Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars

David Tennant and Lindsey Duncan star in "The Waters of Mars"

David Tennant’s song is ending, and he will knock four times. Whether it’s The Doctor that knocks four times is not clear, but one thing’s for certain – the end is definitely near, and the Tenth Doctor’s character arc is being to reach a climatic end. This kicks in with The Waters of Mars, a one-off story which slowly seeds the final two-parter with excellent style. Make no bones about it, what you’re about to read is a glowing review with one of the best episodes of Who since season three…

SPOILER WARNING.

The gist is The Doctor has landed on Mars in 2059, finding the first Earth colony on there. However he finds that he’s part of a huge event in Earth’s history – so big that he possibly can’t change it. But when things get slightly dangerous, the Doctor ends up facing a huge ethical dilemma which could affect the whole of time…

The episode is paced perfectly. Ten minutes in we’ve already got a glimpse of the monsters, met the diverse crew and have an understanding of the situation that the Doctor is in, which leaves for a lot of action, a lot of running and a lot of time to explore the idea of changing history. In fact, The Doctor really doesn’t do much for the first forty minutes except watch and talk about what happens in the future. He also does a bit of running. Not as much as he usually does, but he does some.

But as the final third kicks in, the action increases and the story’s aims are clear: the monsters (as scary as they are) are secondary. The identity and the explanations of what they are never arrive, and the story is all the better for it. There’s some speculation but enough mystery to keep them scary, and for the story to focus on the idea of changing history. The Doctor makes a choice, and his re-appearance on the station is one of the most spine-tingling moments in the show’s history. There’s great dialogue and characterisation as he realises that he’s the only time lord and that he makes the rules, and we get this gem:

“The laws of time are mine, and they will obey me!”

All accumulating in a tense finale with Adelaide and The Doctor as he saves a few crew members’ lives and the idea that he can do what he wants kicks in. Until Adelaide does her own thing to try and keep things on the straight and narrow. In fact Lindsey Duncan manages to hold her own here, proving herself to be the legend that she apparently is. Someone who isn’t infatuated by the Doctor and even goes against him – a nice change that.

It builds to the ending, where The Doctor decides he no-longer wants to die and goes to do something about it. And the audience waits until Christmas Day…