Surprise!
I figured this would be a good What If...? to do and it was actually one of the first I thought of for this series. Despite my problems with the episode that the titular character comes from, I did actually like the character of Jenny and thought she had a lot of potential. Her being shot and being "dead" at the end was a bit of a shame, but then that's what this series is all about! So, let's turn the clocks back to the very end of The Doctor's Daughter. Jenny was shot by General Cobb, who was promptly threatened by a Doctor who had neither the courage nor the strength to blow his head off, and the Doctor, Martha, and Donna are about to leave when, all of a sudden...
The Doctor notes the strange, golden energy flowing from Jenny's mouth. Donna and Martha, of course, don't recognize it as neither of them have seen a regeneration up to this point (Martha, if you'll remember, was outside of the TARDIS during the Master's regeneration in Utopia). When Jenny's eyes snap open, Donna proclaims it impossible.
In a callback to the laser lights acrobatics scene (as well as earlier in the episode), the Doctor bookends their adventure by proclaiming that it isn't impossible, just a bit unlikely. Father and daughter embrace and the TARDIS crew heads off for further adventures. Martha is dropped off along the way, in an echo from the actual episode she tells the Doctor:
"All those things you've been ready to die for, now you finally have something worth living for."
The Doctor tells her exactly what he does in the broadcast episode regardless, but the tone isn't as bittersweet. Now, we have the Doctor, Donna, and Jenny traveling off in the TARDIS for destinations unknown.
Next up is this universe's version of The Unicorn and the Wasp and we notice a few things pretty quickly - namely that more times seems to have passed than it did in the broadcast version. True, we don't know how much time has passed between episodes in Series 4 (besides the obvious ones like the two-parters and so on). In that time, Jenny has been receiving tutoring from the Doctor and Donna on Earth culture and thus when Agatha Christie introduces herself...Jenny shares in Donna and her father's shocked surprise.
The rest of the episode plays out pretty much as it does in the main universe. Jenny likely attempts to kick the Vespiform at some point and there's probably more references to novels that Jenny hasn't finished reading yet that Agatha Christie also hasn't written by that point, because comedy. However, the experience has made Jenny more curious about literature, leading to the Doctor planning a very special field trip...
Silence in the Library comes next. We can play this out pretty much as it was in the original, though River notes she's also happy to see Jenny along with the Doctor. She recognizes her. When the Doctor attempts to send Donna and Jenny away, Jenny is smart enough to realize what's going on and gets off of the teleporter pad.
This leads into Forest of the Dead, where we again hit some of the same beats. In this instance, Jenny is pulled by River into one of the other rooms as the Doctor faces down with the Vashta Nerada. River tells Jenny of the Doctor that she knows, of all the things that she will see, but keeping the spoilers to a minimum, of course. When Jenny points out that River seems to be speaking of things in the past tense, River's simply say that that's because she has already lived those adventures...but Jenny doesn't believe her, unable to shake the feeling that she's hiding something from both her and the Doctor.
Also, at the end, River uses hallucinogenic lipstick on Jenny, wishing her the best of luck with a peck on the cheek before going to save the Doctor one last time. When she comes out of it, Jenny believes she's spent several hours training to fly the TARDIS and River is gone. However, Donna is back and they all have a mournful moment to remember what they've lost...until the Doctor remembers the screwdriver that River had and does the last run to save her. Jenny also feels a bit guilty, given that River reacted with such shock at realizing who Donna was, and worries about what might happen to her...
Midnight comes up and we have a vastly different thing going on than we do in the broadcast episode. Jenny joins the Doctor on the bus...and is there when the Entity starts making itself known. When the passengers start to turn on the Doctor, Jenny makes former companion Leela proud and...politely encourages them to forego the ideas of throwing the Doctor off of the bus. She and the Hostess manage to work out that the Midnight Entity has leaped into Skye and Jenny sweeps the leg while the Hostess opens the doorway to let "Skye" out.
That's right, the Hostess actually lives in this version! Yes, I know I said in my review that that was part of what makes it perfect, but Jenny's existence changes things. Needless to say, even with the change, the Doctor is more than happy to let the authorities close down Midnight. Jenny wholeheartedly agrees with him on that one.
Turn Left goes pretty much the same. Everything from Donna getting the beetle on her back to the group coming to find the entire world covered in "Bad Wolf" for reasons that are never explored or explained. Jenny's existence really wouldn't change things and she wouldn't be in the altered timeline at any rate given that the hand from the Doctor's swordfight would still be in the custody of Captain Jack...who was a prisoner of the Sontarans at that point.
The Stolen Earth comes next, and we get a big change from the broadcast episode. Namely...Jenny remains stuck on Earth when the Daleks take it away. You might be thinking she runs into a certain blonde sociopath. She does not. Instead, she runs into a very different person - Francine Jones. Assisting her in avoiding a Dalek patrol, she returns with her to her home just in time to run into none other than Martha Jones!
