Announcement

Hi all,
First - you are all fantastic!  I really, truly mean that.
Second - My life right now is quite chaotic.  Due to working triple my usual hours at work and rehearsal for two plays, this blog has had to take the back seat.  I will still be posting but for the next month and a half, it's probably going to be rather sporadic.  When I do post anything, I will always put the link up on my tumblr and you can follow by email to be sure you don't miss anything, but the every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday posting just isn't going to work until I get my life back in order.
Hugs and Hearts,
Farrell

Doctor Who: 2x04 "The Girl in the Fireplace

DOCTOR WHO REWATCH: SERIES TWO, EPISODE FOUR: “THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE”

18^th Century France is on a space ship.  And a horse.  But continuity isn’t.

Doctor Who: 1x04: “The Girl in the Fireplace” Written by Steven Moffat

The Summary:

We open on a bunch of terrified 18^th century French aristocrats and a woman telling her lover that she has some kind of guardian angel who will come save them; she the calls for her protector by yelling into a fireplace and calls him “Doctor.”  Cue the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey landing on a desolate spaceship about 3000 years in the future.  All the crew is gone and the place is a wreck but Mickey is in awe as this is his first time out.  The Doctor discovers that the ship is generating enough energy to punch a hole through the universe and lo and behold – an 18^th century French fireplace on the hull of the ship with a little girl on the other side.  Her name is Reinette and she and the Doctor chats for a moment; the Doctor is puzzled as to why this spacio-temporal hyperlink (aka magic door) is in an abandoned, broken down spaceship.  He manages to get to the other side of the fireplace where he discovers Reinette has lived several months in just a few seconds for him.  A man-sized clockwork robot has been scanning Reinette’s mind and it* attacks the Doctor, who drags it back to the space ship and freezes it with a fire extinguisher that Mickey mistakes for an “ice gun.”  The Doctor tells Rose and Mickey not to wander off after the clockwork robot while he checks on Reinette to make sure she’s all right.  Rose and Mickey immediately wander off, and the Doctor discovers that not only has Reinette grown into a young woman, she’s also the future mistress of King Louis XV.  Reinette calls him her imaginary friend and snogs him thus establishing her in retrospect as the proto-Amelia Pond.  While Mickey (being very Captain Kirk-esque) and Rose are wandering around the ship they notice machinery has been replaced with human parts like eyeballs for cameras and hearts for some kind of wiring juncture.  The Doctor comes back and finds a horse while looking for Rose and Mickey, who have found a mirror that looks into Reinette’s first meeting with Louis.  Rose takes this moment to establish a sort of analogy between Reinette’s relationship with the king and the queen and her relationship with the Doctor and Rose.  A clockwork robot is there to, so the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey run in to save her.  Then, they discover the what and why(ish) of the robots’ interest in Reinette, and the Doctor realizes (sort of taking Rose’s role in their adventures) that the reasons the machinery is human organs and there are no crew members are one and the same.  He orders Rose and Mickey back onto the ship while he looks into Reinette’s mind to figure out what the robots want; she proves her intelligence by using the link to go into the Doctor’s mind.  Rose and Mickey are captured and tied up by the robots while the Doctor “dances” with Reinette, ostensibly to make the king jealous.  The Doctor shows up on the ship just as Rose is trying to talk the robot out of hurting her by threatening it with the Doctor.  He pretends to be drunk but uses this to obfuscate his plan to immobilize the robots with some sort of anti-lubricant, which works for about point-five seconds until a robot not affected sends a signal that the right magic door has been found.  While the Doctor searches for the door, he sends Rose to warn Reinette to expect the attack to happen once she’s thirty-seven.  They share a conversation about the world Rose comes from and the Doctor and the monsters, which Mickey interrupts to get Rose since the Doctor’s found the right door.  Reinette follows Rose onto the ship, and upon hearing her own screams from her future, she shows how clever she is by recognizing she must go back to Versailles in order to live in that moment.  Then cut to the Reinette in the first scene calling for the Doctor but being captured by the robots and being brought to the ballroom, since they need to be close to the magic door in order to teleport.  Despite being terrified out of her mind (presumably), Reinette calms the entire court and beautifully threatens the robots.  The Doctor can’t shut down the magic doors because the robots are there, so the only thing to do is break the door by riding a horse through it.  He saves Reinette and the court, but at the expense of being able to get back to the space ship, which he is uncharacteristically fine with.  But Reinette shows him to the fireplace she’d had moved from her Parisian home, since it wasn’t damaged, she assumes the link might still be there.  The Doctor fixes the fireplace door and goes back to the spaceship, promising Reinette that he’ll take her to see the stars.  He checks in on Rose and Mickey then runs to collect Reinette, but it’s too late, she has died at the age of 43 by the time he gets back.  The Doctor returns to Rose and Mickey and they take off in the TARDIS, the Doctor alone in the console room.  This is the third instance of foreshadowing Rose’s life without the Doctor and the prototype for the Eleventh Doctor’s first episode.

