DW: Episode 3.9

Now that's how to do an emotional story!

One of the cahrges leveled against Father's Day was that the emotional aspect was hammered into the audience. Paul Cornell drops it down a notch and manages to evoke the emotional voice without the didactism. (At least until the end, with the war tribute, where it goes completely off the deep end.) The John Smith and Joan moment was very well done, and stayed on the true side of schmaltzy.

And we get the war aspect really kicking in now, merely hinted at last time. There is a lot of "running from the monsters" in this episode, but the point is the boys fighting more than the running away. Paul can't resist (or possible RTD, as he's been known too as well) from having the lead monster espouse the moral for all and sundry, but it is better told through the actions than the words.

Speaking of words... this episode really shows the Doctor as, well, annoying. Swanning in with lots of technobabble and, in many ways, reducing the wonder of the wonderous things around him with a casually tossed off explanation. David Tennant certainly put a lot more into the John Smith acting than he did the Doctor, and it would have been nice to keep that side going for a while. (Still, I did like the ending line "he was being kind to us".)

Throughout this season (or series, if you must), Martha's been shown as more able to take on the lead position, so this story works perfectly in that character arc as there isn't a choice but for her to lead. That all said, aside from one moment in the Martha/Joan standoff, I'm not immediately not seeing Rose as easily fitting in here.

In all, a great story that works better on the emotional side that Paul's previous effort, but the ending went over the top a little.

Next week: I have no idea, but it looks different! (Is it a "breakout" episode?)