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Series 4 Episode 12: “The Stolen Earth” (Part 1 of 2)Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday June 28th, 2008 As premiered ondanowen.blogspot.com
Series 4 Boxset:
Series 4 Part 1:
Series 3 Boxset:
Director:
- Graeme Harper
Screenplay:
- Russell T. Davies
Cast:
- The Doctor: David Tennant
Donna Noble: Catherine Tate
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Martha: Freema Agyeman
Sarah-Jane Smith: Elisabeth Sladen
Captain Jack Harkness: John Barrowman
Gwen Cooper: Eve Myles
Ianto Jones: Gareth David-Lloyd
Luke Smith; Thomas Knight
Gramps: Bernard Cribbins
Sylvia Noble: Jacqueline King
Davros: Julian Bleach
Francine Jones: Adjoa Andoh
General Sanchez: Michael Brandon
Themselves: Richard Dawkins, Paul O’Grady
Shadow Architect: Kelly Hunter
Dalek, voices: Nicholas Briggs
Mr Smith, voice: Alexander Armstrong
Synopsis: When the Earth is transported to a mysterious celestial location, The Doctorand Donna travel to the Shadow Proclamation for help, as earthbound former-companionstry to defeat the Doctor’s greatest nemesis…
In typical Russell T. Davies fashion, “The Stolen Earth” is about as subtle asa kick to the face; riddled with illogical moments, grating comedy and a handfulof performances that beggar belief. It’s also a stupendous amount of fun, onceit manoeuvres around the silly reactions of people as another alien disaster rockstheir world.
If there’s one thing Who’s had problems with since it returned, it’s how itfails to make these earth-shattering events plausible during, and after, theyhappen. Next season we’ll meet a character who doesn’t believe in aliens,trust me!
“The Stolen Earth” finds The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate)returning to Earth fresh from their BAD WOLF scare from Rose (Billie Piper),bemused to find no danger whatsoever. However, seconds later, the entire planetis whisked to a secret celestial location, leaving the TARDIS hanging in emptyspace with them still aboard…
As the perplexed Doctor travels to the oft-mentioned Shadow Proclamation forhelp (revealed to be a rather disappointing asteroid-base, populated by an elderlylady and some Judoon), the episode spends most of its time showing us the falloutfrom four terrestrial perspectives: New York-based UNIT employee Martha Jones(Freema Agyeman); the Cardiff-based Captain Jack (John Barrowman),Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) and Gwen (Eve Myles) of Torchwood;Ealing-based Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and her son Luke(Thomas Knight); and the inter-dimensional Rose, who rather convenientlystumbles upon Donna’s mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King) and herGramps (Bernard Cribbins).
Of course, it’s no secret that the culprits who’ve plucked the Earth from orbit,and deposited it amongst 25 other planets, are the notorious Daleks. Arrivingin waves of B-movie flying saucers, the Daleks ravage the planet in a fewimpressive CGI sequences, before proclaiming a total victory their dynastyrestored thanks to rogue Dalek Caan (last seen teleporting to safety in season3’s “Evolution Of The Daleks” cliffhanger).It transpires that Caan meddled with the timeline and, at the price of goingtotally insane, resurrected the creator of the Dalek race, Davros (Julian Bleach).
It takes awhile for “The Stolen Earth” to settle into itself cursed once againby RTD’s predilection for unsubtle excess, cheesy dialogue, clunking comedy,and ridiculous cameos. Shoehorning chat-show host Paul O’Grady into proceedingswas eye-rolling stuff that took you out of the reality presented as if theTV schedules would trundle on as usual when the night sky fills up with alienworlds!
The crossover appeal was generally good fun, but only effective regarding the Torchwoodteam’s involvement who you can believe they exist alongside Doctor Who,because crossovers for Captain Jack and Martha Jones have laid some foundations.Less successful is Sarah-Jane’s presence; her kid-friendly spin-off sittingawkwardly in the context of its parent series.
Martha Jones, having been re-branded as a UNIT super-soldier this season, isbetter utilized — but it’s amazing how much affection for Martha has dissipatedsince she left Who as a regular. Her scenes alongside UNIT superior GeneralSanchez (Michael Brandon) are written very broadly (“gentlemen, we are at war!“),and require suspension of disbelief when she acquires top-secret access to”Project Indigo” and is given a secret “key” that will likely come in handyfor next week’s conclusion. Meanwhile, Rose marches around London with a MenIn Black-style gun, intentionally kept out of the loop until the last10-minutes, an explanation for her inter-dimensional travel still unforthcoming.
The long-awaited return of Davros is curiously matter-of-fact, after someshadowy teasing. His arrival isn’t a disappointment, it’s just exactly whatyou’d expect — and nothing more. It’s a testament to Classic Who that Davros’ designand prosthetics haven’t been updated much (like Terry Nation’s pepperpots),and actor Julian Bleach (also the villain in Torchwood’s “From Out Of The Rain”)does a marvellous job of complimenting the three previous Davros actors;Michael Wisher, David Gooderson and Terry Molloy. His synthesized voice isquietly malicious, spine-tingling stuff to give kids the creeps.
With so many superficial treats for the fans in this whirlwind of an episode,the spectacle of Davros’ return doesn’t stand apart as anything truly special.Still, season 4’s foreshadowing of missing planets and bees got a decentpay-off, and the sense of expectation for the “God”-like Doctor to find themissing Earth and swoop in to save the day (after receiving mobile phone”prayers” en masse) worked very well, and built some genuine excitement intothe last 15 minutes.
And then, there was the unexpected emotional gut-punch of the cliffhanger. I’mnot going to spoil things here, but suffice to say the Doctor and Rose’seventual “reunion” was pitch-perfect stuff, with a shocking sting in its tailthat will leave fans gobsmacked and burning up the Who forums ’till next week.The cliffhanger is one of Who’s finest, and I my jaw was on the floor as thecredits rolled.
Have the producers managed the impossible, and kept you-know-what a secret allthese months? Or will there will be a cop-out solution to the frankly stunning lastshot - probably involving Donna (are we still in a parallel universe?), orthe Doctor’s hand in a jar? “Journey’s End” can’t come soon enough for theanswers to be revealed.
Overall, if you’re being critical and evaluating everything separately with alevel-head, this is a solid but unremarkable episode. It’s enthusiastic,everything-and-the-kitchen-sink plot will have fans and especially childrensalivating, while the final 10 minutes are admittedly perfect big-scale,big-stakes storytelling.
It’s too cluttered and crazy to be truly affecting, but I certainly enjoyedthe ride after the initial bumps and can’t wait for next week’s conclusion.For sheer indulgent joy, “The Stolen Earth” is heartily recommended but Iwish RTD would craft stories that are logical, consistent and not riddled withplot-holes. Still, he clearly adores unashamedly huge, broad, kid-friendly,emotional, dumb, silly, extravagant, excessive stories and on that level,this is a pinnacle.
Join in the discussion about this episode atDan’s Media Digest
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.