New Earth

Oh dear. As with other RTD stories, arenВ’t you just left with the feeling that it could have been so much better? There are tonnes of great ideas in this episode, and the hospital the setting is extremely well realised. But 45 minutes just isnВ’t enough time in which to develop them. In fact, itВ’s worse than not having enough time. The series feels constrained by the rhythm of the 45-minute format. You can almost predict how the pace of the show will change at any given moment. Star Trek TNG had the same problem, with the dramatic ebbs and flows timed around the commercial breaks. At 25 minutes gone, with most of the ideas introduced, I found myself looking at the clock and waiting for each of them to be wrapped up in the time remaining. This argues against making any emotional or intellectual investment in the story. The old four-episode structure allowed for a more thoughtful development of the ideas less predictability.

On the plus side, I was favourably impressed with Tennant. The Christmas Invasion left me very cold, but in this story we were shown the new DoctorВ’s serious side. He still canВ’t quite do angry (like McCoy), but heВ’s definitely got the hang of thoughtful. Those glasses probably helped. He lacks EcclestoneВ’s insecurity and accompanying arrogance, which is great. Hopefully, he will also lack the 9th DoctorВ’s questionable moral judgement.

RTDВ’s mixture of smutty, ironic humour isnВ’t to everyoneВ’s taste, but he does bring it off very cleanly. I think it would certainly be a problem if he continues to dominate the series as he did last year. Doctor Who doesnВ’t belong to anyone В– not even him. Its strength is in the flexibility of the format, which allows new writers and directors to come in and do their own thing in their own way. RTDВ’s obsession with referring to the mythology of his own episodes is a means of maintaining some continuity and familiarity from one week to the next (in the absence of multiple-episode stories), but he must be very careful not to undermine the very thing that makes Doctor Who so successful В– and durable. Likewise, the smut and irony is used to gloss over the fact that the story is too short to sustain all those wonderful ideas В– so it all comes back to format in the end.

Next weekВ’s episode looks good, but letВ’s go further back in time! Think of the epic quality of Marco Polo: the historical setting, the time spent on the journey to Peking, the distance covered, the range of different setting, the changes of pace. Doctor Who in 2006 simply cannot so this anymore, and the series is the poorer for it.