(733) The Family of Blood

Nice little bit of trivia to start off with that this episode was transmitted in my 24^th birthday. I now feel old but at least this episode makes up for it. I have started to read the novel and at the moment it’s very different even though I am only a dozen or so pages into it. Bernice Summerfield is in 1913 and no sign yet of the Doctor but back to today’s episode. Rather interestingly they use the pre-title scene to replay what happened in the previous episode. Normally there is something that happens before the title

I like how Martha is the one calling the shots at the beginning of the episode. Quite literally calling the shots. She continues being the one that is watching over the Doctor.

The family are quite a good group of villains considering that they using human forms that aren’t related to each other. The little girl is quite creepy and very similar to the girl in Remembrance of the Daleks. When she goads the Doctor/John Smith into one of the schoolboys into shooting her I was surprised at how good the actress was. It’s revealed that The Doctor ran away cause he was being kind cause he knew that he would have to finish them off for good. They wanted to live forever and the Doctor made sure that they did in rather ingenious ways. I like the encounter between Jeremy/Brother of mine and the Headteacher. The headteacher is rather gung-ho and Baines tries to show him how he’s a fool. The shootout between the schoolboys and the scarecrow with a hymn being played is a very strong moment and his death at the hands of the little girl is perhaps inevitable.

The sight of several dozen scarecrows behind Baines is another cracking shot and Charles Palmer deserves a lot of praise. The weeping angels are coming up in the next episode but its fair to say that the scarecrows are another great creation and it would be cool to see them in something else.

The discussion about Martha’s ability to be a Doctor between Martha and Joan is interesting cause its another example of the attitudes towards women more specifically ethnic women in 1913 England.

I actually feel sorry for the Doctor cause as John Smith he doesn’t want to change. He wants his current life. There is a lovely final scene between John Smith and Joan. There’s a lovely flash forward to life as a married couple, kids and his death. He looks old for the first time this series. When they meet with the Doctor as himself it’s very different and both Tennant and Hynes deserve credit for the scenes they have together. In fact everyone worked really well over these two episodes and there wasn’t a weak link the entire cast.

The scene where the Doctor encounters the family and starts off by pretending that he’s human is a great scene and a great moment from the Doctor. It’s a moment where as a viewer I was relieved that the Doctor was back and doing what he does best.

Tim fights in the First World War and its a moment that is superb and not something that would have been done in classic Who and shows how the show as developed since 2005. That moment is followed by a Remembrance Sunday service which I thought was another classic moment and it shows that even though this is a piece of drama that war isn’t all fake guns, explosions and tomato ketchup.

I was worried that todays episode would disappoint me, that it would live up to how good the opening episode was but this was one of the best episode of the series and in fact ratings wise it’s the ebst episode since its 2005 reboot. Human Nature is third with The Parting of the Ways at number two. As a two parter it’s the best two parter beating the Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways season finale. It’s the first time since The TV Movie that a story has rated in the 8’s and the first time since Remembrance of the Daleks that a series story has rated in the 8’s. I haven’t until now appreciated just how good this story actually is. It is definitely the best Tennant story and tomorrows episode is another of the Doctor-lite episodes but one that is way better than Love and Monsters.