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Turn Left
lordOfTime
Posts: 22,370 Forum Member
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I think Turn Left is a thoroughly depressing and miserable episode of Doctor Who.
And a thumping good one.
Harrowing at times; poignant and thought provoking
I love the way the episode takes Donna and the world to some very low places and highlights just how much the world needs The Doctor by taking him away from the Universe.
The downward turn begins by taking us back to where Donna's story starts with alternative events to the "Runaway Bride. Apart from wondering what drew the Doctor to Earth if it wasn't Donna we see the shocking reality of what how much The Doctor needs his companions. Someone to stop him, and clearly without Donna he had noone to stop him and get him out of the Thames Barrier. So while he was able to remove the threat of the Emperess and the Christmas Star it cost him his life. "The Doctor is dead." is what the Unit soldier says and it's really sad to see him on that trolley, a stiff corpose letting go of the Sonic Screwdriver, alone and forgotton; a relic of a wonderful hero.
There's depressing thought number one.
Negative effects? The loss of one of the great champions of the universe. In this timeline he can never protect the earth again. As for Donna goes on to lose her job she turned right for.
About that time, the hospital is moved to the Moon. Without the Doctor, noone survives the inspection of the Judoon and the alien (I forget her name). Despite the fact that hospital is still returned, Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith lose their lives.
So that's Martha, Sarah-Jane and The Doctor all gone.
Without The Doctor lives are lost.
Without The Doctor, The Titanic crashes into London with noone to steer it. The UK goes into meltdown. Negative effect: The economic capital wiped out and lives are no longer free.
That's depressing thought number two.
Adipose run wild around the world sending America into crisis. Meaning they cannot send aid to Britain. Britain is on it's own.
Then, the Sontarans are free to unleash their strategem across the whole of the world. ATMOS devices unleash a cloud of poison gas design to breed a whole new race of Sontaran clones. Of course there are still people that can stop it and burn the gas away. The Torchwood team gave their lives to generate the device needed to produce it and Captain Jack, who cannot die becomes the trophy of the Sontarans becoming their permanent captor.
That's depressing thought number three.
All because The Doctor had noone to stop him. Noone at his side.
I thought RTD found a great way to bring Rose back, even if it was supposed to be impossible. I'm led to believe it was the same Rose from Stolen Earth/Journey's End. How did she know about the Trixter Beetle on Donna's back. Did she always know that it was alternative Doctor Who died and not hers? How did they come up with this plan to set the universe right? This world was wrong and broken and perhaps the only chink of light in this sad scenario is that there was always people fighting against the darkness and depression seeping into this reality.
And when The Doctor is restored and reality fixed.. what a moment of pure joy that is. Donna's pure relief and the huge hug she gave him. For the view, knowing that he's back and everything is well brings a smile to my face every time.
So Turn Left achieves perfectly what it set out to do. Bravo to RTD for making something so utterly depressing, so utterly good.
And a thumping good one.
Harrowing at times; poignant and thought provokingI love the way the episode takes Donna and the world to some very low places and highlights just how much the world needs The Doctor by taking him away from the Universe.
The downward turn begins by taking us back to where Donna's story starts with alternative events to the "Runaway Bride. Apart from wondering what drew the Doctor to Earth if it wasn't Donna we see the shocking reality of what how much The Doctor needs his companions. Someone to stop him, and clearly without Donna he had noone to stop him and get him out of the Thames Barrier. So while he was able to remove the threat of the Emperess and the Christmas Star it cost him his life. "The Doctor is dead." is what the Unit soldier says and it's really sad to see him on that trolley, a stiff corpose letting go of the Sonic Screwdriver, alone and forgotton; a relic of a wonderful hero.
There's depressing thought number one.
Negative effects? The loss of one of the great champions of the universe. In this timeline he can never protect the earth again. As for Donna goes on to lose her job she turned right for.
About that time, the hospital is moved to the Moon. Without the Doctor, noone survives the inspection of the Judoon and the alien (I forget her name). Despite the fact that hospital is still returned, Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith lose their lives.
So that's Martha, Sarah-Jane and The Doctor all gone.
Without The Doctor lives are lost.
