More Doctor Who S1 rewatch: 1.11 Boom Town

[unfeathered]

I've been thoroughly enjoying my foray through Nine's single season for the first time in what must be several years. I hoped to post more, but found I didn't actually have much to say, except how much I'm enjoying it. For the record, though, if anyone's interested, my original S1 reviews can be found here.

But Boom Town, tonight, made me really want to squee a little on how amazing it is, even after all this time.

I have watched this episode sooooo many times, both in series rewatches and for research because, as someone pointed out many many moons ago, this is the one single episode where we get to see Rose, Nine and Jack as they presumably would have been for a hell of a lot more adventures between the Empty Child and the Game Station if only season 1 had been longer!

But I watched it tonight for the first time in several years (with my son, who is 18 and was still growing inside me when this first aired, that's how long ago it was!!!) and we both found so much in it to enjoy. And not just to enjoy, but to notice. There's such a lot of stuff packed into this episode. Character stuff, the stuff I'm interested in and the stuff Jack (my son, not Captain Jack, although to be fair he was in part named after Captain Jack) is interested in – well, he's going to be an actor, and I'm a writer, so characters and their relationships are what we're there for!

And this episode gives so much, about Nine, Jack, Rose, Mickey, and their interactions with each other. The tensions between Rose and Mickey, with the two of them remembering how they used to be together and trying to work out what they are to each other now. Jack looking after Rose, like the way he grabs her when Blon lets her go. Blon's not-very-subtle attempts to play all of them but especially the Doctor, and the insights we get into the Doctor as a result (oh, how expressive Christopher Eccleston's eyes are)!

But best of all, the Doctor and Jack. I came into Nine/Jack largely through becky_writing / fandom_me's awesome fic with Nine and Jack in an established BDSM relationship, and so that's inevitably where I followed. Rewatching this now with an open mind, I'm not necessarily getting an established sexual or D/s relationship there, or even necessarily the promise of one – I mean, there *could* be, but there equally could not be – but there is so much interaction, little looks and glances – Jack glances at the Doctor a lot, checking in with him for approval or orders, a LOT. There might not be a sexual relationship, there might not be an overt D/s relationship, but there is very definitely a pecking order there, and Jack is very definitely watching the Doctor for direction. It's fascinating. If I had the time, I'd go and watch the episode AGAIN!

But I won't, because we're trying to get in as much rewatching as possible before my son goes off to uni in September. And I need to actually show him Torchwood this time around, because our last rewatch of these early seasons was years ago and he definitely wasn't old enough then!

Comments

[shivver]

I have to agree with you, "Boom Town" is a fantastic episode. I remember not being particularly impressed with it the first time I saw it (except the dinner scene with the Doctor and Blon, that back-and-forth), but on rewatch, with a greater understanding of the relationships between the characters and the overall story, it blew me away. I'm not quite sure if it beats "Father's Day" as my favorite series 1 ep, but it's definitely second-favorite.

I know you weren't watching for this, but do you think that this ep was trying to establish the seeds of the Doctor/Rose relationship, ahead of series 2? I thought that there were a couple of instances in which Rose interacts with Jack and the Doctor, in the background, gives a jealous sneer - but like you said about Nine/Jack in this episode, it could equally not have been.

[unfeathered]

Yeah, it's certainly one that's grown on me over time. It's not a BIG story like the other two Jack/Rose/Nine stories, it's not an intro story or an exit story or a two-parter, but it is a greally GOOD one!

It's a bit above Father's Day for me, simply because it includes Jack, but FD is also another one that's grown on me greatly over time. :-)

Doctor/Rose... that's an interesting question. It's not something I tend to look for because I don't like Doctor/Rose, because of the massive power imbalance. But the addition of Jack and his flirtiness to the TARDIS team definitely stirs things up, quite possibly for both Rose and the Doctor, making them each aware of the other as a potential romantic being, possibly for the first time. I personally think there's probably more of that in TEC/TDD than this one - it's not something I noticed in last night's viewing, certainly - but that doesn't mean the writers weren't intending it.

In fact, if you'd like a deeper delve, I wrote a 6,000 word bit of meta about this many, many moons ago. I just re-read it and very nearly all of it still stands for me. I don't honestly believe the writers actually intended a sexual relationship between any of the three of them to be canon at this point, but there's a lot that can be read into it to support one between Jack and the Doctor, in my view.

As for Rose and the Doctor, I do believe they probably were trying to introduce the idea of a romantic relationship between them, and obviously that was definitely canon once Nine became Ten. And obviously there's the whole thing that Nine regenerates into someone much more like Rose (young, pretty, London accent) which proves just how much she meant to him.

But for me, I still only really see Nine/Jack here. Though as I say, that might well be because that's all I want to see! :-D

[shivver]

As I'm thinking about it, I think the scene I'm picturing is Rose going out with Mickey, and the Doctor is working on something in his hands and he kind of gives them a glare. I didn't notice that until a recent (last three years?) rewatch and it had surprised me at that point because I hadn't thought that they'd introduced any hint of a relationship during series 1.

I skimmed through your meta and I enjoyed it - both well-written and well-researched. I'm not a shipper in any sense of the word and don't care about the romantic aspects of anything I watch, but I've always said, if I had to choose the best romantic partner for the Doctor, it would be Jack. They can relate to each other as equals, and they both understand aspects of each others better than anyone else can. I really can't get behind almost any other companion in a romantic relationship with the Doctor because they all put him on a high pedestal and because he relates to all of them like a father teaching his children - the concept is really squicky. The only other companion that relates to the Doctor on an actual mature level is Donna. (Don't get me started on River...)

Anyway, I really loved how you analyzed every scene, and also how you allowed for writer intention and other theories to counter your thoughts. And I really like that your image of their relationship is very mature, for example, that they both know when to defer to the other, that there isn't fighting for dominance.

One bit... You mentioned how Jack originally came on hard to Rose, then when he found out she wasn't a Time Agent, he switched to avuncular, and turned all his attention on the Doctor. While I don't disagree with you at all, there's another force at work here. For all the fans' criticism of Jack flirting with and sleeping with anything that moves, the one thing they don't recognize is that Jack is actually respectful. He talks a lot about the sex he has, but it's always consentual, and he flirts with everyone, but shuts it down if the target says no. Jack came on hard with Rose because he thought she was a Time Agent, but as soon as it was clear that she wasn't, he saw that she was underage (or at least acted underage) and stopped it cold, and turned into that favorite uncle.