Things I've Learnt from Watching My Favourite Doctor Who Stories: Part 23 - The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances

 23: The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances

Yes, she is your mummy?

It feels sometimes that series one of the modern series gets forgotten about or discarded, possibly because of the fact that Christopher Eccleston left after one series. “He had no moral right to take the part if he was going to leave after one year!” shouted one fan (probably with his caps lock on!) Even though he’s working with Big Finish as the Ninth Doctor again, Eccles gets a rough ride by some fans, despite his single series being of an overall high standard.

And they don’t come much higher than this; Steven Moffat’s first script for the series, a Comic Relief special episode notwithstanding, and Russell T Davies entrusted him with one of the three two-parters of that season, with only the words “World War Two” and “Captain Jack” on the pitch document. Moffat took those two disparate elements and crafted them into one of the strongest and scariest two-part stories the modern series has ever seen.

We tend to forget these days just how big the series return was. The Spring of 2005 was the Return of Doctor Who! The promotion was prolific, from interviews with the cast on every TV chat show and in every paper and TV magazine, to billboard posters around the country. By the time we got to these episodes, a second and third series had been promised as well as a new Doctor and fandom was on a collective high. Well most of it...

Christopher Eccleston had settled into the role, and this shows him at his most comfortable, at ease with the serious aspects of the character, as well as the flippant. Billie Piper had been a revelation and the chemistry between the two was sensational. They were about to be joined by another. 

I know John Barrowman is a persona non grata at the moment, but he IS Captain Jack. It is the role he was born to play, and even though Jack appears quite untrustworthy initially, he quickly won me over. His dancing and flirting with Rose in front of the clock face of Big Ben is a typical Moffat moment; a bold mad set piece that’s also charming and quirky. The rivalry between the Doctor and Jack fortunately goes nowhere as it would have become quite tiresome. Actually the three of them spark off each other very well, as we’ll see in Boom Town and also the two-part finale. I always think it’s a shame we didn’t get more of them together...

The titular child of the story is also an innovative creation, so simple and yet so scary. I remember that even I jumped when in the Doctor Dances, the Doctor deduces that he sent the child back to his room... which they’re standing in! The idea of a plague that causes its victims to morph into gas-mask wearing zombies is also a typically weird and mad Doctor Who idea.

The guest cast are good – these episodes are a rarity in Doctor Who with a cast of child actors who are very good at acting. Richard Wilson as Dr Constantine is only in the story for about five minutes, but his character is memorable as is his gruesome transformation. 

But special mention goes to Florence Hoath as Nancy, who gives a fantastically emotional performance. She’s the first in a long line of strong female characters written by Steven Moffat, and she’s one of the best, simply because she feels like a real person with emotions. It’s a shame Florence has given up acting, because she was sensational and rightly applauded by the critics.

And of course, Moffat gives us not only his “everybody lives” finale, but also “love conquers all” endings before they became a bit of a tiresome cliché. Fortunately they both work to give us an incredibly emotional ending, interspersed with a bit of humour from Richard Wilson querying his patient asking how her leg had grown back...

The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances cemented the new style of the series with the mix of scares and laughs in equal succession and caught on with the public very quickly. Finally it felt like I wasn't going to be a social pariah for liking Doctor Who. Doctor Who had become as cool and popular to the public as it was for me and with these episodes fans both watching and writing the series could hold their heads up high! 

Next Time : Not all Ambassadors spoil you with Ferrero Roche...