Series 4 - David Tennant - Partners in crime

Partners in Crime is the episode that signals Donna’s return to the show following her appearance in the ‘Runaway Bride’. Though possibly not one of her best episodes it gives a good insight into the relationship that the Doctor and his Donna will share for the rest of the series.

Catherine Tate’s Donna is almost definitely one of the most exciting companions that the Doctor has had, not only because she is the only one of the Doctor’s companions thus far in the modern series who does not fancy the Doctor and isn’t looking for any kind of romantic attention from him but because she is also an incredibly independent and strong woman who knows her own mind and isn’t afraid to tell the Doctor off when he is simply not being human enough. Donna finds the Doctor again after she finds herself unable to settle back into her normal life following their last encounter. Intent on finding the peculiar man in the blue box, Donna begins to investigate the mysterious Adipose Industries whose diet pills supposedly allow your fat to just walk away.

There is a rather charming and hilarious little reunion between the Doctor and Donna which really sets up the series by demonstrating the chemistry between the characters. The pair communicate entirely through mime on windows at separate sides of the room both so surprised to have found each other that they become oblivious to the immediate danger in close proximity. Catherine Tate’s slapstick comedy style perfectly complements David Tennant’s excitable and childlike facial expressions and the relationship is immediately infectious.

The Adipose are probably the cutest and least imposing of the Doctor Who monsters being just squishy little fat babies however the method of their creation is pretty creepy. The diet pill being marketed by Adipose Industries begins to gradually convert the cells of the people who take it, turning their fat into the little adipose babies, the process is magnified and activated by a signal which is being broadcast from the Adipose office. If left to continue the conversion then the Adipose would actually convert an entire human being into dozens of small fatty life forms.

There is a running theme in many Doctor Who episodes based on earth which feature a person (human or otherwise) who has been brainwashed and coerced into helping out a monster or foe under the impression that they will be spared and given great glory because of their involvement, only to find out that actually after they have served their purpose they are disposed of, often in the most horrible way imaginable in the honour of the cause. This is one such episode with a small twist, which sees Miss Foster, the owner and manager of Adipose Industries destroyed when the Adipose parents return to collect their offspring. As punishment for breaking the galactic law by forcefully converting babies the first Adipose family drop Miss Foster out of the sky.  

Donna remarks that Martha Jones has made the Doctor more human when he spares the Adipose and their children and agrees to travel with him for a time in the Tardis but just as friends, nothing more. This episode also sees the first of a series of Cameos by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler in the run up to her return in ‘Turn Left’, an appearance that surprised and excited fans around the world.

This episode has received mixed reviews and is widely considered more of a series filler than a fully-fledged adventure but there is no denying Donna Noble’s immediate impact. A high 3/5