Partners in Crime

"The fat just walks away."

Writer: Russell T Davies 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 5th April 2008

Series: 4.01

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis 

Donna Noble is determined to find the Tenth Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins at last?

Verdict 

Partners in Crime is a great episode to kick off the fourth series of Doctor Who following the 2005 revival! It's unusual in the fact it reintroduces a character we have previously met as companion and I can only think of Nyssa to be in a similar position for past companions. She first appeared in The Keeper of Traken but didn't actually become companion until Logopolis (and that's at the earliest!). However, those stories followed each other whereas here with Donna we had a whole series between her first two appearances. She was absolutely brilliant the first time we saw her in The Runaway Bride, a story that was very nicely referenced, and I like how the effects the Doctor had on her life in that episode were clearly present here. She seemed a lot more fun and even intelligent and I think that's important for a companion. As comedic and humorous Donna is, there's no doubting her intelligence and I think that was present with her mentioned attempts at finding the Doctor. The plot of this story wasn't bad at all but I think it's the comedy that is most memorable from the episode. The way the Doctor and Donna kept missing each other in the Adipose Industries call centre was great and that even continued in the streets after we first saw the truth surrounding the Adipose. The idea of a diet pill in a Doctor Who story is actually a fantastic one and I thought the execution was done well here. Miss Foster was a good villainous character and I loved that she had her own sonic device in the form of the sonic pen. The moment that was revealed was another fantastic piece of humour. I remember the original trailers for Series 4 and there was an immense amount of speculation surrounding that sonic pen scene and thinking back now, I can't quite believe that it's been over eight years since the episode aired! However, I'm now very much inclined to buy the new Tenth Doctor and Donna audios that have been recently released. There's no doubt that I'll but then but it's just a question of when. I really liked the numerous references in this story to the finale of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End with the mentioning of planets and bees disappearing. The appearance of the ATMOS sticker in the taxi is so simple but just a wonderful foreshadowing of events to come in The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky. The highlight of this episode was probably the moment the Doctor and Donna both saw each other for the first time. Done through silence with the superb background music, it really was comedy in Doctor Who at its very best. It certainly gives The Romans and City of Death a run for their money, that's for sure. Miss Foster interrupting the reunion was a humorous disappointment. The action that followed was good and I liked how Penny was constantly just left tied up. Once the Doctor finally freed her though, as people usually do she ignored his instruction and wound up tied up once more. The Doctor and Donna wonderfully teaming up to prevent the Inducer from killing one million people was terrific and the moment Donna pulled out the second golden capsule was superb. I think that's when the Doctor accepted her as his companion once more. Donna being ready for everything including the Planet of the Hats was good and we even had a surprise cameo return for Rose! We'd of course learn more by the time of Turn Left but I remember my reaction on broadcast and it was one of shock. Miss Foster got a shock of her own when she realised that her place on the Adipose mothership was not required after she helped breed the newborn babies. Babies of fat. Not a pleasant thought to be honest. Wilf sighting the TARDIS with Donna inside was a magnificent moment to finish on and it was just great to see how happy he was for his granddaughter. Overall, a good start to the series and great return for Donna! 

Rating: 8/10