And now for the moment you've all been waiting for...

Impeccable.  There's no other word for it.  Remember how we all felt after Daleks In Manhattan, so cautious not to stamp classic status onto something in case it all went wrong.  Despite the inclusion of more alien possession and armies (which I'm willing to relax about since they seem to be de-facto genre elements now), nothing and no one in this forty-five minutes that is Human Nature put a foot wrong and its sequel, The Family of Blood is going to have to be a real stinker for this not to be listed as one of the greatest television stories of all time.  When the only thing you can find wrong with an episode is a slightly dodgy bit CG scaffolding it's difficult not to simply list everyone who made it happen and drift off into sycophancy so I'll try not to.

Instead I'll attempt to look below the surface and try to find the key to its success.  I think it's that the episode managed to be both traditional and ground-breaking in the same breath, melding traditional expectations and storytelling with contemporary narrative techniques.  An array of characters greeting the threat from various angles before the Doctor becomes involved has been the series narrative stock in trade for decades and works much better here than in the Dalek story because that threat is as much of mystery to us as to Martha ranking up the tension.

"It's the expression of mental imagery from the Tardis console room to the trenches, elegantly showing rather than telling the audience what they need to know."

But within that there were flashes backwards and forwards initially to elegantly explain how The Doctor became John Smith then to articulate the extra perception of the boy with a gift.  Highlander-lite perhaps but its an innovation for this series and welcomed because it gives the show a much higher quality.  It's the expression of mental imagery from the Tardis console room to the trenches, elegantly showing rather than telling the audience what they need to know.  I've been guilty of slapping a cinematic label on some episodes but that was absolutely true here - there's nothing else that looks quite like this on British television right now.

It's a story that's also very aware of the history of the show, both in its new and old form.  Certainly with Paul Cornell writing and Russell T Davies tinkering there can't fail to be something that doesn't resonate with the old guard.  But unlike plonking the Macra in as a joke, the material here looked to the very DNA of the series, with the mention of its creators as literally the mother and father of John Smith and the following image, literally taking a page out of the show's history:

This could have been a picture of the Ninth Doctor only and in middle of everything else in John Smith's dream journal, which given that its filled with references to the new series that's exactly what you'd expect.  Except there's Bill, Sylv, the tops of what look like Pete and Pat's heads and right in the middle Paul.  It's the first time internally within an episode of the new series that the faces of those that came before have been acknowledged and strengthens the continuity and is an expression of the fact that despite the gaps it really is all one story.  This animation shows were the portraits came from (created by someone at Outpost Gallifrey.  Fans, eh?  Cuh).

A glimpse, then it's gone but at least it's there.  And like the re-emergence of Gallifrey at an opportune moment once again you wonder whether it's planting something for the future for the forty-fifth anniversary next year.  The appearance of McGann here once again suggests that if the apparent adversary for the end of the series is he who must be obeyed that his fate in San Francisco might even be referred to.  I know all of this is an over analysis of a single page in a prop artist's fantasy but it just demonstrates the integrity of the episode that such details can send this fan imagination into a spin.

"know all of this is an over analysis of a single page in a prop artist's fantasy but it just demonstrates the integrity of the episode that such details can send this fan imagination into a spin."

This is also the first story that really expresses Clive's warning to Rose about the implications of the Doctor and who he is.  Something that has bubbled under the surface throughout the history of the series is the extent to which the Doctor's appearance in breaking a status quo creates more harm than good, that he does in fact bring death.  Essentially what happens in this episode is that the Tardis deposits him in a place and time to hide him from some monsters who when they arrive vaporize or possess humans in order to get to him - in other words isn't he responsible for their deaths by bringing those monsters here?  Is his protection, his life worth more than theirs?

Questions for next time perhaps.  My feeling is that The Family of Blood will be revealed to be attack dogs for Mr Saxon, like the Headhunter from the BBC7 audios sent into space and time to track him down, a scent created by the phone calls that Martha made home in the previous episodes.  If that's the case it'll be a far more satisfying linking arc than either Bad Wolf or Torchwood ever were.  Actually, I've just had a horrifying thought.  What if Captain Jack is secretly working for Mr Saxon and the fighting hand was another way of homing in on the Doctor when he's in the right century - that he's not simply looking for a reunion with an old friend but following orders?  It'd put a whole new complexion on the past series of Torchwood if that was the case ...