Without The Doctor, The Titanic crashes into London with noone to steer it. The UK goes into meltdown. Negative effect: The economic capital wiped out and lives are no longer free.
That's depressing thought number two.
Adipose run wild around the world sending America into crisis. Meaning they cannot send aid to Britain. Britain is on it's own.
Then, the Sontarans are free to unleash their strategem across the whole of the world. ATMOS devices unleash a cloud of poison gas design to breed a whole new race of Sontaran clones. Of course there are still people that can stop it and burn the gas away. The Torchwood team gave their lives to generate the device needed to produce it and Captain Jack, who cannot die becomes the trophy of the Sontarans becoming their permanent captor.
That's depressing thought number three.
All because The Doctor had noone to stop him. Noone at his side.
I thought RTD found a great way to bring Rose back, even if it was supposed to be impossible. I'm led to believe it was the same Rose from Stolen Earth/Journey's End. How did she know about the Trixter Beetle on Donna's back. Did she always know that it was alternative Doctor Who died and not hers? How did they come up with this plan to set the universe right? This world was wrong and broken and perhaps the only chink of light in this sad scenario is that there was always people fighting against the darkness and depression seeping into this reality.
And when The Doctor is restored and reality fixed.. what a moment of pure joy that is. Donna's pure relief and the huge hug she gave him. For the view, knowing that he's back and everything is well brings a smile to my face every time.
So Turn Left achieves perfectly what it set out to do. Bravo to RTD for making something so utterly depressing, so utterly good.
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Comments
I thought i'd alluded to it in my post but you're right it's worth a mention, as well as her fear when she realises she has to die.
I think it's that initial conceit that Donna being absent resulted in the Doctor going off the deep end and not leaving the barrier in time. Considering that the Empress teleported away before the water got particularly high and that the shaft to the centre of the earth would have to be around 6,400km deep, or 3,000km if the entire core was the starship rather than just the inner core, (so quite a lot of space for the water to fill before flooding the barrier) AND the Doctor isn't exactly known for neglecting the escape part of the plan it seemed so far out of character and for no real reason it stands out on re-watching. I also didn't like all the plans happening and being stopped by the various groups we know from other shows... again, not sure why, it just didn't ring true somehow. Quick example: the hospital from Smith and Jones. Why would Sarah Jane and the kids have been there when they weren't when the Doctor was around? They didn't know he was in the hospital and if they weren't in there before it was taken they had no way of getting to it.
Again, don't get me wrong, I do like the episode a lot but unfortunately, like a lot of Tennant's episodes, I tend to find myself liking it less each time I rewatch it as the plot holes start to annoy me. Superb the first time I saw it but I'm not sure it'll hold up as well as the best episodes do.
An Honourable mention in despatches has to go out to Donna's mother once they get to Leeds: her beautifully understated decline into something resembling an empty shell as she stares into space and delivers a crushing verdict on Donna is one of many highlights in "Turn Left" (still in my Top 5 New Who episodes and my Top 10 of all time!)
Quite right too, Jacqueline King is often overlooked in the shadow of the mighty Wilf and Donna but she was quietly excellent in this episode - that scene is one of the bleakest in new Who, showing the crushing defeat and despair that most of us would descend into if our safe worlds were turned upside down and lost forever. And I love the look on her face when she's in the centre of the singing party, doing her best to join in but clearly wanting to be a million miles away.
It was the same rose because she mentioned in Turn Left that she had travelled to different universes, trying to find her one where the doctor is. Also Davros mentions it aswell in Journeys end
I think the theme to take away is that even without the Doctor, the human race isn't helpless and will do what they have to to survive, even at a cost. In that sense, at least, there is something positive to take away.
Snap. You're right. I heard that so many times just needed it explained, thanks.
Russell on fanwank overdrive with the intitial premsie of the titanic falling on Buck house and causing a holocaust where England turns into a police state so dumb it beggars belief.
Not to mention ridiculous fanwank mentions of the adipose and Judoon. Donna runing after the Italians carried away in a truck with allegations of the holocaust in the air was just painfully clumsy.
I cant decide withTurn Left whether it is naff or mawkish. Or a mixture of the two.
