Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Paul Kelly

The Doctor: "You need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up 'genocide'. You'll find a little picture of me there, and the caption'll read, 'Over my dead body'."

This could have been a great episode. I loved the idea of the seven day war and the concept of two opposing armies, continuously being recreated, for the sole purpose of fighting a never ending war. I also liked the idea of the progenation machine taking the Doctor's diploid cells, splitting them into haploids and then recombining them to form Jenny; the Doctor's daughter. But the episode just wasn't long enough to do all of the plot elements justice. They should have either made it a two-parter, or shaved off some of the unnecessary plot divergences. It might have felt less rushed that way.

Atmosphere wise, this definitely felt reminiscent of the Tom Baker era. Running around in darkened caverns... men in rubber suits pretending to be aliens... solving problems with clockwork mice. And, to really add to that feeling on continuity, we had the fifth Doctor's daughter in real life, Georgia Moffett, playing the tenth Doctor's daughter on-screen.

I'm not sure why the Doctor would've consider Jenny's birth unnatural. Wasn't he created in much the same way? Or isn't “The Loom” strictly canon? Regardless, Jenny was both beautiful and kick-ass (so no complaints there) -- though her metamorphosis from killing machine into running-around-the-place-trying-not-to-kill-people "Time Lord" felt rushed. It would, presumably, have taken her more than ten minutes to overcome her programming. But her death was moving, and both Tennant and Moffett, respectively, turned in excellent performances -- with the Doctor finally acknowledging Jenny as his daughter -- just in time to watch her die.

Except she didn't. Rumour has it that it was at Steven Moffat's behest that she survive (a rumour he's neither denied, nor entirely confirmed). But if you're going to go to all that trouble of resurrecting her, then why not use her again? I'm writing this review half way through the 2009 season of specials, and we still haven't seen hide nor hair of her (excluding voice-over duties in "Dreamland") . Georgia Moffett has gone on record as saying she'd be more than willing to reprise the role. So why hasn't it happened? Why bring her back to life... have her escape... and then not use her again?

Martha's storyline, sadly, felt a bit redundant. Despite being a soldier, it took her just five minutes to get captured by the Hath. Without all that cool UNIT training, she'd no doubt have been caught in two minutes. And the death of Peck seemed a touch contrived. I liked Peck as a character. But why didn't he hold onto Martha's leg for just a few seconds longer? She could have pulled him to safety with ease. He wasn't sinking that fast. It was almost as if they killed him for effect.

I'd like to see more of Jenny. Her character was flirtatious, brilliant and had a real zest for life. And now the Doctor's got used to her being his daughter, there's the potential there for a intriguing partnership. Plus, she almost a Time Lord, isn't she? Imagine the possibilities of that. He could teach her so much. Plus, I'd like to know why she didn't change form when she regenerated.

More Miss Moffett please, Mr Moffat!

Bits and pieces:

-- How did Donna know the Doctor had two hearts?

-- Georgia Moffett is daughter of Peter Moffett (AKA Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor).

-- I thought the Doctor's reaction to Jenny was odd. Normally he's fascinated by other beings, and last season's "Last of the Time Lords" showed just how desperate he is to connect with someone of his own kind. You'd have thought he'd have embraced Jenny as his daughter sooner.

-- The progenation machine was a neat way of giving the Doctor offspring without him actually having to have sex with anyone.

-- I loved the part where Donna offered to use her feminine wiles on the soldiers -- only to have the Doctor talk her out of it. Ouch!

-- Georgia Moffett, as well as auditioning for a part in "The Unicorn and the Wasp", was originally considered for the role of Rose.

-- Hath Peck and Hath Gable? Presumably named after Gregory and Clark?

-- So the progenation machine can create people, can it? Fully clothed people? Wearing makeup? That's some machine.

I agree with Paul that this should have been a two-parter, and yes, the instant soldier thing was way improbable, but I still liked Jenny a lot. She *felt* like a very young, very inexperienced, very enthusiastic version of the Doctor. I hope they eventually do bring her back. I also liked the Doctor's reaction to instant parenthood. He simply couldn't adjust that quickly, couldn't find the courage to risk his hearts again. The dynamic between them was quite nice.

Donna was again terrific, encouraging the Doctor to connect with Jenny, almost using her feminine wiles, and figuring out what the numbers meant. (I liked the idea of all the generations taking place in only seven days, no matter how improbable it was. Was it meant to be Biblical, too?) At one point, Donna said to the Doctor, "You talk all the time, but you don't say anything." Donna may have decided she wants to travel with the Doctor forever, but his secretiveness about his past is starting to bother her.

Martha, unfortunately, got the sticky end of the lollipop again, captured by fish people, trooping through the mud, getting caught in the local version of quicksand. Can't blame her for wanting to chuck it all.

Was the terraforming just for the humans? What were the Hath supposed to get out of it? They were cool-looking aliens, by the way. Much too kind to Martha for the bloodthirsty beings they were supposed to be, what with sacrificing themselves for her and all.

Doctor: "I don't know where we're going, but my old hand's very excited about it."
Donna: "I thought that was some bloody alien thing. You're telling me it's yours?"
Doctor: "Well..."
Martha: "It got cut off. He grew a new one."
Donna: "You are completely impossible!"
Doctor: "Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely."

Donna: "But... this is a theatre."
Doctor: "Maybe they're doing Miss Saigon."

Donna: "He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures... and runs a lot. Seriously, there is an outrageous amount of running involved."