4×12: “The Stolen Earth”

“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up” - C.S. Lewis

There are moments in adulthood when you yearn for the thrill of youth. Usually, it’s at times when your body doesn’t quite behave in the way it should and always has done before, when they stop making birthday cards with your age on them (ever seen a “Happy 37th” card?), when you hear yourself for the first time starting a sentence with the words “Back in my day…”, or the first time you buy yourself a tee-shirt that doesn’t have any writing or a picture on it. Young Policemen Syndrome, I guess they’ll call it. However, all too rarely there are moments when you forget all that stuff and nonsense and you are as giddy and thrilled and happy as any you were in any of your childhood memories. The last 15 minutes of “The Stolen Earth” was such a moment.

Despite the Doctor Who Forum’s limited capacity when most of the Whovians on planet Earth try to log on and collectively “squee”, say “OMFG” and try and post a score of “6/5” in the Rate The Episode thread, I have managed to get onto the site for a brief period and also on to one or two other sites of some renown to have a look at what my virtual peer group had to say following Saturday’s dramatic broadcast of The Stolen Earth. Usually, I am more than accommodating for folks to have a pop at the acting; or point out gaping plot-holes in the script; or to groan in despair at the fate of their once loved TV show since that Russell chap took over. It is all part of life’s rich tapestry and a good argument about the relative merits of the different elements of the show’s 45-year history is good for the soul, and, despite being a huge fan of all things RTD in DW’s latest incarnation I have never descended to the cliched riposte of “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it!”.

For my sins I am a Tottenham Hotspur supporter. If they perform badly for a series of games (as they are known to do), or if they make some terrible signings (again, as they are known to do), or if they revert to a brand of football that is unpleasant on the eye (okay, you get the picture), then, if someone were to tell me to stop supporting them and go and watch Arsenal instead it would be akin to asking me to stop blinking. Similarly with fandom, one feels the urge to watch and continue in one’s fannish ways despite whatever perceived rubbish is thrown up on the screen. So, I guess it should be of no surprise that a few people (a vocal minority, no doubt) log on the fan websites and put in the boot in. However, for the first time I am sorely tempted to say to these folks… if you don’t like it then don’t bloomin’ watch it, and even if you do, don’t log on to so called fansites to piss on everyone else’s fireworks. But I’m not going to say it, as that would be churlish.

So, what was all the fuss about. We were promised a dramatic two-part finale and part one certainly delivered on the promise. Following on directly from the conclusion of Turn Left, the Doctor and Donna headed back to Earth to see what all the Bad Wolf/Cloister Bell fuss was about and found nothing more threatening than a milkman. As they popped back in to the TARDIS to check their readings, someone literally stole the Earth from under their feet. The Daleks were soon revealed as the planet stealers and their plan, as much as has been revealed so far, was to keep the Doctor far away from their “crucible” as possible while they had their wicked way with the planets. On Earth we followed the events through the eyes of our familiar friends… the Noble family and Rose, the Torchwood team, Martha and UNIT in New York, and Sarah-Jane and Luke in their loft in Ealing. There was a redemption for Harriot Jones as she was the one who brought these disparate factions together and enabled them to communicate to their Time Lord chum.

All the series ongoing references started to coalesce, as the Doctor and Donna headed off to the Shadow Proclamation, worked out that the bees leaving had left a trail to the Medusa Cascade where all the missing planets were hidden from view but from where they received the bat signal from the “Children of Time”. Simple, eh? Why didn’t I think of that? From here business really started to pick up. Davros, who had been speaking from the shadows up till this point, was revealed in all his emaciated glory as he told the Doctor of how he escaped from the Time War thanks to the now-insane Dalek Caan and rebuilt his Dalek army from scratch. The good Doctor bolted off to Earth to meet up with his friends where his reunion with his long-lost love, Rose, was rudely interrupted by being shot by a Dalek. I wonder why, in the 45-year history of Doctor Who that no other Dalek has simply thought of shooting the Time Lord on sight, it seems so obvious when you think about it. Oh, and then the Doctor regenerated.

Everything about this episode was brilliant. From the ultimate cliffhanger to the return of Davros, there was exceptional direction, astonishing special effects (The Daleks taking Manhatten and the Vallient was worthy of any blockbuster movie), emotions ramped up to the max, and a genuine reward for anyone who has been watching the series since its return. Okay, there are points that you can pick holes in but for sheer spectacle this was as good a television gets.

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Tags: Captain-Jack, Childhood, David Tennant, Doctor Who Forum, Donna, Harriot Jones, Medusa, Rose, Russell-T-Davies, Shadow Proclamation, Stolen Earth