. And the mystery is quite deep throughout a story whose pace never lets down.
More importantly, maybe, it is a pivotal story in the Cybermen's storyline - which is quite surprising for a Christmas special. Russel T Davies has, essentially, created an Eric Saward Dalek storyline for Cybermen. There could well be, from now on, two factions of Cyberpeople - one, following Miss Hartigan, and the other one, rebelling against those heathen feelings. I am quite curious to see what a Cybermen against Cybermen story would do - after all, the CyberKing has only been sent to the Time Vortex, nothing says it can't get out in Manhattan/fall through time all the way to the Time War and get the Rani out/anything is possible.
All in all, The Next Doctor is probably the best Christmas special so far, and deserves full marks! (and I haven't even mentioned Murray Gold's music, even though it is mostly the ususal themes rearranged this time around!) (and well done to Doctor Who Magazine for managing to make a Doctor cover for Morrissey without giving the game away!)

Even though the mother-show itself, Doctor Who, is undergoing a sort of gap year, both spin-offs have some heavy actuality of their own.
Torchwood, the "grown-ups' Doctor Who", will have its soundtrack finally released on the 22nd of September.

Behind this awesome CD (look out for Owen's theme!), already available for download here, are the combined talents of Ben Foster and Murray Gold, who have already worked on Doctor Who. Silva Screen Records have already released two soundtracks for Doctor Who, which are pretty much awesome - buy them here and here.
But Torchwood's activity does not stop there. Admittedly, we still have to wait for the half-arsed (but probably worth it) series three, comprising only five episodes making up one story, and which will be broadcast over the course of one week, probably over the Christmas break. But this wednesday, on BBC Radio 4's Big Bang Day, a 45-minute special audio episode of Torchwood, featuring Martha Jones as well as the usual cast, will be broadcast. Tune in at 2.15pm (British Time). Here's the trailer:

To listen to Radio 4 on the Internet (which should also work from the European mainland), follow this link, and if you've missed it, there's always listen again. If the Earth is not blown up by then, that is.
The other Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, is also gearing up for its second series, which will start broadcasting on the 29th of September. A trailer has been made for it:

So yeah, we will only get a few Doctor Who specials this year, and we have to wait until Christmas for the next one, but there's still lots of stuff to get excited about!

