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casasupernovas · 1 year

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Here it is. My commentary for 'Human Nature' and 'The Family of Blood'. Part 1.

Whew. I have been putting this off for a while because I have a lot to say. Lots of missed opportunities, questionable choices and more. Without further ado, here are my thoughts.

Let me preface this by actually saying what the story is, or was. This story is written by Paul Cornell, based off of his book of the same name from the 90s Virgin New Adventure's Doctor Who book series. After the show had been cancelled, it was this material amongst Big Finish that kept the fandom going. The story featured companion Bernice Summerfield and the Seventh Doctor and is basically the same plotline: the Doctor becomes a human teacher named John Smith in the early 20th century. Due to being a book, it's a lot more detailed and the villains are a lot more intense but that's the basics. I'd also like to note that despite Cornell's credit, showrunner Russell T Davies made it clear in 'The Writer's Tale' that he contributed/edited and signed off on stories for Series 3, even going so far as to not have his name on some, something he did not have a grudge over. So bear that in mind when I discuss some choices the episode makes.

So, off we go and in a pretty solid and gripping opening scene, we are thrown right into the middle of a pretty intense scenario featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. They are being chased by something and the Doctor has to make a pretty quick choice to throw them off. So, the Doctor chooses to so something that entirely depends on Martha. His life depends on Martha. Hands out the watch. I'm invested immediately. It then cuts off to a different scene where confusion. What. Where. How? The Doctor is speaking funny, saying he dreamed of being a traveller. Why is Martha dressed as his maid? Why is she calling him Smith? Why is she saying he's human. Why on earth are they in 1913. We the audience are left to ponder what the hell is going on as the credits roll to reveal the title: 'Human Nature'. One thing I do really like about this story is how it doesn't immediately answer questions, but trickles through, and uses flashbacks to weave it all together.

We learn pretty quickly that this isn't a conventional Doctor Who story, and for the first time in the series, the Doctor is largely absent for TWO episodes, which is quite a bold decision to make. But a great way to ensure that the audience understands his importance and want him back. I read somewhere that David Tennant was actually sick during the filming for this, which added another layer of the Doctor being gone, due to him being obviously less like himself and quieter, something observed by the crew.

So, this is not the Doctor, but John Smith, a history teacher, who notably in the only lesson we actually see him teach, tells the class about battle, combat, the Battle of Waterloo, 1815. Remember this episode is set in 1913, November 1913 to be exact.

I do remember wondering if Martha had also changed, but being convinced that it was a story where she was the only one who knew the truth, due to her being the one to dismiss John Smith's dreams and tell him he is human. And we see her once more, performing the role of a maid. Martha Jones. Brilliant Martha Jones is having to be a maid. In 1913. Wow. I wasn't mad at this at first, mainly because this just reinforced to me how deep in trouble the Doctor and Martha must have be in. The stakes are high. I had already realised he has changed into a human to avoid these advesaries, just not known why. Martha clearly wouldn't have had to do this without good reason. To be placed in such a hostile environment as we begin to see, only fortifies the idea that this is the most dangerous scenario the Doctor and Martha have faced.

We are also introduced to Jenny, Martha's only friend in 1913. People have spoke of the 'Doctorfication' of Martha Jones this season as she has to take the reigns multiple times in ways many companions never do. So, like the Doctor, she gets her own companion in Jenny. Jenny who points out Martha's Londoner accent and admires her boldness. Because she's clearly the first person to challenge the roles they both are placed in, as women but also as a black woman. Martha and Jenny is then patronised and talked down to by Baines and Hutchinson, two boys attending the school in the most snooty, pompous, blood boiling way possible.

One of the positives of this episode is how it does not shy away from calling out just how arrogant and downright vile the attidudes of the country could be, especially during this period of time in British History. Baines and Hutchinson were not born that way. We see later exactly what kind of education these two are getting. Hutchinson then makes a racist remark to Martha, comparing the colour of her skin to filth before laughing and leaving. Martha is clearly riled by it but chillingly and accurately says (more to herself than Jenny) after Jenny points out the bleak apparent truth that boys like that would be the leaders of the country, that that may not be the case, knowing in the next year, a whole generation would be killed in a bloody, unnecessary and tragic war.

It's at this point it's made crystal clear that Martha Jones knows. Whatever is going on here, why she is here, with the absent minded John Smith, who flits by, 'head's in the clouds' says Jenny, Martha is the one who is in the know. And knowing the war is coming and being in this environment has to be so emotionally draining, especially as she knows there is nothing she can do to stop it. Not that they would listen to her, according to Martha, Jenny and Mr Smith are the only people who show her kindess here. Which is interesting, because John Smith doesn't seem kind to Martha at all in these episodes. Just polite. There is a difference. Not once does he ever defend her from condescension from the staff. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We are then introduced to a character that also was in the original book - Nurse Joan Redfern. In some typical cutesy/awkward banter between her and John, it's pretty clear what is going to happen in this episode. I remember literally saying out loud "NO!" When Joan said "we make quite a team." Because I knew that I was gonna get a love story and I didn't want it. Mainly because it would take time away from the main companion, Martha, something that happens far too frequently this season. In fact, Martha is not just mainly reduced to the woman pining on the outside, but the woman pining alone. Martha Jones is seperated from the Doctor for most of this season, no doubt to reflect his literal emotional distance but all this achieves is a isolated companion. Which, as a viewer who is always excited to see who the Doctor meets next and how they interact, is a huge disappointment. And kind of maddening. Especially as this new woman is a racist. The scene before literally told us bold faced that this school has racists in it. Baines does not call out Hutchinson for his comments but laughs with him. The school is clearly full of racially prejudiced people and no doubt the staff. Which includes this lady. So I immediately knew she was going to be one so I automatically didn't like her and certainly was not going to invest in whatever love story they were going to push. I've seen many people say making her 'complicated' by showing her accurate prejudice for the time period is a good thing because it makes for a complex chatacter reading. Which I only agree maybe 10% with. Because it's true. People are complex beings. We see with Joan in her first scene that she is capable of being empathetic, polite and helpful. But we are later confirmed that she's also a racist. And as a black person, I am quite frankly tired of having to give characters like this grace. Because that courtesy is never extended the opposite way. I've made up my mind and being a racist is a pretty good reason to not like someone. Anyway, during this scene John Smith falls backwards down the stairs.

