fajrdrako | Doctor Who (4x12) - The Stolen Earth...

I spent half the episode biting my nails, and half the episode grinning like a fool. It thrilled and surprised me. On numerous counts. If I wasn't already mad over this show... but of course, I am.

I wonder where to start.

Even though I avoided spoilers, I knew from the trailer that we'd have Rose, Sarah Jane and Luke, the Torchwood crew, Donna, and Martha.... but I never, never expected Harriet Jones. And an utterly heroic Harriet Jones, who seems to be far-sighted and wise.

I loved that. And more. But I seem to think best in point form these days, so:

Love the big guns carried by Rose and Jack. Is that because they are both Torchwood?
Loved hearing the Doctor speaking the Judoon language.
Loved the Shadow Lady saying "You cannot exist" to the Doctor. He's heard that before.
Who tried to 'move the earth a long time ago'? Was it Davros?
We saw the Shadow Proclamation - I loved that. I loved all the sci-fi touches that we so seldom get in Doctor Who: misplaced planets in the sky (and we saw them!), islands in space, space ships (even if they're just Dalek ships).
Davros was technically the big baddy, but the character I loved was Dalek Caan. Who knew a Dalek could go crazy? And then be so cute when crazy, wiggling his tentacles. His voice and speech patterns reminded me of Gollum. Was that supposed to be fear? I didn't think so. Does he have a crush on the Doctor? That's what it sounded like. "The Dark Lord is come."
Project Indigo - UNIT's version of the Sontaran teleportation device. Cool. Wonder what the whatsis key is - the Osterhagen Key ... Interesting that Martha is in New York now, and promoted. Maybe because of her good work in fending off Sontarans? How much time has gone by?
What is the Crucible? (Besides a play by Arthur Miller...?)
Nice to see Mr. Smith working well. Poor Luke didn't have much of a role, except to be left behind - I find myself hoping he'll disobey his mother and do something heroic. I loved it that she said "I love you" to him as she left.
Much of the plot is centred on the Doctor's attempts to find the Earth, and the attempts of his friends on Earth to contact him. Fair enough. But he was only separated from the Earth by accident in that he went back into the TARDIS at the operative moment - and it didn't go with the Earth. So if he'd just delayed a minutes, he'd have been with them, no need to search for them, or for them to search for him. But then also... by the story as set up, he then wouldn't have the TARDIS, presumably because it carries its own space and time around with it. Anyway, it was a fun plot, a bit of hide-and-seek¹ mixed with a bit of hide-the-thimble, and a wild ride while it happened.

