The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances
As of this writing, this two-part story seems to be the fan favorite from the Christopher Eccleston season, according to both the Doctor Who Dynamic Rankings page and this sites own 2005 fan poll. I would not rate it quite so highly, but overall it is an extremely satisfying story, and my enthusiasm for it is dampened mostly by the issues raised by the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness, which Ill deal with below.
But lets get to the good bits first (and there are many). The story is well-plotted and quite spooky, delightfully in keeping with the traditions of the classic series. At its best, Doctor Who was always a mystery-horror show in a sort of sheer sci-fi drag, and this story combines the various genre elements in a harmonious way that many fans will find familiar and wonderful. The eerie dead child and its zombie offspring provide many chilling moments (of which the best probably comes when Dr. Constantine illustrates that the bodies in his morgue are still very much alive), and of course Constantines own transformation is horrifying, and a wonderful throwback to the body horror so often employed in the old series. The Blitzkrieg-era London locale is fairly well realized, historically, and more important its just so wonderfully British, a most fitting setting for this UK TV institution. Steven Moffats script might be the wittiest of the Eccleston season I dont know whether its Marxism in action or a West End musical is only one of many funny lines and Ecclestons Doctor is truly Doctorish most of the time. (His exchange with Jack about what happened to the weapons factory at Villengard is hilarious, and perfectly in character.) The action set pieces are scary and fun, and if Roses adventure on the rope is a little silly, and looks a little fakey, it is so in the grand style of whats come before replace the CGI with CSO and it could be Jo Grant up there. The revelation of Nancys true relationship to Jamie might ultimately be a bit easy to guess, but its nonetheless satisfying in terms of the overall drama. And the sci-fi resolution, too, works well . . . at first, the idea of medical nano-robots repairing everything they encounter struck me as a little silly, but on reflection I think its actually a pretty nifty idea. (Maybe it was the Tinkerbell dust that *represents* the nanogenes that made it seem silly . . . .)
But the story isnt only interested in this drama, of course it also introduces the new companion. And John Barrowman is an immediate presence at Captain Jack I confess, from hearing the character described before actually seeing the series, I was expecting much, much worse. Theres extremely little camp about Barrowmans portrayal; the actor really does choose to play Jack straight, which may sound funny, but by that I dont really mean masculine, I mean unself-conscious. Jack may be written as boastful and cocky, but in Barrowmans hands the lines become obvious jokes at his own expense its very easy to see the ordinary guy behind all this captains affected suaveness and bravado.
The problem is, Barrowmans good acting doesnt really make up for the way his character is used. (At least, it doesnt here.) A sidebar: in this first series of the new Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies has truly created a new dynamic between the Doctor and his companion Rose. It is as close to a love relationship between Doctor and companion as the series ever got (possible exception: The Movie), and yet Davies opts not to consummate it. He seems to want to have it both ways: to play with sex, and yet never to develop the Doctor and Rose into an actual romantic/sexual couple, something which, while it would certainly outrage older fans, would at least make his winking and nudging pay off. And apart from a kiss that isnt necessarily a kiss in The Parting of the Ways (its in a non-sexual context, after all), Davies ultimately gives us nothing, remaining coy about the Doctors sexuality and his interest (or lack thereof) in his pretty blonde companion.
Thats all fine and dandy, and elsewhere Ive written that the use of sex and sexuality in the new Doctor Who is actually quite understated anyway (and I meant it as a compliment). So whats the problem, then? Only this: why the hell does Davies make us sit through so much unnecessary, intrusive love-triangle nonsense if hes never going to actually *do* anything with it? And thats where Jack comes in to this discussion although Davies and Moffat happily give him a lot to do (and plenty of jokes), probably his main purpose in this story (as was the case with Adam Mitchell in Dalek) is to make the Doctor jealous when Rose expresses interest in him. Now, there are fans who have rationalized this as simply another example of the Doctors traditional selfishness, bringing up such examples as the First Doctors pouting in The Chase when Ian and Barbara decide to leave him. But theres more to it than that, given that Jack is introduced from the very outset as a sexualized character (ogling Roses bottom while patting Algys), and given the storys rather forced and artificial focus on dancing. Jack is clearly presented as a sexual threat, and the Doctor responds, indeed, like a posturing punk watching somebody else flirt with his girl at a high school dance. Some fans dont mind this, I choose to ignore it; either way, its an annoying distraction from the otherwise tense and dramatic plot. Not to mention the fact that it reduces Rose, who has made a most satisfyingly active companion to this point, to the status of a love object.
But ultimately, the story is entertaining and worthwhile despite these objections, and, as I said, the love angle hasnt really played out into anything significant yet.