April 2: "The Next Doctor"

So.  After the broadcast of "Journey's End" in July 2008, David Tennant announced in October that he would be leaving Doctor Who at the end of 2009.  And so what was the next episode called...?

I know there are some fans out there who are still annoyed by Russell T Davies essentially having a bit of fun -- some because they perhaps actually thought David Morrissey would be the eleventh Doctor, some because they felt they were denied a more interesting story that had an actual future Doctor in it -- but if you can get past that, there's actually a pretty good storyline running through "The Next Doctor".  Of course, there's also a rather poor storyline running through "The Next Doctor", so the end result is something of a mixed bag.  Where this story succeeds is in the part dealing with the Doctor and this mysterious person also claiming to be the Doctor, while the part with the Cybermen is in general a waste of time.

The tenth Doctor and the next Doctor regard each other. ("The
Next Doctor") ©BBC

The half of "The Next Doctor" that's about the Doctor and a different Doctor is really quite charming.  I like how our Doctor remains open-minded for a while as to the identity of this other Doctor, willing to believe that this might be a future incarnation of himself that's undergone some sort of memory loss.  The interaction between the two is really nice, and David Morrissey is really good as this other Doctor -- he's suitably Doctor-ish, willing to rush into danger to save people, and even when you know that he's not the Doctor, not really, you still root for him.  It certainly doesn't hurt that Jackson Lake was a hero while he believed he was the Doctor.  "All that bravery," the Doctor tells Lake.  "Saving Rosita, defending London town, hmm?  And the invention.  Building a TARDIS.  That's all you."  (Oh, and while we're here... the joke about Lake's sonic screwdriver is cute, but I really like his version of a TARDIS: "It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style," Lake says proudly as he shows off his hot-air balloon.)  And even when Lake's mind starts to reassert itself, he still proves to be heroic as he assists the Doctor along with his erstwhile companion Rosita (who is played very well by Velile Tshabalala).  All this and a sequence (finally) showing all ten Doctors, which at least settled the question of whether Paul McGann counted as a Doctor.  (Although, where's John Hurt?  You'd think an infostamp from the Daleks would have included him...)

So this part of "The Next Doctor" is suitably lovely, but it's the stuff with the Cybermen where things go badly astray.  The best thing about this is Dervla Kirwan as Miss Hartigan (nice touch with the "Miss", by the way), who does an outstanding job as the face of the Cybermen.  Miss Hartigan is every inch the vengeful woman, striking back against all the men who ignored her as they entered the workhouse to help the people inside (although, judging from Miss Hartigan's remarks, this was more to assuage their consciences rather than about actually helping the poor and thus little more than a token gesture).  The Cybermen have given her the chance to lash out and she's taking it -- she didn't even need to be converted to agree.  There's also the part when she's strapped into the Cyberking and is able to take it over -- that's also a good moment.

Miss Hartigan with two Cybermen. ("The Next Doctor") ©BBC

But everything else about this plot is at best odd and at worst stupid.  All right, the Cybermen are desperate, having broken out of the Void into Victorian England.  But why is their plan to make a giant steampunk version of themselves that will walk around destroying London?  The Doctor recognizes it as a Cyberking, a kind of Cyber conversion ship -- but hang on, why do these Cybermen know about Cyberkings in the first place, if the only place they've been is Pete's World and our world (briefly)?  (Or, alternatively, if the Cyberking is a Cybus Industries thing, why does the Doctor recognize their Cyberking?  There is a get-out clause with the infostamps, but it's not terribly satisfying.)  Why do they need children specifically as their workforce -- wouldn't it be better to just get whoever they can?  And who on Earth (both in terms of internal continuity and the production team) thought the Cybershades were a good idea?  They literally look like guys in black shag rugs running around on all fours.  It's not clear what they're supposed to be from a story point of view (is Miss Hartigan taking the piss?), and from a production standpoint they should have been scrapped the minute someone suggested actors running around on their knees.

All this and a climactic battle where the Cyberking shoots up whole sections of London while stomping on other parts, yet ends with the Doctor (in the balloon TARDIS) causing all the Cybermen and Miss Hartigan to literally explode and sending the Cyberking into the Void.  It looks nice, I suppose, but from any other standpoint this is a dud.  It's not a very satisfying ending (and Miss Hartigan deserved better -- even Russell T Davies agrees on that), and it also suffers from the general problem of, "Why does no one remember this?"  They try to turn it into a joke ("...the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come," Lake says; "Yeah. Funny that," the Doctor replies), but it's a large enough problem that it surely occurred to just about everyone watching.²⁰⁴

So "The Next Doctor" ultimately ends up as a game of two halves.  When they're focused on the characters, this story really shines, but when they muck around with the Cybermen it falls badly flat.  If you can get past that (admittedly major) problem, then there's quite a bit to enjoy here, but it will definitely take some doing.







²⁰⁴ "Flesh and Stone" will eventually explain this away as the result of the Cracks in Time making everyone forget these events.