Doctor Who Season 4 Episode 6 The Doctor's Daughter

Doctor Who The Doctor's Daughter 6/13

Following on from the end of "The Poison Sky", the TARDIS takes the Doctor and his companions Donna Noble and Martha Jones to the planet Messaline in the midst of a generations-long war between humans and the Hath, fish-like humanoids. Upon leaving the TARDIS, armed men working for General Cobb stick the Doctor's hand in a progenation machine, which uses his DNA to create an adult soldier within moments — Jenny,the episode's titular character.

Martha is subsequently captured by the Hath, whereas the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny are imprisoned by the humans because of the Doctor's pacifist attitude. Each of the primary characters learns about the war from its belligerents; the Hath and humans were initially meant to live on a peaceful colony, but were divided over a dispute about "the Source", believed by each side to be the breath of their creator. When the Doctor unwittingly reveals the location of the Source, the two sides race to claim it first.

The Doctor is initially dismissive of Jenny, his biological daughter, but becomes enamoured as the episode progresses. Donna is also distracted from the war by a series of numbered plaques on their journey. When they reach the location of the Source, a colonising spaceship, Donna and the Doctor discover that the plaques represent the date building was completed, which was a mere seven days previous; the humans and Hath have bred so many generations through the progenation machines that their own history degraded into myth. The original casus belli was a power vacuum caused by the death of the mission commander.

Both the human and Hath forces converge at the Source concurrently. The Doctor declares the war to be over, and releases the terraforming agent; everyone present releases their weapons, with the exception of Cobb, who shoots Jenny dead when she tries to defend the Doctor. Enraged, the Doctor holds Cobb at gunpoint, but refuses to shoot, asking the colonists to create a pacifist society.

At the end of the episode, the Doctor takes Martha home. Martha warns Donna that life with the Doctor can be dangerous, but Donna nevertheless resolves to stay with the Doctor indefinitely. Concurrently, on Messaline, Jenny revives in front of a human and a Hath. She escapes Messaline, resolving to follow in her father's footsteps by resolving disputes and fighting villians.