10.22: 42
In which a future showrunner makes his first appearance, and we’re all so underwhelmed we don’t notice.
Broadcast: May 2007
Watched: August 2021
And so Chris Chibnall first lumbers his way into Doctor Who. It makes no sense, isn’t about anything, but is amusing if you turn your brain off and let the adrenaline flow.
Always found it weird having numerals in Doctor Who titles, one of those things I recoil from but can’t justify in any way. It’s a fun conceit – 24 backwards, real time, etc, and it is interesting to have an episode that’s at full tilt for the whole thing...
...but it stops making sense almost immediately. “Get up to the MedCentre now” – you’ve got 34 minutes before you fall into the sun, that’s maybe not the priority right now, guys; except the Doctor needs to see what’s happening there so off he goes. (Exactly how small are the living quarters of this ship?) Everyone trusts the Doctor almost immediately because it wouldn’t work otherwise.
The whole thing feels more like a computer game than a story: lots of fake peril, the quiz, the need to go outside to magnetise the hull, etc. It doesn’t really give you any reason to care about the characters. (Erina is a bloody idiot, whining about her boss being mean to her when her life is at risk.)
Despite all that there’s stuff to enjoy here. The silent escape pod sequence is great. The “You remember me!” “It’s your fault!” bit is a nice twist on the usual soppiness. And the bit where you’re really starting to feel for Martha’s mum, and thinking it’s no wonder she hates the Doctor, when you find out she’s got government spies in the room with her, is fantastic.
It’s dumb but fun. Little did we know then that this was good, not bad, Chibnall.
Actually I think that’s what marks the shift into the all conquering imperial RTD era – even the rubbish episodes have this glitz and confidence and energy to them. This isn’t great, but it carries you along. Anyway, other things:
Not for the first time, it's a story which Waters of Mars will feel like a do-over of. This time it's fire, not water, and the top two officers love not hate each other.
The older looking guy who plays Ashton is younger than Collins. Huh.
When the captain pushes one of the monsters into the absolute zero chamber, it is weird that she doesn't lose an arm.
Riley, unlike the rest of the crew, is very likeable in an annoying kind of way. It's nice that Martha gets a snog.
Talking of whom: she finally gets a TARDIS key 7/13 episodes and (on the standard, albeit wrong, measure) 6/9 stories into her tenure. Thanks, Doctor, thanks a lot.
Buy me a coffee
