Doctor Who Revisited: Series 4 (Part 2)

Where have the bees gone? How can so many aliens have lost their planets? What’s on Donna’s back? When will Rose return? And why did Billie Piper forget how to talk? Just some of the questions that the remaining episodes of Doctor Who’s fourth series have to answer.

Up until this point, DW’s episode sevens have always marked a step down from the rest of the series, but this is not the case with ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’, one of the all-time classic episodes that swiftly swats away any thoughts of mid-series blues. It is almost certainly the funniest-ever episode, with some terrific lines, mostly from Catherine Tate, that make the episode simply zing, and it’s great to watch an episode that embraces its ridiculousness. In short, ‘Unicorn’ is far, far better than anything featuring a crime-solving Agatha Christie, a giant killer wasp, and more Cluedo references than you could shake a lead piping at has any right to be.

It may be strange to think that there was once a time when River Song was a believable, interesting character, but the two-parter that introduced her, ‘Silence in the Library’/‘Forest of the Dead’ proves exactly that. She by no means steals the show, though, as, bar ‘Human Nature’, you’re not going to find a better DW two-parter than this, coming complete with an intelligent script, a suspenseful set-up and a worthy resolution, along with DW’s best, most shiver-inducing quote: “Donna Noble has left the Library, Donna Noble has been saved.” You wouldn’t believe the fun you could have by trying to slip that into conversation…

The next two episodes each feature just one of the series’ two stars to allow simultaneous filming. Thankfully, we’re not left with two doses of ‘Love and Monsters’, but two episodes that aren’t that far off ‘Blink’ levels of eye-watering goodness. The Doctor’s episode, ‘Midnight’, is a triumph of scriptwriting, not feeling the need to spell everything out, leaving the alien’s origins and its aim as a very interesting mystery. The only thing left annoyingly unanswered is how Lesley Sharp managed to learn all those lines.

Donna’s episode, ‘Turn Left’ is a what-if situation, examining what the world would have been like if she hadn’t met the Doctor and, as with ‘Midnight’, it proves that DW is more than capable of doing ‘proper’ sci-fi. While Piper’s return caused the most buzz, Tate is the true revelation here, giving an absolute powerhouse of a performance – it’s very difficult not to be stirred by her extraordinarily moving speech at the end. Overall, ‘Turn Left’ is blow-the-doors-off-the-TARDIS brilliant. Seriously, though, what on parallel Earth has happened to Piper’s teeth?

If you ever wonder where RTD got his reputation for self-indulgence and tendency towards pantomime, look no further than the two-part conclusion to this series, ‘The Stolen Earth’/’Journey’s End’. If Dale Winton had walked on and defeated Davros with a Supermarket Sweep shopping trolley, he would not have looked out of place, or made proceedings any camper. But while this could be seen as an inherently bad thing, these episodes are actually wildly entertaining. OK, so there are a few niggles: the plotting is a bit ropey, relying on sci-fi gobbledygook to resolve everything (basically, a press of a button saves the universe); the cross-overs are a smidge too cheesy; and the reason that Rose must stay on the parallel world just screams cop out. But there are also a heap load of positives: the cast, the music, the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers, and Donna Noble. Especially that last one. Oh when she turns on those tears (again) and Bernard Cribbins turns on those eyes…

It is therefore a brilliant, if imperfect, way to end a phenomenal series, which is arguably the best of the lot. And I’d just like to say: Donna Noble, Doctor Who was better with you.

Read Part 1 here.

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