Dr. Who 3/29.03 Gridlock

[selenak]

RTD usually writes solid but not the best episodes, compared with, say, Moffat or Cornell. This one, however? I salute you, Sir.



From the start, this is a great contrast to New Earth last season. Rose and the Doctor arrived in sunshine and high tech; Martha and the Doctor arrive in rain and in the dirty roads of the underprivileged. Instead of a hyper togetherness mood, you have a barely knowing each other one. The concept of the eternal motorway was brilliant and felt really claustrophobic, and the twist - that the people there were actually the last survivors and the automated system not deliberately keeping them prisoner but keeping them alive - was unexpected.

Speaking of the motorway users: much love. As with the crew back in Impossible Planet, they were sketched out as individuals within the time of the episode. Oh, and given we had both an interspecies couple (complete with kittens!) and a same sex one in addition to the young male/female one who carjacked Martha, it's a great way to show humanity did progress in some ways without spelling it out.

(Between the kittens and his reunion with Novice Hame, this is clearly where Ten changes his mind about cats. Loved that Hame is redeeming herself, btw. And the quiet scene between her and the Doctor - "we had no choice" - "Yes, you did" - that care and respect - awwww.)

I am much with the Martha adoration these days, and not just because she obviously watched Das Boot and applies it usefully. They're really doing a great job with making her competent without making her superhuman (she's also genuinenly scared when well, who wouldn't be facing the prospect of getting eaten by giant crabs!), and from the continued characterisation of her as a doctor (in training) - her ripping the drug away from the pregnant woman - to the quiet but determined way in which she sits down at the end and makes the Doctor come clean, I love the way she's written and played.

Also the developing relationship between them. As they both say in this episode at separate points, they barely know each other, they're still strangers (which is why the Doctor's interpretation of the "not alone" - or rather the rejection of that suggestion) rings true; but the Doctor realises now he wants to get to know her, and also that what he's done so far hadn't been for her benefit but was showing off to distract himself (and in the process putting her in danger). The two Gallifrey scenes which open and bookend the episode are fabulous - first, he starts describing the planet to her but entirely avoids saying it no longer exists, and it's game of pretend, because Martha doesn't know, and so for that brief period, there is one person who thinks of the planet as alive, and on the second occasion, in the closing scene, she makes him confess, and he describes Gallifrey again. It makes me think of the scene between Boromir and Aragorn in the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring, and Boromir's description of Minas Tirith (which actually is from Tolkien but comes from Pippin's first view much later in the tale); the longing, and the awareness on the part of the audience that the person describing it will never see it again.

The Face of Boe's death felt quietly poignant - as did the whole story of him and Novice Hame taking care of each other and the city as best they could through the years - and the secret? That settles Mr.Saxon's identity, surely? (Of course, the question as to how they'll explain the why's and wherefore's is still open, though I like paratti's theory, which puts the Dreadful TV Movie to actual good use.)

Lastly: "they must be on your friends' list" = RTD reads livejournal, clearly. *g*

Comments

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

"they must be on your friends' list" = RTD reads livejournal, clearly. *g*

That part made me laugh.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Now I have to wonder whether New Earth drivers ever defriend each other...

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

Then start a wankfest, leave the list in dramatic fashion, and re-emerge as a sock puppet.

[kathyh]

I love the way she's written and played.

Yes, they've really done a fabulous job with her. For a lot of viewers this is their first companion change and replacing someone as beloved as Rose was going to be really hard but they've really knocked it out the ball park with Martha.

That settles Mr.Saxon's identity, surely?

I can't think who else it could possibly be. After the Daleks and the Cybermen (and I'd put him before them actually) the Master is the villain with the most resonance, danger and recognition factor from the old series.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

And the irony of other surviving Time Lord being the arch nemesis sounds just irresistable. Of course, there have been wrong Master rumours before (about ASH's character in School Reunion), but both previous seasons have brought back Old Who Big Bads, and as you say - who else could it be?

In any event, I'm so looking forward to a John Simms/David Tennant showdown!

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Thanks:)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Best theory ever on this whole business!

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I don't have any of S2 recorded, but you quoting that "we had no choice" - "Yes, you did" gave me a feeling that it was a direct repetition of lines between the Doctor and Hane, or possibly the Doctor and the Matron, in New Earth with the opposite moral context. Which if true is both great on an artistic level and seals the redemption aspect.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I have s2 recorded, but not with me right now; must remember to check this once I get home. Bearing in mind that I watched New Earth only once and that was a while ago, I think you could be right - he had an exchange like that with the Matron.

...hm, honorh has the DVDs at hand, maybe I'll blackmail her into rewatching New Earth for Doctor-and-Hame/or/Matron scenes...

[st-aurafina.livejournal.com]

Livejournal shout out! Yay! I love the old car-spotting married couple - so comfy in their little house on wheels. That will be me and lilacsigil in a few years, except with more cats.

I'm really enjoying getting to know Martha as a companion - she's smart and compassionate, and she's young and demanding, and most importantly she can like the Doctor without worshipping him. It's awesome.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

That will be me and lilacsigil in a few years, except with more cats.

Will any of them be called Brannigan? *g*


I'm really enjoying getting to know Martha as a companion - she's smart and compassionate, and she's young and demanding, and most importantly she can like the Doctor without worshipping him. It's awesome.

Absolutely. And I'm really curious to see how they'll handle the question of her medical career, because so far, and as much as she enjoys the adventure, I think Martha is too dedicated to her profession to give it up (nor should she!), so a year or two of absence wouldn't work in her case. The Doctor better bring the TARDIS home on time!

[cereswunderkind.livejournal.com]

How absolutely right that it should be to Martha - whom he hardly knows - that the Doctor fully expresses his loss.

And Ardol o'Hanlon too!

This was an exceptional episode.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

It proves she has a great bedside manner, no pun intended - what I mean is that she can obviously see this is something he is repressing, and she makes him talk about it, and I think partly succeeds because he doesn't know her that well yet, but also because she's neither shrill nor touchy feely about it, just matter of factly. "Talk to me." And he does, and we get more detail on Gallifrey from him than in two seasons.

*loves episode*

[meret.livejournal.com]

and the secret?

You're probably right, but I'd love for it to be Romana. :)