S03E09: 'The Family of Blood'

An enjoyable conclusion to last week’s superb episode, ‘The Family of Blood’ continues to explore the darker tone that the series sometimes lacks.

There’s plenty of emotional pathos – which the revived Doctor Who excels at – to tug at your heartstrings. If some managed to resist a lump in your throat at Joan’s ultimate spurning of The Doctor’s romantic advances, then the scene where the poppy-wearing Time Lord and Martha visit a wartime commemoration attended by an elderly Latimer, still clutching the watch, would have made many succumb to the odd tear.

The possession of the young balloon-bearing girl by The Family leads to much engaging conflict in both the viewers’ and characters’ minds. We know she bears a great malevolence inside of her, yet the exterior is so innocent that turning a gun on her/it would seem barbaric.

In line with the humane actions The Doctor adopts, it’s fitting that the punishment for the villainous Family should befit the crime – a murderous pursuit for immortality. Many lesser, bloodthirsty shows would have simply blown them up.

The romantic undercurrents between The Doctor and Martha bubbled up to the surface with the student’s desperate confession to John Smith about her feelings for his Time Lord counterpart. We can’t wait to see how this pans out. Have those hankies at the ready… or at least hidden behind the sofa which is where the scarecrows may have sent many during this episode.