Right... now we're in trouble. Russel T Davies has done it again. He's given us a massive bonanza of a finale. With a plot that has many weaknesses - basically, once it's "the end of the universe", in the words of the Doctor, there is not much you can do short of a reset button. The basic plot itself is fairly weak, as Davros is brought back from the Time War (which we now know has been "timelocked", but it would seem, not impossible to access) and has a plan to destroy the universe. So far, so good. It's even fair enough that he needs to drag planets across the universe to do it. However, someone with such tremendous power could probably destroy the universe by other means, right? Ah well, never fear anyway, because the Doctor is there, and despite a situation which seems hopeless, he is going to save the day.
The Stolen Earth was pretty good, mind. It brought back all characters from the Whoniverse, including the spin-offs, as the Doctor was not there and Earth was left to fight on its own. Harriet Jones is probably the most interesting character that RTD has ever brought to life, as she stands by her actions and steers resistance. Rose blasts everything off, Torchwood remains calm in the hub under Dalek attack, Martha is given the mysterious "Osterhagen key", and we see all different kinds of reactions when faced with an invasion. What could have simply been a list of namechecks actually falls together into a consistent piece. Still, there are a few negative details on the Earth side of the episode. While John Barrowman seems to have found some acting ability back, it looks like Gareth Lloyd-Davies has lost all his talent. Hopefully he'll be better when Torchwood slimmed-down series three comes back. And, more importantly, the plothole of why the Daleks don't simply exterminate everything that moves. Indeed, the episode is sort of a Dalek Invasion of Earth mark II, except the Daleks don't need the slave force anymore (although admittedly, why they wanted to dig to the core of the Earth in Dalek Invasion of Earth is dubious) - and therefore there is no reason not to simply kill everyone off.
On the Doctor's side, however, things feel more like a massive checklist. The Shadow Proclamation is almost useless where the plotline is concerned, and very little is learned about it. The Medusa Cascade is another checked item in the list of references. As are the disappearing bees. Russel T Davies used to be subtler in his season arcs. Bad Wolf was explained, but was central to the plot of the episode; Torchwood did not need to be spelled out; Mr Saxon was central as well...
Still, some elements were implanted throughout the series and were solved more subtly in the second part of the finale, Journey's End. The famous Doctor-Donna idea, introduced in Planet of the Ood and even before that, was brilliant, and quite probably noone but Catherine Tate could have pulled off the three-level acting just that well. When Journey's End is concerned, it is much much better not to look at the plot at all, as it is pretty much a far too quick resolution of everything that was sown in the first part. What is great about episode 13 is what it allows for: the central question that resonates throughout Doctor Who of what it means to be human (as opposed to Time Lord). The Osterhagen key subplot (which could have as easily not been there), but more importantly Harriet Jones's reaction to it in the first part, is a clear example of what the human race is capable of doing when faced with imminent destruction.
Finally, we see what Russel T Davies does best: explore the relationships between the Doctor and his fellow travellers. Mickey stays behind with Martha (to join Torchwood? one can but hope, unlikely though it is!) as neither were ever in for the travelling bit. Rose has to leave the Doctor again, in a toned-down version of the beach scene from Doomsday. I am quite disappointed by the said scene, as it retroactively tones down the emotional intensity of the original scene. And then, there's Donna - and Wilf - in what may be the saddest end to a character ever, with the possible exceptions of Jamie and Zoe (who suffered just about the same fate, yet that was not explored in the original run of the series). Sadder than Rose, Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Adric - worse than death, forgetfulness. An Ood song in the background would have been good there.
Now there's no Doctor Who for ages. The Sarah Jane Adventures are coming back this autumn, quite fortunately, but the next proper Doctor Who story will be for Christmas 2008... and it does look good! Less Torchwood and much much less Doctor Who next year, though, as only four specials of the latter, and five episodes of the former, will be made. Ah well, it will give me a chance to catch up on the books!

