Review: Doctor Who "The Shakespeare Code"

Alright, before I review this episode, I'm going to address the elephant in the room that only fans of the Classic Series noticed. It's a pretty small elephant, all things concerned.

In "Planet of Evil," the Fourth Doctor claimed to have met a young Shakespeare and told him "There's no point in talking if you've got nothing to say."

As I understand it, Gareth Roberts wrote a line or two into "The Shakespeare Code" to acknowledge this, but they ended up getting cut out because, apparently, most viewers aren't obsessing over dialogue from an old Fourth Doctor episode. Which I find pretty amusing, since the two-parter story "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar" was pretty much based on dialogue from an old Fourth Doctor episode.

Oh, the Russell T. Davies Era. It seems so strange that there was a time in the show's modern history when references to the Classic Series were almost... taboo. These days, the writers say "I'm putting an Alpha Centauri cameo in this episode! I don't care if no one in the audience has seen 'The Curse of Peladon'!" To say nothing of this year's Christmas special, which will be a team up with the First Doctor that takes place during the final First Doctor serial, apparently.

But I'm getting off track. Shakespeare!

...Actually, let's get back off track real quick.

Shakespearean Canon
This episode seems to retcon quite a bit of the Doctor's offscreen adventures. Having the Doctor go back in time to meet Earth's most famous writer is a zarking no-brainier. Which is why he's had several adventures with Shakespeare in the Expanded Universe. You know, books, comics, et cetera.

For any TV show/film series, books are usually treated as what I've seen referred to as "secondary canon."

Let's use Doctor Who as a specific example. The TV series is always canon. Full stop. If there is an episode of it, then it happened. Unless specifically specified otherwise by the Doctor Who equivalent of papal decree, where the showrunner outright states that an episode is no longer considered "canon." Even if episodes seem to contradict each other, things must be specifically declared non-canon. This is why the Loch Ness Monster actually has two explanations. In "Terror of the Zygons," it was revealed to be an alien creature called the "Skarasen." In "Timelash," it was theorized to be a mutated guy named "the Borad." Since neither explanation has been specifically declared non-canon, then both can be considered "true."

The only real example of a showrunner specifically declaring an entire episode non-canon is when Russell T. Davies officially decanonized "Scream of the Shalka," an animated adventure which was originally meant to be an official Doctor Who continuation when it was made, but was declared non-canon when the show came back to TV.

The general rule for secondary canon is that you can consider any secondary canon "official" if you like... until specifically contradicted by primary canon.

So, for example, let's say that somebody wrote a book where the Doctor meets U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, and the Doctor says "Nice to meet you, President Coolidge." And they go fight Daleks during Coolidge's inauguration. If you wanted, this could be considered canon. Or not.

But if there later comes a TV episode where the Doctor meets Calvin Coolidge for the first time and they fight Zygons during Coolidge's inauguration... Well, then the book becomes automatically non-canon, since it now contradicts a TV episode.

The reason I bring all this up is because a throwaway line in "Planet of Evil" wasn't the only time the Doctor met Shakespeare before this point... According to secondary canon. "The Time of the Daleks," "Apocrypha Bipedium," and "Foreshadowing" make up a trilogy of stories where the Doctor and Shakespeare travel together, and then there's "The Kingmaker," where Shakespeare stows away in the TARDIS and ends up replacing King Richard III and dying at the Battle of Bosworth, meaning that the Doctor ends up taking Richard III forward in time to replace Shakespeare.

The canonicity of these stories has been thrown into question... But there is one story that has basically been rendered 100% non-canon: "A Groatsworth of Wit." Mainly because Gareth Roberts was the writer of the comic story "A Groatsworth of Wit," and he basically adapted the general framework story into "The Shakespeare Code," while lifting the ending with Queen Elizabeth from his story "The One Doctor," with no idea at the time what Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat would end up doing with the loose thread.

This was the first Doctor Who episode Gareth Roberts ever wrote, having already written for the Expanded Universe, and you can see many similarities between this and the comic story "A Groatsworth of Wit."

And a couple differences, too.

The comic features a villain called "Uncle Bloodfinger" (who seems to be referenced with Mothers Bloodtide and Doomfinger) whose goal was to manipulate a writer and use him to destroy the world, so you could definitely consider "The Shakespeare Code" to be a loose remake, if you were so inclined.

Plot/Themes
This is the second episode of what I'll be referring to as the "Writers Trilogy," to be renamed whenever the Doctor finally meets Geoffrey Chaucer and/or Edgar Allan Poe.

Each episode in this trilogy follows the same loose plot structure.

• Great writer ends up a bit depressed for whatever reason.
• The Doctor shows up to geek out over meeting said great writer.
• Great writer doubts themselves, but adventuring with the Doctor makes them emerge from their dark place renewed.

