The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances [TV/2005.5.21 ~ 5.28]

★★★★★

  Alongside Dalek and the magnificent two-part finale, it's still my firm belief that the Empty Child two-parter was critical in the longevitiy of the new series of Dr. Who. This is a fantastic television production, whichever aspect you decide to focus on. Set design and location work? Fabulous. Direction? Fantastic. Performances? Extraordinary. Script? Very much understandable how Steven Moffat eventually became showrunner. I'd argue that his success in Dr. Who was solidified with this exact two-parter (or if you really want to be charitable, Continuity Errors from way back which contained so many then-fresh and new ideas; I remember being utterly captivated when I first read the short story, and that was after the new series started). It's clever, almost too clever for its own good (in that it, and its successors of Moffat solo scripts during the Russell T Davies era, got audience expectations as high as they can be for his own showrunnership), and the production steps up to rise to the script's incredible challenge. The result is that you have a two-parter which more than stands the test of time, a television spectacle to be treasured. I still hold the Empty Child two-parter as one of the new series' best adventures, and a tentpole example of Dr. Who firing on all cylinders.

  Look at Christopher Eccleston's performance; he's well and truly the Doctor at this point and no one can tell him otherwise. He's doing his own thing while Rose meets a Captain, investigating weird goings-on and comforting a young woman who tries her best for a ragtag group of orphans. He's a Time Lord with both hearts beating for the downtrodden, trying to survive in their own way during a mad time. Rose is given the opportunity to have some fun while she's in her world's recent past, and she gets to deliver one of the core (quite naughty but in a good way) themes of this adventure: does the Doctor have feelings? Dance at all, engage in a bit of earthly pleasure here and there? The answer Moffat gives is a cheeky "maybe", but we all know this Doctor is a wily old devil (has to be when Moffat's writing him). In any case, some folk might see this as unnecessary in an already well-written narrative, but I appreciate the inclusion and the way it's included seamlessly... in my eyes, anyway. The Doctor/Jack romantic rivalry dynamic is short-lived, but it's still a hilarious one. I think Nine, Rose and Jack are one of my favourite TARDIS teams, from what I've watched and read from them. Jack Harkness is a lasting character for many reasons, the charm and humility that he has which makes him an immediately well-written foil for the Nine/Rose duo. 

  So with incredible production value, fantastic lighting and direction, great performances and a story that's equal parts frightening and heartwarming -- how else can I take this two-parter? The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances remains one of the brightest shining beacons of light of the Russell T Davies era, a story of motherly love and all-too-efficient nanogenes (the reveal remains one of the new series' best after all these years; Steven Moffat really hit a pot of gold with this one) and an inquiry into whether the Doctor has (or ever has the desire to have) sex.