Maybe you missed the point of the episode? It was what would happen had Donna chosen not to go in the same direction on the day she would have got her job that made her meet the Doctor.
It seems you clearly didn't figure that out, as what you claim to be 'fanw@nk' is really quite deliberately showing what would have happened had Donna not saved the Doctor from himself when she first met him, and thus he was not there to help during the next few atrocities. It was necessary for the same monsters and aliens to be involved, otherwise it wouldn't mean anything. It was the previous series' for goodness' sake!
It was the same events from a different viewpoint - clearly a conceit that was too subtle for you.
It's a pity it was wasted on you.
Umm, with all respect, that's a pretty harsh and personal reply to someone who's only given their view on the episode (and actually went to the trouble to explain why they felt that way rather than just 'RTD SUX0R5). Appreciate that may not be the way you feel but no need to take it personally.
I think you might have read it as more personal than it was then.
And he was basically calling the whole episode fanw@nk, which is neither clever (I don't think a forum open to a range ages should allow that kind of language in the first place) nor an actual argument for why he chose to not like the episode. It's not the first time he's presented as thus.
If broad has a problem with what I wrote, I'm sure he'll respond...
Couldn't agree more, it is a phenomenal scene. I tend to gush about it every chance Turn Left or the subject of fave scenes comes up.
It could have had been lifted from a 'serious' dark drama, straight from Boys From The Blackstuff or The Street. It is relentless in its bleakness, with funeral parlour music playing as, and a single shot focused on the mothers face.
I caught the episode a while back on GOLD, decided to watch it just for this scene only to find it had been cut:eek:
Turn Left was one of those and in my opinion is the best of the Doctor-lite Episodes, fifty times better than Love and Monsters and I prefer it to Blink, which is a good story, but this has so much more going for it.
Though in places it is reminescent of Planet Of The Spiders with the creature on the back thing, I think it proves just how much it would mean if The Doctor really had died, how much he does for Earth.
I think Catherine Tate is superb as Donna in this, right down to the moment where she has to sacrifice herself to put things right. Having Rose in it as well made it work and though I should have guessed what those two words were she whispered in Donna's ear, I never did, but it was so obvious!!!!
Loved the last five minutes when The Doctor realises Rose is back and the whole Bad Wolf thing and it led nicely into the finale and one of the best trailers for an episode ever, I was so excited watching that!!!!!
I'm pretty sure it was, it follows directly on from the 'sending of to the concentration camps' scene. When I saw it on GOLD it when to an add break at this point and skipped it when the programme resumed, probaly cut for time.
I'm pretty sure it was cut as I came to the episode mid point and decided to watch it just for that scene.
Anyway if anyone feels like seeing it again skip to 1:30, such a brilliant little scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvgYSTYZTzA
As for Turn Left, I agree with all the positive comments made by previous posters. Too many good things to enumerate.
But at the end, when the cloister bell rings - that's when I get shivers down my spine. I'm a sucker for that cloister bell!
I agree with all the positive things said above. The little scene with Sylvia along with look of understanding between Wilf and Rocco were amazing touches in the episode. The use of Rose was superb and I like how she's different, she's grown into an adult now, and she's continuing the Doctor's work.
My favorite part is when Donna knows she's running out of time but keeps running anyway. She quickly uses what she sees and comes up with a plan that will require her sacrificing herself. And then realization that she will die - the Donna of the Turn Right world - and Rose knew it all along. It's painful and shocking and amazing and I think it demonstrates what is so special about Donna and should be something we all strive to do. (Not to kill ourselves for the greater good, but to make sacrifices that we won't benefit from ourselves, but the rest of the world will.) I always cry at that scene, when she's hit and dying and Rose comes and Donna realizes she's going to die, really die.
Ok, getting off my soapbox now....
My view of it was - it had to be Donna because she was so tough and loud and could tell the Doctor to stop and make him listen.
Presumably her replacement was a bit of a wimp who just let the Doctor carry on flooding the place till he killed both her and himself, as well as the Racnoss.
No, he was only there in the first place because of Donna, so if Donna had turned the other way, there would have been another woman that the baddie in The Runaway Bride married and consumed all those particles which got attracted to the TARDIS.