*So normally is there isn’t a gender specified, I try to use the gender neutral pronouns (xie and its associates) rather than “it,” which I consider offensive to sentient beings.  I don’t know how much I support my own use of “it” in terms of the clockwork robots, but the reasoning behind it is this: it is made very clear that the robots are computers with arms (and the other kind of arms) programed to solve problems for the ship; they don’t seem to have true (artificial) intelligence such as for example C-3PO and R2-D2 who go beyond their programming in Star Wars; this makes the clockwork robots more like objects than beings.

The Women:

Rose Tyler, Reinette/Madame de Pompadour, Katherine

The Conversations:

1. Reinette and Katherine:  Reinette and her friend Katherine (a woman of color aristocrat FTW!) discuss the failing health of the current mistress to King Louis XV and Reinette’s vying to fill the position.  The rating: 0

2. Rose and Reinette:  Rose warns Reinette that the clockwork people will come for her shortly after her thirty-seventh birthday.  Rose tries her best to explain about the spaceship and what’s happening to Reinette.  They also discuss the Doctor and how wonderful life is with him, despite the terror they have to deal with for him.  The rating: 1

The Woman to Woman Quote of the Episode:

“There is a vessel in your world where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book so that he may step from one to the other without increase of age, while I, weary traveler, must always take the slower path.”

“He was right about you.”

- Reinette Poisson/Madame de Pompadour and Rose Tyler

There’s a clear analogy drawn between Reinette as the mistress of both King Louis XV and the Doctor while both already have a queen – the Doctor’s being Rose.  But rather than creating jealous sniping, Rose and Reinette seem to respect each other and Rose tries to take care of Reinette, checking on her after she follows Rose and Mickey back onto the spaceship.

The Tally:

Episode 2x04 Total: 1

Series 2 Total: 3.5

10^th Doctor Total: 3.5

Rose as Companion Total: 20.0

Russell T Davis Era Total: 20.0

For Further Discussion: But Not Really

My main issue (in terms of women’s representation) with this episode is something I’m reserving for a later episode, either in series 5 or series 7.  But I’d still love to hear your thoughts on issues you see.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on issues not regarding how Reinette and Rose are presented, check out this post I made on Tumblr.

Sherlock: 1x01 "A Study in Pink"

SHERLOCK REWATCH: SERIES ONE, EPISODE ONE: “A STUDY IN PINK”

Necessary Note:  I’m sure most of the people reading this are familiar with the idea that fans must be the most critical of the works they love, but just in case, let me just say that I do enjoy Sherlock.  But this blog’s purpose is not to fangasm but critically analyze the representation of women in works I’m a fan of.  And… I think we all know where this is headed.

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet, decide to share a flat, and solve serial murders together all in the span of a couple days.