Careful - spoilers are coming... quite a few actually.
Rose is back. Right, we knew that from Partners in Crime onwards. Sadly, though, there's no explanation as to how it is possible. After the whole shebang about parallel universes being sealed, a little nod in that direction would have been appreciated. Ah well, it is always possible to draw up big complicated theories (and we will), or just let it go (and I won't :-P). Still, that's not a gaping plot hole, and there's an easy and simple way to explain it. The biggest question is - why does she know all that she knows???
Back to the beginning. Donna gets attacked by a beetle-like styrofoam creature, which hangs onto her back (at last, that reference from Fires of Pompeii is explained). That creature feeds on changing time (a creature that feeds on time - RTD seems to get a few of his ideas from Steven Moffat!), which leads to a massive "what if" episode. What if Donna had not met the Doctor in The Runaway Bride? Well, we find out, the Doctor would have died. No regeneration possible. He would have died, drowned in the Thames. And all the days he's been saving since (nearly two entire series of Doctor Who) - well, they wouldn't have been saved. Adipose, Judoon on the Moon, Titanic, Sontaran... everything. Well, no Master, obviously, cause the Master was Timelordised by the Doctor. No Daleks in Manhattan either, but that's not explained.
And as a result, the whole world goes awol. Southern England is destroyed, and people are deported to the North (poor souls... Leeds!), where a housing situation has arised (there, RTD has found the way to fight slumping housing prices!) Half of the Americans are turned into walking fat. Martha Jones, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Sarah Jane Smith - they're all dead. Not only namechecking - this what if episode allows for a nice little remembrance episode, without any of those annoying flashbacks.
Here are a few questions, though. How did Rose come back? Well, the answer to that is fairly simple - Donna, by rewriting her story, created a universe that bent around her... thus creating a bridge towards Pete's universe. How did she get all this foreknowledge? That's not explained, and quite frankly annoying. Maybe when she absorbed the time vortex she knew all along what was going to happen to her, but also knew she couldn't play with it and placed it all in her subconscious? Or maybe (hopefully) we'll find a better explanation next time.
Despite those two gaping plotholes, Turn Left was a brilliant episode, with a brilliant Catherine Tate and a brilliant Bernard Cribbins. It shows humanity at its low and at its high at the same time. Last year, in Last of the Time Lords, the year that never was showed us humanity under an iron fist, but focused on Martha's Quest. Now we can see inside the houses and how, in a way, life goes on. The Italian landlord (or is he the landlord?) was a clear nod to La vita è bella... and we could have foreseen him being sent off to a "labour camp". Showing us humanity at its worst. France closing its borders, the UK creating camps à la Children of Men...
Turn Left certainly has a huge scope. Which is probably why it feels rushed. Too much info - going over the events from Runaway Bride to The Sontaran Stratagem in no time, is a bit too much. Still, you've got to remember that, as a Doctor-lite episode, it was a bit of a filler anyway... and a great filler at that. With a great new piece by Murray Gold, and the return of All the Strange strange Creatures!
Bring on next week! That's the only way you can feel after watching the "Next Time" trailer... to check names: Luke Smith, Sarah Jane Smith, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Judoon, Harriet Jones (from Flydale North), RED DALEK, Donna Noble, the Doctor, a supposedly Davros-owned claw flicking a switch. Still, no Mickety-mick-mickey, no Pete Tyler, no Jackie, no K-9. No Clyde or Maria either. And definitely no Owen or Tosh.
And to finish off the references that were not noted above - a nod to the Third Doctor's Planet of the Spiders with that beetle thing (they could have done it better, if they had wanted). Kinda with the circle of mirrors to force a creature into revealing itself. And, obviously, Bad Wolf.

Midnight, Doctor Who's so far most original episode, is referred to on the Doctor Who forums as "a bit of a Marmite episode". Understand - some will love it, some will hate it.
That's a fair judgement. But that still holds true for most Doctor Who episodes. Love & Monsters is a striking example of division amongst fans, and Random Shoes, the Torchwood series one episode, even more so. What makes those episodes so controversial? They're original.
People will say, about any of those episodes: "That's not what Doctor Who is about". In a way, they're right, because they all explore further and further into the possibilities offered by the programme. But that's what makes their strength. Love & Monsters and Random Shoes were endearing, Blink was downright scary - and Midnight was definitely spooky.
And yet, when you stop and think about it, not much is spooky in the script. Of course, there's the banging on the hull that is scary, but from there on, Sky is not as much scary as alien. All she's doing is - well - repeating what is said around her. Why, deep down inside, should that be spooky? Because the said repetition is a way for her to appropriate the people around her. She's invading our innermost privacy - our thoughts. And we know nothing of her intentions. And that's spooky fact number one.
Spooky fact number two is what she assimilates. What the human race is like. She is, ultimately, the baddie of the episode. And in a series which, like Doctor Who, manages to show alien counterparts which are not fundamentally evil, it is all the more striking that the copycat becomes so filled with a murderous rage. This is echoed very nicely by the tourists' reaction to Sky's metamorphosis.
But then, as always in Doctor Who, there's this glimmer of hope - the one that says that the human race is worth it in the end. There's Jethro, and there's Dee Dee. And there's the nameless hostess. The three of them (interestingly also the ones that "serve": the child, the PA, the hostess) show more depth in their way of thinking, and in the end are more humane.
And of course there's the Doctor. Who ends up being taken over by that alien thing. And that's very spooky. Because if the Doctor's mind can't resist, nothing will. And to pull that off, to show the struggle within the Doctor's mind, you needed an actor at least as great as David Tennant! He's giving us his best performance so far - able to show that he is taken over by that alien thing, but to show that he is struglling, fighting, desperately - and that he is genuinely afraid. Hats off to every single actor of Midnight, actually - they were bloody fantastic.
So, a Marmite episode because it went into unchartered territory. But also - it felt a bit thin in terms of backstory - which is fine, given how much it has to deliver, and that the situation is only a pretext for this great character study; still, one feels cheated. We want to know more about that alien. And, who knows, maybe we will - maybe it's the Shadow?
Ah, we're getting to the series finale now. Is Turn Left going to be part one of a three-parter, or a stand-alone episode? No matter what, one can be certain of one thing: names will have an important role to play in that episode, quite possibly the Doctor's name. The theme has been launched all the way back in The Shakespeare's Code, has been picked up on in Last of the Time Lords, and then used various times in almost every single episode of series 4: subtly, for the matron in Partners in Crime, the augur names the Doctor and Donna in Fires of Pompeii, Jenny's name is reason for an entire dialogue in The Doctor's Daughter, and then, more importantly, the reason why the Doctor trusts River Song in the Moffat two-parter is that she knows his real name. We'll see... Still, interesting to see we did not get the "we're not a couple" line this week...
Bring on Turn Left!

