New Who Review for “Family of Blood”
Posted By Kathleen David on September 8, 2007
Finally they air part two of this on SciFi. I didn’t like where they put the commercial breaks in the action but that’s just me.
I believe if you want to read the original novel, the BBC still has an e-book version up on their site for download.
This one rocked my socks and is still one of my favorites of the season. Strong acting and a strong script with good casting equals a show that I watched more than once which I can’t say for the previous episodes this season. There was only one other episode that I did that for and it will be later in the season.
Yes, I did hear about the hiatus on the show but notice that the BBC has said there would be several specials in 2009 so we are not going to be without.
Next week “Blink” which you do have to watch carefully or you will miss something.
Spoilers behind the cut and in the comments.
I am grateful that we will have some Doctor Who in 2009.
I really feel that “Being Human” is the set up for “Family of Blood” and the conflict within that is set up with the Doctor and John Smith. And Mr. Tennant played it beautifully. The scene in the farmhouse where they finally have the watch and Martha is begging him to change back is just a brilliant piece of work all the way around. I swear I watched just that scene a dozen times. And there is a choice to be made by John Smith even in the face of total destruction of his village and possibly him. But somewhere deep inside he makes the call that needs to be made.
The Family itself was creepy and unearthly so kudos to each actor for that. The fact that the end turns on itself and you find out that the Doctor was not running from them out of fear but of pity really changes the tone to the whole story. They got eternal life but on his terms not theirs.
Martha had to really step up to the plate here being the only person who really knew what was going on with the exception of who pinched the watch. She has to convince everyone that she is not crazy and does know what is best for all parties involved.
Then there is poor Joan who learns that the man she fell in love with is a facade. I know a number of women who can relate to that. But she still knows in her heart of hearts that Martha is right and they do need the Doctor.
And the ending at the war memorial did bring a tear to my eye.
An excellent episode, though I’d rather have had it broadcast together than having to wait.
DT was fantastic in this one.
Oh,i call this one a three cryer….i didn’t just cry at the end but in two other places as well. And, as much as i love the Dalek, i have to say that this was the best one this season!
The Ninth and Tenth Doctors have been rather more hard-ášš in dealing with Bad Guys than i recall previous Doctors being – the end of this story is genuinely creepy, in keeping with the setup.
And, indeed, when watching “Blink”, the viewer is well-advised to take to heart the same important advice given the characters – *don’t* blink. (On-line reviews of “Blink” tend to have titles like “From behind the sofa”, referring to the traditional method used by thousands of kids for watching the scarier episodes of the original series. And deservedly so.)
Did you know that those were actually actors in makeup/appliances, rather than CGI or other SFX?
Being the nit-picking so and so that i am, i submitted a “goof” item to IMDB.com about “Being Human”/”Family of Blood” (that doesn’t seem to have been posted; got to resubmit), pointing out that the little girl’s balloon would be impossible in 1913, because even if that much helium had been available for kids’ toys only 18 years after the stuff was discovered, natural rubber balloons won’t hold it long. And i, personally, wouldn’t give a little girl a balloon that big filled with hydrogen…
The thing about the ballon though, in the novel it is more than just a ballon it’s also a weapin, and it’s appearnce in the tv series are a hangover from that.
Why do you refer to the first part as “Being Human” when it is listed as “Human Nature”? I did just check right now and the original novel is available on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/human_nature/
You can read in directly online or as a pdf or pda. There is a whole page online where Paul Cornell talks about adapting the novel for TV. There is a lot of interesting stuff on that page. I just listened to the commentary, which was quite interesting. Some of what Paul Cornell says on the adapting page he mentions during the commentary. They also mention that at first the whole two episodes was going to be completely without CGI, but then came the rayguns, but I think those are one of the few exceptions.
Neil
Mike Weber wrote, “The Ninth and Tenth Doctors have been rather more hard-ášš in dealing with Bad Guys than i recall previous Doctors being.”
The 7th Doctor tricked Davros into using the Hand of Omega, which, following pre-programmed instructions, destroyed Skaro, the Daleks’ home planet. He also destroyed a Cyber fleet, with unwitting help from the Cybermen themselves.
And, of course, he trapped Fenric in that flask all those centuries ago (unless, of course, the Doctor did that in a previous incarnation).
As to “Family of Blood”, I liked it a lot. One couldn’t help but feel sorry for John Smith, a man who wanted to live a normal life, but couldn’t, because he didn’t exist beyond some false memories and behavior patterns.
But then, as the Fifth Doctor said, “a man is the sum of his memories.”
What makes you the person you are? If you suffer a major head injury which results in a complete change in your personality, are you still you? Was Ronald Reagan still Ronald Reagan after Alzheimer’s robbed him of his memories of himself and his family? The possibility that the answer is “no” especially makes Alzheimer’s scary to me. Again, quoting the Fifth Doctor, it’s as if someone’s being “whittled away, piece by piece.”