Sherlock: 1x01: “A Study in Pink” Written by Steven Moffat

The Summary:

In contemporary London, a bunch of people are killing themselves for no apparent reason and in the exact same way.  Meanwhile, Dr. John Watson has come back from war with a limp and no means of supporting himself.  His therapist wants him to write everything that happens to him in a blog as a means of readjusting to civilian life.  While walking through town, he meets an old friend from Barts (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital) who he tells of his need for a flat-share.  Said friend had just spoken to another friend looking for a flat-share, and so John is introduced to Sherlock Holmes who has been using the Barts morgue and labs as his own and has been completely ignoring the attempts at flirting from Molly Hooper, who he cruelly cuts down with commentary on her appearance.  Sherlock automatically deduces everything about John immediately (except the gender of his sibling) and decides they must become roommates at 221B Baker Street.  After knowing each other for approximately two seconds, Sherlock invites John to come with him to a crime scene and John accepts.  Sherlock’s a dick, but knows his shit and realizes the woman did not kill herself but was murdered due to the lack of a cellphone or suitcase (she had obviously been travelling).   After Sherlock runs off without John, he’s forced to walk home, but ends up getting a ride and a bribe attempt from Mycroft (who introduces himself only as Sherlock’s archenemy).  Meanwhile, Sherlock quickly finds the suitcase (but not the phone) and keeps it from the police.  Then, he gets John to send a text to the victim’s phone which the killer has; this is in order to lure the killer to a place which Sherlock determined, but why he thought the killer would appear there is not completely clear.  Sherlock and John then chase a cab across the whole city, thinking the passenger is the killer, by taking back streets to cut it off, again why Sherlock thought he knew where the cab was going is unclear – but hey! It’s Sherlock and he was right!  The passenger was not the killer, so Sherlock and John head back home only to find a warrant being executed on it.  Lestrade is using this drugs bust in order to bully Sherlock into being cooperative but this fails since Sherlock realizes the cabbie Mrs. Hudson says is downstairs for him is the real killer.  Sherlock goes with the cabbie to a school of some kind (something like a continuing education/community college in the US, right?) because the cabbie says that if Sherlock calls the police that he’ll never find out how the cabbie convinced a bunch of people to kill themselves.  The cabbie uses a gun to pressure Sherlock into “playing the game” which is guess which pill is the placebo and which is the poison.  Sherlock knows the gun is fake, but decides to play the game anyway in order to sate his ego.  Just as he is about to take the poison (or the placebo, who knows?), a wild John Watson appears!  John Watson uses perfect kill shot through two windows and across a courtyard!  It’s super effective!  Sherlock didn’t see the person who killed the killer, but as he is describing what the person must be like to Lestrade, he realizes it must be John and shuts up to protect him, retracting everything he had already said.  John and Sherlock ride off into the sunset together (note this last bit does not actually happen.  To the chagrin of Johnlock shippers everywhere).

The Women:

Molly Hooper, Mrs. Hudson, Sgt. Sally Donovan

            Dead Women with No Lines: Beth Davenport, Jennifer Wilson

The Conversations:

Two women aren’t even in the same scene together…

The Tally:

Episode 1x01 Total: 0

Series 1 Total: 0

Program Total: 0

For Further Discussion: Sherlock Interacts with Women: The Hecate Sisters

"The Hecate Sisters" is a trope that divides women into the Virgin, the Mother, and the Bitch (or Whore when married with the "Three Faces of Eve").

Sherlock Interacts with Molly Hooper (Virgin):  Despite how horrifically Sherlock treats Molly, she’s hopelessly infatuated with him.  She’s shy but she puts herself out there and he treats her like a maid.  (And before anyone tries to defend Sherlock’s actions as not understanding that she is attracted to him or flirting with him, let me remind you that he flirts with her the very next episode in order to manipulate her into doing something for him.)