You've got to give Steven Moffat credit for writing truly original pieces of science-fiction. After the nanogene child, the time-travelling stalker robots, and the killer-but-not-quite-yet-very-scary statues, he has given us... well, this. Impossible to summarise quickly, for it is much much more than the plot that makes it worthy of the Moff.
Admittedly, the second part did not start off well. It quickly got lost into some cyberspace weirdness - without having enough scope to explore its implications properly, and got the viewer (me) a bit, well, wondering what that was all for. Or maybe it was just because it was so Donna-centered. Still, I have never thought that cyberspace and Who work well together. It just allows too much - the Matrix (from Doctor Who, eh, not the film!) being the pinnacle of stupidity ("I deny this reality"). The Virgin New Adventures tried it as well - the example that comes to mind is Love and War, by Cornell - which, by the way, introduced River Song's avatar, Bernice Summerfield... surprise surprise! But, again, it barely worked. I actually was surprised not to see the Trickster in those black clothes. Up to the core point (literally!), it was therefore all pretty weak - including the Vashta Nerada stuff, what with the library being theirs etc. seemed a bit weak, and only there to earn the label "with cuteness inside".
But once we got on to the next chapter, the conclusion of the Vashta/Cal/Donna plotline, it just got back to being great. There, you saw how everything that happened in the first episode, and even further to that point in the story, had a purpose. The discussion with the Vashta Nerada was there to show that they could communicate with that neural thingy with the voices of the crew, which itself was nicely brought in in the first part. The extra bits and pieces on River's sonic screwdriver also serve the purpose of a nice surprise towards the end... and it is nice to see Donna spending her time with some Tom Milligan lookalike, without definitely losing him by the end of the story. Who knows, maybe we'll see more of him in the finale?
The strength of Forest of the Dead lies clearly in Professor River Song. She is a character with a lot of scope, and her relationship with the Doctor is thoroughly explored. Unlike in the first part, Alex Kingston now portrays her with class and the chemistry between both actors is visible on screen. It's nice to see some (future) companion (?) stand up to the Doctor. We have seen this before (well, The Parting of the Ways, and The Fires of Pompeii to an extent), but never to that point. And it makes it just believable that River Song either married the Doctor, or is a regeneration of Jenny (I'd actually go for the latter).
Finally, possibly a Moffat trait - just this once, nobody dies! Let's look back at the previous episodes penned by (one of the) best Doctor Who writers. The Curse of Fatal Death, despite its non-cannonicity, had no deaths (despite quite some ageing by the Master, and the title!), The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances ended up with everybody living, in Blink, the angels did not exactly kill - they just sent people back in time, which is kind of a death, but with still the possibility of a happy life. In Timecrash, well, there is no reason for anyone to die! And in The Girl in the Fireplace, nobody gets killed while the story lasts (the crew members beforehand, and Mme de Pompadour of old age, but that hardly counts!). And this makes his episodes even more amazing!
So altogether, a solid 4 out of 5 for this episode. The best this series remains Planet of the Ood! Here's to hoping Keith Temple comes back for series five...

