Doctor Who retro review: The Stolen Earth (Torchwood/Sarah Jane Adventures crossover)
By James Aggas
The Stolen Earth was an epic Doctor Who episode that was incredibly ambitious. Ten years later, does it still hold up as a major episode in the series?
When it was first broadcast, The Stolen Earth was big. Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures crossing over – there hadn’t been anything like it. In fact, Russell T Davies pretty much aimed to have one of the biggest Doctor Who finales ever.
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It’s not hard to see why. His run on the show, as well as virtually the whole team he had been working with, was coming to an end. Series Four was the last series that he’d be working on. So it was important to go out with a bang, and really celebrate everything his era had achieved.
So there are a lot of call backs across his entire era with this one. Even the Shadow Proclamation, referenced all the way back in his first episode Rose, make their first actual appearance.
Of course, with this amount of continuity in an episode, there’s a risk of putting in too much that it drowns out both the story and the characters. Does this happen in The Stolen Earth?
Not quite. It comes close to it, but it arguably avoids that problem. Everyone, from the major Doctor Who characters, to those appearing from spin-offs for the first time, get their fair share of focus in this one.
It helps that the Doctor isn’t there to save the day. In fact, that’s what brings everyone together. Focusing on the former companions and how they try to find the Doctor is a great way of giving everyone their due.
The new Dalek Invasion of Earth
Having the Daleks show up was a smart move. Having them show up in a full-scale invasion was an epic one. Ten years on, and it’s still incredibly satisfying to see hundreds of Daleks ships flying through London and New York. The whole episode feels satisfyingly epic.
It’s also fantastic that Russell T Davies references The Dalek Invasion of Earth so heavily with this one. There’s a lot of dialogue lifted from that key story, particularly with the Daleks. Even the Doctor acknowledges that the Daleks trying to move the Earth had been done before. (Twice, in fact.)
However, all the homages feel appropriate, and avoids overwhelming the story, at least. Focusing on such a large cast of characters certainly helps.
Rose’s characterization
However, because there is such an incredibly huge cast, if there’s one character who’s let down, it’s definitely Rose. When Russell T Davies created her, she was a brilliant companion. Flawed, undoubtedly, but wonderfully handled. Particularly with the amount of development she had in Series One with Nine.
This was arguably less the case in Series Two. While Billie Piper had so much wonderful chemistry with Tennant, there was a little more focus on the love story and less on her own development. Still, overall, she was still a strong companion.
With The Stolen Earth, that might not be so true. After having such a strong return in Turn Left, even showing her take on the role of a pseudo-Doctor for an episode, this one kind of lets her down a bit. As cool as it is to see her shooting up Daleks, her story is purely focused on finding the Doctor.
Even worse is that as a result of this, Rose’s arguably worst trait rears its head: jealousy. Her reaction to Martha wasn’t necessary, especially her claim that she was there first. Considering she had already met Sarah Jane, she should’ve known that was hardly true.
However, all the other characters were fleshed out and well rounded, at least. Especially one major returning character…
Davros
As exciting as Rose’s return was, that was nothing compared to the return of Davros. Rose had only been gone for two years, after all. Davros hadn’t made an appearance on screen in close to twenty years. So his return was a big deal.
Thankfully, new actor Julian Bleach was nothing short of magnificent in the role. Brilliantly capturing the spirit of original Davros actor Michael Wisher, Bleach plays the intelligence and pure evil of the character wonderfully well. I was very impressed with Bleach’s performance on first viewing, and I’m still impressed ten years later.
In fact, that’s true for the whole of The Stolen Earth. It’s not perfect, but for what it aims to achieve, it gets so many essential things right. It’s big, epic, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel overcrowded. And it’s also a wonderful Doctor Who crossover.
But what of the next part, Journey’s End? How well does that hold up? And what of that major cliffhanger? Keep an eye out for our upcoming review very soon.
Next: Serious and whimsical: the two sides of the Fourth Doctor
What are your memories of The Stolen Earth? How did you feel when you first watched such a major Doctor Who crossover? What were your favorite moments? And what did you think of that cliffhanger? Let us know in the comments below.