Gridlock

But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone.

The Face of Boe

Synopsis

The Doctor returns to New New York with Martha, but finds that there are cars stuck on the motorway for years, the Macra are lurking at the bottom and an old friend has a message to impart.

Review

As a Doctor Who fan of faith, Gridlock is absolutely fascinating to me. Written by Russell T Davies, an atheist, it can be interpreted by the viewer to have both a pro-religion and an anti-religion approach, but Russell T Davies doesn’t seem to have written it with this in mind, stating that he was simply trying to tell a story of humans and cats stuck on a motorway. Writers sometimes don’t realise quite what they are writing about until some time afterwards or until someone brings it to their attention. For example, I recently appeared on A Kettle and Some String talking about Kill the Moon, where I was reminded that Peter Harness was fairly oblivious to the abortion subtext he was writing.

Looking at it from a negative point of view, it could be seen to be quite a bleak story. It is pretty unequivocal that there’s no greater purpose, no greater power and no one watching over you. It depicts a mass of people who have flocked like sheep onto the motorway, blinded by the belief that there is something better out there in the suburbs of New New York and have been trapped in the undercity. It isn’t exactly subtle that there is no one above to come and save the day, as the story shows us the shot of the Senate full of skeletons and the Doctor himself points out that in all the time that the population of the motorway have been down there, they have never seen a police car. The people have faith in the power above despite all the evidence they have that there is nothing out there.

You think you know us so well, Doctor. But we’re not abandoned. Not while we have each other.

Brannigan

On the other hand, Gridlock has a lot to say about the power of faith and how it can help people endure through the hardest times. Though they are sealed in a less-than-ideal space, and some of them have lived a large portion of their lives on the motorway, hope endures. It is a testament to human perseverance and belief, exemplified by the way that the story uses ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ on the motorway in the daily contemplation. In these moments, it’s interesting to note the reactions of both Martha and the Doctor, the outsiders. Martha is moved to tears by the experience, whilst even the Doctor, who moments before has been trying to get Brannigan to accept that there might just be nothing out there, is affected by it too. Ultimately, those stuck in their cars on the motorway have their faith rewarded.

Even the return of the Macra can be seen to have a similarity in religious metaphor. They have fallen from the heights of empire building to becoming mindless beasts at the bottom of the motorway, existing in the exhaust fumes and catching the cars that venture down to the fast lane. If the city above is heaven, then the implication of what is at the bottom of the motorway is clear – they are the beasts of hell. The decision to bring back the Macra remains an interesting one. Their only other appearance in Doctor Who comes in a lost story and Gridlock does not make a massive deal about them being there in the first place. It is therefore an interesting nod to the show’s past, and in fact, I think when I first saw this story, I was unaware that this was a returning foe and I’d be surprised if anyone thought that they would be the next returning creature after the Daleks and the Cybermen.

Regardless of whether you see Gridlock as having a message about religion or not, it is a grippingly good story that has really grown on me over time. It does perhaps suffer from poor pacing, and the third act could be seen to suffer from an exposition dump as it rushes to a conclusion, but I don’t think it damages the overall story too much. Russell T Davies uses the return to New New York as a chance to explore the world a little bit more, and explore the grittier and darker side. This is a world where the despair of the relatives of those who have gone to the motorway are forced to turn to Pharmacytown to deal with their despair and ultimately choose to forget rather than live with the pain of remembering them, and a society dependent on similar mood patches to the extent that they have been able to reek havoc on the city above. I have seen some comment that if the Doctor had not closed down the operation of the cat nuns in New Earth whether this situation would have come about at all, but that might be by the by. The story does not mention it, but if it was, it’s another example of the consequences of the Doctor’s actions coming back to bite him. It’s a story that uses minimal sets, including reusing the same set for the interior of the cars but redressed to illustrate various different personalities as the Doctor hops between cars in his pursuit of Martha. Russell T Davies also gives us one of the most memorable guest characters, who is effectively brought to life by Ardal O’Hanlon who holds his own in every scene he shares with David Tennant.

Russell T Davies loves writing about class, and Gridlock features this, but uses it to emphasise the differences between Rose and Martha. Much to Martha’s disgust, the Doctor brings her to the slums as opposed to the glittering city above that he took Rose to previously, but the Doctor finds this all far more interesting than rubbing shoulders with the aristocracy. Martha comes from a different social background to the revival’s first companion, and it shows in some of her reactions. It is difficult to imagine Rose reacting the same way to the mood patches, for instance, and her judgment for Cheen using them whilst pregnant. Class features more widely, as Brannigan notes that you need to be friends in order to communicate with cars, and that those heading down to the fast lane are in a different class.

