Episode #171 : New Earth

Novice Hame: One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his greatest secret. He will speak those words only to one like himself.

The Doctor: What does that mean?

Novice Hame: It's just a story.

The Doctor: Tell me the rest.

Novice Hame: It is said he will talk to a wanderer, to the man without a home, a lonely god.

Episode 171:   New Earth.
Companions:   10th Doctor and, Rose Tyler.
Air Date:          15th April 2006.

In the distant future, an order of cat-nuns cure all illnesses, but the Tenth Doctor is suspicious of their methods. He must uncover the truth and save Rose from the vengeance of his old enemy, the Lady Cassandra.

The Doctor and Rose travel to New Earth, a replacement to the Earth that we have already seen destroyed in The End of the World. The Doctor has been drawn here by the Face of Boe who is supposedly dying. Something not quite right draws the time travellers into a scheme by the resident cat people to heal all known diseases but at the expense of created lives. New Earth is not a bad story but I feel it is let down a little in places by pacing, dialogue and lack of get up and go.

The catkind look amazing. This is the first time that I can say that an alien species on Doctor Who actually looks real rather than a person in a suit. Major thumbs up to the make up department for this. Are they are more evolved version of the cat folk from Survival? Don't know but I can't imagine that two species of humanoid feline evolved in the galaxy. I like to think that they are the same species.

Cassandra returns but not as the villain. She certainly has greed on her mind and is selfish but ends up assisting the Doctor after projecting her mind into Rose's body seeking a new life in a real body. Her appearance does seem tacked on but it is made up for by giving her a decent send off at the end.

The Doctor's personality seems to have brightened up since The Christmas Invasion and he's a much more likable character now. The beaming smile means you can't help but begin to like him.

I think the reason why I'm not so keen on New Earth is that it is yet another filler episode. While it is self contained it appears to exist purely to set up events at the culmination of a later season. I have always hated filler stories in TV shows.