Review: 'Doctor Who' - The Doctor's Daughter

“The Doctor's Daughter” is without a doubt the silliest most ludicrous episode in all of “Doctor Who’s” lifetime.

The Tardis is hijacked, The Doctor (David Tennant) forced to procreate and the team find themselves in the middle of a war zone where its humanity or the fish-people.

Unimpressively, it's a war in a small scale -- the armies were made up of only a handful of people and although none of the sets were wobbly, they were all so small and claustrophobic that it was impossible to be taken seriously. For a war on the scale that the episode implies, they would have been better off filming completely in an old quarry. It was only when the CGI-enhanced shots made their appearance that the real scope of the locations became clear. But all can be forgiven following the episodes delightfully unexpected twist on the extent and origins of the war.

The only thing holding any intrigue were hints of the mysterious source and something withheld from the beginning of time. And once the Doctor and co. start following the clues that will lead them to the source, “The Doctor’s Daughter” does begin to entertain. The Doctor is back to his old platitudes of finding another way to end a fight to the backing tracks of Murray Gold and there is something so joyful about watching the nameless Doctor crossing paths with Dr. Jones.

What Worked

Just like the last few weeks, there were a few of nicely devised character moments between the two companions (Donna standing up for Martha, for example) and a Tardis-load more individual developments for each character.

Martha (Freema Agyeman) as a doctor and proclaiming, “I’m Dr. Martha Jones, who the hell are you?” carried a forcefulness that she could only have learned from The Doctor, and once again Catherine Tate brings about the most fascinating and introspective thoughts on this week's adventure. The ideas on Jenny’s (Georgia Moffett) heritage as a Time Lord, or an echo of the Time Lords, were wonderfully delivered and included a level of complexity that could never have been expected when she made her “Runaway Bride” debut. Since the fourth season began, Tate has shown a whole other side to Donna Noble and the character has moved in some of the most unexpected and inspiring directions.

Talk about this story