Sherlock Interacts with Mrs. Hudson (Mother):  Mrs. Hudson is Sherlock’s (and John’s) landlady, and she’s very sweet to both of them, which is lovely in and of itself – she’s a lovely lady.  My problem isn't with the fact that she owes Sherlock a debt for his work on her murderous husband’s case; people are allowed to be thankful to other people, including women to men.  My problem is this scene that keeps happening:

Mrs. Hudson: “Not your housekeeper.”  *Proceeds to clean or cook or make tea for the “boys” because they’re not grown ass men who can do it themselves*

Sherlock Interacts with Sgt. Sally Donovan (Bitch/Whore):  Sgt. Donovan is the only woman of color (person of color in general) and police officer on Lestrade’s team, so it isn't surprising (so unfortunately) that she is immediately villainized (for the simple fact that she is one of two people who don’t fawn over Sherlock) and sexualized (for her affair with Anderson).  What’s the insult Sherlock levels at her?  Oh right, he could tell she was “cleaning” by “the state of her knees.”  Because wittiness makes misogyny ok.

Doctor Who: 2x03 "School Reunion"

DOCTOR WHO REWATCH: SERIES TWO, EPISODE THREE: “SCHOOL REUNION”

Mickey Smith is back, and he’s not the only Smith this time around.

Doctor Who: 1x03: “School Reunion” Written by Toby Whithouse

The Summary:

Rose and the Doctor are back in modern England posing as staff in a school.  A UFO crashed nearby and now the students have unprecedented test scores, so Mickey’s asked them to investigate.  The Headmaster is super creepy, as is most of the staff, and the Doctor, posing as physics teacher John Smith, finds that the kids are kind of creepy as well with an impossible understanding of physics despite his age.  Rose is working as a dinner lady and has become addicted to the school chips, for which special oil is being used.  Sarah Jane Smith comes to write a puff piece about the new Headmaster, but is actually there to investigate as well.  The kids are overwhelmingly overexcited about their classes, with the exception of Kenny whose dietary restrictions prevent him from eating chips.  At night, the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey break into the school, and Sarah Jane had the same idea, but stumbles upon the TARDIS.  She and the Doctor have a lovely reunion, but Rose is not pleased to learn she is not the first.  The group head to the Headmaster’s office to discover giant bats sleeping on the ceiling.  The Doctor and K-9, who Sarah Jane has kept, figure out that the oil is Krilitane oil so the aliens must be Krillitanes have taken over the school for some nefarious purpose that requires super intelligent human children.  Rose and Sarah Jane initially snipe at each other but realize they’re being ridiculous fighting over the Doctor and they swap stories of how ridiculous he is.  Th next morning in school, the Krilitanes accelerate (possibly) their plans due to the presence of the Doctor and apparently they are using the children’s creativity and imagination to crack the Skasis Paradigm, which will allow them to become god-like.  Kenny attempts to escape, but the doors are sealed, so Mickey and K-9 crash the car through the outside doors.  The three join the Doctor, Rose, and Sarah Jane, and get the students out by triggering the alarm, which also hurts the bat-like Krillitanes, and unplugging the computers.  K-9 sacrifices himself to get everyone out of the school before blowing it up.  Mickey finally asks to be included in the time-traveling and the Doctor consents.  Rose and Sarah Jane have a nice moment of companion solidarity, and the Doctor says good-bye (something he didn’t do the last time) and gives Sarah Jane a rebuilt model of K-9.  This is the second instance of foreshadowing Rose’s departure.

The Women:

Rose Tyler, Sara Jane Smith, Melissa, Nina (dead)

The Conversations:

1. Rose and Sarah Jane:  Initially the two are jealous of each other, trying to one up each other’s experiences with the Doctor, but they realize they’re too awesome to fight over a guy.  The rating: 0

2. Rose and Sarah Jane:  Rose asks Sarah Jane for her advice since she’s afraid the Doctor will just abandon her like he did with Sarah.  The rating: 0

The Woman to Woman Quote of the Episode:

“THE LOCH NESS MONSTER!”

“Seriously?”

- Sarah Jane Smith and Rose Tyler

I love this switch from competitive sniping to just marveling in how great their lives are as kick-ass time-traveling ladies who don’t need to fight over their experiences to know they’re special.

