Or, rather, it is the superlative example of the more emotional kind of Doctor Who that RTD had brought about. It is so human, full of warmth and humour, love and regret, mistakes and death. But I think that a viewer's reactions will be different depending on whether they are fully immersed in events, feeling the emotions, like Rose, or merely watching them play out from a distance, like the Doctor. It's not that he doesn't get it, or appreciate what's going on - he does. Look at him engaging with the Bride and Groom: "Street corner, two in the morning. Taxi home," he sighs (a moment of charm that Pertwee would have killed for), but he is revelling in an ordinary human world that he can observe but not inhabit.
It's Rose's episode and Billie Piper is fantastic in every scene. Arguing with the Doctor, lying to herself and then her father, happy, sad, bewildered, guilty, terrified and, finally, utterly destroyed all over again, everything Rose does and says is completely human and completely believable. All the family interplay is great, Piper getting plenty of help from the excellent Camille Coduri and Shaun Dingwall as her parents. The "Don't even go there!" conversation is hilarious, and the way Rose attempts instinctively to interact with Jackie is wonderful. In fact, neither Rose nor Piper are ever better than they are here, which, considering there's a season and a half (plus change) of her to go is really rather a shame.
Eccleston is magnificent too. Watching this again I realised what a subtle performance it is - so much goes unsaid but we can see his mind is alive throughout, and several steps ahead as well. It's just a shame that... well, you know what I'm going to say. Of course, the drama belongs to Pete and to Rose, and of course, there's no place for the Doctor in amongst all that. And, yes, it's a wonderful shock when the Reaper gobbles him up. But. Like last week, despite it working within the context of the episode, it means this series has been almost nothing but other people saving the Doctor. At this point I have to ask, was it deliberate? It must have been I suppose, but I am missing the proper Doctor. While the episodes satisfy individually, the big picture is of a man who can't find it within himself to be the hero of his own show. It's a valid characterisation and an interesting experiment, especially given the lingering effects of the Time War and his survivor's guilt, but it does feel like we haven't yet seen the Doctor in action.
No, but really, excellent episode. Honestly, I'd take Rose and Pete over Nyssa and Tremas every time. I'm not so sure about Will and Chris: they both gave it a 7, which is the lowest score so far. They definitely enjoyed it but maybe the Reapers, and that bit of TARDIS-play didn't offer enough in terms of non-emotional content. I'm just guessing. William said it was "interesting" and "quite scary". I asked him if he meant the monsters and he said "no, the consequences! The Doctor knew what might happen but Rose did it anyway!" Christopher's take: "it was was sad, then scary, then sad again. But it was good."
I know what he means.
NEXT TIME...
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