We continue onto part two from "Human Nature". And much is revealed for Paula while Katrina is remembering just how intense the drama is in this amazing series.
"He never raised his voice...that was the worst thing; the fury of the Time Lord. And then we discovered why. Why this Doctor who had fought with gods and demons had run away from us and hidden...He was being kind." This is one of the greatest monologues in Doctor Who and no one can convince me differently.
"We wanted to live forever... so The Doctor made sure that we did." Such a chilling scene. Really shows what can happen if you actually provoke the anger of The Doctor.
It's a great ending. Though for me the speech by Jessica Hynes at the end about how the doctor caused so much pain was even stronger. She faces up to him, the being that had just done these horrendus punishments to powerful beings, and holds his gaze. She stands up and tells him its his fault, and hes hurt. Powerful stuff.
This episode hits a little harder to us in the UK, I think. World War 1 basically devastated an entire generation, so it's still a very emotional thing to tackle on British TV, but Doctor Who does it with absolute class and repsect.
Just a quick thing for non British viewers who may not know this. The red paper poppy that Martha pins to the Doctor’s lapel are a British tradition. They are sold every November to remember those who gave their lives in war. Everybody buys a poppy and wears it and the money goes to veterans organisations.
Not just a British tradition, and didn't even originate in Britain. It all started with Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian who wrote a poem in tribute to the fallen called "In Flanders Field" which included the words "We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields." An American woman named Moina Michael, a professor at the University of Georgia, was inspired to write her own poem in response, and vowed to always wear a red poppy in memory of the fallen. It was she who came up with the idea of selling red poppies to raise money for veterans. In 1920, she managed to get Georgia’s branch of the American Legion to adopt the poppy as its symbol, and after that the National American Legion. In France, a similar idea was championed by a woman named Anna Guérin. In Britain, the first ever poppy appeal took place in 1921 by the newly formed British Legion, prompted by Madame Guérin.
I love how not only does the Doctor not raise his voice at the end, but he doesn’t speak a word. If you notice, the family in the two parter were constantly shouting and taunting the Doctor yet they couldn’t kill him whereas the Doctor doesn’t say a single word and places them all in unbreakable prisons without breaking a sweat. That shows you the raw power he posseses
he reminds be of my dad...when I told him that my (ex) boyfriend was hitting me and my dad spoke with him about it....he never once raised his voice nor took his hands out of his pockets.....but I never saw my ex more scared
As much as I love the two-parter overall, that ending for the Family aggravates me. The Doctor doesn't show _anything_ remotely comparable to that level of power at any other point, and if he _did_ have any powers on that level, he'd have so many options to solve problem in other episodes. It's a huge, giant plot hole. Not really a deus ex machina per se, but it comes damn close. There is _zero_ hint for the Doctor having the power to do anything like those punishments, and the writers apparently couldn't come up with another way to deal with the Family, so they gave the Doctor superpowers for just one episode that'll never show up again. Sure, it's impressive and epic when you first watch it, but when you actually think about it, you notice that it's actually cheap writing that at least borders on character assassination...
@@Wolf-ln1ml Superpowers? All he did was trap them, the how isn't exactly explained for the final two, but the father is wrapped in unbreakable chains, the mother is thrown from the TARDIS into a galaxy that is falling apart, the girl is hard to tell exactly what he did but timelords are terrifying with what they can do, and the son, well suspending in time isn't exactly hard for the race that master time travel. There isn't really any super power involved, and the Doctor is old and stronger than he acts, this is the man who won the Time War after years and years of fighting. We don't need to know exactly how he does what he does, because he does stuff like this later in his lives. It's the fact he could do this but chooses to rise above it that makes him terrifying when he gets brought to their level. Also the family isn't exactly powerful as shown through the two part episode. They consist of a middle aged woman, an old man, a little girl and a teenager. The army they had is made of straw and brought down easily by bullets, the Doctor could end them any time but chose to run and hide instead.
@@Wolf-ln1mlno different to what we see the Master being able to do, with him making things like paradox machines and such. The Doctor is always capable of horrendous things, but he doesn’t let himself go to far, which is why a companion is so important for him. He needs humanity around him to keep him grounded. I think the rage he had towards the family was very human, almost like the anger of John Smith coming through wanting revenge for the life that was taken from him, The Doctor wanting John’s lover to travel with him further proves that to me, John Smith is still part of him.