After a Eurovision-caused two-week break, Doctor Who is back, and what a brilliant episode Silence in the Library was! But the episode is so original I cannot review it without putting a big spoiler alert (funny, by the way, how spoilers are mentioned! Steven Moffat surely knows how to wink at the fans, as Timecrash had already shown).
So, yeah, big spoilers ahead. There, you've been warned. The story is that of a library. Well, not just a library, but the biggest library in the universe, taking up the entire surface of one planet! The BBC Books already had a similar idea, with The Last Dodo, which showcased a special zoo/museum which was, as well, taking up the whole planet, and had a shop! The Doctor seems to be very fond of giftshops, after references in New Earth, Smith & Jones, and now Silence in the Library. And, erm, in the Library, nobody has survived some big thing that happened about a hundred years ago. Yet there are billions of non-humanoid lifeforms on the planet. Which cannot be seen at the first glance. The Vashta Nerada. In parallel to that plot, is that of a young girl, and it looks like the TARDIS has landed in the middle of her dreams: the Library is in her mind. And she has some influence on it - but conversely, the Doctor manages at one point (though shortly) to communicate with her.
Despite a strong and original plot (well, less original than Blink so far, but let's wait for the second part to see Steven Moffat's clever explanation to everything), the strengths of Silence in the Library lie in the detail. Clever inventions, big and small, show what a good news it is that Steven Moffat becomes the showrunner. From small to big, here they are:

• the facial information nodes. Maybe a bit silly, but they allow for great comic relief - for instance, when it says Run, for God's sake, run. But what seems unsignificant will play a big part in the end of the episode, bringing Donna-node into the action.
• ghosting. A very cute/touching way of seeing death. And possibly an explanation for Rose's return? And a nice way to keep the walking Vashta Nerada spooky and speaking. A stroke of genius there.
• professor River Song. Now that was a stroke of genius - to bring in a companion whose timeline crosses the Doctor's many times, and who has already met him - but not conversely! As the writer would put it - wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey! Interesting how it was planted from the beginning with the reference to spoilers.

On that note, professor River Song is also a nice reference to the Virgin New Adventure's and Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield, another archeologist from the future. Didn't I tell you Steven Moffat knows how to keep the fans happy? Sadly, though, I have not found Alex Kingston as impressive and convincing as I expected her to be in that role. Maybe in the second part, she will get to explore her character more!
But yeah, Steven Moffat is one of the greatest Who writers so far, and he knows how to please both fans and scare kids alike. If I were a parent now, I probably would hate the man - last year's Blink had that scary ending minute included with no plot reason at all (but oh, it was good!); now he makes the darkness, something the children are already (irationally) afraid of - well, scarier, whilst still providing the chance to get an Action Figure of a Vashta Nerada! I'm sure many kids will have difficulties finding sleep tonight! And finally, after series one's Empty Child 's "Are you my mummy", this episode finishes with not one, but two sentences repeated endlessly...
Still, a great writer, and great direction - Euros Lyn, however, should be left to work with Steven Moffat only, as all other episodes from the same director have a maybe too childish aspect.
And now is the time for a small rant about the mid-season trailer - the things it showed were exciting, and on the grand series scale of things, it was not too spoilery (well, a bit, but still... nothing that was not expectable/known). And now, in the middle of Silence in the Library, it looks as though Donna dies, and I was ready to believe that, but having seen her in the trailer, I know this is wrong (Russel T Davies wouldn't have shot that scene on purpose, now... would he?)
So far, series 4 has only had one letdown, The Unicorn and the Wasp, and even that was not too dire. However, something like a series ark feels missing... or maybe I'm just being daft. Also, contrary to other seasons, my favourite this year (thus far) is not the Moff's episode. Planet of the Ood was amazing. Beware of Keith Temple, Mr Moffat!

