Full Notes: Human Nature | The Family of Blood

The landmark two-parter might be David Tennant's best performance of the whole series.

Plot Summary

Fleeing the merciless Family of Blood, the Doctor hides in human form as a teacher at a British boy’s school at the eve of World War I. But everything is in peril when he encounters the one thing he didn’t count on: love.

Notable for:

• Adaptation of the 1995 NA novel.

• The Doctor mentions his parents are Sydney and Verity, referencing Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert.

• Human Nature marks the first time Paul McGann’s Doctor is acknowledged as canon, via a drawing in John Smith’s Journal of Impossible Things.

• Artist Kellyanne Walker did the illustrations for the prop Journal.

• The production originally wanted to make the Aubertides from the novel work as villains, but decided the “Thing”-like aspects of them weren’t good for the screen.

• Some fans have taken the Chameleon Arch/pocketwatch device as a means to explain why Paul McGann’s Doctor is “half-human,” but none of the other Doctors seem to be.

• Paul Cornell wrote three short stories that function as sequels to this, mostly dealing with the daughter and eventually freeing her from the mirror and returning her to her home planet.

Commentary:

• Well-paced story that really pushes Tennant. He must play the Doctor and Smith differently, but not TOO differently. He really nails the role from the get-go, especially in his amusement at describing his own adventures. His grinning expression while leaning over Joan’s shoulder as she reads the Journal of Impossible Things is perfect, basically saying, “This is so silly, but so fun!”

• When he momentarily reverts to the Doctor’s personality, the difference is stark. His anguish over his need to die, how it wouldn’t even occur to the Doctor that he could love, and his disappointment at that. Perfectly played by Tennant.

• The script does a good job of balancing a fairly accurate depiction of racism toward Martha while also not getting too ugly. I like it because it shows, correctly, that racial hierarchies were essentially “in the air” back then — accepted as the way things were.

• Poor Martha: She’s forced to masquerade as a servant, is badly treated, AND she has to watch the object of her affections fall for another woman. Fortunately, she gets at least one triumphant scene when she shows Joan her medical knowledge. Her counterargument to “you read that in a book,” is perfect — the simple fact that she even knows the name and function of the bones in the hand is evidence enough, at that time anyway, that she’s a doctor. There’s simply no other reason she’d know that.

• Hard to put into words the feeling for a DW fan upon seeing Paul McGann in the Doctor’s journal. It’s great because it’s not a perfect rendering… you have to look at it for a second to get it, but it’s definitely him. And there it is — in a moment, his Doctor is 100% canon. Is every story? That’s another debate…

• The cliffhanger to Human Nature is a cut above because there are layers to it: It seems like the dilemma is which person gets killed, but because the Doctor is still John Smith, the real issue is how will Tim use the watch to get our hero back?

• Credit to Charles Palmer in the use of fish-eye lenses when shooting Baines when he’s an alien. I think he uses it on the others, too, but Harry Lloyd is just such a weird-looking dude that the effect is perfect.

• The scarecrows, apparently inserted because RTD thought the adventure needed a proper monster, are a B-minus. They look creepy, but they conveniently multiply and disappear as needed. Also, their abilities aren’t entirely clear. When Baines rips the arm off one to show the headmaster they’re not human, it seems to show they’re impervious to damage, but then when they’re shot, it apparently causes them enough damage for them to fall. This requires contorting head-canon to explain this: Either the machine guns used here cut the scarecrows to pieces more than is shown OR the Family realizes the girl is better used to get them to surrender — that is, preying on the sympathies of the humans to destroy therm is a better plan. That seems to be what happens since the scarecrows help round up the boys (and there are a lot of them), but where do they go later?

• The scene where the schoolboys are shooting the attacking scarecrows might be the most disturbing image of the whole thing. If the episode has a point to make beyond the excellent Doctor Who story, this is it, though it’s a little confused. Their relief when they realize they haven’t killed anyone is palpable. Then, when confronted with the idea that they need to kill a small girl to win/survive, everyone loses their nerve. Given that the Family then captures the house and is seconds away from executing everyone in it, this is a clear mistake. Only Tim’s actions prevent it from happening. If the story was trying to make the point that no victory is worth killing and losing your innocence… well, I can’t say I agree, at least as depicted. But points for making me think.

