Reaction Post: Human Nature
The reaction post is late again this week, but this time that’s because I was at a Sci Fi Convention that is less than three miles away from my place. How could I resist? I only saw one 10th Doctor and a Madame de Pompadour. (I was dressed as Rose for a while.) Just a few who-related things were for sale. It was fun, though.
Anyway, here is the reaction post for Doctor Who: series 3 episode 8 - Human Nature (part 1 of 2). This episode, and the other half of the 2 parter, are adaptations of the book Human Nature by Paul Cornell. Yes, he also wrote the episodes. My full-fledged review will appear after this episode airs in the U.S. (the series will begin in July.)
Spoiler warning!
Well, as two-parters go, this one wasn’t quite so much a build up for part two and a legitimate beginning of a story. More like Aliens of London than Daleks in Manhattan. It ended at the point that you expect The Doctor to do something brilliant right at the beginning of the second half that saves everyone at that moment. Except, this time The Doctor isn’t himself. So…is the psychic fellow Tim supposed to do it? Or perhaps Martha? Very worrying. I hope that Tim manages to get the watch back safely to Mr. Smith…and not die.
I liked the pace of the episode. It starts out with a “dream” which shows us some of what happened before, then introduces us to the mysteriously human John Smith. May I just say, though, that the first fellow who was attacked by the family of blood…well, I wasn’t too sad to lose him, but I’d rather it was his friend. Too bad about Martha’s friend, though. Martha herself was doing a great job of fitting in. Well, mostly, but it can’t have been easy for her to spend a couple of months as a servant. And stuck with the strangely non-Doctor-y Doctor.
John Smith does show some glimmers of Doctor-ness. There’s the piano incident. Darn good thing that he’s still such a great shot. Then there’s the journal, with the two torn out pages, and all of the sketches. We’ve had a closer look at the page with Rose and the one facing it, and it seems that he has written “Perfect Rose” several times there. There’s the whole Gallifrey is in Ireland bit. John Smith dances. And who doesn’t love his parents names? Sidney and Verity? Nice nod the the beginning of the show there. Didn’t he look like “Mr. Chips” or some such person at the beginning there?
Chameleon Arch…very scary. So were the scarecrows. I want a copy of that journal, by the way. And I can’t wait for the conclusion next week. Poor Nurse.
Doctor Who, Human Nature, Paul Cornell
May 27th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
David did a really great job as Smith, and I bet there is going to be a tear jerker of a scene when The Doctor has to say good bye to the nurse. The man she fell in love with will not be there, well maybe just safely under skin deep?
May 29th, 2007 at 7:14 am
Easily the best episode of the season so far, and one of my favorite of the new series.
When you do your full review, will you point out how the episode changed from the book? From the cover it’s clearly a Seventh Doctor book - what companion did he have? I can’t see Ace fitting in as well as Martha did.
May 29th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
The Vig, I agree. In the confidential It was obvious that David really enjoyed getting a chance to play a new character.
Eric J,
I agree. The episode was quite good. I can’t wait for the other half. All Hail Paul Cornell! And yes, I will compare the two when I do my review. It’s not Ace, by the way. It’s a new character called Bernice Summerfield.
June 1st, 2007 at 6:02 am
Best episode of the new series since “Dalek.”
I’ve read the novel and I know how it worked out there….(the TV version is same starting point, differently realized) and yet I was on the edge of my seat.
Interesting–my two favorite episodes of the new show have been adapted from a radio play and a novel….
July 9th, 2007 at 9:46 am
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August 24th, 2007 at 1:52 am
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