A happy reunion all around and later the scene with the rest of the crew as Jenny is introduced to some of the other companions in her father's life as well as Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister for Running Joke, who Jenny immediately takes a liking to in particular. She assists with using the phone system to call the TARDIS, using the energy from the Cardiff Rift and - yeah, look, if you're looking up this niche thing then you probably already have seen the episode - they contact the Doctor successfully, him being especially pleased that she's alright. Martha takes off to tend to the Osterhagen Key and Jenny heads off to find the TARDIS, telling Francine to stay indoors.
When Jenny arrives at the place the Doctor said he'd be landing, she instead finds...a blonde woman in a purple jacket carrying a gun. She's immediately suspicious, as is the woman of her. However, they are both soon distracted by the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing some distance away. They take off after it, Rose getting quite the shock when Jenny calls out for "Dad!" as she calls out for the Doctor. They arrive, cue smiles and eventually the Dalek shooting of the Doctor. Jack arrives and takes out said Dalek before he, Jenny, Donna, and Rose get the Doctor back onto the TARDIS. Being that Jenny has been given a primer on regeneration, she's able to help out a bit...but the results are the same.
Journey's End begins as the Doctor regenerates...and the energy goes into the hand in the jar as it had in the original timeline. Being that it frothed and bubbled so much during The Doctor's Daughter, it seems to be doing so again...and Jenny notices, hearing the single heartbeat just as Donna does in the broadcasted episode. As in the broadcasted episode, Donna is trapped in the TARDIS...as is Jenny, both of them realizing that something in up with the hand in the jar as they're throwing into the heart of the Crucible. Donna touches the jar and we get the Meta-Crisis Doctor as before. They manage to escape a fiery death.
Sooner than later, all hell breaks loose. The companions end up on the Crucible, it seems the end of the universe has come, and Dalek Caan taunts Davros, speaking of the Lords of Time coming to stop the Daleks once and for all. This time, there's four of them: namely the two Doctors, Jenny, and Donna. In a twist from showing how far she's come in her travels, Jenny actually attempts to stop the Meta-Crisis Doctor, trying to echo the Doctor's sentiment from The Doctor's Daughter about having a choice...but again, he doesn't hesitate and annihilates the Daleks outright. The Doctor gets everyone onboard, Davros refuses rescue and curses the Doctor with his (seemingly) final breath, and the TARDIS escapes and tows the Earth back to where it belongs, all said and done.
We get the companion departures and then...the sad. Namely, the Doctor having to erase Donna's memories. For a time, Donna and Jenny are laughing and joking about the things they could do and the things they will see as they travel on...and Donna starts repeating herself, like a skipping record. She and the Doctor both realize what has happened, and what needs to happen as a result. Jenny protests, the Doctor having to render her unconscious (with an apology) before committing the act. When Jenny awakens, Donna is gone...back on Earth with her family. She can never see the Doctor and Jenny again because, if she does, her mind will burn and she will die.
She angrily berates her father for this but, upon seeing the Doctor in a state of total emotional breakdown, shatters and just slumps against him and cries. The two embrace and we end the episode there with the two lonely gods...alone in their time machine...
Given that we have the specials to go through...let's go ahead and knock them out, shall we?
When we return to the Time Lords in The Next Doctor, things pretty much go on as they did in the broadcasted episode. There's more parallels between Jackson Lake and his son with the Doctor and Jenny, the Doctor making a comment at one point that he doesn't know what he'd do if he lost her. The happy ending helps with things between them and, to top it all off, they share in Christmas dinner with Jackson Lake, his son, and Rosita.
Planet of the Dead can again go very much like the broadcasted episode, though I think Jenny would be more wary of Christina than the Doctor is in that episode. She would not trust her, though with some encouragement from her father would work with her to get out of danger safely. Upon returning, we'd once more get the 'He will knock four times' warning, Jenny questioning what it means and the Doctor saying that he does not know...
The Waters of Mars can, again, go much like the episode as broadcast just with the addition of Jenny in one of the Sanctuary Base suits. She actually takes out Gadget when it shows up to pull a gun on the pair of them. The first meeting between the Time Lords and the human colonists is a little less one-sided in favor of the humans, though the Doctor does repair Gadget as a show of good will. Upon realizing who they are, the Doctor immediately wants to leave. However, Jenny is a curious sort and knows where she gets that from. Brooke presses them into service much like she does the Doctor in the broadcast episode.
All hell breaks loose (not an uncommon occurrence for them by now) and they deal with the Flood, the Doctor at first leaving with Jenny and then...well, his mind snaps. Despite Jenny's protests, he returns to Bowie Base One and takes charge. Jenny assisting, but panicked and worried the entire time as her father becomes increasingly more manic and it seems nothing can dissuade him. They escape the fiery doom of Bowie Base One's destruction, returning to Earth.
