The Doctor's Daughter

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197 – "The Doctor's Daughter"
Doctor Who episode
The Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Martha find the "Source", a terraforming device, being the source of both life, and the war between humans and the Hath on Messaline.
Cast
Doctor	David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companions	Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)
	Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)[1]
Guest stars
Georgia Moffett – Jenny Nigel Terry – Cobb Joe Dempsie – Cline Paul Kasey – Hath Peck Ruari Mears – Hath Gable Akin Gazi – Carter Olalekan Lawal Jr. – Soldier
Production
Writer	Stephen Greenhorn
Director	Alice Troughton
Script editor	Lindsey Alford
Producer	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	4.6
Series	Series 4
Length	45 mins
Originally broadcast	10 May 2008
Chronology
← Preceded by	Followed by →
"The Poison Sky"	"The Unicorn and the Wasp"
IMDb profile

"The Doctor's Daughter"^[2] is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.^[3]

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Synopsis 1.2 Continuity 2 Production 2.1 Writing 2.2 Casting 3 Broadcast and reception 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

[edit] Synopsis

Continuing from where "The Poison Sky" left off, the TARDIS kidnaps the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and violently whisks them away to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, they are confronted by armed men working for General Cobb (Nigel Terry), who force the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments — Jenny (Georgia Moffett), the episode's titular character. Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first.

The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, it turns out to be a terraforming device within a colonising spaceship. Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander.

Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present lays down their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who tries to shoot the Doctor but Jenny steps in the way. After she collapses in the Doctor's arms, he finally tells her she is his daughter and that they have only got started. He tells her that they can go anywhere, if she holds on. She dies in his arms. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society.

At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of Cline and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villains (and a whole lot of running).

[edit] Continuity

In "Fear Her" the Doctor mentioned to Rose he "was a dad once".^[4] The only other member of the Doctor's family seen in the series has been Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television series was in The Five Doctors. The Second Doctor tells Victoria Waterfield of his family in The Tomb of the Cybermen, but indicates that they are no longer alive by that point.^[5]

Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations the Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 Children in Need scene and "The Christmas Invasion"; this mist also resembles the terraforming gas seen earlier in the episode.

[edit] Production

[edit] Writing

Russell T Davies has stated that this episode "does exactly as it says on the tin",^[2] although at least one reviewer has stated that Moffett's character is not a daughter in the usual sense.^[6] Having Jenny come back to life at the end of the episode was Steven Moffat's idea.^[7]

[edit] Casting

Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson.^[2] David Tennant described the episode by saying "We get to see the Doctor's daughter, played by the Doctor's daughter."^[8] Moffett had previously auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler in 2004 and a role in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" in 2007. Her role as Jenny was not chosen because of her father; it was entirely coincidental but nevertheless a "great PR coup" for the series.^[7] Moffett previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish audio story Red Dawn and drama series Fear, Stress & Anger. In Doctor Who Confidential, Peter Davison stated that after he finished filming "Time Crash", he said to Georgia "[now] it's your turn".

[edit] Broadcast and reception

Unofficial figures indicated that "The Doctor's Daughter" was watched by 6.6 million viewers, giving it a 38.4% share of the total television audience. The final consolidated figure was 7.33 million viewers.^[9] While most programmes received lower figures than the previous week, Doctor Who had increased its audience. The top rated programme of the day was still ITV1's Britain's Got Talent although its audience was down by a million at 8.17 million. Doctor Who was the highest rated programme on BBC1 for the day and had the biggest share of any programme on Saturday. The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 88 (considered "Excellent").^[10]

"The Doctor's Daughter" received mixed reviews. David Chater of The Times described it as "A wonderful episode - funny, exciting and strangely moving."^[11] Martin Anderson of Den of Geek! stated that it was "rather good - though badly plot-holed". He noted that it was yet another episode of Doctor Who "undermined by Murray Gold's incessant music". He also described the episode as "quite redolent of Tom Baker-era Who, with plenty of dark and cheap corridors to run down and two under-manned warring factions for the Doctor to bring peace to".^[12] For SFX's Ian Berriman, the running up and down corridors was reminiscent of Lenny Henry's 1985 Doctor Who spoof featured on The Lenny Henry Show. Berriman described the episode as "underwhelming", citing that because one "always suspect[s] she's a redshirt" it is difficult to care for Jenny. Although "reasonably diverting", Berriman argues that budgetary constraints make "the story feel so enclosed" and that the episode's plot, likened to "old-school Trek", seems too similar to that of the Sontaran two-parter immediately prior to this adventure because both involve "militarism" and "cloning".^[13] Newsround's Lizo Mzimba also notes the similarities with "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky". Mzimba asserts that the episode's "biggest problem" is that it tries "to cram an enormous amount into 45 minutes" with most of the "interesting" and new ideas not getting "the attention they deserve" resulting in the audience not caring about either the human fighters or the Hath and thereby limiting a "sense of danger or menace".^[14]

Mzimba observes that since her return in "The Sontaran Stratagem", Martha shares little onscreen time with the Doctor therefore reducing the emotional impact of her departure in this episode. He describes Moffett as "superb",^[14] with Berriman calling her "cute as a button".^[13] Berriman praises Tennant's performance,^[13] but Anderson suggests that Tennant shouts too much. Anderson asserts that "Donna's role as the Doctor's conscience is beginning to take shape" describing this as "refreshing" in a companion and noting that "Tate has toned down the grating voice a tad".^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "The Doctor's Daughter" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "The Doctor's Daughter" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)

v • d • e Doctor Who series 4 episodes "Voyage of the Damned" • "Partners in Crime" • "The Fires of Pompeii" • "Planet of the Ood" • "The Sontaran Stratagem" • "The Poison Sky" • "The Doctor's Daughter" • "The Unicorn and the Wasp" • "Silence in the Library" • "Forest of the Dead" • "Midnight" • "Turn Left" • TBA  • "Journey's End"