Review - The Doctor Dances

The Empty Child drew me in and put me on the edge of my seat, and now it's time for a good, hard, emotional kick to the guts with the story's conclusion, The Doctor Dances.

Season 1, Episode 10 - The Doctor Dances

The dialogue between Jack, Rose and The Doctor is a particular highlight. Say what you (or I) will about Steven Moffat as show runner, the man can write great dialogue. We learn a lot about Jack and get some interesting hints at the Time Agency. Jack really had a lot of potential as an ongoing companion. Again, I didn't watch Torchwood, but Jack was a lot of fun when he showed up in Doctor Who, and I think he set a nice dynamic with The Doctor and Rose.

"Well, I've got a banana and, in a pinch, you could put up some shelves."

The In-Who-Endo continues this episode with Mr Lloyd exposed as "having it off" with the butcher, Algie is confirmed as gay and we have The Doctor's revelation of humanity's future pan-sexuality. Taken in isolation, this story is almost entirely about sexual tolerance. Not only do we have the aforementioned In-Who-Endos which juxtapose each other through how the same behaviour is tolerated across time periods, but Nancy's status as a teenage single mother and the apparent social pressure to lie about it was the cause of a lot of the trouble.

Using the euphemism of Dancing was a good choice, as it keeps the show family friendly whilst at the same time subtly introducing that theme of acceptance and inclusiveness to all audiences. As great as this message is to get out there, it doesn't need to happen all the time, Steven. I'm going to look at this episode in isolation of the future occurrences and not judge it harshly because of the In-Who-Endo.

Not Safe For Work

There's a lot of interplay between Jack and The Doctor about the Sonic, and the general consensus is that it's a fairly useless tool. Of course that's from the perspective if it being a weapon, which is fine. The Screwdriver itself is a bit inconstant throughout this story. We saw it being used as a scanner and to open locks in The Empty Child, but in this episode, whilst it can seemingly be used to reattach barbed wire (apparently by growing it), The Doctor can't use it to cut through the window bars, instead having to try to create a "resonance pattern" in the concrete.

The creepiness keeps coming, as does the witty banter, but this episode is injected with a healthy dose of heart-wrenching drama too. Florence Hoath's performance as Nancy is fantastic, and she is a huge part of the reason that this is the first (of many) Doctor Who episodes to bring a tear to my eye. The penultimate scene was masterfully crafted, with the performances, music and effects all working together to hit me right in my sense of parental protectiveness.

I've just got something in my eye.

This is yet another classic. The story as a whole is second to Dalek only because it doesn't have Daleks. Everybody loves Daleks.

10/10

Can we fix it?

As I said, there's a lot of sexual innuendo in this episode, but I'll ignore the future trend and look at that as the theme of this episode. If I was going to focus on anything here it would be the use of the Sonic Screwdriver. I'd have liked to see The Doctor explain that he was trying to create that resonance pattern in the concrete because it would be quicker than trying to cut through the bars. I'd also have liked to see the Sonic reattach the barbed wire by fusing or welding it together, rather than the wire regrowing to fill the gap. One looks like science, the other looks like magic. It's best we stay away from magic.

Either way, these are just nit-picking, and I'm happy to ignore them because the episode didn't really give me time to focus on them.