Turn Left: Doctor Who Series Four Episode Eleven

Have you ever had a moment in your life where a small decision has huge consequences? This was the pivotal idea behind Turn Left, the eleventh episode of series four of Doctor Who. The traditional Doctor Lite episode centred on a decision made by Donna which had originally ultimately led her to meeting the Time Lord. However, under the influence of a fortune teller, Donna decides to turn the other way in her car and around her, history changes and what we have seen over the last few years is gone. The changes, however, are very much for the worse.

This sort of story is nothing new in the realm of science fiction, in fact it could almost be called a staple, having appeared in virtually any series one could care to mention. Perhaps there are no new stories to tell, only different permutations and combinations of the same one, but writer Russell T Davis incorporated this idea in to a much broader story arc that promises to keep fans on tenterhooks for the next few weeks. The reappearance of Bad Wolf as a thread must have made a huge amount of people sit bolt upright or clutch their partner's leg. We may even have it properly explained this time!

Due to the pressure of filming it was decided that each series of the show would have an episode in which the Doctor hardly appeared. So, the idea of what would happen had the Doctor and Donna never met must have rumbled around in the mind of “RTD” for quite a while. What gave it the extra twist was the fact that the important person in the scheme of events turned out to be Donna rather than the Doctor. In fact, there may be much more to the destiny of Ms Noble than we had hitherto expected.

The plot line was basically straightforward but was written ingeniously by Russell T Davis. Where events had unfolded one way in the past, Davis gave us a present that was continually changing because the Doctor and Donna failed to establish a relationship. So, the Titanic space ship actually crashes in to Buckingham Palace, the Adipose manage to kill sixty million Americans and the Sontaran Stratagem almost succeeds but for the deadly intervention of Torchwood.

Davis must have had a gleeful grin on his face when he was writing this episode as he managed to name check - and deliver alternative fates to - many characters we have loved in the series. So, Martha dies in the hospital when it is transported to the moon, as does Sarah Jane Smith. Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones from Torchwood die on the Sontaran space ship and Captain Jack is taken prisoner on the Sontaran homeworld. Additionally, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson and Clyde Langer all die. So many “Oh no!” moments, so little time in forty five minutes, barely enough to take them all in as one happened after the other with such speed. In a short space of time, not only do we know of the untimely death of one of the best ever companions but all the spin off series have their major characters decimated. Davis must have loved destroying that which he has so carefully built up!

It also gave us, the viewers the chance to see what might have happened if various invasions and incidents had been, ahem, Doctor lite - or really I should say Doctor free. I wonder if any other viewers experienced the same vicarious thrill as I when seeing the mushroom cloud rise over London, the population of America getting what for and the planet generally descending in to a mess. The only person who seemed to have a better end in this alternate reality was Private Harris, who we last saw getting shot in The Poison Sky. It was a slight shame we didn't get to see more of him! It was also great to see the really feisty Donna and some marvelous lines. The Vera Duckworth reference was priceless!

I was getting a little concerned that the “Monster” in the episode, the huge beetle on Donna's back (very poorly executed by the Special Effects guys - the spiders in Pertwee's last story were better!) was not going to be named. This would have left us in the tricky situation of the bad guy going unacknowledged by name two episodes on the run. However, the Doctor mentioned that it was part of “The Trickster's Brigade”. For those of you who were not able to catch it, this was a villain who could alter time in the SJA episode “Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?”. There is mention on the Captain Jack Monster File webcast that the Trickster may be working for someone. Now, I wonder who that could be.

A huge thumbs up to the supporting actors. Bernard Cribbins excelled as Donna's grandfather. The look on his face when the family that they had been sharing a house with was taken to a labour camp was one of tragic misery as he realized all to well what was to happen to them. Jacqueline Kings as Sylvia Noble descended in to a hopeless depression brought about by her new powerlessness to be in control of the situation. Both actors were fantastic in their respective roles, particularly Cribbins but King must be singled out here as I never once imagined that I would feel any sympathy for her character at all.

Although there was no resolution to the previous episode, Midnight, at least in terms of revealing who or what the presence was, this forty five minute chunk of sheer unadulterated viewing pleasure was a treat from start to finish. The preview of what is to happen next week made me wanting a Tardis of my very own, to zoom forward a week (and then another!). As this series reaches its climax, will it be judged to be the best ever? If Turn Left is anything to go by, then quite possibly!