2.1: New Earth
Synopsis: The Doctor takes Rose to New Earth, twenty-odd years after the events of The End of the World. In hospital, they get separated and individually doused with a disinfectant shower. Rose promptly gets lost and lured by Lady Cassandra and her assistant, Chip. She squeezes her consciousness into Rose's mind and takes over her actions, determined to work out what strangeness is going on in the hospital and how she can use it to her advantage.
Doctor and Cassandra (in Rose's body) discover that the nurses have a cure for everything because they have created a research farm with thousands of humans, infected with every disease in existence. When Cassandra is unable to blackmail the nurses, she releases all of the infected who begin wandering about the hospital like zombies, but one touch would spread their diseases. Due to the Doctor's threats, Cassandra body-hops several times, including into an infected patient. Cassandra takes Rose again, but begins to show some humanity for the first time, realising the sadness and despair experienced by the patients.
The Doctor gathers together the various intravenous solutions used to treat all the diseases and feeds them into the disinfectant shower. He invites some of the infected into the spray, and their touch becomes the cure. They spread the cure, becoming "new life forms."
Back in the main ward, the Doctor finds the Face of Boe and asks if there is anything he'd like to reveal. He tells the Doctor that they will meet again one more time, and that the message can wait. Cassandra hops into Chip's body, and at long last, accepts death.
Golden Comic Moment: The rampant cringeworthy moments can be forgiven for the truly surprising comic ingenuity in this episode. This is the funniest story since Stephen Moffat's first writing foray into the series, and most of the comedy is owed to Billie Piper. From the moment when Cassandra's mind leaves the bubbly jar, Rose's voice absolutely disappears and Cassandra's is what we hear. "It's like living inside a bouncy castle!" she exclaims as she hops up and down in Rose's body. As Cassandra might say, from brass to class, Billie Piper is now playing a character who is slippery and posh, and we are never at a loss to know which consciousness is driving Rose's body, even as Cassandra begins body hopping every few minutes.
Though David Tennant is no slouch at playing Cassandra either. Her silky, delighted comments about being for the first time in the body of a man with its parts hardly used, and her discovery that he has two hearts, "Beating out a Samba!" are immortal, and usually cited as some of Tennant's funniest work on the series. Though we would argue that the best of the Doctor-as-Cassandra fodder comes when, after having been in Rose's mind, Cassandra points out that he's "A little bit foxy," then teases Rose, "You've been looking! You like it!"
But laughs aside, we will cite Rose-as-Cassandra as more Golden than the Doctor-as-Cassandra. This is simply because both Billie and David prove to be so good in these moments, but we already knew that David Tennant was an accomplished actor - no surprises there. But Billie Piper? That girl who sang Because We Want To? Who knew?
Also, we like to give her what's due to her when we can because we are so often unkind to her where season 2 is concerned..
Golden Fangirl Moment: Okay, okay, we know. But how can we not cite that kiss as the Golden Fangirl Moment? One of the reasons why it doesn't irritate us as drippy Doctor/Rose padding is that it's not, in fact, Rose kissing the Doctor, and there is no lingering, no discussion, no overly-pleased exchange of smiles. Cassandra just plants one on him and then walks away all hot and bothered.
But even better is his droopy-eyed, mussed-hair assertion to himself, "Yep, still got it." Well, indeed, he does "have it," doesn't he? It's worth mentioning, though, that the Tenth Doctor, in his brand new skin, is saying "still got it," when the Doctor hasn't even begun to find his full mojo yet! DWM did a tally, and the Tenth Doctor, in his 3-year (and some change) run, got more lip-action than all of the other nine combined! This was merely the first. Perhaps its worthy of a fangirl squee simply because it's the moment when the man in pinstripes begins to experience his own consdierable appeal.
Cringeworthy Moment: The first few minutes right after the Doctor and Rose step off the TARDIS into the apple grass, until they go to the hospital... *shudder*. The "New New" Doctor and his companion display the first not-so-subtle hints of the drippy sweetness which would, in a manner of speaking, drive them to that hideous split at the end of series 2. We've seen Rose take the Doctor's arm before, but never has he looked back at her and wrinkled his nose in an uncontrollably adolescent grin. And is it her haircut that's making her coquettish? Because suddenly when she tells the Doctor she loves travelling with him, and marvels at how different he is, it sounds like she's about to slither up his trouser leg.
