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Dan Owen reviews

Episode 8: "Father's Day"

Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday May 14th, 2005

Cover

Director:

Joe Ahearne

Doctor Who: Dalek, Strange, Ultraviolet

Screenplay:

Paul Cornell

Doctors, Holby City

Cast:

The Doctor: Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Pete Tyler: Shaun Dingwall
Jackie Tyler: Camille Coduri
Boy: Casey Dyer
Suzie: Rhain James
Sarah: Natalie Jones
Stuart: Christopher Llewellyn
Micawber: Frank Rozelaar-Green

Synopsis: Rose persuades The Doctor to let her witness her father's death in 1987, with disastrous consequences after Rose changes history...

Another week, another episode not written by Russell T Davies, and (consequently) another great Doctor Who episode!

"Father's Day", written by Paul Cornell, puts the emphasis on the whole paradoxical nature of time-travel. After Rose saves her father's life in 1987, the past is changed and strange creatures known as Reapers descent on London to take advantage of the situation (by "deleting/eating" people).

As with most time-travel stories, not everything here makes sense, but the gist of things is sound enough and allows some interesting developments - not to mention some great acting from all concerned.

Christopher Eccleston again relishes being able to bring much-needed drama and anguish to his role, while Billie Piper is finally given a dramatic situation to sink her teeth into. Both prove extremely capable actors, brilliantly assisted by Shaun Dingwall (Pete Tyler) and Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler).

The performances are the best there has been on Who, primarily because there's a tangible, human, tragic aspect to the story that all actors are more comfortable with emoting.

The effects throughout are of a high quality, particularly the excellent Reapers (imagine a pterodactyl-gargoyle hybrid, above-right) and even the incidental music (so often the bane of Who this year) proves quite emotionally-charged.

It helps that the potentially complicated story is realised quite succinctly by Cornell, despite some illogical moments - for example, if 1987-Jackie knows now about Rose's time-travelling, why is she so surprised by events in the previous episodes set in 2005? It would be nice if future episodes revealed that Jackie always knew The Doctor would come a-calling. But, regardless of such illogical moments, "Father's Day" has an underlying emotional weight absent from all previous Who episodes this series.

Overall then, this is a deft and emotionally satisfying story with some great performances from the cast. Yes, there are some moments that don't quite makes sense (why does the driver who missed hitting Rose's dad keep appearing and vanishing outside the Church - the accident didn't happen there, and there's no reason for this "blip" to exist anyway...), but if you're not anal about time-travel logic (like I can be!) then "Father's Day" is a fulfilling experience for all Whovians and general audiences alike.

Next Week: Another two-part episode, as The Doctor and Rose travel back in time to World War II, where a mysterious cylinder is being guarded by the Army. Meanwhile, homeless children, living on the bombsites, are being terrorised by an unearthly child. And when Rose meets the dashing Captain Jack Harkness, it seems she may have found a hero greater than The Doctor himself...

DIRECTION PERFORMANCES PLOT SPECIAL FX SOUND/MUSIC
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.

E-mail Dan Owen

The following is a list of all the Doctor Who content reviewed to date :

2010 Series 31, Episode 1 - "The Eleventh Hour", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 2 - "The Beast Below", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 3 - "Victory of the Daleks", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 4 - "The Time of Angels", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 5 - "Flesh And Stone", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 6 - "The Vampires of Venice", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 7 - "Amy's Choice", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 8 - "The Hungry Earth", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 9 - "Cold Blood", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 10 - "Vincent & The Doctor", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 11 - "The Lodger", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 12 - "The Pandorica Opens", by Dan Owen 2010 Series 31, Episode 13 - "The Big Bang", by Dan Owen

2008 2008 Xmas Special - "The Next Doctor", by Dan Owen 2009 2009 Easter Special - "Planet of the Dead", by Dan Owen

2008 Series 30, Episode 13 - "Journey's End", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 12 - "The Stolen Earth", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 11 - "Turn Left", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 10 - "Midnight", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 8 - "Silence in the Library" (part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 7 - "The Unicorn and The Wasp", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 6 - "The Doctor's Daughter", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 5 - "The Poison Sky" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 4 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 3 - "Planet of the Ood", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 2 - "The Fires of Pompeii", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 1 - "Partners In Crime", by Dan Owen

2006 Series 28, Episode 1 - "New Earth", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 2 - "Tooth & Claw", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 3 - "School Reunion", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 4 - "The Girl in the Fireplace", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 5 - "Rise of the Cyberman", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 6 - "The Age of Steel", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 7 - "The Idiot's Lantern", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 8 - "The Impossible Planet", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 9 - "The Satan Pit", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 10 - "Love and Monsters", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 11 - "Fear Her", by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 12 - "Army of Ghosts" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2006 Series 28, Episode 13 - "Doomsday" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen

2005 Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 2 - "The End of the World", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 3 - "The Unquiet Dead", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 4 - "Aliens of London", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 5 - "World War Three", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 6 - "Dalek", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 7 - "The Long Game", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 8 - "Father's Day", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 9 - "The Empty Child", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 10 - "The Doctor Dances", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 11 - "Boom Town", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 12 - "Bad Wolf", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 13 - "The Parting of The Ways", by Dan Owen 2005 Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Dom Robinson 2005 Series 27, Episode 1 - "Rose", by Paul Manners

And the Audio CDs :

2000 04: The Land of the Dead 2000 06: The Marian Conspiracy 2000 10: Winter for the Adept 2000 12: The Fires of Vulcan 2000 14: The Holy Terror 2000 15: The Mutant Phase 2001 16: Storm Warning 2001 18: The Stones of Venice 2002 28: The Chimes of Midnight 2002 30: Seasons of Fear 2002 31: Embrace the Darkness 2002 35: ...Ish 2002 39: ...Bang-Bang-A-Boom!

2003 Doctor Who Audio CDs: An introduction

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