The Shattered Prayer

A quick post about Doctor Who. In light of the Donna Light nature of the last episode of Doctor Who, Midnight was extremely entertaining. At least in my eyes.

It certainly highlighted David Tennant’s acting abilities. He has risen to the ranks of the greatest of the Doctors, and that rank is well deserved. He is fascinating to watch. Cute, quick, just the right touch of arrogance (which almost got the Doctor killed!). Fantastic!

And kudos to Lesley Sharp! Having to say that dialogue exactly in sync with the other actors. Well done! One reviewer said that this was much more of a writing exercise than a good story, and I can see that criticism, but in my mind, it worked. And Lesley Sharp deserves praise for being able to keep up with David Tennant’s speed talking!

I will say “Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble!” Um, Doctor, what about Captain Jack Harkness? What about Mickey Smith? And, to be a completist, what about Adam Mitchell? You had male companions too! (Although kudos for leaving off Astrid Peth. She ain’t no companion!)

As to the writing, Russell T Davies for once went for the scary and not for the funny and did an excellent job. The story was actually scary. And it was clever, clever in its race, prestige, and class issues. To have the two Black women be the first to suggest killing Sky makes it seem as if they were the least compassionate of the group. Had it been left at that point, it could have played off racist story telling in which the White people were the good guys and Black people were more selfish. But in the end, the Black women were the closest to heroes of the piece, even having the hostess sacrifice herself to save the others. They were also the most observant. And the smartest. Well done.

And the question of “What was the Hostess’s name” at the end was clever as well. Why should you have to learn her name? She was there to serve you! Once again, well done.

And of course, as someone with a Ph.D. myself, I loved the skewering of the “Professor” in the episode. That is so like every graduate school professor I’ve ever known — pompous, secure in their own superiority, and willing to insult the intelligence of their supposedly inferior graduate students. And blind in spite of their careers filled with intellectual curiosity. Fourteen trips on the shuttle and he never once found out the hostess’ name.

And next week will be a Doctor-lite episode. Some of the best episodes in recent years have been Doctor Lite. Blink was amazing! And this one will feature the fantastic Donna Noble and a dead Doctor. (Oh yeah, and Rose Tyler too). Catherine Tate has proven to be the second best companion ever (Sorry, Sarah Jane will always be first), and I can’t wait to see what “Turn Left” will be like in her more than capable hands.

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