• One weakness of the Family is that you don’t get a sense of what they are in their true form. Very little is made of it, and it’s unclear how they physically threaten Baines in the spaceship. How do those little spheres do anything, exactly? It’s not that important — you barely notice that you never see them do anything — but the story also seems to think that gives it license to gloss over the Doctor’s imprisoning of the Family at the end. How does he do all that?

• Speaking of, let’s talk about his torture/imprisonment of the Family. We called this out as one of the Doctor’s cruelest moments (No. 2, and arguably No. 1). Each punishment is oddly personal, and they apparently last forever? Why couldn’t he keep them prisoner just long enough for them to die, which they were going to do anyway? Not only does this seem unusually cruel of the Doctor, but it also suggests he has dozens if not hundreds of these possible punishments in his head, ready to pull out if any alien creature pisses him off. Too Time Lord Victorious, too soon.

• FX: The outline of the ship in the field in particular looks nice — I like how Baines’ touch activates the outline, and how it looks when he steps through the doorway.

• Conversely, the disintegration effects are pretty standard meh. Honestly the CGI FX in Day of the Daleks are better.

• There’s surprisingly little fan service, which is good. The only overt reference is the Sydney/Verity stuff, while the callbacks all work in context (mostly from the journal). And the “girl in every fireplace” is a definite LOL moment.

• Ultimately, this story is about the emotional journey of John Smith and Joan. I don’t think it could work with any other Doctor than Tennant, since he’s such a perfect romantic lead. The Girl in the Fireplace reference is apt — this feels like the grown-up version. The final scene between Tennant and Joan is so powerful and memorable because the story really earns it. The Doctor is alien, but still compassionate. His offer to take Joan with him is so misguided — he feels a connection with her, wants to do right by her, but he also doesn’t fully understand the journey she’s been on. Believable, even as you’re both relieved and angry with him for putting her through this. It’s really amazing how well this works, whether you’re a hardcore or casual fan.

What did Pete’s family think?

• My kids both loved this episode. David Tennant is Grace’s favorite Doctor, and she really liked seeing him play John Smith. At the end of the cliffhanger, Jack remarked how much he loved the storytelling of this era (he does not like the 13th Doctor, which he says ruined the show). He also said it was a “Viscount Banger” as his hot take.

Four Questions to Doomsday

1. Why did the Randomizer take us here? In our recent past — The Myth Makers, The Seeds of Death, Day of the Daleks — the Doctor either does questionable things (disintegrating Ogrons, killing the Ice Warrior fleet) or things he really struggles with (enabling the sacking of Troy). Here he shows both sides: 1) That he can be both merciful (not killing the Family) and merciless (imprisoning them forever). Which is he? Perhaps the Randomizer’s message is that he’s both.
   

   Also: Clearly the Randomizer is taking us to an “adapted” story of Doctor Who because the next NEW story, The Star Beast, is the same. And it’s Tennant AGAIN taking the reins from a previous Doctor. The hog.

2. What if the evil plot had succeeded? Say John Smith isn’t brave and decides to give them the family the watch. They become immortal and, according to Joan, “those creatures would live forever to breed and conquer, for war across the stars for every child.” This seems a reasonable conclusion since they have show unbridled cruelty and sadism. Earth seems destined for destruction/enslavement. Then what, though? It’s unclear what the Family’s ultimate ambitions are beyond living forever. Do they become the new Time Lords since they’re gone at this point? Since Saxon is part of the season’s arc, do Martha and Jack still end up going to the end of the universe to recruit the Master to destroy them? Conquering the universe is his thing, after all.

3. Where's the Clara splinter? She selling balloons and gave one to the little girl! Filling them with helium (not hydrogen), which didn’t actually happen until the 1920s. Gotta keep everyone safe!

4. Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, or Lady Cassandra? I agree with Jack: It’s a Viscount Banger — great villains, huge suspense, and a landmark performance by Tennant. Who could ever forget that final scene with him and Joan? So powerful.