The Family of Blood

Continuing on the strengths of HUMAN NATURE, FAMILY OF BLOOD takes us further into the story of The Doctor's singular human adventure hiding from a band of shapeless chameleons who seek his time lord lifespan. Tucked gingerly into a fold in time, we find the Doctor and Martha exiled in hiding at a private boy's school in England of 1913, just before the start of the Great War.

Where HUMAN NATURE explored the character of John Smith, FAMILY OF BLOOD does more to unravel the inner mind of the Doctor and Paul Cornell builds upon the unique insight into the working mind of the time lord that we have glimpsed in "FATHERS DAY, and "SCHOOL REUNION". FAMILY OF BLOOD unfolds, at first with more physical action than it's counterpart but it soon becomes a revealing portraiture of the inner struggle of the Doctor's identity as he fights to keep his newfound human existence and sacrifice his true self, and Martha and everything he has ever known for a life "On the Slow Path" with Joan. We see the time lord as a very lonely figure transfixed on keeping the identity of John Smith as a prize in a vicious war that has cost the lives of many people, who, as Joan points out to the Doctor, would never have died if the Doctor had not returned in hiding to 1913.

Of course this opens up a Pandora's box of temporal probabilities and one has to wonder if the Doctor has damaged the timeline just as Rose did in "FATHER'S DAY", an earlier Season 1 script penned by Paul Cornell as well. Circumstances were a bit different as Rose, saves her Father, when he should have died and the Doctor in arriving in 1913 becomes a part of events. Of course, at the end of the story, we do see little Tim Latimer (Thomas Sangster) using knowledge he obtained from the watch to save his life, and the life of his schoolmate friend during a World War I confrontation, and we are back again to "FATHER'S DAY". Surely the Doctor has done considerable damage to the course of events? His returning to the future to see Latimer at a Veteran's ceremony incriminates him, but it is also a beautifully rendered scene and a poignant memorial to Britain's World War I dead.

In "FATHER'S DAY" we hear the Doctor remark to the wedding couple about their chance meeting and his choice to help them " Look at you, 2 AM, in the rain waiting for a taxi?I could never have that life". Paul Cornell gives us a glimpse of just what might be if the Doctor was allowed to live such a life. It is this sort of life that the Doctor becomes transfixed on as John Smith, as he fully imagines his life with Joan, their marriage, children and his ultimate ephemeral death as an old man?. a life, as a time lord traveling through time and space he can never have. This scene is perhaps one of most poignant ever seen in DOCTOR WHO and you cannot help but well up in emotion over the loss of his human self . This is DOCTOR WHO at its finest, and most poetic. The story continues to put out, even after the viewer is satisfied with its conclusion. While the Doctor can do little to bring back the people who died at the hands of the Family Of Blood, he is relentless in his merciless punishment, while cruelly giving them exactly what they were seeking?. eternal life, ?.or eternal imprisonment. One wonders if the Doctor in his struggle to retain human ephemeral form, feels likewise about his life wandering the galaxy in a TARDIS, never knowing a permanent home, and a life such as the one John Smith would have led. . The Doctor truly is an exile now. . An exile from his time, his people and ultimately himself.

Bravo to David Tennant who delivers his best performance ever as John Smith, struggling to keep his feet on unmoving ground. His transformation from John Smith, back into the character of the Doctor on board the alien's spaceship clearly is a map and guidepost to his portrayal of The Doctor, and a peek into the mind of the dream and the dreamer. Such a paradox is John Smith- who dreams of traveling the universe in a magical blue box, and then fights with a vigorous stance against his "dream" becoming reality. The reality is its is the Doctor's dream to be human, to live life on the slow path and die an ephemeral death. A reality that could have come true with Madam Du Pompadour (in GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE) if he had let it, but she gave him his means of escape and he took it. The Doctor's ability to become "human" is his poison chalice, and he knows this at the start of the HUMAN NATURE but has to open this Pandora's box to save himself and Martha, but a very expensive price to everyone who falls within the shadow of John Smith. Ultimately, it's the Doctor's dream that is shattered, as John Smith must realize his life can no know no future and he struggles almost to tears at it's passing.

Of course it is Martha who saves the Doctor. She is the glue and binding thread connecting the Doctor's two selves and keeps them from totally unraveling and losing sight of each other. She confesses to loving the Doctor, although his invitation to Joan to travel with him really does tell us how he must feel towards Martha. Because of this there seems to be opposition to the character of Martha, but she really is a wonderful illuminating companion and Russell T Davies knows the audience must love her, and not necessarily the Doctor. Her drive and dedication to the Doctor is immeasurable and as a character, she must do so in the steely face of racism as has been rather starkly portrayed. . She has proven herself to be very strong and Freema Agyeman is indeed a worthy successor to the Kingdom of "Rose".

If HUMAN NATURE and FAMILY OF BLOOD have one weakness, , it is the development and portrayal of "The Family Of Blood" themselves. They are a trifle clich? and underdeveloped and seem to have needed more thought and substance. Perhaps more could have been made of their ephermerality and because we never see them in their truest form beyond being a gaseous cloud in "HUMAN NATURE", their motivations are a bit foggy. The idea may have worked well in a book form, but they did not transfer well enough in the transition from book to television screenplay. Russell T. Davies in ALIENS OF LONDON also borrowed the idea of the "Family", which lessens the impact and idea in this story and further the theme of repetition used excessively this season to annoyance. Still, a small issue to note in a story that was brilliantly rendered from start to finish.

Fortunately, and thankfully, Russell T Davies had the insight to see the strengths of Paul Cornell's original novel and ask him to adapt it to the televisual form. In a season that has not been that strong on storyline and originality. I would hope in the future this tradition is continued, especially since it has yielded a wonderful story such as this.. HUMAN NATURE and FAMILY OF BLOOD are definite jewels to be savored in all their beauty and complexity for years to come!