Review: Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars"

"They said that he would knock four times, but three times is all you're going to get!" The Doctor, the man who can travel throughout time and space in his blue box utters out during the climactic scene of the most recent episode of "Doctor Who". I waited all the way since Easter to see this installment, and I assure you that I was not at all disappointed.

When we last saw our gallant Gallifreyan Lord of Time, he had just rescued a bus full of passengers from impending doom, and as he left them, he was told. That his tale was nearing an end. Was tonight to be that night? As far as The Doctor was concerned.... NOT TONIGHT!


"The Waters Of Mars" written by Whoscribe: Russell T. Davies and co-written by Phil Ford, delivered a different episode than we were used to, one that I had warned the readers of this very blog about. Some were worried that different might not be good, but let's face it, as fans of Doctor Who, we're used to change, and "Different" is a word that gets thrown around a lot in our lives.

So The Doctor ends up on Mars, and meets up with the first Human colony on Mars, and lo and behold, like any time the Doctor shows up, death and destruction follow. The difference this time? The Doctor is powerless to change anything about this event. This is a fixed point in time. We learned about this in "The Fires of Pompeii" that some things are meant to happen, and they're not meant to be changed.


The episode plays out like you would expect. Bad guys start to overrun the colony, and there seems to be no hope to change any of this. The bad guy? WATER! And lots of it! It seems like the water supply is infecting the people of the colony, and like the Doctor says: "Water is patient... Water always wins..." so how are they to survive this catastrophe?

They're not.

Or are they?

The most dramatic part of this episode is the inner-conflict that The Doctor has. He wants to change this, but he knows that because of the change, certain future events would then be altered. As well, if one drop of that water reaches earth, then the human race is doomed.

The Doctor is faced with the knowledge that he's going to die soon, and it's touched upon a few times in the episode. After much soul searching, he realizes that he's the only Time Lord left, and he's the one that makes the rules. The rules of Time no longer apply, because there is no one there to Govern him. So he changes things. He takes it upon himself and changes things.

But what did he really change? This is the first time we get to see The Doctor's arrogance to the point of near-evil. It's an interesting turn for David Tennant's Doctor to take. You almost reach a point where you start to dislike him, until he realizes what he has done. And then you see the fear grip him. The fear that something is going to happen.

But what is going to happen???

All I know, is that he (Whoever "He" is... And yes, I know who "He" is...) is going to knock four times, and when he does.... The Drums will Sound off...

I give "The Waters of Mars" 10 Grilled Cheese sandwiches out of 10. That's right a perfect score. Some may disagree with me, but 1. It's Doctor Who, and 2. I don't care what you think! I LOVED IT!


By: Forch F. Fortier (Who reminds you that he does knock four times as well when he reaches your door. But he doesn't leave a wake of destruction in his path, he does, however leave your toilet smelling fresh, and clean! Oh wait, no. That's wrong. But when he does knock, make sure to have Diet Pepsi or Blue Kool-Aid handy...)