10.2: New Earth
In which everything feels just slightly off.
Broadcast: April 2006
Watched: July 2021
“Oh my god – I’m a CHAV!”
Much less to say on this than any episode in ages which may not be a great sign. There’s a growing sense of a slightly difficult second season in the decision to start with an album track with no particular selling point. Obviously the original episode one becomes The Christmas Invasion, but still, why not think again?
The show immediately leans into its new smug gap year tourism vibe – Rose literally running off with a backpack to see the universe.
The body swap plot is mildly uncomfortable. Classist. Objectifying (“Like being inside a bouncy castle!”) of both leads. Tennant is quite annoying, and it means the new Doctor spends a chunk of his first regular episode not being the Doctor.
The way the infected kill people is both intellectually upsetting and a terrible effect. I’m generally in favour of RTD simplified plot logic (“It’s anti-plastic” etc) but this feels a step too far into laziness.
Also, why are the evil nurse nun cats both black actresses, RTD?
Talking of racism:
MICKEY: Love you.
ROSE: Bye.
Bloody hell.
Okay okay I’m being too mean it’s not that bad. Worst since Time and the Rani, probably, but not that bad. The world building is fun. Deciding the Face of Boe is going to be a character we get emotion out of is brave, in the right way. Also, that plot drops in a clue that won’t be explained for over a year, which I quite like.
But oh god everything else I wrote down is a complaint again. Look:
“You’ve lived long enough” – the 10th Doctor’s constant hypocrisy on this is really annoying.
The bit where one of the cured patients hugs the Doctor and he says “there we go sweetheart” reads wrong because she’s an actress in her 20s and they’ve sexualised the Doctor.
It’s weird and confusing that the last person to tell Cassandra she’s beautiful was Cassandra. Undermines a potentially lovely scene.
Oh wait, here’s one that isn’t a complaint:
The hospital looks like that building in Portsmouth.
Right. Done. The next few are better, though.
“You’ve lived long enough” – the 10th Doctor’s constant hypocrisy on this is really annoying.
In retrospect, Eccleston only getting one season is integral to the bite of 'Everything has its time and everything dies.' That theme will culminate with it being true for him too.
It’s weird and confusing that the last person to tell Cassandra she’s beautiful was Cassandra. Undermines a potentially lovely scene.
Well this makes sense I think - the point is that this is Cassandra who reduced herself to a trampoline recognising she had beauty in all forms. There are problematic shades to that, but at least in terms of subtext I think it's straightforward.