... never in the capture. I could have started this review of yesterday's Doctor Who episode, The Unicorn and the Wasp, with another quote from it: "This has certainly been a most entertaining evening". However, the former captures better the idea of this piece of whodunnit. The formula is well-known - a thick murder(s) mystery, and, because it is Who, a monster-of-the-week (maybe a bit more than that). The plot, however, does not advance much throughout the episode. The Doctor and Donna are landed in the middle of marmite-thick mystery, and - obviously - take over the whole process of investigation, pretending to be from Scotland Yard. These introductory scenes are a clear nod to series 2's historical episode, Tooth and Claw, the last time or so that the psychic paper worked properly, and the sidekick trying to adapt to the period's language with the Doctor saying No, no, don't do that.
Then, another murder. And another. The plot thickens, and just about no clue is given as to who may have commited it. It looks as though the author wants to, rather than giving anything away, bury any elements that may lead to the discovery of the murderer so deep that, in the end, when the Doctor confounds her or him, you just feel like what is going on here?

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In spite of everything, The Unicorn and the Wasp has a strong basis to build on. It references, or is inspired by, many other pieces of fiction. Cluedo is one of them, but it is played up so much at the beginning (and, in a way, at the end), that it fails to deliver as well as it would have if hinted upon more subtly. I have already mentioned Tooth and Claw, however, this is a reference that appears more in terms of script editing than storywise. Then, there is the obvious attempt to resemble an Agatha Christie plot.
But more than anything else, it is inspired by Black Orchid, a Fifth Doctor historical whodunnit, actually quite possibly the latest whodunnit in Who until The Unicorn and the Wasp. Unsurprisingly, the 2|entertain DVD release just preceded the broadcast of the episode. Completists may buy it at amazon.co.uk (Region 2 DVD). Now, people say the 2|entertain release schedule is in no way related to the new series plot, but when this release comes right after the Sontaran boxset, one is left to wonder... Still, it is a pity that, from all of Classic Who to pick from, it is one of the poorest stories that got chosen to base this latest episode upon. The Unicorn and the Wasp is, essentially, a remake of that one Peter Davison near disaster, minus the twin plotline and the Adric annoyance, plus a couple of weak plotlines. Let us make a list: the TARDIS and its crew land in the middle of a family in the not-so-distant past. Check. They quickly integrate, for barely any given reason (though that could be said of most Who). Check. There is a series of unexplained murders. Check. Doors have been locked for ages. Check. [spoiler-ish] There is illegetimate offspring from the housemistress, from an earlier journey to a distant place (India or Amazon, what difference?). Check. That offspring is mysteriously linked to a still element in plain sight of everybody. Check. [end of spoiler-ish]
Now, in fairness, both stories do differ quite a bit. For one, the resolution of the plot felt like a so what? that is it? moment in Black Orchid, whereas in The Unicorn and the Wasp, it felt more like a hang on, where did all that come from? moment. Also, there is a (albeit weakly exploited) reason for TUATW - Agatha Christie, whereas Black Orchid was just there. Furthermore, production values were a lot higher in yesterday's episode: no, the clown costume is definitely not missed. The easy doubles plotline is not exploited, which is also a relief, as it was quite ridiculous in the Davison story. Also, there is a science-fiction element, explained away though it may be. Finally, sadly (and I did not think I would ever say it), Murray Gold's music is actually too absent in this episode!

