Doctor Who Series 2, Episode 1 "New Earth" Review

Five billion years in the future and I love that ‘chav’ is still used to insult someone. How very contemporary.

Doctor Who returned in 2006 with a brand-new Doctor ready for his first series in the TARDIS. David Tennant's Doctor takes Rose to the far future to show her where the human race ends up after the happenings in the episode ‘The End of the World.’ Some old faces make an appearance and some new, fiendish cats become the enemy of the story. How is New Earth so weirdly good when it seems it shouldn’t be.

The episode takes place in the year 5,000,000,023 in the city of New-New York. A mysterious message on The Doctor’s psychic paper was brings him all the way here where a deep and dark plot is uncovered. It is actually rather intriguing that this is an issue that wouldn’t surprise me if it happened today. The sisters of Plenitude are harbouring clone humans to experiment on in order to find cures for diseases of the time. To me, this ethical issue isn’t far from something I would expect to see today and really makes me question the morality of humanity in general. Would we do that if we had the technology to do so? I would expect a few mad scientists to give it the go-ahead. I like that this episode, despite being set in the far future, can make me think of the human race and our world, today. As the episode develops, we see a few familiar faces including The Face of Boe (whom the message on the psychic paper came from). He adds a nice bit of continuity leaving us questioning what his parting words will be, something we will discover later in the show. I always appreciate nods of continuity that connect the series as it adds a realism to the show – everything that happens has an impact in some form. The character that steals the limelight, however, is Lady Cassandra (pictured below). She has so much character already setup that even when she’s inside Rose, she still shines. The role is so perfectly written. I would happily watch more episodes with her in because she’s so fun to watch and the content created between The Doctor and Rose as she possesses them is genuinely funny, even if some of it does leave you cringing.

The episode soon builds up pace as Cassandra and her ‘chavtastic’ quotes take us to the infected humans attacking. In this zombie-like attack, the Doctor continually manages to avoid them to finally reach the denouement. Somehow, the vaccine to every disease exists in that single room. I find this hard to believe when he only has about ten bags attached to him. Can all of those really cure everything these humans have been contracted to? It does seem like a very quick resolution to the episode that had been built so well. Not only that, but how does the solution last so long. Maybe I’ m just being too probing and should just enjoy what I see on screen. The best moment comes in the last scene in which Cassandra seems to have a change of heart. She takes over her beloved sidekick’s body and The Doctor gives her one last farewell.

Initially, Chip telling Old-Earth Cassandra (Zoë Wannamker) that she’s beautiful is very sweet. Then you remember that it’s actually Cassandra telling herself that. That doesn’t seem as adorable. Having said that, this is still one of my favourite moments of the episode and it fits with her self-confident character very well.

The cast as a whole this episode was quite strong. Billie Piper portrays both roles very well and some of the lines she comes out with as Cassandra are my favourite of the show. This is, to me, the first time we see David Tennant fully in control and he excels. He has his camp moments, his harsh and bitter moments and then his sentimental moments. He’s been in two episodes and I already think he’s shown all sides of the role. Maybe it’s the writing, maybe it’s Tennant’s acting or a combination of both, but it is so strong even in more whimsical episodes like this one. All the cast performed well in this, even those portraying the Sisters of Plenitude, each having their own feel to the character. Anna Hope as Novice Hame is pictured below.

As far as a series opener goes, this episode probably doesn’t quite meet the grandeur and beauty of some others, but it does show what Doctor Who is very well. The banter between Tennant and Piper is wonderful throughout and they make a great pairing that is still sorely missed today. The episode does have issues with pacing (like the conclusion) and the humour may overtake plot on occasion, but it builds character wonderfully and I think this makes it a good start to Series Two. After all, children and adults will watch this, so it definitely has appeal to all demographics. Doctor Who, at the end of it all, is a family show and I’d definitely enjoy chuckling away at this episode with my family.

RANK: 8/10