The Doctor Dances

Having really enjoyed В‘The Empty ChildВ’, I thought there was a danger that В‘the Doctor DancesВ’ might come as a let down. Thankfully my fears were unfounded as this was another stunning episode, and a fitting conclusion to the story, which made nice use of things set up in the last episode, such as the nanogenes. Also while the questions that were of most pressing importance to the story were answered, the episode raised some puzzles for future stories to address regarding JackВ’s back story to accompany another В‘Bad WolfВ’ reference.

For once everybody wins in this story, to the DoctorВ’s obvious delight. This is important because it a)shows us how much the Doctor really cares about the people he tries to help and b) it gives Christopher Eccleston a chance to act what will be remembered as one of the Ninth Doctors defining moments. Indeed there are several lovely scenes in this episode: Nancy confidently blackmailing Mr Lloyd, Dr Constantine being confronted by a woman demanding to know why her leg has grown back,- which is comical, but thankfully not played for laughs- and best of all the scene where the TARDIS crew are listening to the recording of the childВ’s voice, but suddenly notice that the tape has long stoppedВ…

Again the cast all produce sound performances, with Eccleston stealing the show. In addition to the scene of his excitement on saving the day, we see his DoctorВ’s ability to calmly take charge of a situation when he orders the zombies to go to their room. There is also nice interplay between him and Rose regarding his dancing. Also excellent was
Florence Hoath who gave a totally believable performance as Nancy, and John Barrowman and Billie Piper put in solid efforts as well.

The special effects and design for the story were also of a high standard. Indeed all aspects of the production were fine, although the incidental music for this episode, and indeed the series as a whole is nowhere near as good as in the 1970s or early 1980s. Also some of the dialogue about the sonic devices was approaching the border with silliness, but thankfully did not cross that boundary.

Otherwise this is close to being a faultless production.