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And in the end, one cannot help but feel cheated at the end of The Unicorn and the Wasp. For at least three reasons: firstly, the promised Unicorn is in no way essential to the plot, and one would have expected a more fantasy-like story with a stag and a horn glued to it. Makes me think I should re-watch The Horns of Nimon. I must be getting sick. There is worse for an episode than not to act on its title, but considering the hype around this episode and especially around its title, it feels important. Secondly, the fanboys (including myself) had theorised that the repeated mentions of disappearing bees were linked with this episode whose name was known prior to the broadcast of episode one. Incidentally, the only episode whose title is yet to be confirmed (despite rumours) is episode 12. And thirdly, and this is an aaaaaarg moment, the voice-over over the end credits announced that there would be no Who next week due to the Eurovision. Now that is blipping annoying.

Last year, episode 6, The Lazarus Experiment, was, just like this year's The Doctor's Daughter written by Stephen Greenhorn. However, where the human-scorpion episode was a bit meh, and felt a bit like a shopping list for the end of the series (ageing device? check. Mr Saxon paranoia? check. Jones family? check. Human nature? big check), The Doctor's Daughter impressively manages to be an original piece of fiction, on a definitely alien planet, and checks more subtly the shopping list Russel T Davies doubtlessly gave Greenhorn. Beware, spoilers for episode 4x06 follow!

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The piece opens on the TARDIS landing in the middle of trouble (as usual), and a machine extrapolates, from a sample from the Doctor's hand, what can fairly be called his daughter. It is a nice and original way of giving offspring to the Doctor without any implication of intercourse, and without tying it to the classic series (which would have had diehard fans screaming and cringing). It also follows on the theme of the nature of a Time Lord as a soldier, alluded to in The Fires of Pompeii. Unsurprisingly, then, the Time War gets a namecheck.
During the first few minutes, Martha is abducted (in a way that strangely reminds us of Gridlock) by the fish-like Hath. As a result, we can follow two distinct, however similar, stories - the Hath and the humans. Two factions which seem to be in an endless war against one another, to which is added the quest for a mystical artifact. At this point, and with all the seemingly meaningless numbers which keep popping up as well as a "map" which is expanded by a turn of sonic screwdriver, the threadbare simplicity of the reasons for the war and the relative youth of the warriors, everything points to a story that would be mocking RPGs, and I must admit I half expected an overlord (the player) to appear to explain it all away.
It is quite possible that giving this impression was deliberate, insofar as some elements are not accounted for by the (far more brilliant and original) explanation given at the end. For instance, why all the corridors are zigzagging. Or the laser beam thingy. Still, the result is that the viewer keeps guessing what the real story behind all this is, and yet is surprised at the end. As a byproduct of this process, our mind can focus on the other aspects of the story.
Like the Doctor's father side. Or his humanity. And, more importantly, his warrior side, revealed by his daughter. And there, hats off to David Tennant, who gives in this episode his best performance in NewWho. Even better than his monologue against the Beast from The Satan Pit. And he does it twice - once explaining the Time War to his daughter, and then at the end, in his I would never speech. Both awesome, toned-down performances. If the show were not his to start with, one could say he definitely stole it. And competition was rude - Freema was as good as ever, albeit slightly overacting when her Hath friend died; Catherine Tate kept on being the pleasant surprise she's been since the start of the series, minus the annoying tears. And Miss Moffet, the Doctor's Daughter, gave a flawless performance!
So what is to be remembered of this episode, then? Is there a moral message? The answer is yes - a message of tolerance, a lecture on the futility of war. And here's an interesting fact: the TARDIS is supposed to translate stuff directly into its crew's brains, right? Yet, all we could hear from the Hath was a gurgle; but Martha seemed to have little trouble getting herself understood or understanding them. This implies that the TARDIS did its job, only we didn't get the translated bits. Thus, Martha could sympathise with the Hath; where the Doctor and Donna had trouble getting themselves understood by the humans. By making the Hath sound more alien but act more humanely, Greenhorn emphasises the message of tolerance from the episode.

