Watching Doctor Who

This episode and the one that came before it are adapted by Paul Cornell from a Doctor Who tie-in novel called Human Nature by…Paul Cornell. If you would like to read the novel online, you may do so here. The novel features the Seventh Doctor and a different companion named Bernice Summerfield, so things are a bit different. Okay…there are actually several differences. For your moment of irony this week, I’ll just mention that right before I posted the review of Human Nature, two weeks ago, the episode in which John Smith falls down the stairs…I fell down the stairs. Life can stop imitating art now. Anyway, on to the review!

Episode: The Family of Blood by Paul Cornell
Rating (1 to 5): 4.7
Time: 1913, 1914?, and 2007?
Place: England, Earth
Baddie: The Family of Blood
The Doctor’s Death Wish: John Smith sort of dies to become The Doctor again.
The Doctor enjoys: Well..John Smith enjoys Joan. The Doctor seems to enjoy being himself again.
The Doctor dislikes: John Smith dislikes having to die. The Doctor dislikes The Family of Blood & being reminded that people die when he’s around.
Saxon? not that I saw.
Rose? in the Journal in the previous ep.
Who fancies Martha? No one that I saw.
Doctor-y Strangeness: We must remember that The Doctor is a very powerful being, for all that he appears human. Don’t make him angry. Seriously.
Scary Stuff: Walking scarecrows, the schoolboys shooting scarecrows, The Family bombing the countryside, The Doctor when angry.
Does someone local help out? Tim Latimer, Nurse Joan Redfern
What we learn: Martha can really hold her own in a crisis. Olfactory misdirection…is like ventriloquism of the nose. Don’t make The Doctor angry.
My Favorite Bits: Martha saving the day at the Dance. Tim and the watch vs. “Sister of Mine”. “He’s like fire and ice and rage. He’s like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He’s ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe. And…he’s wonderful.” “Oh…low level telepathic field. You were born with it…” John and Joan’s possible future.(*sniffle*) The Doctor putting his glasses back on for the first time on The Family’s ship. The Doctor getting angry enough to remind us that he is so very far from being human. Tim surviving the war. The Doctor and Martha seeing Tim years later.

Observations and musings:

Poor Martha. She’s stuck in the past trying to keep an eye on The Doctor as John Smith. She has to get out of all sorts of scrapes that he would normally deal with. Has anyone else noticed that she hasn’t “wandered off” once this series? She did what she could to keep everyone safe, even when John Smith didn’t want her there.

It never even occurred to The Doctor that as John Smith he might fall in love. Nor did he realize that to stop being John Smith would basically involve killing “John Smith.” And when The Doctor masquerades as John Smith in front of The Family…you get the feeling that he still didn’t quite take Mr. Smith’s life seriously. It’s a slightly uncomfortable feeling. And then The Doctor gets angry. The Family wanted forever…so he gives it to them. This time he could change back, but he won’t. Unlike when he regenerated and Rose asked him the same thing. Best description of The Doctor ever: “He’s like fire and ice and rage. He’s like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He’s ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe. And…he’s wonderful.”

Tim is a great character. He protects the watch, and in so doing saved the day a couple of times. Interesting use of the footage from The Runaway Bride as a means of scaring off “Sister of Mine.”

What did you think? I’ll see you again next week for Steven Moffat’s “Blink.”

Image Source: http://www.time-and-space.co.uk/

The Family of Blood, Human Nature, Paul Cornell