While Dickens became a bit disheartened with the fact that his career seemed to have peaked already, Shakespeare's bout with grief and madness was actually mostly resolved before the Doctor even showed up. Mostly. In the end, rather than force himself to move on to avoid a stay in Bedlam, Shakespeare is finally ready to deal with his grief by channeling it through his work.

Of the three episodes in the Writers' Trilogy, each episode has a different focus: Past, Present, and Future.

Past
Charles Dickens was worried that his greatest works were behind him, and for the rest of his life, he'd just be reliving past successes with endless retellings of A Christmas Carol.

Present
After dealing with the death of his son, Shakespeare buried himself in the here and now, having affairs because his wife was all the way in the country, chasing after Martha because she was there, and refusing to look back to the past, where he would only see grief over losing Hamnet.

Future
Agatha Christie will end up doubting whether or not her silly stories would be remembered in the future, but that's a story for another time.

All things considered, though, Shakespeare's issues are more of a footnote within the episode itself. The main focus is on the absurdity of the situation itself, as the Doctor and Martha help William Shakespeare defeat three witches. Actually, let's go over the witches from a storytelling perspective real quick.

Doctor Who loves to use magical monsters, while always justifying them scientifically. Werewolves are a space-plague of sorts... Well, some are.

I don't think we ever truly learned what Mags's deal was.

But Vampires are actually fish-aliens with a perception filter that makes them look like fanged humans... Well, some are.

Some actually are humanoids that feast on life force. At least, in E-Space.

And then you've got ghosts, which are actually gas-based aliens. When they're not actually manifestations of life energy ripped away from their living body to serve the Fisher King from beyond the grave.

...Wait a minute.

So, were these actual ghosts?

In my opinion, the biggest weakness in episodes like this is that they're so preoccupied with justifying seemingly-supernatural enemies that they forget to be a good episode. But this episode does not fall into this trap.

Usually, these episodes have to take a minute or two for a long, drawn-out explanation of why everything that looks supernatural isn't, simply to justify the inclusion of supernatural elements in the first place. This episode makes that into a plot point. The Doctor knows that magic isn't real, but he can't explain all this witchcraft. And then, it turns out that, for all intents and purposes, witchcraft is just a different sort of science used by aliens that manifest as witches by using their scientific witchcraft. It's a more elegant explanation than all the hoops being jumped through to justify the vampires in "Vampires in Venice," at the very least, and I think that's why it works so well.

In the end, these witches basically are witches. And that can be justified in a scientific setting with two or three sentences about how they use poetry instead of mathematics, and that frees up time for the episode to revel in the fact that that Doctor is teaming up with Shakespeare to fight witches. And that's wonderful.

Characters
The Doctor
Russell T. Davies is once again playing with the tried-and-true elements of Doctor Who by having the Doctor find it hard to move on after Rose's sad departure, when usually he shakes their hand and leaves them somewhere when they've decided they've had enough. Sarah Jane Smith was taken back home (well, to Aberdeen), Melanie Bush ran off with a space pirate, and Nyssa left to treat a space-plague.

But after the departure of the first modern-day Doctor Who companion, the audience probably is going to need a second to get used to Martha, so why not have the Doctor echo these sentiments? And then by the time Clara is replaced with Bill, it's less of a shock because we've already said goodbye to Rose, Mickey, Martha, Donna, Amy, and Rory, even though companions' departures end up becoming more and more tragic. I can only imagine the Hell that the 13th Doctor's companions are going to go through when they leave the TARDIS. Seriously, Sarah Jane lucked out when the Doctor just dropped her off in the wrong town.

Martha Jones
Racism is a problem for to Martha Jones. Specifically, the racism of the past.

The unfortunate truth is that a great deal of history features some form of racism. You've got African slaves picking cotton in 19th century America, you've got Nazis systematically oppressing anyone with a skin tone darker than snow in 1940s Germany... But even a time period like 1599 London, even if it isn't specifically remembered for Nazis and/or slaves, is going to have vastly different standards and values in regards to race, as seen by Shakespeare's attempts at political correctness. So, unfortunately, there are going to be some periods of history that aren't too hospitable for Miss Jones.

The Doctor's statement about just walking around like she owns the place is essentially how Gareth Roberts says "Yes, I understand that 1599 London might not be the easiest time and place for a black companion, but this is meant to be a fun romp with Shakespeare, so please forgive me if I gloss over the issue of race."

And I can see both sides of the issue here.

On the one hand, yes, I understand why glossing over the issue might be construed as pretending that the issue doesn't exist. But on the other hand... This is just supposed to be a fun romp with Shakespeare, and adding in some actual 1599-style racism against Martha might not mesh very well with the rest of the story.

