The Stolen Earth

"Now the Daleks are the masters of Earth!"

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: April 2023

Series: 4.12

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Martha, Rose, Captain Jack, Sarah Jane

Synopsis 

Earth's greatest heroes join together to fight the invading force of the new Dalek Empire, but lurking in the shadows is an old and familiar enemy long thought dead...

Verdict 

The Stolen Earth was a magnificent episode to continue my way through the modern era of Doctor Who alongside my girlfriend Gemma. This is very much her era of the show and with her being a huge Rose fan, having her return here in full form alongside the Doctor and an all star ensemble of companions is tremendous. I like to banter with her about Martha as she’s not a fan of her so I was keen to point out that our saviour was here who walked the Earth spreading the message of the Doctor. After the cliffhanger ending of Turn Left with the Bad Wolf connotations and Rose returning, the way her reunion with the Doctor was built up was fantastic. Of course, before that happens we are reintroduced to a whole host of companions as this episode really sets the scene for a celebration of Doctor Who and its spin-offs. Martha takes centre stage at UNIT which is really good and from there we see the Torchwood team which is super fun to get Gwen and Ianto in Doctor Who. The moment where Gwen is on the phone to Rhys is a nice touch and shows respect to Torchwood whilst Ianto got some humour when watching Paul O’Grady’s take on the planets in the sky. Sarah Jane and Luke featuring was fantastic too and it’s nice to incorporate The Sarah Jane Adventures. Mr Smith gets a moment to shine with his grand entrance which was good and Wilf also arrives on the scene to steal the show with a different shine in the form of a paint gun. That being his defence against the Daleks was wonderful and the way he asked Rose if she’d like to swap after her gun destroyed the Dalek was brilliant. This episode really does have the Daleks at their best as we hear UNIT declare that Earth surrenders and the reactions of Jack and Sarah when they hear that it is the Daleks at the centre of the planetary web is outstanding. We’re introduced to the Supreme Dalek who looks resplendent in red and the return of Dalek Caan is marvellous. Now referred to as the Abomination, the appearance of being battered is terrific. And then of course there’s Davros. The way he was lurking in the shadows before we fully see him is fantastic stuff and I love how Donna’s reaction sold everything about his appearance as his face appeared on the video call. Sarah’s reaction was excellent as well as she remembered the events of Genesis of the Daleks where he was seemingly killed, yet here he was to confront the Doctor once again. Tennant was brilliant in selling what Davros being alive meant and the fact that Dalek Caan’s emergency temporal shift at the end of Evolution of the Daleks took him back into the Time War itself was brilliant. A fine way for them to escape and make the Daleks born again, literally from Davros himself. That was a chilling image. The scenes at the Shadow Proclamation could easily get lost in the shuffle but they were really good in explaining the situation with planets disappearing. It tied in nicely with the series arc with Adipose III and Pyrovilia also going missing. The Doctor’s introduction to the Judoon was brilliant and I adored Donna’s reaction. It’s a shame we didn’t get more of the rhino police! The cliffhanger finish to this episode is sensational and I remember my reaction on broadcast being one of pure shock and confusion. I’d already seen in the newspapers that David Tennant had been spotted filming The Next Doctor, so how could he be regenerating here? The emotion with Rose was superb. Overall, a superb episode!

Rating: 10