Doctor Who - "The Doctor Dances"

WHOSCALE: 9.5 OUT OF 10

As with most of Moffat's stories, this two-parter didn't leave a single minute uncontributive to the initial plotline. In fact, we as the viewers were eager to get to the bottom of the gas mask plague, and Moffat in turn kept the focus of the episode on that objective.

Once again I can find little to complain about when you stack this one up beside the standards set by the original Doctor Who. Moffat seemed to ignore the requisites of modern-day science fiction, and more or less "do his own thing" with this one. While Davies seemed to tell stories directing viewers' attentions to the characters, the way Moffat went about telling and unfolding this story (perhaps because it was spread thickly over two 45 minute episodes) seemed almost parallel to that of the original series. The Doctor continued to be the Time Lord we remember from the original series - picking up clues here and there and then "putting the pieces together" in his head. Like the Doctor often did, in this story, the Doctor had more or less worked out for himself what was going on, but chose not to share it with anyone until he had gathered enough substantial evidence to support his theory.

Once the Doctor's theory is confirmed is generally when the backdrop of the story is revealed to the audience - in this case being in the old abandoned railway station when we discover that Nancy is in fact the young child's mother. Moffat also demonstrates that he leaves no "loose ends" untied with the closure of his plots. Throughout "The Empty Child," Moffat raised a number of questions that viewers were intended to be asking themselves, but always takes time (so that answers aren't rushed) to answer them all - even the insignificant ones - gradually over the latter half of this second part.

The problem is solved logically, scientifically, and requires no gaping holes in the fabric of space/time or the waving of a magic wand. Instead, the nanogenes read Nancy's DNA as the "parent DNA," and thus all affected humans fall into the "inconsistent" category again, so the nanos go about repairing the damage they were responsible for in the beginning.

The TARDIS crew is saved by Jack only moments before the bomb intended to land on the crash site explodes. The Doctor materializes the TARDIS inside Jack's ship so that Jack can be saved, and thus the last fire Moffat started with "The Empty Child" is put out, and the Doctor and Rose - along with a new TARDIS member - are off to more adventure.

Once again, the incidental music of this episode was subtle and not overwhelmingly orchestrated, giving a sense of the original series.

I admit I'm partial to Moffat's flavor of Doctor Who writing - because it's so close to that of Robert Holmes and Terry Nation - but if I had to voice a complaint with this Moffat masterpiece, it would be the title of the episode. I'm not particularly fond of titling episodes in regards to a minor element of the overall episode. Personally, I still wait for the day when the new Doctor Who will return to the serialized "Part One, Part Two" format of the old. I think this episode could have done just as well as "The Empty Child, Part Two." Other than that, a well-written, well-produced episode. Without a doubt this two-parter is the closest any of the Eccleston episodes got to the traditional flavor of the original series.