The Doctor Dances

"Are you my mummy?"

Writer: Steven Moffat

Format: TV

Broadcast:

Series: 1.10

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack

Synopsis

The Empty Child's plague is spreading throughout wartime London, and its zombie army is on the march. The Doctor and Rose form an alliance with the intergalactic con-man, Captain Jack, but find themselves trapped in the abandoned hospital. The answer lies at the bomb site, but time is running out.

Verdict

The Doctor Dances was an excellent episode and a wonderful conclusion to the story already started in The Empty Child. This two-parter really is sublime from start to finish and it really is no surprise that this story is so revered amongst fandom. I absolutely love the resolution to the cliffhanger with the Doctor barking the approaching gas-mask brigade led by Jamie to go back to their rooms. It is tremendous and the comment afterwards where he was glad that worked just made it even better. This really might have been Christopher Eccleston's finest performance as the Ninth Doctor. His reaction when Rose presumes he cannot dance is just delightful and after a dark start, it's lovely to see some charm and humour come out of this incarnation of the Doctor. It's quite ironic that this occurs in a very dark episode! Captain Jack is just tremendous and with what he becomes in later years and with his very own spinoff, it's easy to forget just how fun and cheeky he is here. The relationship he shares with Rose is incredible and what his presence brings to the relationship between her and the Doctor is outstanding. I absolutely love the Doctor's reaction to Rose clearly thinking Jack was in another league when it came to the looks department and his actions were just marvellous. The use of the London Blitz setting continued to be terrific and whilst it wasn't as centred on the focus of the episode, it was still a brilliant backdrop. Jack's role in events with his warship charade to try and con the Doctor and Rose out of some money clearly backfired and the scene at the site of the crash where the Doctor tells all in such brutally quick fashion is outstanding. Jack was adamant he had nothing to do with the happenings concerning Jamie and the gas-mask plague, but when he heard what the Doctor had to say about the nano-genes, well his face said everything required. Nancy continued to be a fantastic character and the moment where she was held captive with a soldier who had the infection was superb. The transformation into a gas-mask zombie was brilliant and when he calls his superior mummy is just outstanding. Jack facing something similar when trying to charm his way into the bomb scene was also magnificent. The creepiness and just outright disturbing nature of the transition into a gas-mask zombie was chilling and still holds up all these years later. It really is Doctor Who at its darkest best. The use of the nano-genes healing the Doctor to introduce them was good and I loved everything that happened inside Jack's ship. The Doctor and Rose dancing and not realising they had teleported was great stuff and playing that full circle to finish the episode with the TARDIS saving Jack and him not realising there was a way out behind him was just wonderful. I loved how the Doctor and Rose were dancing and I thoroughly enjoyed when Jack came into the TARDIS to join the show. The Doctor's absolute joy at the way the episode ends with the nano-genes recognising Nancy as Jamie's mother and correcting the DNA and then the Doctor spreading the update to those already impacted was just superb. Everybody lives! Now that is a rarity. It really is a tremendous episode to conclude the two-parter and even after how many times she has watched it, seeing Gemma jump next to me early in the episode told me all I need to know about this chilling adventure. Overall, just brilliant! 

Rating: 10/10