After all the speculation as to who the titular daughter was going to turn out to be, what we in fact got in The Doctor’s Daughter was a new character – an extension of the continuity rather than an attempt to weave a story within the established history of the programme.
As an episode it wasn’t bad – although the plot somewhat fell apart when it got towards the end with the idea of the war only having been going on for seven days – especially when you took a look at the human general. However, the basic premise of Jenny being created and the chance to explore how the Doctor dealt with his new family tended to rise above the holes in the plot. Perhaps the only part that felt really unnecessary was the scene where Martha falls into the quicksand and is saved by the sacrifice of the Hath who is accompanying her – it would have made more sense had it been seen and used as an example to the warring humans and Hath, but taking place as it did away from the main action there didn’t really seem to be much point, except maybe to remind Martha of the cost of travelling with the Doctor and why she stopped before.
To some extent, Martha seemed to be present primarily in order to give the Hath view, as the character of Donna was needed to counterpoint the reaction of the Doctor to his new, and potentially rather violent daughter. Alongside this, as his daughter, Jenny was able to challenge the Doctor on some of his own actions when they appeared contradictory in a way that other characters maybe cannot – in particular his criticism of what she was.
Ultimately though, what the story gave us is another Timelord in the universe (and perhaps a character designed to appeal to another audience demographic) – and from the comments at the end of the accompanying Doctor Who: Confidential, that were as close to spoilers without actually giving away the upcoming plot – one who we are going to see again before too long.
The conclusion of the current two part Doctor Who story – The Poison Sky – proved to be just as enjoyable as the first. Chief amongst the spectacular moments was the first time on screen we’ve seen Sontarans in battle – in the original series more often than not we only ever saw one or two of the creatures at any one time. This time, although the humans later fought back, initially they were totally outgunned – as Sontaran Commander Skorr is heard to say at one point, â€œThis isn’t war, this is sport!â€?
Needless to say the Doctor defeated the attack on the Earth by using the terra-forming equipment that was mentioned only in passing in episode one to ignite the Sontaran gas that was polluting the atmosphere. However, in the end it was former Sontaran ally Rattigan who pushed the button that destroyed the Sontaran battle cruiser.
The episode was full of references to both old and new Doctor Who – it seems that now there is enough of the new series to allow writers to reference other stories, the production team are a lot less afraid to reference classic elements. For example the Brigadier is mentioned at one point (referred to as â€œSir Alastairâ€?), when the Doctor bemoans the fact he has to deal with Colonel Mace and that the Brigadier would be better. Amongst the more amusing moments, when asked to put on a gas mask, the Doctor references The Empty Child when he says â€œAre you my mummy?â€? The other significant reference, which is definitely a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, was the brief appearance of Rose on the TARDIS view-screen – definitely something that will be explained later on in the series, and certainly related to her earlier appearance in Partners in Crime.
The conclusion of the episode was also a bit of a cliff-hanger, providing the reason that Martha, who had been saying throughout both preceding episodes that she wanted to stay on Earth, ends up travelling in the TARDIS again, as just as they are finishing their good-byes the TARDIS is gripped by an unknown force that sends it travelling across the universe. The big clue being that the jar containing the Doctor’s hand bubbling furiously, much as it has done at key moments in previous episodes. We then get a tantalising glimpse of what is to come in The Doctor’s Daughter next week.
The episode next week certainly has got the fans speculating due to the title, but the production team are being typically vague in what they have given away. We have been told that it is the Doctor’s daughter, but not much else – whether it will tie in to the only other relation that has been seen, the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan, and maybe gives an explanation as to why the Doctor and Susan were travelling together remains to be seen. Of course the other, totally deliberate piece of casting is that the part of the Doctor’s daughter herself is played by Georgia Moffett, daughter of Peter Davison who played the fifth Doctor.