The Tally:

Episode 2x03 Total: 0

Series 2 Total: 2.5

10^th Doctor Total: 2.5

Rose as Companion Total: 19.0

Russell T Davis Era Total: 19.0

Doctor Who: 1x02 "Tooth and Claw"

Back to our regular schedule tomorrow.

DOCTOR WHO REWATCH: SERIES TWO, EPISODE TWO: “TOOTH AND CLAW”

Rose and the Doctor fight a werewolf and Queen Victoria is not amused.

Doctor Who: 1x02: “Tooth and Claw” Written by Russell T. Davies

The Summary:

The Doctor and Rose are headed for Sheffield, 1979, but end up in Scotland, 1879, where they meet Queen Victoria and her entourage on the road to the Torchwood Estate, owned by Sir Robert and his wife Lady Isobel.  The Doctor scores himself and Rose, aka “the wee naked child,” an invitation in the carriage train with his psychic paper.  The Torchwood estate has actually been invaded by traditional English monks turned Asain martial arts experts, and Lady Isobel along with all the household staff have been locked in the cellar with something in a cage.  When they arrive, Sir Robert tries to convince Queen Victoria to go on by saying his wife and most of the staff have gone to Edinburgh for holiday.  The Queen doesn’t give a shit besides her late husband Prince Albert loved hanging out with Sir Robert’s father, and she wants to hear the stories her husband used to love.  So, Robert brings them up to the observatory where the Doctor admires Sir Robert’s late father’s love of astronomy and fairy tales, but comments that his telescope is not well made.  Sir Robert’s father’s favorite story was apparently one about a werewolf, and everyone wants to hear it, but Sir Robert is fairly reticent to tell it.  When they all go down to dinner, Queen Victoria sends Rose to get dressed into something proper.  There, Rose finds Flora hiding in a wardrobe and she explains what’s happened.  While they’re trying to get to the Doctor, they’re captured.  Sir Robert finally tells his story about the werewolf and the Doctor catches his clues that the manservant in the room was actually his captor and a worshiper of the werewolf.  Rose wakes up chained with Lady Isobel and the household staff.  The man in the cage is the werewolf – unchanged – and Rose tries to talk to him, realizing he must be an alien.  While the man begins transforming into a wolf, Rose gets everyone to begin their escape, only being assisted at the very end by the Doctor and Sir Robert.  Rose, Sir Robert, the Doctor, Queen Victoria and personal guard run through the house to escape the werewolf, while Lady Isobel and her maids are trapped in the kitchen.  The Doctor locks everyone in a room that the werewolf can’t get into for some reason.  Lady Isobel sees the monks garlanded in mistletoe and realizes the wolf is afraid of it; at the same time, the Doctor figures out that the wood in the room is varnished in mistletoe oil, which the werewolf has been conditioned to have a reaction to.  The women create their own weapon against the werewolf to help Sir Robert, and the Doctor figures out the entire house is a weapon against the werewolf.  Lady Isobel leads the maids in an ambush attack against the werewolf, narrowly saving Rose’s life, and Sir Robert gives his life to hold off the werewolf while the Doctor gets the telescope ready to take out the werewolf.  Just in the nick of time, the Doctor and Rose destroy the werewolf.  In the aftermath, Queen Victoria knights Rose and the Doctor then banishes them.  The Doctor suspects she might have been bitten by the werewolf after all.  The queen then uses the Torchwood Estate to form the Torchwood Institute in case any other aliens ever come to Great Britain.  Although this is only the third ever mention of Torchwood, we learn exactly what it is and what impact it might have on future storylines.  This is also the first major foreshadowing of Rose’s life with the Doctor coming to an end.

The Women:

Rose Tyler, Queen Victoria, Lady Isobel, Flora

The Conversations:

1. Rose and Flora:  Flora explains to Rose what happened and Rose offers to get the Doctor involved so he can help.  The rating: 0

2. Flora and Lady Isobel:  While trying to escape Flora and Lady Isobel realize the brothers will not let them.  The rating: 0

3. Lady Isobel and Flora:  The Lady realizes that mistletoe is a defense against the werewolf and instructs the household maids in what to do with it.  The rating: 1

The Woman to Woman Quote of the Episode:

“My apologies for my being so naked.” – Rose Tyler (to Queen Victoria)

I just will never be over that line.