Admittedly, though, they have reverted to form once inside the hospital when Rose seems genuinely offended that the Doctor has summed her up, with a bit of disdain, as "All pink and yellow." Though it is, like everything else they do together, said with a measure of affection.
Golden Moment: Cassandra's claim to fame is being the last human in existence. But her argument falls apart on New Earth, as Rose points out, because there are millions of humans there. Cassandra calls them "mutant stock." Rose responds, "They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. You stayed still, you got yourself all pickled and preserved. And what good did it do you?"
If New Earth is going to be seen as a sequel to The End of the World (as it often is), then it is fitting that Rose should lecture Cassandra once more on humanity, and not just being human. A real intelligent species grows, changes, learns from its mistakes, gets better and finds itself different for the good. Our Golden Moment back then was Rose's understanding of the impact of being five billion years in her future and the only human being around. Now, one year later, she is well-travelled and understands the impact, but is not jaded nor spoiled nor any less human for it. In the very few minutes in which Rose gets to be herself without the influence of the Doctor, we see that Cassandra really ought to aspire to be a human like Rose.
Why I Beg to Differ: The scene in which the Doctor and Rose are doused with the disinfectant shower, and their disparate reactions, is that which DWM calls the Golden Moment. It is called thus because it is the solution to the conflict hidden in plain sight. A deceptively silly scene becomes the very thing which later drives the drama and beauty in the climax of the story.
From a storytelling standpoint, that's a valid reason. But in a story filled with such questions of humanity and ethics, there is so much more to choose from! Throughout most of the story, Cassandra is controlling Rose simply because she wants to be human again, but she no longer has any clue what that means. In order to get what she wants, she squashes everything about Rose that is essentially human, and all it brings for her is trouble. Rose, the chav-tastic child with the nice rear bumper turns out to be much more learned and wise than the noblewoman who has lived for thousands of years.
This is such a fundamental truth from which we can all learn. Listen to the children sometime. You know, the ones who seem to know nothing?
Doctor and Cassandra (in Rose's body) discover that the nurses have a cure for everything because they have created a research farm with thousands of humans, infected with every disease in existence. When Cassandra is unable to blackmail the nurses, she releases all of the infected who begin wandering about the hospital like zombies, but one touch would spread their diseases. Due to the Doctor's threats, Cassandra body-hops several times, including into an infected patient. Cassandra takes Rose again, but begins to show some humanity for the first time, realising the sadness and despair experienced by the patients.
The Doctor gathers together the various intravenous solutions used to treat all the diseases and feeds them into the disinfectant shower. He invites some of the infected into the spray, and their touch becomes the cure. They spread the cure, becoming "new life forms."
Back in the main ward, the Doctor finds the Face of Boe and asks if there is anything he'd like to reveal. He tells the Doctor that they will meet again one more time, and that the message can wait. Cassandra hops into Chip's body, and at long last, accepts death.
Golden Comic Moment: The rampant cringeworthy moments can be forgiven for the truly surprising comic ingenuity in this episode. This is the funniest story since Stephen Moffat's first writing foray into the series, and most of the comedy is owed to Billie Piper. From the moment when Cassandra's mind leaves the bubbly jar, Rose's voice absolutely disappears and Cassandra's is what we hear. "It's like living inside a bouncy castle!" she exclaims as she hops up and down in Rose's body. As Cassandra might say, from brass to class, Billie Piper is now playing a character who is slippery and posh, and we are never at a loss to know which consciousness is driving Rose's body, even as Cassandra begins body hopping every few minutes.
Though David Tennant is no slouch at playing Cassandra either. Her silky, delighted comments about being for the first time in the body of a man with its parts hardly used, and her discovery that he has two hearts, "Beating out a Samba!" are immortal, and usually cited as some of Tennant's funniest work on the series. Though we would argue that the best of the Doctor-as-Cassandra fodder comes when, after having been in Rose's mind, Cassandra points out that he's "A little bit foxy," then teases Rose, "You've been looking! You like it!"
