After a sudden realisation of a looming deadline, I have spent the past 36 hours writing about 3 of my favourite Doctor Who stories, one for this blog (The Doctor's Wife) and the other two for something else that I'll link to later. So when the time came for me to have a look at The Rebel Flesh, it honestly came as a bit of an afterthought after a fairly packed weekend.
And I think that's what this two-part story will be forever thought of as: an afterthought. Watching it again tonight, I was struck by two things. One was that it was actually a little bit better than I thought it was going to be, and the other was that it slowly dawned on me the complete fuzziness of my memory of this episode. I think it's because of the setting: the greyness of the monastery-cum-acid factory where the story takes place. Whilst it's atmospheric and adds to the overall tone of the story, it also makes the story feel just a little bit dull; a little bit lacking in colour. And it's that visual tone that makes me kind overlook this story as something that's just grey and a bit boring.
But, as I said, it was better than I thought it was going to be. I liked the fact that it openly states that the Gangers aren't the monsters, and that this is going to be a story all about trying to reconcile the Gangers with their human counterparts. I also like the development of the Ganger Jennifer, who is overwhelmed with what has happened to her and seeks the compassion of Rory in order to keep her safe. It's a poignant moment to see her sitting alone, looking at her unformed face in the mirror, then putting an old photo of herself in the frame to replace it, to pretend that she is that person. The only problem is, as I recall, the story doesn't quite continue in that fashion with Jennifer, and we'll see how that pans out in The Almost People. But, to be honest, my memories a little bit fuzzy with respect to that episode as well, so maybe I've been completely wrong about the whole thing. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow.
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