The Tally:

Episode 2x02 Total: 1

Series 2 Total: 2.5

10^th Doctor Total: 2.5

Rose as Companion Total: 19.0

Russell T Davis Era Total: 19.0

For Further Discussion:  Women as Leaders

I just want to briefly say…

Fuck yeah Queen Victoria!

Fuck yeah Lady Isobel!

Fuck yeah Rose Tyler!

We can discuss in the comments if anyone would like.

Doctor Who: 1x02 "New Earth"

Check back in an hour for the review of "Tooth and Claw."

DOCTOR WHO REWATCH: SERIES TWO, EPISODE ONE: “NEW EARTH”

On the tenth Doctor’s and Rose’s first trip, they go to New Earth, the consequence of the Earth being consumed by the sun, and relive their first “date,” providing some excellent continuity before moving onto new adventures.  Said date includes Lady Cassandra back from the dead and the Face of Boe being… Face of Boe-y.

Doctor Who: 1x01: “New Earth” Written by Russell T. Davies

The Summary:

Rose says goodbye to her mother and Mickey and then she’s off with the Doctor to New Earth.  When they arrive, they are completely adorable and show off the chemistry between Tennant and Piper before it’s down to business.  Someone has sent the Doctor a message on his psychic paper telling him to go to the hospital of New New York, Ward 26.  But while they’re chilling in the apple-grass, someone is spying on them and recognizes Rose as one of her murderers – it’s Lady Cassandra from “The End of the World”!  So, the Doctor and Rose go to the hospital which is run by felinoids,  and they get separated.  This is also the hide out of Cassandra and her companion/servant Chip.  Rose ends up in Cassandra’s basement where she’s immediately confronted with Chip – being intensely genre savvy while also being insanely curious, Rose picks up a piece of rebar as a weapon but follows him anyway.  There, she meets Cassandra, who through reverse psychology or some-such gets Rose in position to take-over her body.  Meanwhile, the Doctor has made it to Ward 26, where he learns the felinoid nuns are far more advanced in medicine than they should be and the Face of Boe is probably the one to send him the message as he’s apparently dying there.  (Novice Haim tells the Doctor that she can hear the Face of Boe singing “such old songs” some times and if he really is the billion-plus year old Jack Harkness, I desperately want one of those songs to be “Sexyback” by Justin Timberlake.)  He calls the now Cassandra-possessed-Rose (further refered to as Cass!Rose) to come up to Ward 26.  When she gets there, she snogs the Doctor then helps him figure out that he should check “intensive care.”  The ICU (ICW? ICD?) turns out to be a laboratory, where the felinoid nuns are using cloned humans (possibly?) to experiment on with diseases and come up with cures for them.  Cass!Rose attacks the Doctor when he figures out (finally) that something happened to Rose and sticks him in one of the pods (which had been emptied out earlier by the felinoid nuns).  She then tries to bribe the nuns (who are the real villains of the story) into giving her hush money.  They refuse, so she lets all the disease-ridden people (and the Doctor) free.  The Doctor saves Cass!Rose in order to save Rose because a single touch from any of the laboratory people would kill them instantly.  They get separated from Chip, and a mad chase ensues with Cassandra switching bodies back and forth between Rose and the Doctor and once one of the laboratory people, who she says simply crave to be held.  They end up back in Ward 26, where they get everyone to help them collect all the medications.  The Doctor with Cass!Rose’s help dumps all the medications into the elevator disinfectant which the Doctor uses to heal everyone through hugs.  While everyone is happy and celebrating, the Doctor remembers that the Face of Boe is dying, so he and Cass!Rose run up to see him, but he reveals he’d just punk’d! the Doctor and wasn’t really dying.  Then, it’s time for the Doctor to deal with Cassandra, who transfers herself into Chip’s body, which is failing.  The Doctor and Rose bring Cass!Chip back in time so Cass!Chip can tell past!Cassandra that she’s beautiful.  This is the second time we’ve seen the Face of Boe, or is it?

