Human Nature & The Family of Blood by: Paul Cornell and directed by: Charles Palmer

 

“Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” stars David Tennant as the Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones with Jessica Hynes as Joan Redfern, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Tim Latimer, Harry Lloyd as Jeremy Baines/Son of Mine, Rebekah Staton as Jenny/Mother of Mine, Gerard Horan as Mr. Clark/Father of Mine, and Lor Wilson as Lucy Cartwright/Daughter of Mine.  They were written by: Paul Cornell based on his novel Human Nature and directed by: Charles Palmer with Lindsey Alford as Script Editor, Susie Liggat as Producer, and Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, and Phil Collinson as Executive Producers.  They were originally broadcast on Saturdays from 26 May to 2 June 2007 on BBC One.

 

Almost immediately after production wrapped on “Father’s Day”, with Russell T. Davies outlining the plots for the two next series of Doctor Who, Davies asked Paul Cornell to look back on Human Nature, a New Adventures novel published in 1995 for the pivotal two-part story in the third series.  Cornell regarded the novel as one of his best, something Davies heavily agreed with, both men wishing to explore in the new series the idea of the Doctor becoming human and setting up that aspect for the series overall.  Cornell initially wished to make a loose adaptation of the novel, though still in two parts with the title Human Nature, but Davies requested a more faithful adaptation, though not without integral changes to the plot and the characters so while the plot premise and structure are the same, there are plenty of differences between the television episodes and the novels.  From changing the characters at the school, eliminating much of the novel’s more expansive supporting cast (the deletion of Alexander Shuttleworth was always quite sad for my viewings), changing the villains from the Aubertides to the Family of Blood (“The Family of Blood” becoming the title of the second episode), and the plot resolution.  In preparation for this review, while I have written a review of the novel Human Nature and indeed reviewed the episodes immediately afterwards, I made the decision to avoid rereading the novel and just take the adaptation on its own.  The two-parter was assigned to director Charles Palmer, the second production block helmed by Palmer as the sixth production block, being made in parallel with the fifth production block (the Doctor-light production block of “Blink”).  Phil Collinson, who had served as producer for every episode of the revised series thus far, stepped into the role of executive producer to take a small break and was replaced for this production block by Susie Liggat.

 

The two-part story, perhaps because it is adapted from a New Adventures novel, feels very much like a classic Doctor Who four-part story constructed and presented as two.  The cliffhanger of “Human Nature” where the Family of Blood threaten companion Marhta Jones and lover of John Smith, Joan Redfern played by Jessica Hynes, is the point where the focus of the story turns and at approximately the halfway point of the episode there is a monster reveal of the family taking over Jeremy Baines played by Harry Lloyd, which would act as a traditional end of episode one cliffhanger.  Much of “Human Nature” works because of how much focus is placed on David Tennant’s portrayal of John Smith.  While his usual portrayal of the Doctor is generally a more human of the Doctor, Smith here becomes more of a man of the time which is a subtle change in the performance from Tennant, though something is sadly lost by the Tenth Doctor not being nearly as alien in mannerisms.  Tennant plays the romance between Smith and Joan Redfern incredibly well, however, several scenes being setup of that romance through discussions of Smith’s past and Redfern’s lost husband, musings on war and the fear of whatever the next war would be.  Smith had also been journaling his subconscious memories as the Doctor and because of this there is technically a premonition of the incoming Great War, a war only a year away, though not something that the Doctor experienced, himself.

 

John Smith’s outbursts at Martha, who is cast as one of Smith’s maids, are also fascinating but not as far out of character for the Tenth Doctor who has already treated Martha terribly with slightly more subtlety throughout the rest of the series.  Cornell frames this as something new that Martha is dealing with, though the Doctor not preparing for falling in love with Joan feels like a holdover from the novel where the Seventh Doctor wouldn’t prepare to fall in love.  The Tenth Doctor already has fallen in love and knows that it is very much a possibility for this particular Doctor.  “Human Nature” is also an episode that generally feels as if it’s an episode that underran slightly, the pre-credits sequence while being a good hook of establishing the Doctor and Martha on the run, however the same sequence is replayed later in the episode in flashback where it’s far more effective in conveying both the information and the danger the Doctor and Martha were in.   Harry Lloyd in this first episode is the main member of the Family of Blood as Son of Mine taking over the body of Jeremy Baines.  Baines is already a racist, insulting Martha explicitly for the color of her skin, and a general bully to those below him, he and the other boys bully Tim Latimer played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, these cruelties being brought out in the performance once his body is taken over by Son of Mine.  There’s also this fascinating tick used in each of the members of the Family of exaggerated sniffs to try and smell the Doctor.  Palmer never shows what their natural forms are which is a perfect choice, leaving it up to the imagination of the viewer based on the way the sniffing shots are actually framed, from a very low angle exaggerating the noses and faces in an almost alien manner.  “Human Nature” is just a brilliant piece of setup despite underrunning and not quite making full use of the Doctor being human due to the nature of the Tenth Doctor.  9/10.