@@zakapholiac9377 The Master turning a Tardis into a paradox machine is basically "being an engineeer that abuses a magic machine". We can kind of intrapolate what it would look like to see him do it - but when it comes to the Doctor trapping that girl in _every_ mirror, we have _nothing_ to work with to figure out how the f*ck he might even have begun to do that. Just waving his magic wand wouldn't have done that. Shoving her into a mirror? Nah, that'd simply break the mirror. Dig up some magic mirror that he had in storage? I'd need to see the story behind that first - setting something like that up would be vital to good storytelling. .... And that's just the daughter. How did he get them to live forever - assuming he did _not_ give them what they wanted, namely a part of his Timelord self, in which case they would have kept going and destroyed the universe in the end (according to his own "dreams" in his diary/notebook)? The entire ending is just one huge, gaping plot hole or deus ex machina (with the Doctor's never-before-or-since-mentioned powers being the machina that solved the whole mess)
Paul Cornell, the author of this two parter, is such a wonderful writer. I wish he would return to do more Doctor Who. While the Doctor asking Joan to travel with him was awkward and obviously wasn't going to work out, I've always felt that the fact that he dealt with the Family so harshly says a lot about how much he felt for her and how angry he was at losing that chance at happiness. Even against Daleks or Cybermen he has rarely been as merciless as this. They made him very, very angry indeed.
David played the difference between John Smith and the Doctor so, so well. The final scene between the Doctor and Joan was so chilling with how alien he came out.
One of my personal favourite two parters, definitely in my top three new Who stories. It’s a complex and emotionally draining tale that gets better with each viewing. It’s Phenomenal, just phenomenal. This story is all about the beauty and simplicity of a human life. The story makes a point to emphasise the Doctor's loneliness. John Smith was a part of the Doctor, so his desire to remain a human, live a normal life with Joan and die a normal death is something the Doctor also desires deep down. We’ve seen that before with the likes of Rose and Madame De Pompadour. John Smith's life represents the kind the Doctor wants for himself. He can never have that though because he's a time lord. He has too many responsibilities; the universe needs him too much. John Smith's afraid to lose what he has and become the lonely man that is the Doctor, which is why John’s existential crisis and wondering if his life is worthless because he’s not even real is so heartbreaking. We all know that’s not the case and realise how much he’s being forced to sacrifice, but what needs to be has to be done. The Doctor always has his eyes on the bigger picture, which we saw with his attempt to show mercy to the family by trying to let them die naturally and then by the way he punished them once they crossed him. The fury of the Time Lord. One of Tennant's greatest moments in the role. It really goes a long way to show his range as an actor. Light or dark, he's equally as convincing either way. Perhaps no other episode showcased this better than this one, when he went from playfully taunting the family to becoming their judge, jury and executioner in the space of a minute. The way the Doctor sentenced them all to their own personal hells for all of eternity was bone chilling.He ruthlessly punished the Family. No second chances like 10 said in his very first episode. It shows the consequences of pissing off the Doctor. Never get on his bad side because even if at some level he longs to live a normal life, he has the power of a God. He isn't someone to mess with, despite the happy go lucky, amiable and cheerful exterior. There's something far darker hidden away just beneath the surface. That’s why there are also moments where the Doctor's callous, alien nature is exposed. He doesn't always consider the more personal implications of his actions, endangering a whole town just to uphold his moral code and creating life knowing full well that eventually that man would have to die. The Doctor is responsible for John Smith choosing to die. There's also the moment at the end, when he asks Joan to come with him. Of course, it's hugely inappropriate for the Doctor to do that considering what happened, but he genuinely doesn't understand why they can't just start anew and thinks he's doing the right thing by offering a hand of friendship. He doesn't understand Joan's perspective though and how hard it must be for her to look at him and see a dead man's face, the man she fell in love with. Joan’s experience of the Doctor was of a fantastical but capricious being so far above humans, and of the very worst aspects of the Doctor he himself is always most haunted by: the loss of innocents due to his actions or inactions. Joan saw an ordinary human being