{"id":202,"date":"2011-03-08T13:00:38","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T21:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=202"},"modified":"2011-03-07T22:53:50","modified_gmt":"2011-03-08T06:53:50","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-the-next-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/03\/mark-watches-doctor-who-the-next-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: The Next Doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourth Doctor Who<\/em> Christmas special, the Doctor meets himself in a future timeline. Maybe? Or maybe not? If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

David Morrissey? IN MY DOCTOR WHO<\/em>? There will be absolutely no protesting from me.<\/p>\n

I was first introduced to David Morrissey through State of Play<\/em> (WHICH IS SO FUCKING GOOD YOU SHOULD REALLY WATCH IT<\/strong>) and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve enjoyed him ever since. (On a complete sidenote, I just realized that both John Simm and Philip Glenister were on that mini-series and I just finished Life on Mars<\/em> this past weekend, so excuse my mini freak out over here.) My favorite role of David\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s is his work as Maurice in the Red Riding trilogy. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s virtually unrecognizable in that role and he plays a character so wonderfully understated and conflicted that I quickly fell in love with him. Platonically, of course.<\/p>\n

So the second he strolled on to the screen dressed in that utterly fabulous (and very classic Who<\/em>) suit, I squealed. Thankfully, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve avoided the great number of spoilers that are floating around the Net and SOMEHOW FIND THEIR WAY INTO MY COMMENTS<\/strong> (I am looking at you<\/em> and shaking my fist, FYI.) This episode is crafted in such a way that I thought that there was a real chance that Matt Smith wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/em> the Eleventh Doctor and that David Morrissey was actually number eleven. WHICH IS INCREDIBLY EXCITING TO ME BECAUSE I LOVE DAVID MORRISSEY, OK? DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is a really, really strange Christmas special and is kind of sad in a subtle way, but those are all compliments. On top of its weirdness and the all-too-convenient way in which the story is resolved, this special is just plain tons of fun. Seriously! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true!<\/p>\n

(Thinking aloud: I thought Davies was done after season four? Why did he write this episode, too? Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell me quite yet.)<\/p>\n

The Doctor lands in London in 1851 and the real magic of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Next Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is in the first half hour or so. I know that, at the time, everyone was unsure when David Tennant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reign as the Doctor would come to an end, so I watched this special with that context in mind. I wondered how anyone would know to call out to the Doctor since we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d seen him dispose of all of his companions in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Journey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s End.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Was the show bringing back someone else we might have known? Instead, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re introduced to the rather feisty (and fiercely smart) Rosita Farisi, who balks at the idea that David Tennant is the Doctor. David Morrissey comes running into the frame, bedecked in a suit that would make Patrick Troughton and Peter Davison blush, an air of confident respectability surrounding him. (Granted, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve only been exposed to a few of the older Doctors, but David Tennant seems to be the silliest one so far.)<\/p>\n

But the absurdity and excitement of this situation becomes a lot more worrisome as we learn more about this next Doctor. We know pretty quickly that the Cybermen are involved and let me just say this now: as silly as the Cybershade look, they creep me out. A lot. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the way they move. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too much for me. They look like shadows crouching just out of your line of sight and no thank you forever.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyway, back to the actual \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Doctor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It worried me that the next Doctor couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember why he regenerated and what it had to do with the Cybermen. (For the record, I did not actually guess the reveal. Bravo, Davies.) What had happened that was so traumatic to the Doctor that he might forget his memories? Or did someone steal<\/em> his memory? Was it a way for him to forget what had happened to his past companions?<\/p>\n

Regardless of this, the episode continued to get weirder. Why were so many of the things this specific Doctor had slightly (or wildly) different than what Ten used? (Two examples being the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sonic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d screwdriver and the TARDIS: Tethered Aerial Release Developed in Style.) I thought that we had been watching the transformation and evolution of the Doctor. He does change with each regeneration, personality-wise, so why couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t other things change as well?<\/p>\n

This is yet another episode of this show, however, where the character exploration between the Doctor and his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153companion\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what else to call David Morrissey) is simply far more interesting to me than the actual villainry going on. (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Villainry\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is now a word. Use it sparingly.) I like the Cybermen. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not particularly scary to me, but they are an interesting force to go up against the Doctor. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re used poorly here and I actually really liked the explanation given for how they returned. It makes sense that the walls of the universe were weakened by the battle with Davros, allowing them to escape. Still, I found that I had no real desire to pay much attention to the story with Mercy Hartigan. I mean, I did<\/em>, but it just wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as captivating as watching David Morrissey and David Tennant interact with each other.<\/p>\n

On that note, there was a part of me that wished we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d see more of David Morrissey. His story here is rather wistful. Upon the discovery of the infostamps, we learn that this next Doctor is actually a man named Jackson Lake. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine how gutting it must be to see the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, to truly believe that you are<\/em> the Doctor, only to discover that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a trick. That you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not that person you believe to be. That you are someone else. Oh, and that someone else watched their wife die in front of himself<\/em>. I would have loved Morrissey as the Doctor. Ok, DAVID Morrissey. Damn, it is unfortunate that his last name is also the name of Moz because I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t refer to him by his last name, like I often do with actors and actresses, because then we all have to think about Moz being the Doctor and seriously that is one of the most irritating thoughts that has ever crept into my head<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not really sure I liked the ending to the general story. I found the use of the Dimension Vault a little too convenient, though it does allow for the Cybermen to return. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6a giant Cyberman-shaped robot ship crushes part of London and NO ONE seems to remember that? What? However, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not all this way. I loved that the Doctor offered Hartigan a choice to live in peace. Would he have made such an offer without Donna Noble\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s existence? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not really sure. Then I think about Donna and I get really sad and then I feel a strong urge to punch Davies in the face for doing what he did to Donna and this review has to have the most tangents I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever written. Sorry. My brain is wandering today.<\/p>\n

If anything, though, I appreciate the final scene between the Doctor and Jackson Lane. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not often that someone changes the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind, indeed, and Jackson proves to be a brave and resourceful person without thinking he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Doctor. I feel that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a subtext to what happens here: did Jackson make the Doctor think about his life in this (tenth) body? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to think so. The Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quote at the very end is heartbreaking because, despite his fault\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, loneliness is not something that anyone deserves to experience.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They leave. Because they should or because they find someone else. And some of them\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6some of them\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6forget me. I suppose in the end, they break my heart.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the Doctor headed off to enjoy Christmas dinner with Lane, I wondered: How much more heartbreak could the Doctor stand?<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n