Things I've Learnt from Watching My Favourite Doctor Who Stories - 52: The Waters of Mars

 52: The Waters of Mars 

"You should take more water with that" is terrible advice!

2009 was the gap year. A pause with specials leading up to a big farewell for David Tennant who'd just played Hamlet to great acclaim (although I nodded off in the second half! Before you think me a philistine, I can nod off during anything now, especially if its after 9pm!)

Those specials weren't that special to be honest. Thr Next Doctor suffers as anticlimactic after the double whammy of The Stolen Earth and Journey's End, while Planet of the Dead looks good but was a bit hollow. So, expectations for the Waters of Mars were mixed. Having a co-writer in Phil Ford who had shown his expertise in scripts for the Sarah Jane Adventures and the return of director Graeme Harper brought hope, as did the announcement of guest star Lindsay Duncan.

Promotion for the episode hinted that it was to be the scariest episode ever. Certainly without the reassuring presence of a Rose, Martha or Donna, and only the initially untrusting team of Bowie Base One, this is definitely not your fun Saturday night adventure. (Yes, I know it premiered on a Sunday!) And when something is promoted as " the beginning of the end for David Tennant's Doctor," it's not exactly going to be like Partners in Crime, nor indeed, Planet of the Dead. 

It brings a different side of the Doctor to the fore as well. The Time Lord Victorious is not my favourite styling of the character; it's a character full of pride, petulance and arrogance, a Doctor who needs to be stopped, just as Donna did in the Runaway Bride. But this is Volcano Day and at first, he's off! As soon as he's realised where and when he is, he's desperate to leave... 

The tension is ratcheted up to eleven, Andy's attack on Margaret and then Tarak, is the stuff of horror movies and the make up around the mouths of those infected looks "responsibly horrific" and is reminiscent of the scaly mouths of the Ice Warriors. They are referenced but it doesn't turn out to involve them. I'll be honest, I was initially disappointed but they're not really needed. The threat of the Flood is enough 

There are lots of shots of Tennant looking stern towards the camera and the fact he keeps saying he needs to leave, is uncomfortable until the time he can leave - and of course, he doesn't. It's a clever twist in the format showing that time travel isn't all fun and adventures, battling the monsters, overcoming the odds to win the day. And when Adelaide confronts the Doctor to tell her the truth and he tells her that her death is a fixed point in time, it's no easy solution. No Moffaty bobbins or timey wimey nonsense, the crew are doomed and there's nothing that can be done...

Except the Doctor decides that as last of the Time Lords, he is going to rescue them as there's no one left to stop him. It's a bold move to show him this arrogant and frankly unlikeable. And those he does rescue, are freaked out by him and his actions. And while I'm not a big fan of the Time Lord Victorious idea, the confrontation between the Doctor and Adelaide is stunning, acting, writing and direction all wonderful. Lindsay Duncan is perfect, her take down of the Doctor's actions is so well written and performed, you can't not agree with her. And Tennant to be fair, matches her performance in that scene. I mentioned he spends a lot of time in the episode standing still, looking haunted and guilty, but Tennant gives a powerhouse performance. Graeme Harper's direction gives the whole piece an unnerving energy and tension. This is not one for the kids certainly. That spinning noise you hear when you watch it is Mary Whitehouse in her grave... 

The Waters of Mars is Doctor Who at its most adult and unnerving. Fourteen years after it was transmitted, it hasn't lost any of its power, thanks to a production team at the top of their game, heading for the finish with a bang! 

Next Time : Auld Acquaintance Should Be Forgot!