like John Smith (with all his faults like having the prevailing attitudes towards race as most of English society of that era) sacrifice himself so that the Doctor could live again and the world would be saved. The fact that the Doctor answers no, when she asks him to change back must be a bitter pill to swallow. I’m sure she understood why to a rational extent, but that, along with the whole experience must not paint the Doctor in a very positive light for her. This stories all about exploring human nature, so I think its brilliant writing to emphasise how alien the Doctor can still be with moments like that. It’s also brilliant that Joan gets to give the Doctor a reality check and calls him out for choosing that town on a whim and endangering everyone just to uphold his moral code. If he hadn't gone there, no one would've died. Yet again the show highlights the danger he is to people around him. The Doctor’s character is developed in an ingenious way in this story. It’s explored quite extensively without him actually being present for most of it. No one’s perfect as we saw both the Doctor and John Smith had their faults. On top of that, the story also makes time to critique WW1. It celebrates and remembers all the lives lost and the sacrifices made to ensure the freedom of future generations. The entire backdrop of the eve of WWI about to fall made me see John Smith's brief human character as a symbolic representation of that British/UK culture, both in acknowledging their very human flaws of the discriminatory attitudes of that generation with still so far to go as well as the glorification of war and violence and the indoctrination of young boys to do the same (it’s really disquieting to see John Smith teaching boys how to shoot and leading them into battle because he still looks like the Doctor, who wouldn’t dream of doing the same), yet still honouring both the lives that were lost and the sacrifices that were made so that future generations could live (and possibly be a bit better and learn from their mistakes). This two parter is just full of immensely rich writing, it’s an incredible story. One of the best stories the show has ever produced.
...and that is basically my favourite episode, depending on when you ask me. It packs in more insight into who The Doctor is in that last act than multiple seasons of the show manage to.
It’s almost like inherited emotion. I was born in the 90s but I feel an emotional connection to it, like it something terrible that happened to my people and I can sense it even if I wasn’t connected to it.
My theory is that Tim the kid with the watch absorbed some time energy when he opened the stopwatch that's why he can see the future, but time affected him throughout his life because wibbly wobbly timey wimey that's how he can see the future before he met the doctor in that scene last episode when that other kid pushes him up against the wall.
Nah he's just psychic. Psychic humans are a thing in Doctor Who. Before getting contact with the watch, he couldn't see the future, just things he shouldn't be able to see.
In an interview with one of the actors in the Family of Blood, they said that their running from the ship wasn't acting - the special effects guys set off the explosion when they had run a safe distance, and the sound of the blast behind them really helped them fall to the ground!
Haha Katrina I loved your expression when Paula said she felt like a lot of bad things were gonna happen. You were like "oh girl you dont even know the half of it." Also the whole fury of the doctor montage never fails to give me chills. Oh and Katrina get Paula a pillow to clutch onto and hide behind for next episode shes gonna need it lol
I love the bit where he gives his fake address because it's where I live - or it used to be where I live - The writer did his homework as Broadmarsh Street no longer exists - Broadmarsh shopping mall is on top of it.
Got the rivers right too. People usually think of Nottingham as being on the Trent but that's actually on the very outskirts of the city. The Leen on the other hand is (a bit) more central.
Huge respect to Jessica Hynes, who played Joan Redfern. Not just a supremely talented actress, but also a very funny lady - she branched out into stand-up comedy the year after this was recorded.
The fury of the Time Lord was harsh because this book was originally written with the Seventh Doctor as the main character. One thing you never did was cross the little man with the hat and umbrella.
I feel like this is something the Doctor must ask himself regularly - how much good do I do vs. how much damage do I cause? The answer of course being the good far outweighs the bad. But then there must be times like this - maybe more than we see.
There were parts of the story that started getting to you. The realism of Doctor Who is very powerful. By the way it wasn't the Doctor that chose that Time and Place. It was the TARDIS and it had not much of a choice after the 'Human History' it created for the Doctor.