Comments

[MisterBob]

I had several orgasms.

[DamonD]

And then you watched the show *ba-dum tishh*
...I'll get me coat.

Thanks for that animation link, because only now do I realise that's meant to be Big Colin in the bottom-left...with the dark hair I thought it was Pat or Tom.

[Neil]

Squee.

[Stu]

Oh maximum squee. How come my ability to ramble increases with the quality of the episode? Well, at least I tried. Look what happened for 'The Girl In The Fireplace'

http://www.behindthesofa.org.uk/2006/05/a_little_horse.html

Expect a more considered review at the end of the year when I've gained some perspective. But really, truly, maximum squee.

[DamonD]

We're gonna have go right to... ludicrous squee.
(everyone gasps)

[cr]

Am I the only one noticed the meme from the hymn (He Who Would Valiant Be) near the start of the scenes in the school?

"He who would valiant be 'gainst all disaster, let him in constancy FOLLOW THE MASTER".

[Ed]

Could be a coincidence, that. But then again, that _is_ a time rotor / column / whatever running through the middle of the Family's ship, right? It even seems to have a stunted console growing out of the base. Perhaps old pointy beard sold them the tech..? Perhaps after the Doctor manked up the Lazarus experiment, he's sent in 'the boys' to get rid of him.

[John Nor]

Speculation follows (hopefully not generating discussion featuring Spoilers e.g. where people KNOW what happens next - it is a fine line I know.)

Stu - thought-provoking review there as always.

As you say - what was there to find fault with here? Layered and moving perfomances from Freema and Tennant. The production design was amazing, with the fantastical elements echoing appropriately enough writers of the period like H.G. Wells. The guest cast did not put a foot wrong - with Harry Lloyd as the student Jeremy Baines being particularly creepy. The script was brilliant and courageous in its portrayal of an imperfect and flawed Human Doctor condoning beatings and being - yes - a little bit racist.

My thoughts on your last paragraph:

With Elize Du Toit as Sinister Woman in the episode 42 tracking down the Doctor, my thoughts were similar - very like the "Headhunter from the BBC7 audios"!

And The Family of Blood - how does the Doctor describe them?

As Time Agents.

What do they travel about in?

A big invisible spaceship.

When did we last see a Time Agent (from the 51st Century) who travelled about in a big invisible spaceship?

Oh, yeah, the second half of the 2007 Season is launched in style...

One final point - aha so that IS Colin there then (and not Tom or Pat). So - for maximum anorak points: that means the eight Doctors are sketched out in sequence in a double-spiral Seal of Rassilon.

What a fantastic episode.

[The Doctor's Son]

I also spotted that John Smith marries and has a child in the next time trailer. With Smith really being a Time Lord, and Joan being human, does this explain the "half-human on my mother's side" thing? I haven't quite worked out my theory, but the center image of McGann really drew me to it. And the spaceship did seem a little like the TARDIS. If anyone can help me out on the half human theory, please do...

[The Doctor's Son]

I don't know if I'm diving in too deep here, but is Mr Chambers a link from Trial of a Time Lord?

[Rassilon]

"I also spotted that John Smith marries and has a child in the next time trailer. With Smith really being a Time Lord, and Joan being human, does this explain the "half-human on my mother's side" thing?"

My own feelings on that is that it's an alternate timeline offered to Smith, along with the WW1 images if he surrenders the watch & The Doctor. This would replace the alternate timeline of the invasion of Gallifrey from the book.

[Julian Joolz]

"I also spotted that John Smith marries and has a child in the next time trailer."

Do you think if it turns out to be a daughter, he'll name her Susan?

[Susan Foreman]

Susan Smith? Well, for a huge (and probably won't-happen-) twist, how about Sarah-Jane ;)

Sarah-Jane Smith ;)

[TimC]

"My own feelings on that is that it's an alternate timeline offered to Smith, along with the WW1 images if he surrenders the watch & The Doctor."

cf 'The Last Temptation of Christ'.

But if there is a son, my money's on it being called Harold.

[Susan Foreman]

"But if there is a son, my money's on it being called Harold."

My money has to be on "Eric" :P