❌(3.8) = VERY BAD!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

I find the pre-titles scene very underwhelming. It should be the last scene of the Christmas special, since it doesn't set up any danger.

It doesn’t take very long until this episode goes into full romance mode between Ten and Rose, and that always rubs me the wrong way. In this one, David Tennant is very unlikeable and smug, and Billie Piper is becoming more unbearable.

I like the production design, which combines very barren 21st-century sets and locations with futuristic, clunky CGI. The production's most successful aspect are the cat nun suits.

Also, I am not the biggest fan of the humoristic bits here (mostly the elevator scene).

Cassandra would not be my first pick of a villain to bring back, but she’s as ridiculously annoying and selfish as we remember her, with a stellar performance from Zoe Wanamaker. Despite not being a major threat, her presence in the story is unnecessary. She’s just here to allow for some body-swap comedy.

New Earth goes for the classic body swap narrative, and while that in itself isn't bad, what makes it so is the fact that first Billie Piper and then David Tennant turn even more unlikeable while possessed by Cassandra. All those scenes are very cringe-inducing (“Ooh, I’m beating out a samba!”), especially the one where they hang around the elevator shaft and Cassandra keeps switching bodies.

The guest characters are pretty awkward as well, chiefly the Duke of New New York as well as Cassandra’s henchman Chip. The cat nuns are intriguing characters, with fine performances.

That snogging scene, followed by "Yeah, still got it," is another example of RTD taking the romance thing too far and creating those Tennant fangirls and fanboys who still haven't accepted the fact that Tennant isn't the Doctor anymore.

The things that work here are the slightly more serious moments, such as the scene where it is revealed that the hospital grows cloned humans and infects them with every known disease to create their miracle cures, which greatly angers the Doctor.

So, the primary threat in this scenario is the presence of diseased zombie people. Although it lacks originality and interest, I believe it's necessary to infuse the second half with basic tension and action.

I sort of like the ending, which settles Cassandra’s story in a nice little way (even if she doesn’t deserve such a dignified ending).

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

• Adjoa Andoh, who performs under heavy make-up as Sister Jatt, also appears in Series 3 as the mother of companion Martha Jones, and has appeared in several Big Finish audios.
• The villain's possession of Rose is a continuation of the Doctor Who tradition of possessed companions.
• For once, the Doctor is allowed to be a proper doctor and cure people.
• The end of this serial teases the next (and final) appearance of the Face of Boe in the Series 3 episode Gridlock, which in turn is part of the Series 3 arc.