The Shakespeare Code

"Love's Labour's Won will never be played."

Writer: Gareth Roberts

Format: TV

Broadcast: 7 April 2007

Series: 3.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

As a reward for her help with the Plasmavore, Martha Jones gets a trip in the TARDIS. The Tenth Doctor takes her to 1599 England. After viewing a performance of Shakespeare's latest play, the time travellers are beset by apparent sorcery. Are there witches at work?

Verdict

The Shakespeare Code was another excellent episode to continue my rewatch through the modern era with Gemma for the first time! This is a really good historical episode with just the right amount of sci-fi thrown in and I liked how the alien intruders of the Carrionites took on the form of witches which made them fit right in with the time and era. Lilith as the head of the triage that had survived banishment by the Eternals thanks to Shakespeare's words was brilliant and I liked how she seemed to be revelling in the art of seduction. Her efforts were lost on the Doctor though, but it didn't stop her acquiring a chunk of hair that could work for a puppet. The Doctor's discussions of magic throughout the episode were great and I loved the playing around on whether there was such a thing. This was clearly still early days for Martha as well with her questioning how the TARDIS travelled in time which I really liked and was a very realistic question in my eyes. She also didn't know about the psych paper so I enjoyed the Doctor's comment about starting from scratch again with companions. Shakespeare not falling for the psychic paper was a fantastic moment and I thought it was funny that Martha did. Shakespeare was clearly a genius and the excitement had by both the Doctor and Martha at the prospect of meeting him was very good indeed. The whole setting of 1599 itself and the Globe Theatre being the focus was excellent and a really good and insightful trip into the past. There was a testy moment in our household watching this episode again after I merely asked Gemma if she found Martha attractive, only to be met with a look of disgust that apparently meant I wanted to marry her! How dare I infer anything positive about Rose's replacement. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Martha in the episode and I think the Doctor deserved a slap for his comments on the bed when trying to deduce what was going on bigging up Rose and how she wouldn't miss anything. The mystery of Love's Labour's Won getting solved in the Doctor Who universe here was a terrific idea and I think the result was a fine way to answer it. The Carrionites using words in the same way we use mathematics was such a good concept and having Shakespeare feature alongside them made for a wonderful combination. The rushed writing of the play was good and I liked how the performance ended up resulting in supposed special effects and rave reviews to a level that Queen Elizabeth herself wanted to see a repeat! That was brilliant. I loved the moment where the Doctor named the Carrionites, but equally as powerful was Lilith naming Martha and also referring to Rose to challenge the Doctor. That name meant a lot to him though. The end moments with Shakespeare attempting to kiss Martha after being infatuated with her for much of the episode was fantastic and I loved how she wasn't having any of it. The use of words was really well done and informative, and would have served as a great educational tool. Overall, a really strong episode!

Rating: 9/10