I quite preferred it that the Doctor and Martha were separated from the Earth, if only because we then got to see the Shadow Proclamation.
The Valiant is destroyed. I hope they rebuild it. I liked the Valiant.
"Look at the sky." That was very like "Look at the rain" in "Smith and Jones". That was another example of something significant on Earth being transported unexpectedly through space - and through the use of Judoon technology, in the only other episode to feature the Judoon. Now, I see no reason to think that Judoon technology is connected to Dalek technology, but it does make a sort of thematic link.
Loved seeing Wilf tell Sylvia where Donna has been. Of course, I just plain love Wilf. No wonder Donna is so cool, with a grandfather like that.
The reunion of Martha and her mother wasn't nearly as interesting.
Loved the Doctor's line: "I was just a kid. Ninety years old."
Ianto: "Loss of dignity." Heh. Interesting to see the <>Doctor Who eye-view of Ianto, which isn't quite like the Ianto we see in Torchwood. "Furniture polish" - Ianto has a goofy sense of humour. He's more girly than Gwen is. But cute.
Loved Gwen's reaction to the Doctor.
Wilf: "Get inside, Sylvia. They always want the women." Hee - no, Gramps, you're wrong, not this time. The Daleks exterminate everyone, regardless of age or gender.
Love the Dalek chorus. Those Daleks have a sense of style.
Loved it when Donna said to the Doctor, "Rose is back. Isn't that good?" and he smiled. Sometimes I totally love Donna. "Good" being a relative thing, of course, when universes are colliding and worlds are ending.
Richard Dawkins. What a hoot.
Loved seeing Wilf take on a Dalek with a paint gun. Loved seeing Rose save him. I liked it that Rose and Jack both have alien-tech guns that can kill Daleks. It made it all the more poignant when the UNIT Commander took on the Daleks with a pistol, knowingly.
So Captain Jack learned about Project Indigo from a soldier he picked up in a bar. I cringe when Ianto is jealous. Did he believe Jack when he said it was 'purely professional'? I didn't. C'mon, Jack, you were chatting up strane men for purposes of getting information out of them. No doubt loving every moment of it. And he sure got a lot of information: he knew enough of the technical details of the Indigo device to know how it could be used to fix his vortex manipulator with its 'teleport base code'. That soldier must have had really a lot to say.
What did the Doctor say about a cinder in the Sahara?
When the Shadow Woman told Donna she was sorry about her future loss, that terrified me into believe Gramps was about to get it from the Daleks. In other words, I was suckered. Ouch!
I loved it that when Captain Jack realized the Daleks had come, he panicked - after all, they caused his first death, and not even the Doctor could stop their advance - and then kissed both Ianto and Gwen. Echoes of "The Parting of the Ways" when he kissed the Doctor and Rose.
Love the uses of salutes.
The Shadow Lady wants to comandeer the TARDIS. And she let the Doctor close the door on her. Not wise. Not wise at all. Giving orders to the Doctor just doesn't work.
Loved it when the drunk in the street said to Rose, "It's the end of the stinkin' world," and she said, "Have one on me, mate."
The meeting, by sub-wave, of Jack and Sarah Jane, now rendering my story in which they met as totally AU - I guess it was inevitable. I liked it that he flirted and I liked it that she liked it that he flirted. That exceeded all my hopes. I feared they'd play it cold.
And all the better that Harriet Jones reacted in the Doctor's role with her "not now, Captain". Echoed in turn by Donna pointing to the screen and saying, "Who's that?" and the Doctor saying, "Don't, Donna, just... don't." Hee.
I liked it that Harriet Jones had the courage of her convictions. In that instance, she appears wiser than the Doctor.
"Boost the signal" - isn't that a reference to something, too?
Loved it that Harriet Jones, Jack, Sarah Jane, Martha, and the Doctor and Rose could see and hear each other, and Rose could hear all of them, but they couldn't hear or see her. Because Sylvia said web-cams were naughty. That strikes me as a wonderful detail, especially since it emphasized the different levels of technology - the contrast between the Noble's living room and Torchwood and Mr Smith. I loved it that Rose was with Gramps and Sylvia.
Loved the Red Dalek Supreme. What a great name. It's like a combination of the Supreme Hydra and the Red Skull. Brilliant. And I loved it that the Red Dalek Supreme called Dalek Caan an abomination - the Abomination is a Hulk villain.
Loved the way we got so many of the references that have occurred throughout series 4: the disappearing bees, the Shadow Proclamation, the Medusa Cascade, lost planets - what am I forgetting? I still think 'choice' is crucially important, and we got a good example of that with "Turn Left".
Love it when the Doctor spaces out. When he does that - doesn't listen or respond - I usually think he is trying to use telepathic/ultrasensory perception to get more information, in an attempt to see a solution.
I wasn't too happy that Captain Jack freaked at first, but he rallied and I loved the glee with which he fixed his vortex manipulator (about time!) and grabbed his very biggest gun and went to see the Doctor with his biggest grin on his face - while reassuring Ianto he'd be back.
Harriet: "Tell the Doctor from me: he chose his companions well." Awww.

Now, actually, I think he chose them randomly - but had the knack of having a good influence on them, and was lucky.

Loved it that she put Jack 'in charge'.
Seeing the TARDIS control room on fire: scary.
"It's like an outer space Facebook." Uh-huh. Do they have Scrabulous?
With all that other wonderful stuff going on, Davros himself was something of an anticlimax, except maybe when he opened his shirt. Maybe he will be more interesting next episode. But at least he inspired the Doctor to give us some details of the Time Way.
Love it, totally love it, when the Doctor says, "But that's impossible!" It's almost as good as when he says "No, no, no, no, no." And we got both this episode.
"I have only one thing to say tyou - Bye!" Is it just me, or was that the Doctor sounding like the Master?
Totally loved Ianto's brave tiny smile when he told Jack, "We'll be fine."
Scary, scary moment: being inside Torchwood and hearing the Daleks outside saying, "Exterminate."
I can't help thinking that there's something to the phrase "The Darkness" that we don't know yet.
Rose and the Doctor meet again. Aww. Running - that would be too cheesy to bear except that 'running' is one of the show's major themes. And he gets shot. And Jack shoots the Dalek - great moment! - and takes charge and takes the Doctor into the TARDIS to regenerate. Love it that Jack says, "Good luck, Doctor."
I have no fears at all for the lives of Sarah Jane and our other assorted Companions.
So the Doctor is regenerating. WTF? What's that about? Tennant's not leaving the show. So - what's going on?
No trailer. Gad. They are so cagey. What they will do for suspense. And it works.

~ ~ ~
¹ But not, of course, the naked hide and seek that Jack likes to play at Torchwood.