‘Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones, but you still have to choose’ a wise man once said 😉 The situation with the young boys shooting at the scarecrows really resonates particularly with the UK and our relationship with guns. The feeling of firing a gun at someone ( an enemy mostly) may be in defence but it’s still ending someone’s life. WW1 was a pointless war and there was no outright winners on either side. A lot of American viewers to these two episodes think that the boys are wimps for getting emotional at the potential battle but that sadly is what separates our nations. Thanks for being empathetic about what these young men, some barely out of childhood, would have gone through.
Wimps? I am American and I don't think they are wimps. Not all Americans carry guns. The right to bear arms is there because what we experienced when the crown didn't respect us or our families. It's not because you are British or Americans are American. It's because of our life experiences and perspective.
This episode, to me, throughout all of Who... is probably, THE, single most emotional character-driven story, Doctor Who has ever produced, past present and future. Certainly, Who has produced some emotional stories both before and after this. But in terms of the people, in terms of who these people are, this has to be the single-most REAL story told on Who.
The scene where the Doctor imprisons the Family reminds me of a quote from 'The Wise Man's Fear' by Patrick Rothfuss: “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
There are little shades of the doctor, little links, under the character of John Smith (and he is just a character). those hints bleed through (like "Gallifrey" when asked where he learned to draw). Like all characters written by an author, there are still hints of the author in there. So with John Smith. "He's in here (the doctor's head) somewhere" I really like how the end of this episode, so beautifully written, shows how dark the doctor can be. We saw that side of the doctor before Donna stopped him in Runaway Bride (when he drowned the Racknoss). And he must have been Terrible in the Time War. He has that side, and he is Alien... of a very powerful and potentially terrible people. He tries to fight that, to "slum" with the humans... but that side does come out now and then.
The fury of the Time Lord is one of my top 5 favorite Doctor moments in the series. Answering the question what is the Doctor, a being who can do anything, like without mercy? Terrifying is the answer!
You don't have to go back to classic Who for multiple companions: Eccleson had Rose and brain-window guy, then Rose and Jack, and then Tennant had Rose and Mickey last season. Seasons to come will definitely get you used to the idea...
I personally prefer TARDIS trios over just a couple. It gives the Doctor an extra person to bounce off of while giving more story opportunities. Four tends to be too much, and having him alone rarely works well.
@@magicaltour1 I've liked some TARDIS foursomes. The Doctor/Susan/Ian/Barbara, The Doctor/Nyssa/Teegan/Adric...even The Doctor/Yaz/Graham/Ryan wasn't terrible, though Ryan didn't get much to do.
I forgot about the poppy. When I first watched the episode I had no idea what the poppy meant in Great Britain. Now I know. And it makes the scene at the end much more sad somehow. And meaningful.
I think you have to be British to understand much of that episode. The whole public school culture and during those times men and boys of that class were supposed to serve their country. I do like you reactions, and look forward to each episode. Keep up the great reactions :)
British or a history buff, although I did live in England as a kid from 70-74. (Shout out to Jon Pertwee). Schools were, in many ways, still like this in the 70's
One of the best endings to an episode in all of who. It really shows why at certain points in his life people are genuinely scared of him. The family found out just a small section of this dark side he keeps hidden deep deep down. Without spoilers, we will meet this side of him face to face during 11's era.
Your reactions remain wonderful, allowing me to experience it again for the first time. Thank you so much. Really liked your post-game analysis. Great job, Gallifrey Gals.
"If the Doctor hadn't chosen this place, on a whim, would anyone have died?" I always figured the look he had as his reaction as meaning: Yes, someone, *somewhere* would have died, and those would've been wherever else he landed, and those arguably would have been innocents as much as those who died here were, that those there in 1913 who died just happened to be the ones. BUT, I interpreted that as small comfort and probably the last and least comforting thing he could've said to her, so he was best off not saying anything.
What that lady said would anyone had died, reminds me of the very episode with the 9th Doctor. Rose and that guy talking about the Doctor where ever the Doctor is death follows. Either he's trying to save people, others helping him or people sacrifising themselves to protect and save the Doctor.
