The Doctor Dances

Exceptional, these two episodes represent the greatest achievement of the new series yet and showcase Stephen Moffat’s not inconsiderable talents. I knew he was a clever man when he subverted the sitcom genre with his delightfully rude and well constructed comedy Coupling but he manages to stretch himself even further with Doctor Who, thanks to its flexible format and the opportunities that affords.

He manages to script a story which touches upon many genres without siding with any of them and the result is a pleasing mix of comedy and drama which entertains to the hilt whilst telling a story that is worth following. I went and saw Star Wars this week and was blown away by its incredible production values and clever jig-sawing of all the elements that needed to be in place for Episode Four but The Doctor Dances impressed me more and not because of superior special FX (which it does boast for a TV series) but because of one scene. It comes at the climax of this episode where the Doctor and company are sheltering from the rampaging hordes of gas masked zombies and he convinces Nancy to reveal her secret to the brother. All the elements of the story converge and finally it makes wonderful sense, not only this but it utilises the morals of the setting (time period) to make a point and provides a supremely touching revelation to boot. THIS is storytelling, not the predictable dovetailing of plot details of a prequel (which with Terminator 3, Revenge of the Sith and Enterprise seems to be all the rage these days) but good, wholesome plotting that satisfies and surprises. It shocked me to think there is very little of this on television at the moment and it pleased me to see Doctor Who getting a nod in the Daily Express this week as the one bright spot in the otherwise mundane TV schedules.

It is also a delightfully optimistic story which revels in its happy climax. It isn’t the mucky, syrupy dreck that most American shows climax on with everybody grinning insanely, being pretty and pretentious but the sort of joyful, punch the air happiness that comes with a man who has confronted so much pain and misery being rewarded with a ending to a crisis that results in everyone surviving and prospering! The Doctor has never quite been this delighted by the outcome of one of his adventures and its is wonderful to experience, he positively glows with pride that the death count for this crisis is zero and considering the danger and the possible nightmarish outcome it is hard not to share his joi de vivre! Not only that but the story exploits the joy the Doctor and Rose can bring to peoples lives with their travelling. Nancy, surrounded by zombies and bomb explosions curses the war and their eventual downfall. Rose unexpectedly gives her the gift of knowledge, revealing the German defeat and bringing a touch of hope to Nancy. I found that very touching.

I was very pleased to hear that James Dawkes was returning to direct Doctor Who next year as his work on this parter is astonishingly good, almost to the level of a feature film. In fact scrap that, compare the look of this story to a recent British flick…Shaun of the Dead say and this comes out smelling of roses. The idea of setting the story entirely at night was a smart move and gives the story some visual flair; adding much menace to the interior and exterior of the spooky hospital, providing some shocking action sequences punctuated by German bombs exploding and offering some memorable scares with the groaning gas masked victims lurching from the mist swathed darkness. I always think the best camera work is that which you don’t even notice, as though you are watching a genuine event rather than a television programme but the flashiness of the camera work here is too good to ignore. I particularly found the rush along the hospital corridor at a skewered angle and settling suddenly in front of the masked child inventive and scary but the story is packed full of odd, disturbing angles that enhanced the feeling of disturbed reality.

Delight can be the only word to express my feelings on Captain Jack joining the TARDIS crew…and anyone annoyed about that particular spoiler must have noticed that he is turning up in the second batch of Ninth Doctor Adventures from BBC Books. The banter that flew about between Jack, the Doctor and Rose was electric and delivered to comic perfection by the actors who clearly have a great rapport. The ‘whose sonic device is better’ scene was extraordinarily witty with that glorious balance of scares (the approaching masked victims) and the laughs that leaves you on edge but enjoying yourself immensely. The Doctor’s anger towards Jack was understandable and not at all the ‘he fancies my bird!’ jealousy I was expecting. When we realise the extent of Jack’s involvement and the horror of what he has caused to earn a quick buck it is hard to sympathise with the guy. But then the rug is pulled out from under us twice when we realise why he trying so hard to earn the money and more importantly when he gets to be the hero of the piece by jumping on top of a German bomb that is about blow the Doctor and Rose (and many others!) to pieces. His attempted sacrifice is enough to prove to the Doctor that he is worth having about and I punched the air with delight when they turned up top rescue him. John Barrowman just doesn’t annoy me in the way he clearly has others, I find his mix of charisma, wit and egotism extremely attractive and after twenty years of watching Doctor Who I think I have earned the right to fancy the pants off of a member of the TARDIS crew. And wasn’t the way they dealt with sexuality just wonderful? No preaching or melodrama, just a subtle metaphor and we realise which way he dances (every way!) and Doctor Who quickly becomes far braver than most telefantasy shows by daring to include a bisexual male character rather than jumping on the far more relaxed lesbian bandwagon.

Richard Wilson was not in the story as much as I would have hoped (two scenes!) but he makes the most of his screen time and manages to avoid saying “I don’t believe it!” once and for that I am grateful. The story belongs to Florence Hoath as Nancy who performs wonders but with material this strong it is hardly a surprise. Nancy is a beautifully fleshed out character who, as I discovered more about her, I liked her all the more. Her quiet warning to the children she feeds that she is putting them in danger showed a keen intelligence and willingness to put others before herself and her bravery at facing the responsibilities of admitting her indiscretion at the climax and claiming her son reveals how truly strong she is. She gets some very funny scenes too, notably her sudden power snatch from Mr Lloyd.

There isn’t much more to say about this glorious episode except that it works on practically every level and Stephen Moffat should be forced to write more episodes in the future. This writer/director team is opening season two and for that we should be very grateful, the shows future is clearly in some extremely talented hands.

And the Doctor dances! How great is that?