Here, the same beats play out. Adelaide berates the Doctor for his behavior and he responds as coldly as ever. However, Jenny joins in...and the Doctor is stunned. Not so much that he changes, instead rebuking her as well, claiming that she can't understand his position since she's not a Time Lord as he is. She's clearly very hurt by this...and Adelaide does commit suicide as in the broadcasted episode. The Doctor sees the damage he has done, crumbling as he does. Jenny is witness to Ood Sigma's projection as well, putting a pin in her hurt for the moment as she questions her father about what's happening.
He says he realizes that he's gone too far...messed up too badly...and that he needs to run. He needs to get away. He sets the TARDIS off, and we go into...
. . .oh boy...
The End of Time. Instead of the Doctor showing up in incredibly flamboyant fashion to Ood-Sphere, we instead start with the Doctor and Jenny right where we left off at the end of the previous episode. Jenny insists that they go to see Ood Sigma, since a psychic projection from across not only the universe but also time clearly means that something important is going on. While the Doctor refutes this, trying to distract her with exotic locales and adventures they could have, Jenny throws his earlier dig at her not being a true Time Lord in his face. He is clearly ashamed and apologizes for it, setting the TARDIS for Ood-Sphere.
They meet Ood-Sigma, who takes them to the Ood and they witness the visions of things to come before quickly heading off to stop the resurrection of the Master. They arrive too late, Jenny brings up using the TARDIS to go back further, but the Doctor reminds her of them now being stuck in events. She considers it a cheap cop out...I mean, she laments that they're too late, but they're here now and things are progressing as one would expect. In the scene with Wilf in the café, Jenny likewise pressures the Doctor to go and help Donna, but the result is the same: he can't, or she'll die. The fight in the wasteland also goes a bit differently, Jenny attempting to body check the Master and getting blasted with lightning for her trouble, which knocks her out and thus she avoids confronting Joshua Naismith's armed thugs when they arrive.
Things play out up to the "Master Race" conclusion, with Part 2 beginning with the Doctor, Jenny, and Wilf all tied up. Everyone on Earth, sans Donna and Wilf, are now all versions of the Master. The Vinvocci make their rescue and the group get aboard their ship, the Doctor taking out everything but the emergency power. Here, while Wilf has his scenes with his imaginary friend - mean the Woman in White - Jenny and the Doctor talk through the fallout from The Waters of Mars.
We also get the first discussion about her resurrection on Messaline. It's not regeneration, but the Doctor doesn't quite know what it is. It is entirely possible that the progenation machine, in rearranging Time Lord genes, created something wholly new.
The Master's gambit gets revealed with the White-Point Star and we get into the final bits of the actual plot of the episode. The beats play out the same, though the Vinvocci are convinced a little sooner by Wilf's plea to land the ship to help the Doctor due to Jenny being there and the implied threat of her pulling all those prickles off of their heads. One at a time.
They arrive, and the beats play out very similarly to the episode, save for Jenny trying to dropkick Rassilon and getting rebuffed for her trouble. When he moves to disintegrate her, that's when the Doctor pulls the gun and distracts him, leading into the remainder of the fight up to and including the knock four times bit. This time, when he attempts to go into his self-pity rant, the Doctor is stopped...by Jenny. He reminds her of what she learned from him on Messaline, that we can't control where we come from or what happens to us, but that we can choose to be someone else.
While she does suggest that she go into the booth, the Doctor refutes this. They still aren't certain if Jenny can regenerate and he claims that it's "his honor" to Wilf...albeit it now sounding a bit more genuine and less incredibly lame and backhanded. The Doctor goes in the booth, has his over the top "I'm taking on radiation" scene. He comes out, the process is starting and the Doctor and Jenny take Wilf back home, narrowly avoiding Donna.
Jenny asks where they're going, the Doctor replies with the same line he does in the broadcast episode: "To get my reward".
Cue companion montage or, rather, Jenny uses the telepathic circuits of the TARDIS to connect her father to everyone who ever travelled with him. For just a brief moment, he is with them all again...his final reward. Given that the Doctor doesn't hold back his regeneration in this version, he isn't destroying the TARDIS this time around. Much like the transition from the Ninth to the Tenth Doctor, he regenerates and is a new man: the Eleventh Doctor.
It's a joyous reunion, but it seems that - in spite of the lack of damage from the regeneration - the TARDIS is going off-course, the Doctor apparently didn't set the coordinates right. With his post-regeneration brain, he is too addled to reset it in time and they careen toward Earth...
. . .and that's where we're leaving off! The Doctor and Jenny streak toward Earth. Will they survive? Will they meet a certain young woman named Amelia Pond? Well, given that this is only Part 1, something is bound to happen!
Soon enough, we'll get to Series 5 in the reviews and what ifs that can continue into that era will continue. For now, though, we have a new What If on the horizon. It is time to settle something that has been a figure of Doctor Who lore since November of 2008. So much so that it's blown up into a massive multimedia event that...I admittedly have not seen anything of.
So, naturally, I'll be co-opting the name and making my own version of events!
Because originality!
It's time...for Time Lord Victorious!
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