An intersting thing to me is what John Smith says about the TARDIS. If you believe we are what our lived experience makes us, and the TARDIS implanted his backstory in his head, then John Smith in this episode is an amalgamation of what the TARDIS thought the Doctor would want to be and, perhaps more interestingly, what the TARDIS thought he should be. (with a touch of what it thought he'd need to remain concealed.) The fact that the TARDIS made him an authority, establishment figure is perhaps somewhat telling.
Oh gosh, I feel you G girls so much! This story gets me every. single. time.!! One of the best stories in all of Doctor Who! Seeing how emotional your reaction to this was, I can't wait to see you react to some of the stuff that's yet to come... /// Spoilers! /// So for my fellow Whovians who have seen more than Paula: That scene after Jack meets Alonso!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
That flash-forward bit to a future that could happen but is never going to happen because of the choice that the character makes: that's Doctor Who doing The Last Temptation of Christ, that is. I love that bit.
These two stories were originally written for the Seventh Doctor, which explains the severity of his vengeance at the end. However, the stories worked for the Tenth Doctor too.
My very favorite Tennant episode. He's amazing playing an entirely different person. Doesn't hurt that these episodes are also one of my favorite two-parters as well. Just so good .....
Sister of mine‘s prison is possibly the most disturbing thing I’ve seen on Doctor Who. What eldritch power does he posses to put someone in a mirror? When I see a red balloon 🎈 I think of her before I think of Pennywise the clown. Much scarier. Trapping someone in every mirror. Twisting reality like that. Who does that?
Re: Human John Smith being a product of his time, aren't all people products of their time? At every point in history, the people of that time believed they were on the cutting edge, and (generally) viewed values that were older and markedly different, including ones they found distasteful, as backward and undeveloped, often shameful, even when from just earlier within their own culture. We're all likewise products of the 2010s and tend to hold social and political values that are at least somewhat common for the 2010s, not the 2110s. I found it interesting that while human John Smith seemed to be very "product of his time" when it came to corporal punishment of students (by other students--something people still alive today definitely remember occurring in their lives, especially depending on where they were raised and schooled), but when it came to using firearms to defend himself, a part of the Doctor clearly showed through, because he knows the lives of the rest of the schoolchildren are all in danger. But pacifism and non-violence has been such a core aspect of the Doctor's personality and being, for so long, that I don't believe he got off a single shot. Even the shots of the children as they were firing showed that the reality of it really pained them, because it wasn't mere practice or machismo like during their drills.
This story, "The Girl in the Fireplace", the Satan two parter, the library two parter, "Midnight" and "The Waters of Mars" are all in the running for Tennant's best.
"You can say that he's a product of his time, but that's not really an excuse." Yes, and in 100 years time, I'll remind of that when things you consider completely ordinary and mundane have become offensive. Seriously, I understand what you're trying to say, but even still, blaming people of the past for stuff that we'd consider offensive nowadays is just silly. It's like someone telling you that you're a horrible person for eating meat and dancing the can-can. I'm not comparing those things to anything in particular, I'm just making the point that you have no clue that what you're doing is "offensive" or "wrong" until it becomes a knowledge that you can feasibly process. Just expecting people in the past to have pulled the thought outta their rears and just "know" that it's wrong is silly. Anything offensive that me, you, and anyone else, commonly does nowadays that's considered one of those "what were they thinking" things in the future is us being a product of our time too.
Exactly, I love their reactions, but they've said similar things several times now. It's annoying that they can't see how judgemental they're being. People are shaped by the world around them, it's smart to understand that to be able to relate to characters from the past.
@@Mrazmatmahmood It really doesn't help that the show itself will begin to do the same thing in the future, with applying modern values to characters in the past to make them seem like bad people. In this two-parter the racism on Martha is treated well and although there is that "take-that" moment she does after Joan's comment about her skin color, it's a natural response. And Joan is still treated as a good person, despite her historical flaws. This is something the show would never allow nowadays. It's kinda sad, really.
Thank You! That part annoy me as well, not only that comment but their views on the teenager being militarized and questioning if we need the doctor. Their views on these things is very closeminded and fail to see the reasons behind it
I was referring specifically to the way he treated Martha, seeing her as "less" because of her skin color. I honestly don't believe you need to be told that viewing other humans as LESS HUMAN because they are different from you is wrong. You should know that deep in your gut. The time period you exist in may cause you to ignore that gut feeling, however. If certain behavior is socially acceptable, it's easier to just go along with what is deemed acceptable or normal. Or if you've been raised your whole life to believe certain things. But if no one ever listens to that deep feeling and fights against the social norms, the world doesn't get better. I'm not referring to things considered "politically incorrect" now that were okay in the past. I mean the most basic feelings of how we view and value other people.
