| THE RUNAWAY BRIDE by Russell T Davies |
| Story 22 Synopsis: Donna Noble is about to be married to Lance, on Christmas Eve, when she is transported up into the TARDIS. The Doctor tries to get her to the church, but she is kidnapped by robot Santas. He uses the TARDIS to rescue her. They make it to her wedding reception, which Donna is unimpressed to see is going ahead without her. Watching a video of her disappearance, the Doctor spots Huon particles, and the robot Santas soon return, using bombs disguised as baubles. By using the soundsystem and his sonic screwdriver, he destroys the Santas, tracing the source of their control into outer space. Donna worked for HC Clements, who were owned by Torchwood. With Donna and Lance, the Doctor pays them a visit, learning of a secret basement, where they meet the Empress of the Racnoss, a spider-like creature whom the Time Lords fought and destroyed. Lance turns out to be a Racnoss ally, having been pumping Donna with Huon particles for the last 6 months. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to travel back 4.6 billion years to the creation of the Earth, and sees the Racnoss causing it to happen, around their ship. The Empress is now going to release a new generation of Racnoss. The Doctor warns the Empress to stop, but she refuses. He releases the Thames, which floods down the pipe leading to the new Racnoss, killing them. The Empress is transported back to her ship, but Earth forces are able to blow it out of the sky. The Doctor gets Donna home, offering her the chance to join him. But she declines, even after he makes it snow. So he sets off into the unknown once more... |
| Review:- Back on Earth, back at Christmas, back into trouble... The shock ending to Doomsday teed up this special, where special guest star Catherine Tate gets to play companion, whilst the Doctor tries to save the Earth from a polypedal montrosity. RTD is clever in making a reasoned leap to explain the rather silly ending of Donna Noble's arrival on the TARDIS. The idea of her infection with Huon particles connecting her to the TARDIS is broadly feasible, and that leads to why she's full of Huons... which leads to the rest of the story. Indeed, it's very much a tale of two halves, with some madcap silliness to begin with, including a peculiar motorway chase, as the Doctor has to win Donna's trust to save her from a taxi ride of doom. This sequence is one of a few where rational thinking has to take a backseat to excitement. Once the Doctor finds the Huons, the next step is investigating H.C. Clements, and the secret basement, where the nefarious Empress of the Racnoss lurks. Sadly, the undoubtedly impressive design is rather wasted because we rarely get time to think "coo, that's scary". Plus, Sarah Parish is lumbered with cod dialogue delivered in a very dodgy pseudo-Russian (?) accent, which begins to raise some uncomfortable questions. The idea that Lance, the prospective groom, is actually in league with the Racnoss makes for a nice twist (unless you worked it out before the reveal, which I didn't). His reluctance mixed with his making her drinks adds to the development of their characters, and his spirited condemnation of her world allows a rather cheeky bit of audience-kicking. And after all, he is the baddy and he dies, which is rather a clear pointer to what the writer's views actually are, as if we didn't already know. Some have even noted that it's a bit odd that the Webstar resembles the Star of David, given RTD's known atheism and stated disbelief in Father Christmas anyway. But hey... Apart from Lance, the Empress, Donna and the Doctor, there are no characters of any depth, which means these four have to make the most of it, and they do. Don Gilet manages to surpass the limitations of his character to keep things ticking, and Catherine Tate proves surprisingly warm and welcome. It's telling that she manages to get her "emotional journey" complete in the 1 show, whereas her immediate predecessor took 2 series to do hers. Tate gets to show that independent women don't have to be wild feminists or kooky chicks, and is all the better for it. As for the Doctor? Well, he is rather hamstrung by his blubby loss of Rose, which is still as stupid as it was the last time we saw him, but he does his best to help Donna, despite not being given much support in return. He can pop back to the formation of the Earth, zap the roboforms by remote control, and harness the Thames to wash away the infant Racnoss. And he can even make it snow. But he can't persuade Donna to join him, and he can't get over Rose, apparently. That will only harm the character the more it goes on. But on the whole, I rather enjoyed this, and my Dad said it was "quite good", too. |
| Disclaimer: I have watched this story. |