Russell T Davies uses the opportunity of the return to New New York to bring back the Face of Boe and Novice Hame, and bring their story to an end. In fact, it could be said that the Doctor does not really do much to rescue the people from the motorway. Whilst the Doctor dashes about creating solutions, the power needed to do so comes from the Face of Boe. Having set up in New Earth that the Face of Boe had a message that he would give to the Doctor before his death, the audience get the line confirming that there is another Time Lord out there, no matter how much the Doctor asserts to the contrary. Novice Hame, atoning for her sins in New Earth, has become gun-toting, determined to hunt down the Doctor and bring him to the giant face, in order to make this prophecy come to pass.

Word of advice, all of you. Cash up, close down and pack your bags.

Why’s that, then?

Because as soon as I’ve found her, alive and well – and I will find her alive and well – then I’m coming back and this street is closing tonight!

The Doctor and Pharmacist #3

This is a really important episode for the Doctor and Martha and their Doctor-companion relationship, as it marks the Doctor opening up to this new companion and perhaps giving us an insight to the fact that he doesn’t truly regard this arrangement as being temporary. Despite initially lying to her, pretending that Gallifrey is still out there and that his people are still alive, the Doctor realises that he has put Martha into danger by doing this. Our two leads spend a lot of the story separated, which allows Martha to show her resourcefulness following being kidnapped by Milo and Cheen, ultimately finding the solution to their car’s predicament by turning off the engines, inspired by watching Sunday afternoon films. Following the Face of Boe’s revelation, Martha forces him to admit the truth, and the Doctor gives that wonderful speech about his planet and how beautiful it is. Everything about that scene, from Tennant and Agyeman’s performances to the direction and music is superb, and it is a lovely decision to pull away from that discussion as it starts. The audience already know about the Time War and the fate of Gallifrey, so we don’t need to be privy to that conversation, but it is nice to know that the conversation is now taking place. Something that really frustrated me about the Chris Chibnall era is that it felt as though the Doctor and her companions don’t talk between adventures, meaning that the audience has to go through these revelations with the characters. Going back to Gridlock though, I think Gridlock might feature one of my favourite performances that David Tennant has delivered as the Tenth Doctor, and the story gives him a lot to get his teeth into.

Verdict: Gridlock is a rather underrated entry in Series 3. It is well written, thought provoking and emotional, and features some great performances, especially that of David Tennant. 9/10

Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), Ardal O’Hanlon (Brannigan), Anna Hope (Novice Hame), Travis Oliver (Milo), Lenora Crichlow (Cheen), Jennifer Hennessy (Valerie), Bridget Turner (Alice), Georgine Anderson (May), Simon Pearsall (Whitey), Daisy Lewis (Javit), Nicholas Boulton (Businessman), Erika Macleod (Sally Calypso), Judy Norman (Ma), Graham Padden (Pa), Lucy Davenport (Pale Woman), Tom Edden (Pharmacist #1), Natasha Williams (Pharmacist #2), Gayle Telfer Stevens (Pharmacist #3) & Struan Rodger (The Face of Boe).

Writer: Russell T Davies

Director: Richard Clark

Producer: Phil Collinson

Composer: Murray Gold

Original Broadcast Date: 14th April 2007

Behind the Scenes

• The working title of this story was Chasing Fumes.
• This story marks the first appearance of the Macra in 40 years, having previously appeared in the Second Doctor serial The Macra Terror.

Cast Notes

• Anna Hope reprises her role as Novice Hame from New Earth. She has reprised this role further for Big Finish in Escape from New New York and The Cats of New Cairo (both Tales from New Earth) and in the Lockdown! webcast The Secret of Novice Hame. She has also played D.I. Patricia Menzies in the Big Finish Sixth Doctor adventures The Condemned, The Raincloud Man, The Crimes of Thomas Brewster and The Avenues of Possibility.
• Travis Oliver has played Seventh Doctor companion Chris Cwej in Damaged Goods, Original Sin and Cold Fusion, as well as the box set The Seventh Doctor: The New Adventures.
• Lenora Crichlow played Rachel Cooper in the Big Finish story The Architects of History.
• Jennifer Hennessy would go on to play Twelfth Doctor’s companion Bill Potts’ foster mother in The Pilot and Extremis.
• Nicholas Boulton has also appeared as Vice in the Big Finish story Meanwhile, Elsewhere (The Eighth Doctor Time War: Cass) and Capture the Chronovore! (Master!).
• Struan Rodger would go on to play Clayton in The Woman Who Lived and the voice of the Kasaavin in Spyfall.

Best Moment

The Old Rugged Cross sequence is really moving.

Best Quote

I lied to you, ‘cos I liked it. I could pretend, just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive underneath that burnt orange sky. I’m not just a Time Lord, I’m the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There’s no one else.

What happened?

There was a war. A Time War. The Last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks for the sake of all creation. And they lost. We lost. Everyone lost. They’re all gone now. My family. My friends. Even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet! The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver. When they caught the light, every morning it looked like a forest on fire. When the Autumn came, a brilliant glow through the branches…

The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones

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