TARDISWATCH
Our new series of review features begins!
PART ONE: PARTNERS IN CRIME
Well, possibly the most controversial series of Doctor Who since its return has begun, and expectations have been high to see if comedian Catherine Tate would cut it as the Doctor’s new companion, Donna Noble. Fans were set upon one another following Tate’s first appearance (back in 2006’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Runaway Bride), and there has been a great deal of debate over her return right across fandom. Would she still be the obnoxious, screeching harpy of that lacklustre Xmas special? Would she turn out to be brilliant? It will certainly be interesting to see her face the challenge of the series’ more dramatic elements, and I do hope that people will be pleasantly surprised. I certainly count myself amongst those that are going to need some persuasion, but with Martha, and (as you saw on Saturday) Rose returning to the fold too, it’ll certainly be fascinating to see how the character of Donna reacts and indeed how Catherine Tate measures up in their presence. Add to that the return of all manner of monsters (and a bunch of new ones) and we’re in for one of the most unpredictable series yet.
EPISODE REVIEW
Possibly the most important series of Doctor Who‘s run thus far has got off to a very shaky start indeed. What the motivation behind this farce of an episode was is anyone’s guess. Okay, that sounded harsh, sorry. The episode as a whole is far too chaotic and does rely heavily on slapstick comedy during the scenes of the Doctor and Donna repeatedly missing sight of each other, but it does have its good points. Mainly those good points lie with two elements: Bernard Cribbins as Donna’s grandfather, and the massively shocking final few seconds (THAT cameo and THAT piece of music), which elevate the episode into the realms of the great. What starts out as a standard runaround (possibly leaning thematically towards The Sarah Jane Adventures), ends up being incredibly shocking. The contrast between the light ness of the rest of the episode and that final twist is delicious, and instantly sent me into paroxysms of geeky ecstasy.I think, from what we know of this series and how it is going to develop, that it is certainly going to be full of enough twists and turns to keep the diehards guessing and the casual viewers entertained. Catherine Tate’s depiction of Donna is slightly more reserved this time out, and strikes us as a character that has actually made some progress, which is cool. The main problem I had with the episode was its strong echoes of the Sarah Jane Adventures pilot episode Invasion of the Bane, which, as an episode of TV drama, worked much better than this.Partners in Crime isn’t the best opening episode so far, but it certainly helps the show hit the ground running.5/10
