New Earth

New Earth, same RTD mixture. For those new viewers tempted to tune in by reports of an award winning series which had restored the concept of family viewing and made people care again about a series which was fading long before its demise in 1989 I’m not sure this offering will persuade them to watch again. This would have sat better as a mid season filler perhaps but as ever there’s so much to enjoy that to overly criticise seems a little mean….

After Tennant’s magnificent debut in the Christmas Invasion he seems at times to have taken a step back here, almost trying too hard at times. But I remain convinced he is an excellent choice to play the Doctor and I’m sure he will settle into the role perfectly well- and very often the quality of the scripts bring out the best in the actors, as in Christopher Eccleston’s brilliant confrontations with the Daleks. On the plus side, although the Doctor’s “cure” at the end was an extremely rushed and poor resolution it did at least show a Doctor sorting a situation rather than relying on others, a trend started in the Christmas Invasion and it was again noticeable that the balance of the Doctor/Rose relationship continues to swing in favour of the Doctor with Rose at times seeming to be in dreamy-eyed awe of him in this story.

By contrast Billie Piper is given a chance to shed her Mockney accent and have a ball as the Cassandra-possessed Rose, and she shines in this episode. Interestingly whilst there has been a deliberate attempt to restore the Doctor as the central figure it’s noticeable how confident and settled Piper has become so that she was again the main attraction anyway.

I don’t get as wound up as some do about Davies’ love of innuendo but for those who loath his scripts I can only suggest they don’t watch this again as it encapsulates all that some find so offensive about new Who. However the overall success of the show at the moment outweighs such anxieties. Like him or loath him RTD does seem to be more in touch with what a modern audience will respond to than some of us will ever admit.

Self confessed “deeply atheist” Davies has his customary pop at religion as the Doctor tells the Cat Nun in no uncertain terms that there’s no higher authority than him. If he carries on like this he might as well invite Richard Dawkins to write a story for the series- what a great title the Blind Watchmaker would have made and we would get better science than we’re getting at the moment-but that aspect doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers others. Strange then how a man who can’t possibly believe in anything that smacks of the mystical can conveniently employ mystic endings when it suits, as in Rose’s god-like powers in the Parting of the Ways.

The sisters of plenitude are beautifully realised, and the effects generally good, but even allowing for the fact that mankind is starting over on a new planet with a nostalgia for all things retro I’m a little concerned by the continued existence of pulley-operated lifts and disinfectant in the year what was it?Five billion and 23?Come on.

As for whatever plot there is, as usual RTD tries to do too much at once, so mixed in with the mystery of what lies within the bowels of the hospital(nods to the Tomb of the Cybermen and the Ark in Space there) we have the whole Cassandra thing and the Face of Boe threatening to appear once more and reveal something profoundly significant. Whatever sense of poignancy the ending might have otherwise induced is surely diluted by the mystery of why, after all those long years of struggling to stay alive, Cassandra should wish now to end it all without a whimper.

An entertaining but unengaging romp which sits uneasily as a season opener. Judging from next week’s clip we haven’t quite escaped Bad Wolf!