Having said that, the "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" two-parter does demonstrate that the writers weren't totally oblivious to the issues Martha would have in the past, being black and a woman. And all things considered, the Twelfth Doctor's trip to Victorian London with Bill Potts does a better job of touching upon the racism a black woman would encounter if transported back to a couple hundred years ago... But that episode dared to go to darker places in general. Even if this episode does deal with madness and grief... it's still just supposed to be a fun romp with Shakespeare.

I mean, look at Hamlet. It might deal with death, murder, and madness... But it's still basically just a raunchy soap opera. With puns. In its time, Hamlet was the equivalent of Game of Thrones, but with no dragons and incestuous subtext, rather than overtones. If you want to take death, murder, and madness to the darkest place, you go to MacBeth. Or for the truly hardcore, Titus Andronicus. Not every story has to go 110% with everything.

But this is Martha's first trip in the TARDIS, and such episodes usually provide companions the opportunity to prove why they belong at the Doctor's side. Unfortunately, Martha... doesn't. There's a situation tailor-made for her medical skills, and the Doctor ends up taking care of it. But I think that demonstrates that the Doctor doesn't want Martha to prove why she belongs in the TARDIS. Remember, he doesn't want her tagging along at this point.

William Shakespeare (Dean Lennox Kelly)
Good ol' sexy Shakespeare. They take a few liberties with his physical appearance, but Lennox's ability to portray a man trying to move past his previous trauma is more than enough to justify his casting. The portrayal is half Elizabethan party boy and half brooding genius, and that strikes an interesting balance to create a character that can often be stereotyped as one or the other in the hands of a lesser writer.

And yes, his son was actually named "Hamnet."

Monsters of the Week: Carrionites
It's obvious that Gareth Roberts was inspired by the three witches in MacBeth to create the Carrionites, and I honestly can't think of a better inspiration for a monster to fight Shakespeare. Sure, you could go the Hamlet route and have Shakespeare meet a ghost, but Charles Dickens beat him to it.

Lilith (Christina Cole)
Obviously, you've got to have the token sexy witch. And oddly enough, she's got the only "normal" name compared to "Doomfinger" and "Bloodtide."

She's the evil seductress of the three, which is probably because she can actually give herself a sexy disguise. Although I do have to wonder why and how these three Carrionites are able to disguise themselves as humans. A quick line of technobabble form the Doctor would have been appreciated. Although I suppose the fact that they can do magic might be explanation enough.

She does a fine job as an evil seductress, but her "old crone" act pales in comparison to the other two witches.

Doomfinger (Amanda Lawrence)
Doomfinger is the one with the finger of doom, which she uses on poor Peter Streete. She's probably the most fun to watch, as the actress gleefully embraces behaving like a wicked witch, and the fun she has with her overacting really helps make the over-the-top nature of everything seem believable.

Bloodtide (Linda Clark)
The "tide of blood" is referred to when the witches discuss freeing the other Carrionites, so presumably, she has something to do with their release. But she's just kind of there for the most part, filling out the group as a third witch. She doesn't get a one-on-one scene with the Doctor like Doomfinger and Lilith do. She hams it up, but not to the same degree as Doomfinger.

Visuals
The makeup job on the witches is pretty darn good. It helps that they're not strictly human, making their exaggerated witch faces forgivable. But the single CGI Carrionite that we get to see in all its glory... well, it's not exactly... good. Especially when it disintegrates into badly-composited and poorly-shaded dust. There's probably a reason that most of the CG Carrionites whoosh past the camera too fast to be seen.

But I think this episode really sums up the difference in visual style for the Russell T. Davies Era, compared to the Steven Moffat Era. The Russell T. Davies Era lights things like a stage play, allowing the intricate set design to be appreciated. The Steven Moffat Era uses darker, more naturalistic lighting. And the Elizabethan Era performed plays in daylight because it would be very hard to light a stage with torches, but that's neither here nor there.

Even when this episode takes us into a dark, grimy madhouse, the place is well-lit with torches. Every single interior scene- and exterior, for that matter- has an abundance of light, beyond what the candles could possibly provide. This is especially noticeable when Martha blows out a single candle, throwing an entire room into darkness. A room that was clearly not lit by a single candle.

Not that this is automatically a bad thing; it's just a different way of doing things. And if you're going to watch Doctor Who for more than five or so years, you're going to have to get used to changes.

Final Thoughts
This is a fun episode, and one that shows what can happen in a show where almost nothing is off limits. A good first trip for Martha, and not a bad second episode for any new viewers.

Next time, the Doctor decides that since Rose enjoyed New New York, then Martha probably will, too. As long as the traffic isn't too bad. See you then!