Human Nature
"I sometimes think how magical life would be if stories like this were true." - John Smith (aka the Doctor)
The show's creators have come up with an ingenious storyline for this episode (setting up the events for Part 2 next week): The Doctor and Martha are pursued by dangerous aliens who can follow them anywhere through time and space. The Doctor comes up with a plan to change himself into a human (via a very painful process) and hide his Timelord essence in a device camouflaged into looking like a pocket watch. They travel to Earth in the year 1913 to hide and await the deaths of the short-lived aliens. The Doctor's memory is erased in the process (also stored in the watch device) and he assumes the identity of a schoolteacher of the time period, with Martha being a servant of his. As things would turn out, the Doctor was not able to think of all the various contingencies that would arise as a result of this and Martha has the challenge of trying to suss it all out.
Observations:
" Mr. John Smith returns (sort of)! I'm glad to see the continuation of the Mr. Smith and Mrs. Jones motif used in the beginning of this season. Much more so than the older TV series, this revival often references itself, and this helps with the overall continuity.
" Argh! Yet another episode that, for the most part, takes place on Earth! OK, OK, I'll stop pointing this out from now on as it's not going to change (at least for the rest of this season), plus, the show's creators have used this story device very well.
" Did anyone think the alien bounty hunter family (in human form) were creepy scary? I certainly did, especially the crazy facial expressions of Baines (Son of Mine). The smelling and snorting added to the eeriness.
" It was both humorous and sad to see how Martha was coping with being a servant of the time period. Martha having to constantly hold back and bite her tongue must have been torture. I can only wonder if the aliens didn't find them, would Martha's 21st-century 'tude and ideas have been able to be repressed for three months? She probably would have exploded from frustration of the situation and the racism of the times (I would have, that's for sure). It's also interesting to see that John Smith still has thoughts of Rose on his mind and his infatuation with Joan, the school nurse. Such a heartbreaking scene when Martha visits the hidden TARDIS to rewatch the message that the Doctor left for her.
Martha: "You had to go and fall in love with a human and it wasn't me."
" The "Journal of Impossible Things" made my jaw drop! How cool was it to see many of the Doctor's nemeses in it? The best part of the journal was seeing all 10 Doctors pictured in it. Finally, we have a simplistic but incredible way of getting all 10 Doctors together again (no more multiple Doctor specials, heh) and also acknowledging the past. Even the eighth Doctor is prominently pictured in the center of the page, finally confirming his place in the official canon (although I assume the jury is still out on whether the eighth Doctor was "half human"; perhaps the device that was used to rewrite the Doctor's DNA was somehow used by the eighth Doctor... or maybe the seventh before the eighth's appearance.... Argh - an argument for a different time)
" Seeing the ray of light scanning the English landscape (and Joan), I wonder if the so-called alien sightings and close encounters in the past were actually aliens hunting for the Doctor throughout time.
" David Tennet as a schoolteacher just reminded me of the Catherine Tate skit that guest-starred Mr. Tennet.
" Gallifrey located in Ireland? Classic!
" Why oh why do the various enemies of the Doctor use goofy-looking henchmen (from scarecrows in this episode to pig-mutants)? It's almost too campy at times.
" One other classic bit was the Doctor blaming Martha's panic about the journal and the pocket watch on "cultural differences." Heh.
After watching this episode, I can't wait for Part 2!
Baines (Son of Mine): "Maid or matron, your friend or your lover. Your choice!"
