Human Nature

In the early 1990s Virgin books started to publish a range called The New Adventures Of Doctor Who . These so called New Adventures were supposed to continue the saga of DOCTOR WHO the television series but I never ever bought a copy because I didn't consider the range to be canonical and just seemed to be a way of parting fans of their money . They were just glorified fan fiction something I had zero interest . When the BBC confirmed one of the stories of series three was to b an adaptation of Paul Cornell's NA book Human Nature I rolled my eyes : " Couldn't they employ people to write original scripts ? " I asked myself . " Dear oh dear the show won't have long to survive if they've got to do this "

It seems after watching this episode that apologies of some sort are in order to the production team . Far from being a debacle of any sort Cornell and co have crafted a very sophisticated and intelligent piece of fantasy television . Not only that they succeeded in showing why DOCTOR WHO is the most remarkable show in the history of television . unlike the preceding episode 42 Human Nature is entirely original , it doesn't remind you of any story you have ever seen before . It's also an episode full of character development for the Doctor . Nostalgia plays a part too with a quick flashback sequence and a picture book reference to previous Doctors and adventures , along with an in joke to Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert . But perhaps the show's greatest strength is one of imagery and millions of children will never EVER look upon scarecrows in the same way again

There are one or two flaws to the story . One involves internal logic in that if the Doctor trusts Martha so much then why doesn't he let her keep the watch ? Talking of Martha it becomes clear that despite her best efforts Freema Agyeman seems to be spouting dialogue that was originally written for Rose Tyler and just to point out that she's not a lame reference to Martha being black is added . But these are minor flaws in an episode that rightly deserves to be called a classic

I LOVED THIS EPISODE!

It was entrancing. It just had me hanging onto every word when I watched it.

It had been video-taped because I was out on Saturday night so I watched so many times that Sunday and the first time I'm pretty sure the entire village could hear me and my friend scream at the cliffhanger - the only reason I'm not giving it a 10.

That stuff is so frustrating!

I love it when personal touches are added to shows.

This episode was fantastic.

It is definitely among my overall Doctor Who favourites!

Human Nature is a great character episode. It's lighthearted for a while, and then it takes a darker turn. "The Family" had creepy actors and was very unsettling. Martha gets an awesome role, and Nurse Redfern is very likable. David Tennant is at his peak in this two parter. THIS IS DOCTOR WHO AT IT"S FINEST! The cliffhanger is great, and the resolution of the story is perfect. I really loved this episode. I recommend this for a re watch. I don't have much else to say, and I need a line or two more, but this extra portion to the review should just about do it

All superlatives here.

100% 10/10

Human Nature proves that this is still easily the case: being that Tennant is still the best thing to have happened in Doctor Who's relaunch. The episode is one of the few (possibly the only one) to be adapted from a Doctor Who novel; written in the 90s.

Human Nature feels like one of the classic episodes from the series' tenure of the 70s and 80s. It is also a perfectly compatible episode that fits right in with the modern Doctor Who mold. Thomas Brodie-Sangster is great and so is Harry Lloyd (and to think that these two actors would later star in Game of Thrones further down the track). Everyone here brings something good to the table. The scarecrows are scary, the Doctor isn't sure who he really is in this story, and Martha can't get through to him; unless she performs some kind of miracle.

This episode, and its immediate sequel 'The Family of Blood', are easily the finest to have come from the series in 2007; with the obvious exception of the CLASSIC 'Blink'. A great chapter in an all-round great show.

In order to give the slip to some enemies that have him cornered, the Doctor chooses to erase his own memory. Using the old alias of John Smith, he winds up as a teacher in a finishing school in 1913. Now completely human, he must deal with human feelings such as true love. Martha is tasked with keeping an eye on him while the crises passes, but as always with the Doctor's adventures, it's not quite that easy.

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! This is everything a good Doctor Who tale should be, an extremely well-acted, captivating, marvelous story with memorable, suitably threatening villains and no over-reliance on CGI. If the second half holds up as well, it'll be ranked amongst the best episodes of Who in decades.

My Grade: A+