@@PaulaDeming did you ever considered that it had nothing to do with race but class? She was just a "lowly maid" and they are all thought of as lowly workers. So if a maid or any race is as outspoken as Martha was at that period of time then they would be looked at the same by their employer
12:29 This is the issue with making a 900 year old alien being from another planet a love interest to 19 and 20 something year old Earth girls. Back in the day the Doctor could have a dozen companions. That's all they ever were. Companions. Even in his most dashing classic personas like Peter Davison or Tom Baker, he never crossed the line into romance with his companions. They traveled, they learned, they even taught the doctor a thing or two. Pushing so much romance, and I ask this question, particularly of the ladies, if it wasn't David Tennant, if it was... Hell, let's say it was someone like Jonathan Pryce, would we still be drooling over the romance or would we think its "creepy" ? Probably think its creepy, huh? Yeah, well, that's just a face to the doctor. He's centuries on centuries older than any of his companions. Even when he was "young" in his early incarnations, he was still much older than his human counterparts. There's a lot of stuff about NuWho I love, but the romance being played up as much as it was really hampered the show. Hence why Donna ends up being my personal favorite of Tenant's companions, and also why I love Series 5 where Matt Smith's doctor actively avoids being a home wrecker, and amps up the "alien" aspects of the character. That aside, this is a fantastic two-parter. Adapted from the books from the wilderness years, arguably one of the strongest stories in all of Doctor Who. The chilling end of the story of the family of blood is the insight into that darker side of the doctor.
Here's the full recording that David Tenant made, including the nonsense he was saying during the sped up parts. If you see Doctor Who references to pears, this is at least one of the places it comes from. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dsGzSz0KyNI.html
The companions are there for the Doctors sake, and if he decides he wants something else he will swap them out. Tennent's doctor is particularly notorious for this, the girl in the fireplace episode he basically offered to make Madame Pompadour his companion and was snogging her while in "love" with Rose. Still, previous companions have been ditched when it suited the Doctor in classic Who. Girls tend to romanticise the Doctor and turn a blind eye to the shady stuff he does, but, when all is said and done he is a madman with a box and does as he pleases. Humans live short lives and even shorter when they travel with him, he is very aware of that. Rose had a boyfriend when he met her and basically said "yeah ditch that guy" then later when he sees Micky again, he is a prick to him. The Doctor has always had psychopath tendencies due to his bizarre existence of experiencing time weirdly. (Minor spoiler below) I think Tennets Doctor gets married at least four times during his run, he references other women quite a lot as side comments but he does have multiple relationships off-screen. The 10th Doctor is a ladies man for sure. Queen Elizabeth, High Priestess of the Sibiline to name two of his off-screen flings.
12:20 - The 10th Doctor is routinely just a bit of a dick for no good reason, and especially so during the third season. It's one of the many reasons I vastly prefer his successor! I love the emotional punch of this episode though. Especially old soldier Latimer at the end.
You can't blame the doctor for the fall out that comes with being around him. Blame "the family" they're the ones that pulled the trigger. Guilt by association isn't fair. Besides, the amount of times the Doctor has saved the planet I think it's more than fair. AND if he didn't show up, that little kid in the trench would have died with his gun buddy. So there is that. Some people really liked this episode but for me it didn't tug the heart strings. I felt like the human doctor became way to whiney and seeing him cry all the time and being a puss felt forced and was kind of starting to annoy me because it was hurting the persona of his main character imo. It was too much. Yeah I get it, we get to see him sob over his time lord suffering as a 3rd person witness. But still, it just really didn't get me the feels. What did was the very end with the kid being really old in the wheel chair seeing the unaging Dr paying his respects. Not sure why that did it but it did. I guess just the hurt that comes from the passing of time and the death of loved ones and you see the doctor it instills that hope and pride.
