LogFAQs > #965209651

Now, I just discussed the episodes a little, but I want to touch on the nitty gritty a bit more. The first three episodes of series four are perfect if you want to get someone hooked on the show. I would argue that you sit someone and show them Partners in Crime, Fires of Pompeii, and Planet of the Ood, they will find at least ONE episode that gets them hooked. Partners in Crime is cute and fun, with some meme-worthy moments and great comedy. Fires of Pompeii takes that comedy and puts it in a historical setting, before adding some emotion as you realize there's no way Pompeii is going to end well. And then Planet of the Ood is pure emotion and seriousness. And these three flow perfectly into one another in terms of the tone they provide.

After that, like I said in previous write-ups, no season is perfect. The Sontarans have had exactly ONE good episode as far as I'm concerned, and it's a FLUX episode. Needless to say, the Sontaran two-parter is extremely weak, and Poison Sky is ESPECIALLY bad since Donna is all but invisible. There are NO laughs to be had in that half of the two-parter. And then The Doctor's Daughter is kinda gimmicky, but it's a bit too self-serious. I have to wonder if this is just a side-effect of Martha's return, since her three episodes are the weakest of the season.

From there though, we get a GREAT comedy episode with Agatha Christie, and probably Donna's best comedic performance overall. Murder mysteries are always fun in that regard. Silence in the Library introduces the Vashta Nerada, who are one of my favorite monsters that were thankfully never brought back, and the two-parter has legitimate scares and a creepy atmosphere, plus the introduction of River Song in a fascinating, time-bending storyline that pays off in the Smith Era...yet the emotion feels stronger without even having met her before.

At the top of this write-up, I listed Midnight/Turn Left as dual favorite episodes, and that's because both of them are in my top five overall. They're amazing for different reasons: Midnight is the Doctor alone, and it's a bottle episode with a bunch of unique personalities slowly getting more and more paranoid as a monster toys with them. In the end, it's NOT the Doctor who saves the day, and in fact, he's at the monster's mercy until a nameless stewardess realizes that he's a victim, rather than a perpetrator. It's just great to see him in a position of weakness, and see how easily people can be manipulated by fear.

Turn Left is equally amazing. Midnight is Tennant's showcase, but Turn Left is Donna's. Alternate timeline stories are always a little bit fascinating, but having that moment of Donna not being there, to stop the Doctor from dying at the hands of the Racnoss, ripple out and ruin countless lives...it's just insane to picture how important a single person can be without having a direct impact on the world. Watching things break down, and Donna's life gets worse and worse as the world gets worse and worse is heartbreaking. She's not perfect, but Donna is a good person at heart, and it's painful to watch the burden of all the world's problems land on her shoulders.

Turn Left is just the first of her sacrifices for the greater good, before the ultimate gut punch of the finale. For one moment, Donna surpasses the Doctor. She has the best of him and the best of herself, and becomes the Doctor Donna...and it's too much for her body to handle. The mind erasure is horrifying, and it's worse when you realize that Donna was that last grounding force the Doctor had keeping him in check. From that point on, he's untethered and on a path to his ultimate fate.

The specials are all solid enough. Next Doctor is a fun little Christmas story. Planet of the Dead is a fun little adventure story. Waters of Mars might be my favorite episode ever, and Adelaide Brooke manages to really stick the knife in Tennant's gut when she tells him he can't save her because he's not allowed to do so. The whole episode culminating in triumph, only for Adelaide to bring the Doctor back from the brink of omnipotence is spectacular. And then the End of Time pair gave us Wilf as a companion, and the heartbreaking end to Tennant's run, as it's not an enemy that kills him, but Wilf, just trying to help out. The string of goodbyes might be a bit self-indulgent, but it's well-deserved.

And that's it. Series four is the best season os the show. Tennant and Tate are amaizng together, and I cannot recommend this series enough. If you've never watched the show, I'd say to start with series one because it's great and you won't really miss anything...but if you want to start with series four, it's not a bad jumping off point by any means. Allons-y!