If your memories are somehow permanently replaced with fictional ones– ones in which you’re not ______, but “John Smith” (or “Joan Smith”, as the case may be), does that mean _______ is dead, even though your body still lives? I find such questions, whether dealing with real-life situations or fictional ones, fascinating (and at times disturbing) from a philosophical point of view.
It would appear the Doctor forgot two things when he became Human. First, to instruct Martha not to let him fall in love; second, to make sure his Human persona knew, on some level, that his “life” would be a short one, and thus would accept when it was time to go. What if John Smith really had decided to stay John Smith? That would have messed up the Doctor’s plans.
(Which makes me wonder: In Total Recall was some portion of Houser’s persona still there, buried deep inside Quaid? If so– and assuming it could know what Quaid did and thought– how would it feel about the fact that the Quaid persona was going to stay. Not too happy, I’d imagine.)
David Tennant did a fine job in differentiating between the two characters, especially in terms of body language. The way he carries himself as the Doctor is different than the way he did so as John Smith. For example, the way the Doctor stands when he comes into the farmhouse near the end of the episode. John Smith never stood in such a pose. Unless I missed it.
Now, I saw both this episode and part of the previous one– which I thought which I thought was called “Human Nature”, not “Being Human”– on videotape, as I don’t have cable; and, in point of fact my resource only caught the second half of “Human Nature” (or “Being Human”, as the case may be) on tape. So, I didn’t immediately realize the Doctor wasn’t the Doctor. One of the first scenes I saw was the one with John Smith and Timothy, where Timothy steals the pocket watch. At that point, I thought the Doctor was pretending to be a teacher. It wasn’t until Martha confronted him later in the episode (or when she was in the TARDIS reviewing his message, whichever scene came first) that I realized he wasn’t playing a part.
What does that failure to catch on– even though I did come into the story in the middle– mean? Were David Tennant’s mannerisms more Doctor-like in the first part than in the second, or did I just fail to observe that he carried himself differently?
(For that matter, I wonder how many people take into account an actor’s body language when watching his or her performance. Presumably, Patrick Stewart would carry himself differently in the role of Capt. Picard– a leadership position– than he would if playing, say, a small town dentist. But how many people would notice if this hypothetical dentist took slower steps than Picard does, or slouched a bit, or had other such physical differences?)
Or perhaps neither applies. After all, it wasn’t until “Family of Blood” (well, beginning with the last scene of “Human Nature”, actually) that John Smith really has to deal with the fact that he is a fiction. Subsequently we see him go through most of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages on dealing with death and dying (we never actually see the acceptance stage, but do see anger, bargaining and denial (I forget what the fourth is)). Would the Doctor go through such stages if his life were coming to an end, and he knew regeneration wouldn’t be an option, for whatever reason? Possibly, but he wouldn’t display it as strongly, and would mask (most of) it with bravado.
I wonder, though, if someone were shown a videotape of a few minutes of “Human Nature/Being Human” that featured David Tennant without either Freema Agyeman or the TARDIS or any SF elements in that (those) scene(s), would they think, “oh, Doctor Who,” or that they were watching a period movie/TV show in which Tennant appeared?
Rick
I’ve been filing most of the season up to this point as “okay”, but Lisa and I finally got to catch up and watch both halves of this two-parter last night.
Ho. Lee. Crap.
Boy, that was good stuff. I liked virtually everything about it — Tennant really got to stretch himself (even if he did get the now-standard scream in part one), the kid playing Tim Lattimer was astonishingly good, “John Smith”‘s predicament really hits hard, the ending is alternately brutal and very touching … boy, this was nice stuff.
I’ve wondered all season if anything was going to be worth a Hugo nomination, let alone an award. Now I know. I’d put this up there with the best of the previous two seasons, possibly the best story I’ve yet seen of the Tennant run.
Lisa wondered about halfway through part one if “the Family” was actually Slitheen out for revenge about Margaret two years ago. I said, “if so, then for once they’ve managed to actually make them creepy.”
And Craig mentioned in the thread on part one that he hated the performance of Bains once he’d been taken over. Just curious, Craig — did you feel the same way during part two? I didn’t have the same distaste you did in part one, but I can see where people would have. In part two I thought he was tons better.
TWL
By the way, as I watched the WWI scenes (both Lattimer’s premonitions and the siege of the school meant to evoke WWI), I found myself recalling a song I probably haven’t heard in over a decade … Sting’s “The Children’s Crusade.”
======
The children of England would never be slaves
They’re trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation…
(and so on)
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Am I the only one who this happened to?
TWL
I feel fortunate now that I waited to watch the whole thing in one sitting.
Kudos to Jessica Hynes. This was the first time I’d seen her in a dramatic role. (I adore her as Daisy on “Spaced”.) She did a fantastic job.
Tim Lynch wrote “the kid playing Tim Lattimer was astonishingly good”
Thomas Sangster is a very good young actor. Check him out in LOVE ACTUALLY or NANNY MCPHEE.