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Now on to the speculation and shopping-list check. Once more, we get the old "we're not a couple/we're not married" line. It may be little more than just an inside joke, but it is quite interesting, especially considering that Donna first appeared in a wedding dress. What's more, the emphasis is put on Martha being herself settled down, showing that TARDIS crew can settle down. Now, even though in the light of spoilers concerning the Christmas Special, I do not believe it, it strongly hints on the Doctor settling down in modern-day Earth (because it wouldn't be any place else). After all, it was so in the Pertwee years, and I reckon in some of the Virgin New Adventures as well.
The recurring theme of the Warrior Doctor comes back as well. What follows is pure fanw*nk theory, but what if, following on the settling down of the Doctor, next year's specials were all about the Time War (or even, this year's finale?).
Rose, for once, is not here. However, UNIT appears in the background. Bring Ross back for the finale. Again, fanw*nk, obviously.
And, as someone mentioned on The Doctor Who forums terraforming is present as well. In Partners in Crime and Planet of the Ood, this was less obvious, but a planet was still used in a way it should not have. In Fires of Pompeii, the Pyroviles were trying to terraform Earth, just like the Sontarans in Helen Raynor's two-parter. And now, terraforming appears at the end of the Doctor's Daughter.
CAREFUL, the following speculation is VERY SPOILERY: it is possible that Skaro is terraformed in the finale. It is rumoured that episode 12 is called War on Skaro, so whether it is happening before or after the Time War, I reckon terraforming will play some role in it.

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I couldn't finish this review without mentioning the great Murray Gold: after a couple of dodgy episodes in terms of music, the score is back on par with the first three series. It was good to hear the new arrangement of the Gallifrey tune, with a bassoon, and those drums towards the end! A new theme (or one I didn't pick up before) has appeared, I guess it is linked with the Doctor's Daughter, and it is awesome. Here's a request for Mr Gold - how about some clarinet next time? ;-)
All in all, The Doctor's Daughter was an excellent episode, on par with the best - and this, despite its filler slot! The new series has lots of individual episodes which are better than their series 3 equivalent; however, it does not seem to be much more than the sum of its parts. Maybe it will all come together in a masterscheme unveiled for the finale!
Bring out the wasps! At a later time of 7. More viewers?

Avoid clicking the link if you have not seen The Poison Sky yet.
Here you go.

After last year's episode five, Evolution of the Daleks, the odds were not in favour of a good second part to the Sontaran story, The Poison sky.
However, Helen Raynor, for once, managed to pull off a good enough story. Following on last week's Sontaran Stratagem, it would seem that she pitched the returning elements from the classic series just right: the Sontarans were good (despite their teeth), UNIT was its good old self, minus the Brig (who got a namecheck), and the Tenth Doctor went back (in a maybe too obvious way) to his basics: giving a chance, but no second chances.
It looks like Doctor Who is going back to the classic series' recipe - a cliffhanger that, even though was tense, is solved within seconds of the second part, the Doctor disliking military chumps, and yet liking some of them, nicely action-packed (but no ridiculous James Bond-like chase scene [Planets of the Spiders, anyone?]).
Two disappointements with the story, however. One, clone Martha does not work that well as a clone who suddenly gets feelings etc. As someone on the Doctor Who forums pointed out, it looks like Helen Raynor has a thing for humanising "monsters". After the Hybrid from last year. Two, why, why on Earth did they have to kill off Ross Jenkins? Just like last year, it is a waste of a perfect opportunity to expand the series in a very interesting direction (a UNIT-strong series, human Dalek last year). And it is a shame!
Still, Ross might not be dead. He may just be stunned! One can but hope.
Talking of hope, next week's looks like a totally weird episode, that can be either a complete rewrite of the Doctor Who mythology, or a total screw-up!