The Women:

Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Lady Cassandra, Sister Jatt, Novice Haim, Matron Casp

The Conversations:

1. Rose and Jackie:  Rose and Jackie say their goodbyes as Rose leaves for more adventures with the Doctor in the TARDIS.   The rating: 0.5

2. Rose and Lady Cassandra:  Rose and Cassandra recap their past on Platform One and discuss the state of humanity in the future-present.  Chip doesn’t really belong in the conversation, but does interject a couple times, the rating: 0.5

3. Rose and Lady Cassandra:  Cassandra takes over the Doctor’s body, and the two try to figure out how to save themselves from being killed by 1,000 diseases all at once, mostly by talking about what the Doctor would do.  The rating: 0

The Woman to Woman Quote of the Episode:

“Good luck.” – Rose Tyler (to Lady Cassandra)

It isn’t much of a quote, but context is all.  Despite everything that Cassandra has done, Rose sincerely wishes her luck in her final moments so Cassandra can feel beautiful one last time.

The Tally:

Episode 2x01 Total: 1

Series 2 Total: 2.5

10^th Doctor Total: 2.5

Rose as Companion Total: 19.0

Russell T Davis Era Total: 19.0

For Further Discussion:  The Lady Cassandra: Meaningful Development of a Villain

No spoilers for future episodes

Doctor Who: 2x00 "The Christmas Invasion"

Ok, so I lied on Sunday.  Things got a bit rough, but we should be back on schedule Friday.  The official Doctor Who review schedule has been updated with these changes and with previous episode review links, if you want to catch up.  One Thursday, July 4th, I'll post two reviews to catch up with the schedule because there's no better way to celebrate USAmerican Independence than writing and reading reviews of British television shows!

We have made it to Series 2 of Doctor Who!  Starting next Sunday, every Sunday for the next six weeks, I will post reviews of Sherlock episodes, rather than Doctor Who episodes.  If you didn’t catch it earlier, I posted statistics for Series 1.

DOCTOR WHO REWATCH: SERIES TWO, EPISODE ZERO: “THE CHRISTMAS INVASION”

The new Doctor is introduced, and some badass women get things done, and are then punished for it.

Doctor Who: 1x00: “The Christmas Invasion” Written by Russell T. Davies

The Summary:

