Review: Doctor Who 3x08 – "Human Nature"

The third season of Doctor Who may be its best yet, and certainly this coming Friday's episode, "Human Nature" (Sci Fi, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m.) is the most absorbing story I've seen since last year's "School Reunion."

As with a good deal of science fiction, one of the recurring themes of Doctor Who is what it means to be human; the show uses alien races, monsters, robots, and the Doctor himself to counterpoint the deeply rooted, raw human capacity for both slavering evil and heart-breaking good.

As I discuss in my review, "Human Nature" addresses this question more directly, and more brilliantly, than I've yet seen from anything in the 44 years of this show's crazy-paving existince. Both the performances (particularly and especially from star David Tennant) and the writing (by Paul Cornell from his own novel) are superb, and anyone who skips Doctor Who because it's British or because they remember wobbly sets from the 70s should tune in just for the shock of seeing quality sci-fi TV they didn't know existed.