But laughs aside, we will cite Rose-as-Cassandra as more Golden than the Doctor-as-Cassandra. This is simply because both Billie and David prove to be so good in these moments, but we already knew that David Tennant was an accomplished actor - no surprises there. But Billie Piper? That girl who sang Because We Want To? Who knew?
Also, we like to give her what's due to her when we can because we are so often unkind to her where season 2 is concerned..
Golden Fangirl Moment: Okay, okay, we know. But how can we not cite that kiss as the Golden Fangirl Moment? One of the reasons why it doesn't irritate us as drippy Doctor/Rose padding is that it's not, in fact, Rose kissing the Doctor, and there is no lingering, no discussion, no overly-pleased exchange of smiles. Cassandra just plants one on him and then walks away all hot and bothered.
But even better is his droopy-eyed, mussed-hair assertion to himself, "Yep, still got it." Well, indeed, he does "have it," doesn't he? It's worth mentioning, though, that the Tenth Doctor, in his brand new skin, is saying "still got it," when the Doctor hasn't even begun to find his full mojo yet! DWM did a tally, and the Tenth Doctor, in his 3-year (and some change) run, got more lip-action than all of the other nine combined! This was merely the first. Perhaps its worthy of a fangirl squee simply because it's the moment when the man in pinstripes begins to experience his own consdierable appeal.
Cringeworthy Moment: The first few minutes right after the Doctor and Rose step off the TARDIS into the apple grass, until they go to the hospital... *shudder*. The "New New" Doctor and his companion display the first not-so-subtle hints of the drippy sweetness which would, in a manner of speaking, drive them to that hideous split at the end of series 2. We've seen Rose take the Doctor's arm before, but never has he looked back at her and wrinkled his nose in an uncontrollably adolescent grin. And is it her haircut that's making her coquettish? Because suddenly when she tells the Doctor she loves travelling with him, and marvels at how different he is, it sounds like she's about to slither up his trouser leg.
Admittedly, though, they have reverted to form once inside the hospital when Rose seems genuinely offended that the Doctor has summed her up, with a bit of disdain, as "All pink and yellow." Though it is, like everything else they do together, said with a measure of affection.
Golden Moment: Cassandra's claim to fame is being the last human in existence. But her argument falls apart on New Earth, as Rose points out, because there are millions of humans there. Cassandra calls them "mutant stock." Rose responds, "They evolved, Cassandra. They just evolved, like they should. You stayed still, you got yourself all pickled and preserved. And what good did it do you?"
If New Earth is going to be seen as a sequel to The End of the World (as it often is), then it is fitting that Rose should lecture Cassandra once more on humanity, and not just being human. A real intelligent species grows, changes, learns from its mistakes, gets better and finds itself different for the good. Our Golden Moment back then was Rose's understanding of the impact of being five billion years in her future and the only human being around. Now, one year later, she is well-travelled and understands the impact, but is not jaded nor spoiled nor any less human for it. In the very few minutes in which Rose gets to be herself without the influence of the Doctor, we see that Cassandra really ought to aspire to be a human like Rose.
Why I Beg to Differ: The scene in which the Doctor and Rose are doused with the disinfectant shower, and their disparate reactions, is that which DWM calls the Golden Moment. It is called thus because it is the solution to the conflict hidden in plain sight. A deceptively silly scene becomes the very thing which later drives the drama and beauty in the climax of the story.
From a storytelling standpoint, that's a valid reason. But in a story filled with such questions of humanity and ethics, there is so much more to choose from! Throughout most of the story, Cassandra is controlling Rose simply because she wants to be human again, but she no longer has any clue what that means. In order to get what she wants, she squashes everything about Rose that is essentially human, and all it brings for her is trouble. Rose, the chav-tastic child with the nice rear bumper turns out to be much more learned and wise than the noblewoman who has lived for thousands of years.
This is such a fundamental truth from which we can all learn. Listen to the children sometime. You know, the ones who seem to know nothing?