The Runaway Bride by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Euros Lyn

 

“The Runaway Bride” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble with Sarah Parish as the Empress, Don Gilet as Lance Bennett, and Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble.  It was written by: Russell T. Davies and directed by: Euros Lyn with Simon Winstone as Script Editor, Phil Collinson as Producer, and Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner as Executive Producers.  It was originally broadcast on Monday 25 December 2006 on BBC One.

 

When planning the second series of Doctor Who Russell T. Davies had to incorporate an extra episode into the series in the form of a Christmas Special.  This episode would become “The Christmas Invasion” which already added a gap into the original thirteen-episode plan, but other gaps would be created after the development of “The Runaway Bride”.  Davies originally intended the episode to take the sixth slot in the second series, inspired by the idea of having the TARDIS take part in a car chase, something that could only be effectively portrayed with 21^st century special effects.  Initial outlines would have a bride transported into the TARDIS that the Doctor and Rose would have had to investigate, however, before scripting could begin Doctor Who was renewed for a third series and second Christmas Special.  Knowing that Billie Piper would be leaving the series and Davies intended an emotional exit, he made the decision to use the lighthearted premise of “The Runaway Bride” as a Christmas special, helped by the wedding setting being inherently jovial.  Catherine Tate was already a successful comedian and was tapped to play the Bride while the Bride’s mother was played by Doctor Who fan Jacqueline King, named Donna and Sylvia Noble respectively in the script.  Both actresses were designed to be one-off appearances, with no further plans for the characters to return.  In hindsight, this is an integral aspect for understanding why Davies characterized Donna and Sylvia in a very one-note way, playing on the comedic chops of both Tate and King because this is meant to be generally light-hearted.  Direction was assigned to Euros Lyn and the episode was given its dedicated production block, filming on it (and thus the third series of Doctor Who) began in July 2006.

 

“The Runaway Bride” was set up in the closing moments of “Doomsday”, but the opening sequence was extended and reshot for the episode to show Donna walking down the aisle to be married before being transported to the TARDIS (plus another version of the zoom in to Earth from space).  This opening scene introduces the new lighting scheme of the TARDIS, gone are the general greens of the console room outside of the central time rotor and console, in are a yellow/brown hue to the rest of the room which is generally something I’m not a fan of.  The darker lighting assisted with the character of the set and in the brighter lighting, while it allows the actors to be seen easier, loses some of the mystery and wonder of the set that the first two series captured quite well.  There aren’t many scenes in the TARDIS outside of the opening or the genuinely great car chase where Donna takes a taxi where the driver has been replaced by a robot Santa.  Much of the episode is shot on location in London and in the studio for the lair of the villainous Racnoss, an alien spider-like empress played by Sarah Parrish from before the formation of the Earth who in a great twist has been working with Lance, played by Don Gilet, to take over the world with her many children, feeding Donna huon particles over the months of their relationship to act as food for the baby Racnoss.

 

While dark on paper, the episode plays this for laughs with Donna being the one to force herself on Lance, finding connection when he offers to make her a coffee one day, the office romance being pushed by her.  This is a series of jokes that generally hasn’t aged well, while not terrible, there are some undertones of jokes based in nagging to achieve consent and a relationship status.  The entire characterization of Donna on the whole is also kind of basic, mainly playing on Tate’s comedic stylings which are great when Tate is allowed to have quieter scenes but many of her scenes just push Donna to be loud and in places emotionally manipulative, playing these scenes for comedy when there’s already plenty of comedy to be derived from the absurdity of the scenario.  Catherine Tate does have excellent chemistry with David Tennant which is something that Davies would not forget when planning future series, and her appearance here also is the first in a series of special guest stars for special episodes that would get the co-starring credit.  David Tennant as the Doctor also gets to have a great time during the plot, using much of it to imply moving on from Rose, the final message in “Doomsday” giving the character a sense of closure.  He is ready to offer Donna a place on the TARDIS, something she rejects in a touching scene.  Sarah Parrish is also just beautifully campy in her villainous role which adds to the enjoyment of an otherwise average episode.

 

Overall, “The Runaway Bride” is a fairly good romp and a nice breath of air after the melodrama of “Doomsday”.  It’s an episode where you can tell Davies is no longer feeling the pressure of providing a satisfying follow-up to the first series while introducing the new Doctor, so it opts to just being a fairly fun little special episode.  The humor hasn’t aged well and the characterization of the supporting characters are especially one-note, but this was designed as a one-off so that doesn’t completely ruin the episode.  Euros Lyn has fun with the direction of the action sequences and the villain herself being a feat of costuming and puppetry, the performance coming through the very heavy makeup.  It’s a generally fun time but not much more than that.  6/10.