The Sword of the Chevalier review [Guy Adams]

"I am going to take you to... Slough." - The Doctor

Promising Rose a visit somewhere spectacular, the Doctor arrives in England in 1791 where he soon finds himself losing a duel against an exiled ex-spy whose gender's been the subject of many a bet. The time-travellers soon find that the Chevalier d'Eon isn't the only person with two faces... 
The Good:

• The amusing scene with the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS deciding where to go next should have been the first that we've seen of the two of them since Rose's final departure in series 4 rather than having them barely interact as they did in Infamy of the Zaross. Re-establishing the TARDIS duo, having fun and a bit of banter between the two of them would have been the ideal way to start this box-set. As it is, it's instead a good start to this story.
• The story of Chevalier D'Eon is an interesting one and not one that's common knowledge, so the decision to set a story featuring them (pronoun-dodging) is a good one. Nickolas Grace gives an excellent performance, though not really selling the ambiguity regarding the character's sex. That's a big ask, though.
• The villain, with two voices behind one mask, is one of the creepiest characters yet.

The Bad:

• The villain could have been developed more. It's a creepy idea but some discussion about why they're doing what they're doing would have been good.

The Ugly: Rose's top on the cover is hideous.

A Good Quotation: "Let me get my bearings. Quarter to... Pride and Prejudice?" / "Yeah, yeah, half-past Blackadder series three." - Rose and the Doctor

When did this happen?: Given Rose's shirt, we can assume that this story probably takes place between New Earth and Tooth and Claw or around Infamy of the Zaross. There's no real way to tell. Given that Rose says that there's no such thing as the Devil, this presumably takes place before The Impossible Planet.

This Reminds Me...:

• Rose volunteers the Doctor to fight Chevalier d'Eon given his swordsmanship in The Christmas Invasion.

Verdict: D'Eon is a good character, narcissistic and full of him/herself and performed very well by Nickolas Grace. Tennant is good as usual and we'll just have to accept that Rose is posh now. The story's good and the villain creepy, so while this story wasn't a favourite of mine it was definitely a solid one. C

The Tenth Doctor Adventures (Volume 2)

Infamy of the Zaross  |  The Sword of the Chevalier  |  Cold Vengeance

Infamy of the Zaross review [John Dorney]

"We've sort of been... We've sort of been invaded. Alright, great. Love you. Speak soon. Bye." - Jackie

The Good:

• Looking down on Earth, Jackie has a moment of clarity where she understands why Rose travels with the Doctor. Then she slaps an alien across the face.
• Rose gives a touching speech to the for-all-intends-and-purposes suicidal Jess, transcribed in its entirety in the "A Good Quotation" section. It's a mature and sensitive speech delivered emotively by Billie Piper.
• Rose standing up for Jess, telling her that she'll be fantastic and scolding Marge, is a funny and satisfying conclusion.

The Bad:

• Billie Piper has either completely forgotten how to play Rose or isn't trying. She sounded different in series 4, almost having a lisp, but here she sounds a few social classes higher than Rose is supposed to be. Is this Rose Tyler or Raine Creevy? Piper was easily amongst the best actresses to play the role of companion in the modern series, so what's going on?
• A cold open is supposed to draw the audience in with something exciting, mysterious or dramatic to get you interested from the off. The teaser here in the studio doesn't work. It would have been better to have the Doctor and Rose arriving at Marge's before the theme song.
• Rose is irritatingly smug whilst messing around in Earth Control.
• The idea of an intergalactic snuff film isn't properly utilised in this story. The Doctor and Rose show their disgust for it with the Zaross leader and Ikron, but that's about it. John Dorney missed a good opportunity for some Vengeance on Varos-esque social commentary.
• The Doctor and Rose had almost no character moments with very little of a relationship being shown between the two of them in this story resulting in something of a lack of chemistry between the two characters.

The Ugly: Rose wore a good couple of outfits during her tenure, so why was her ugly New Earth attire used on the front cover for both this story and The Sword of the Chevalier? Because Cassandra adjusts it to show cleavage? I thought Big Finish was better than that.

A Good Quotation:

• "No, it's not fake. It's scripted reality." - Zaross leader
• "No. That's not the answer. That is never the answer. Alive is always better than dead, trust me. You don't need them telling you you're worthwhile. What do they know? They're bullies. Everyone's important. They really are. Oh, you are.You're alive and you're here and there'll never be anyone like you. How is that not important? I've seen the universe, Jess, and you're as special as they come." - Rose

A Bad Quotation:

• "You order an alien nemesis with rice? Well, I've got some bad news for you. They're all out of rice." - The Doctor
• "Who did you think it was? Bruce Willis?" - Rose
• "Who'd want to watch a TV series about me?" - The Doctor

When was this?: Rose is aware of the Cybermen, meaning that this takes place between Age of Steel and Army of Ghosts.

His Constant Companion: The Zaross shoot a number of humans.

This Reminds Me...:

• The Doctor threatens to contact the Shadow Proclamation, which the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors did a handful of times.
• The Doctor and Rose name-drop the Daleks, Sontarans and Cybermen.
• The Doctor suggests perhaps visiting the Land of Fiction next.

Verdict: A run-of-the-mill story that perhaps shouldn't have opened up volume 2 of The Tenth Doctor Adventures, Infamy of the Zaross does very little for any of the characters. David Tennant and Camille Coduri are very good, as always, but Billie Piper sounds far too posh to be Jackie Tyler's daughter. D

The Tenth Doctor Adventures (Volume 2)

Death and the Queen  |  Infamy of the Zaross  |  The Sword of the Chevalier