"The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances"
Up front, this two-parter is quite simply my favorite piece of NuWho to date. I can, of course, elaborate . . .
First of all, Steven Moffat is a fantastic writer. I worship at his feet, and have (unwittingly) been a fan for years, since he was responsible for writing the brilliant DW spoof "The Curse of Fatal Death," which is both very funny and exceptionally geeky. I didn't make the connection till after S1 when I pulled out my old TCOFD VHS to show some friends. I nearly choked on my drink when Moffat's name came up in the credits . . . because now I knew who he was!!
The script of TEC/TDD shows a lot of Moffat's trademarks: witty dialogue, a clever plot, and a more "science fictional" take than one tends to see in the average DW. At its worst, DW degenerates into a "monster or alien invasion of the week" show -- at the extreme opposite, one finds this story, where the apparent "monster" turns out to simply be the result of alien technology taken out of its intended context. There is no "bad guy" to defeat, rather a problem to solve. Very enjoyable, and more intellectually subtle.
Rather than pick out a laundry list of favorite moments, I'll just say that I adore the character interaction and banter here, all of it. The running "Spock" references were particularly funny (and I did like Rose using that term to try and pin down Jack's time of origin -- when he didn't get the joke, she could guess he wasn't "from around here"), as were the continuing and shameless double entendres and phallic jokes. Subtle enough to go right past the kids, but hilarious for adults.
And, again playing the "Old Skool Fan" card, I think this was the real "make or break" episode in terms of adapting to NuWho. The sheer openness of sexual themes (including teenage pregnancy) would have been utterly unheard of in TCS. In particular, this is the episode where Nine and Rose's relationship really turns a corner -- Nine admits and accepts an undeniably romantic interest in Rose, to the point of making the whole "hands off the blonde!" display at the end.
Whoa. Get that formerly forbidden Doc/Companion subtext out there and make it text, why don't you?
LSR and I were stunned. But we also loved it. CE and BP are so beautiful together in this episode, they make the characters' relationship into something squeeful rather than the "wrong, wrong, wrong" some other Old Schoolers seem to go off on. As LSR put it, "I hated the TVM, but . . . I like this!"
We were Doc/Rose shippers, and no turning back.
Also of infinite squeefulness is the introduction of Captain Jack -- who takes classic gender stereotypes and turns them neatly on their head. He's the "handsome action rogue with a heart of gold" and movie-star good looks . . . who also has a witty tongue and an openly bisexual/omnisexual nature, which is presented plainly and accepted without the slightest surprise by the Doctor. In fact, the Doctor finds Rose's reaction to the revelation amusingly provincial, and teases her about it.
We damn near took the house down with squeeing over Jack.
DW has always had a message of diversity and acceptance -- so it was wonderful to see the show living up to that ideal (NuWho has also done good things in terms of getting non-white characters into the spotlight, and keeping its female characters well away from the screaming Damsel In Distress cliche).
It also struck these two American ladies as incredibly brave to include Jack -- after all, DW is touted as "family entertainment." Here in the US having a character like Jack on a show kids could be expected to watch would be a one way ticket to getting burnt at the stake by the Moral Majority. Me, I was delighted to think that kids were being presented with a role model like Jack: funny, brave . . . and tech-geeky (not often part of the cliched "action hero" package), fallible (big "oops" with his Chula warship plan . . .) *and* not straight.
You go, NuWho.
LSR and I were briefly on the edge of our seats over whether Jack would make it (she thought they were gonna kill him, I said, "No way, not after giving him all that backstory and the missing two years and stuff," and I was right, yay). When we found out he was gonna be a Companion, well, that was just Too Cool.
Not to mention the joy of "everybody lives!" Definitely Hugo material.
I think the Doc needs another episode like this one in S4. Soon. Y'listening, Unca' Rusty? Please?
First of all, Steven Moffat is a fantastic writer. I worship at his feet, and have (unwittingly) been a fan for years, since he was responsible for writing the brilliant DW spoof "The Curse of Fatal Death," which is both very funny and exceptionally geeky. I didn't make the connection till after S1 when I pulled out my old TCOFD VHS to show some friends. I nearly choked on my drink when Moffat's name came up in the credits . . . because now I knew who he was!!
The script of TEC/TDD shows a lot of Moffat's trademarks: witty dialogue, a clever plot, and a more "science fictional" take than one tends to see in the average DW. At its worst, DW degenerates into a "monster or alien invasion of the week" show -- at the extreme opposite, one finds this story, where the apparent "monster" turns out to simply be the result of alien technology taken out of its intended context. There is no "bad guy" to defeat, rather a problem to solve. Very enjoyable, and more intellectually subtle.
Rather than pick out a laundry list of favorite moments, I'll just say that I adore the character interaction and banter here, all of it. The running "Spock" references were particularly funny (and I did like Rose using that term to try and pin down Jack's time of origin -- when he didn't get the joke, she could guess he wasn't "from around here"), as were the continuing and shameless double entendres and phallic jokes. Subtle enough to go right past the kids, but hilarious for adults.
And, again playing the "Old Skool Fan" card, I think this was the real "make or break" episode in terms of adapting to NuWho. The sheer openness of sexual themes (including teenage pregnancy) would have been utterly unheard of in TCS. In particular, this is the episode where Nine and Rose's relationship really turns a corner -- Nine admits and accepts an undeniably romantic interest in Rose, to the point of making the whole "hands off the blonde!" display at the end.
Whoa. Get that formerly forbidden Doc/Companion subtext out there and make it text, why don't you?
LSR and I were stunned. But we also loved it. CE and BP are so beautiful together in this episode, they make the characters' relationship into something squeeful rather than the "wrong, wrong, wrong" some other Old Schoolers seem to go off on. As LSR put it, "I hated the TVM, but . . . I like this!"
We were Doc/Rose shippers, and no turning back.
Also of infinite squeefulness is the introduction of Captain Jack -- who takes classic gender stereotypes and turns them neatly on their head. He's the "handsome action rogue with a heart of gold" and movie-star good looks . . . who also has a witty tongue and an openly bisexual/omnisexual nature, which is presented plainly and accepted without the slightest surprise by the Doctor. In fact, the Doctor finds Rose's reaction to the revelation amusingly provincial, and teases her about it.
We damn near took the house down with squeeing over Jack.
DW has always had a message of diversity and acceptance -- so it was wonderful to see the show living up to that ideal (NuWho has also done good things in terms of getting non-white characters into the spotlight, and keeping its female characters well away from the screaming Damsel In Distress cliche).
It also struck these two American ladies as incredibly brave to include Jack -- after all, DW is touted as "family entertainment." Here in the US having a character like Jack on a show kids could be expected to watch would be a one way ticket to getting burnt at the stake by the Moral Majority. Me, I was delighted to think that kids were being presented with a role model like Jack: funny, brave . . . and tech-geeky (not often part of the cliched "action hero" package), fallible (big "oops" with his Chula warship plan . . .) *and* not straight.
You go, NuWho.
LSR and I were briefly on the edge of our seats over whether Jack would make it (she thought they were gonna kill him, I said, "No way, not after giving him all that backstory and the missing two years and stuff," and I was right, yay). When we found out he was gonna be a Companion, well, that was just Too Cool.
Not to mention the joy of "everybody lives!" Definitely Hugo material.
I think the Doc needs another episode like this one in S4. Soon. Y'listening, Unca' Rusty? Please?