Martha bursts in as Joan tends to his wounded head because of course she does and Joan pointedly reminds her of her position, saying it is rude to enter "a master's study without knocking." To which Martha hilariously, mockingly, knocks on the already open door and comes back in. As Martha queries what happened, John Smith looks away and mumbles that it wasn't that big a deal, probably embarassed because it only happened because he was flustered by Joan. Again, even though what Matron is saying is accurate for the attitude of the time, the person that Martha says is 'kind' to her doesn't exactly defend her from Joan's little rebukes. Doesn't say "it's okay it's only Martha." When she enters his study, doesn't say "she's just wants to make sure I'm okay" after Joan cuts Martha again after she asks if she's checked for a concussion. And most cutting of all, Martha can't even use her medical knowledge to help because Joan knows more than her. Yeah, 20th century Matron knows more than the 2007 medical student. It's not just because Joan is older, or because Martha is a servant either. I'm sure Martha wanted to scream in frustration. We are immediately shown just how difficult Martha's role here is. We know she's clearly looking out for the Doctor here, but how is she supposed to do that when she is looked down on by everyone, so much so her voice is not heeded as useful or needed but borderline impertinent.

John Smith changes the subject though, and tells Martha how he was telling Matron about his impossible dreams and we get another plot twist. The biggest indicator that the Doctor is an alien are his two hearts. So the shock when Matron confirms only one heart. The Doctor is indeed human. How? We don't know yet, but we know it's tied to the watch. In another hint, John Smith says he dreamt he was hiding.

We then get John Smith showing Matron the journal showcasing classic Doctor Who villains, old faces officially making the 8th Doctor canon and of course, a callback to Rose Tyler, the sixth direct mention this season in episode 8 oh joy. I made a post before about what a missed opportunity it was to not show Martha's page. It does exist. I don't wanna watch John and Joan go all 'ooh' over his apparent 'fiction'. I want a moment where Joan finds the journal by mistake or purpose and finds Martha's page, because the journal doesn't just show crazy things but John Smith's lingering fears that something is not quite right. They're not just dreams, they're nightmares too. And in Martha's page he is clearly simultaneously disturbed and intriged by her. It's also an intriguing peek into the residual thoughts the Doctor has on her. That he doesn't know her too well (who's fault is that?) and that she wants to help. This is never addressed in the show and the page is never shown. Once again, Martha's character takes a backseat.

It's not lost on me that in this racist period, even with a rewritten brain, Rose still gets a poignant emotional beat and Martha is left in the wings. Again. I'm tired of Martha getting the backseat in her own damn season. In 1913. An era where white people are supposed to be superior. Does this ever get addressed? No. It gets worse. And it's painfully clear that there were no black people in the writers room because the optics of this are crazy.

Martha is concerned by the book of course, they need to be HIDDEN. Can't very well stay lowkey if he's writing the sh*t down can they? I think it's also the first time Martha has seen the journal. It's probably the first time he's began to speak about it openly. Maybe he's only just begun to dream about his true self. We found out that they've been there for maybe a maximum of almost three months. This seems to be a new development, or maybe he has been writing all the time. So Martha tries to downplay it, lest Joan get too curious. But Joan rather alarmingly confirms to Martha that she knows something is wrong with him, "it's like he's left the kettle on." We also get the Doctor and Martha's cover story - she arrived with him and he got her a job as a maid, and they know each other because she used to work for the Smith family, he 'inherited' her. Yikes. And Joan, in a 'sorry not sorry' brusk manner says for her to back off essentially; "you sometimes seem a little familiar with him. Best remember your position." A loaded statement. Not just pointing out her being a maid. But a black one. Remember your place. He's not just a man but your superior.

Throughout most of this season, there definitely feels like there's a vendetta out against Martha. In her debut she's clever, brilliant, beautiful and confident. And for some odd reason, it feels like the show feels like that is wrong. So we need to pull her down a couple pegs. Have the Doctor aggressively reject her at the end of the episode. And in the next. Take her to the slums with drug addled versions of her human race. Then the Great Depression where we have remind the audience that she is only just a unrequited love interest. Separate her from him so they can't bond as a companion/Doctor duo. Have him dump her back home then return immediately because she is apparently something he can pick up and drop off like a doll whenever he fancies. Then, in the episode where we are supposed to get headway, we tear him away from her in the early 20th century.

Martha Jones is brilliant, but it sucks that she has to do so much alone.

I'm barely through the episode but this post is already too long, so this is part 1. Part 2 will be up soon!!!!!

#doctor who #martha jones #tenth doctor #10th doctor #tenmartha #joan redfern #baines #hutchinson #jenny #rocastle #tim latimer #doctor who commentary #dw analysis #paul cornell #russell t davies #90s doctor who #series 3 #rose tyler #8th doctor

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