The Doctor's Daughter

"You are such a soldier."

Writer: Stephen Greenhorn

Format: TV

Broadcast: 10 May 2008

Series: 4.06

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Martha

Synopsis 

On the planet Messaline, in the middle of an endless war, the Doctor meets the most important woman of his life. Could he really have a daughter?

Verdict

The Doctor's Daughter was a great episode to continue our way through the fourth series of modern Doctor Who! I was surprised to hear that Gemma often mentioned she skipped this episode when she would watch the series, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised considering that Martha is featured! She initially didn't have a pleasant opinion on the Twelfth Doctor but I won her around after a rewatch, but alas no such occurrence seems to be on the cards here with Martha. I do hope that might change, but with just the final two episodes to come my time is running out! This story really has a frantic pace and that is to its benefit. The Doctor is almost immediately thrust into the action and in the space of the pre-credits we have a shaky TARDIS trip and the Doctor being forced into having his DNA extrapolated to see his very own daughter born! Jenny arrived in no time at all and she was all soldier, not exactly what you would expect from the Doctor's offspring. Their discussion on being a soldier and the Doctor arguing that he was far from that was intriguing, especially when the conversation moved to the Time War. The Doctor's involvement in that was obviously that of a soldier and he could not exactly defend that, but he was able to start teaching Jenny a little about having a choice and not always having to resort to warfare. That was lovely to see and I thought David Tennant played it so well to show those fatherly qualities. His discussion with Donna about having been a father before was really important and it was nice to reference, showing that Susan was not forgotten! Jenny was just a lot of fun and the moment where she uses her good looks to seduce her way out of the cell was brilliant, but the comment from Donna to the Doctor about liking to see him do it just topped it off. I think I have forgotten just how good Donna is as a companion and she provides so much humour, just like with her Rambo comment at the start. The war against the Hath was decent and I thought the discussion on warfare was a little on the head, Donna deducing that the numbers stamped were actually the dates of section completion. Whilst I remain convinced that the date would be stamped in such a way, showcasing her technical skills was delightful. The Hath are a bit awkward with their lack of speech and I am still astounded there were no subtitles used as it didn't make much sense. Martha's relationship with the one she fixed the dislocated shoulder of was nice and his death was a very powerful moment. The finding of the Source was good and I enjoyed that the Doctor ended the war that lasted a week through countless generations as the planet would be terraformed. However, the drama didn't end there as Jenny was shot and the Doctor was outraged. The moment where it looks like he might pull the trigger but then emphasises that he never would is sublime. Jenny surviving after all with an apparent semi-regeneration was really good and I am so glad Big Finish were able to pick up on her further adventures! Overall, a really great episode. 

Rating: 8/10