Jackie and Mickey are going about their lives on Christmas Eve, when suddenly: the TARDIS engines!  They run to find the TARDIS on a crash course, and once it finally lands out stumbles a man they’ve never seen before but is wearing the Doctor’s clothes and seems to know them.  He then collapses in a dead faint.  Rose emerges and explains that the stranger is the Doctor and that he changed somehow.  They get him to bed in the Tyler apartment, and Rose and Jackie take care of him, neither understanding what’s happening.  Rose and Jackie talk a bit, and Rose finds out Harriet Jones won the election for Prime Minister and has made many great reforms as well as supporting a project to send out a probe to Mars.  Rose goes out with Mickey to get some Christmas presents since she hadn’t been expecting to be back for Christmas and has no money.  While out, they are attacked by a brass band dressed as Santa Clauses whose instruments are actually guns and flamethrowers.  They run back to the house.  When they get there, they find Jackie’s Christmas tree has been replaced with a killer Christmas tree.  They lock themselves in the bedroom the Doctor is sleeping in, and Rose tries to wake him up.  It isn’t until she whispers in his ear that she needs him that he wakes up, and defeats the tree just before they’re all about to die.  He stumbles out of the apartment to confront the killer Santa Clauses, who he refers to as pilot fish, and warns Rose there will be something bigger coming.  He passes out again.  Meanwhile, the Guinevere One space probe encounters aliens, and Harriet Jones runs the response team like the BAMF alien fighter that she is.  She reveals that she’s become even more competent since the last time we saw since apparently she’s read up on aliens quite a bit.  Rose, Mickey, and Jackie spend a long night in the apartment waiting for news or for the Doctor to wake up.  The aliens called the Sycorax make contact and demand that they surrender.  Harriet Jones, who rebuffs the USAmerican President’s attempts to take over the situation, sends a reply that’s basically a huge piss-off.  The Sycorax reply by somehow controlling a third of the world’s population into walking to the edges of tall building’s roofs.  The response team figures out that they are controlling the blood of type A positives, as that blood type was in a vial on the placard of Guinevere One.  Harriet Jones asks for help from something called “Torchwood,” since there is no sign of the Doctor.  She then makes an address to the people, and asks the entire world that if they can reach the Doctor to do so and ask for his help.  Rose breaks down while watching it, since it seems the real Doctor no longer exists.  The Sycorax ship breaks atmosphere, and Rose decides to hide Jackie, Mickey, and the Doctor on the TARDIS.  Harriet Jones and part of her team are teleported onto the Sycorax ship, but they recognize the TARDIS’s energy signature and teleport it on as well, without Jackie onboard.  Not realizing that they’ve moved, Rose goes to check on Jackie and ends up stepping onto the Sycorax ship, Mickey hears the commotion, drops the open tea thermos on the TARDIS floor and runs out after her.  Rose tries to threaten the Sycorax with the Shadow Proclamation, which she’s heard the Doctor do many times in the past, but the Sycorax realize she really doesn’t know what she’s talking about.  Meanwhile, the tea drips onto the console and wakes the Doctor, completely revitalizing him.  As the Sycorax are talking in Sycoraxic, the TARDIS suddenly starts translating it into English for all the humans, and Rose realizes the Doctor is awake.  Just as she turns to look, the Doctor exits the TARDIS.  He goes on a ramble, as he tries to figure out his new regeneration’s mannerisms and personality.  He releases the people on the roofs from the blood control then challenges the Sycorax leader to a duel, which he wins, but only after getting his hand cut off (and regrowing it).  Afterwards he commands the Sycorax to leave and gets the humans all back to Earth.  They all celebrate, but Harriet asks the Doctor how many more there are, and he tells her there are thousands of other races and to expect to get used to having visitors.  The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey begin to leave, when Harriet Jones orders Torchwood to fire on the retreating Sycorax.  The Doctor is an ass and dismantles her entire administration, then he picks out a new outfit and “does domestics” with Rose, Mickey, and Jackie by having Christmas dinner with them.  Though this isn’t the first reference to Torchwood (that’s one of the Weakest Link questions in “Bad Wolf”), it is the start to the Torchwood arch.

The Women:

Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Harriet Jones, Sally Jenkins, Sandra

The Conversations:

1. Rose and Jackie:  Jackie brings Rose a stethoscope and they talk about the Doctor’s condition and how he has changed.  The continuing conversation becomes about Harriet Jones, who is the new Prime Minister.   The rating: 0.5

2. Rose and Jackie:  Rose tries to get Jackie to leave the apartment then notices the Christmas tree has changed.  Because Mickey is present for the conversation, the rating: 1

3. Rose and Jackie:  Rose breaks down in Jackie’s flat after Harriet Jones’ speech.  The rating: 0

4. Rose and Harriet:  Rose leaves the TARDIS to find herself on the Sycorax’s ship, and greets Harriet, who asks after the Doctor.  The rating: 0

The Woman to Woman Quote of the Episode:

“Did more than that – stopped World War III with her.” – Rose Tyler (to Jackie Tyler, about Harriet Jones)

Nothing’s better than one badass woman admiring another badass woman.

The Tally:

Episode 2x00 Total: 1.5

Series 2 Total: 1.5

10^th Doctor Total: 1.5

Rose as Companion Total: 18.0

Russell T Davis Era Total: 18.0

For Further Discussion:  Harriet Jones, Prime Minister

Spoiler Warning for Series 3 and end of Series 4.