 

“The Family of Blood” actually does more to make John Smith feel more unlike the Doctor.  While “Human Nature” had a scene of Smith teaching the boys to arm themselves, the first action set piece of “The Family of Blood”, after the dance at the village hall is scattered, Smith and the headmaster arm the boys to essentially be slaughtered.  This is perhaps the one act that is completely out of character for the Doctor, and as such is one that makes Smith actually seem human.  That and his selfishness at the climax of the episode where he has to be convinced to open the watch and become the Doctor again, in a very heartfelt sequence that flashes forward to the potential future Smith would have had with Joan.  The flash forward is quick, but it’s a long and happy life with a traditional family.  Cornell accentuates this with the final moments of the Doctor asking Joan to travel with him and Martha, Joan refusing because the Doctor is not John Smith and never could be in a powerhouse performance from Tennant and Hynes.  Joan is also fascinating as she is allowed to be an incredibly flawed character, living in a very bigoted time and while on the surface being tolerant, she does tolerate Martha, but fully believes in much of the bigotry under the surface and is perfectly content in the societal privilege.  It makes her a fascinating character, and while the Doctor inviting her to travel in time and space is controversial, it’s hardly out of character for him, especially the Tenth Doctor who earlier this season believed fully that Martha could just walk around Elizabethan London as if she owned the place and would be fine.

 

The Family of Blood gets the most time to shine in this second episode where their actual danger is revealed.  The idea of them animating scarecrows as essentially immortal soldiers makes the danger come further into clarity and the way Palmer shoots the scarecrows, performed to walk with an unnatural swinging gait, is fascinating.  Scarecrows already have their place in horror due to the uncanny valley of being a facsimile of a man, but these are designed to be in this very dark blue while the heads have these stitched on smiles and eyes which add to the general creep factor.  Palmer also shoots the chaos of the school being scattered and taken over incredibly well even if the sequence is one of the shorter sequences of the episode.  Lor Wilson (credited under a deadname) as Daughter of Mine is already an incredibly creepy performance, the design being taken straight out of the original novel of a little girl in pink clinging onto a red balloon.  It plays on the automatic innocence people ascribe to little girls that has been warped by these aliens as she is also deadly with her own ray gun.  Rebekah Staton as Mother of Mine, inhabiting the body of Martha’s only friend Jenny leads to one of Martha’s best moments in the first episode, and in “The Family of Blood” while she is mainly there to be part of the family still gives a fascinating performance.  Freema Agyeman as Martha is also just excellent here, Agyeman working through Martha’s general love of the Doctor to become fiercely protective of John Smith throughout the two-parter.  It’s perhaps her best performance as she has to navigate the time period on her own and Agyeman plays it so incredibly well that even the romance becomes compelling.

 

The resolution of the episode has the Doctor tricking the Family into putting their spaceship into self-destruct by a ploy to give them the fob watch Chameleon Arch which had already given back his Time Lord essence, but what really becomes the crowning achievement of the episode are the punishments for the Family.  The Family wanted immortality and that’s exactly what the Doctor gives them, all fates exclusive to the episodes which are incredibly dark for the Doctor, but fitting.  Cornell’s work on Doctor Who has generally run a theme of immortality being a curse and the necessity of death, especially since introducing the Eternal Death in Timewyrm: Revelation and his first television story “Father’s Day” being all about what happens when a death is avoided.  The Family only wish immortality because of an unstated greed and fear of Death, but their fates of being frozen in time in some way, able to observe the universe from a distance is partially a commentary on the Doctor, especially in the revival where he is portrayed often explicitly as the last immortal in the universe.  For “The Family of Blood” in particular it especially works because of Cornell’s script explicitly framing the Doctor in the wrong and as harsh, reflecting in places on the rest of his life.  This is especially apparent in the character of Tim Latimer, who takes the watch in “Human Nature” hearing it due to latent psychic wavelengths.  Thomas Brodie-Sangster understates how he plays Tim, generally playing him as quiet and caring, destined to save his comrades in the Great War due to a premotion the watch gives him as well as a general acceptance of the world.  Cornell uses Tim as a critique on masculinity ideals of the world through both episodes, he is bullied for not being strong and aggressive but is not portrayed as sensitive or particularly weak.  He is intelligent and capable, spending much of his time at the school in a mode of self-preservation in a world that often beats on him.  While Tim is toned down from the original novel, there the other boys hang him which he manages to survive due to Death and the Doctor’s essence giving him a respiratory bypass system, Brodie-Sangster’s almost background performance is perhaps one of the highlights.  10/10.

 

Overall, while “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” don’t manage to be perfect and for some odd reason has started some odd internet discourse in recent years, Russell T. Davies’ decision to have Cornell adapt his novel makes it the near perfect pivotal moment for the third series of Doctor Who.  David Tennant and Freema Agyeman give some of their absolute best performances while they are bolstered by an excellent supporting cast.  Charles Palmer’s direction is almost film like in places in a series which looks very much like mid-2000s television, while Murray Gold provides some of his subtlest underscoring especially in the first episode.  It’s a fascinating exploration of history and immortality with war looming over every scene.  9.5/10.