So we made it. Without a Christmas Special we had to hold out for a New Year’s one instead, not that it really made much of a difference. This will be the last Doctor Who episode we get for a while, as the show isn’t returning until 2020, and that’s way too far away to be thinking about now.
But just think, by the time we see these characters again, we’ll know the end of the Game of Thrones, Infinity War and the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Now that’s freaky.
As ever, here are ten thoughts on the episode…
It’s not a particularly original beginning, but it’s beautifully shot with an appropriately ominous narrator’s voice, and is a neat and elegant way of setting up the story to come. The final warrior in particular gets a good segue, from his fallen body on the road fading into the skeleton that’s just been dug up in the sewers of Sheffield.
2. Mitch and Lin are two archeologists who have just uncovered the third part of the dangerous artefact (though honestly, it’s not like the other two were hidden particularly well; they’re guarded by a single unarmed person and buried about two centimeters down).
But our two guest stars have a sweet moment about a shared kiss that feels real and natural. Mitch’s comment about how this was the best year ever despite being “only one day in” feels like the sort of charming thing a normal guy could come up with, as opposed to one of Moffat’s elaborate witticisms.
And hey, he’s Aafrin from Indian Summers! I’ve missed that show.
3. The Doctor has been treating her Companions to nineteen New Year’s Eve parties in a row, which is exactly the sort of thing a time-traveller should be doing.
4. Naturally one of the found artefacts is an alien life-form, and naturally Lin decides to touch it after it disappears from the workbench so of course it ends up grafting itself to her back and controlling her movements.
Because I was one of the only people on Earth not to know this was a Dalek episode going in, I momentarily thought that the creature was some sort of Lovecraftian Cthulu monster (though the game was up the second it started speaking). The sight of it sprawled out on the sewer wall was a pretty effective one, as was the moment it calls itself: “your pilot.”
5. Ryan’s dad finally turns up, and the Doctor comes right out and says what needs to be said: that he failed Ryan. It’s almost funny really, as none of the others would ever come right out and say this to his face, but the Doctor certainly knows how to break the ice.
(Forgive me for bringing up this comparison, but it reminds me of one moment I really liked in season three of Sherlock, in which Mary is able to speak for Watson in the face of his overwhelming fury at Sherlock’s return).
Graham is slightly more magnanimous towards Aaron’s reappearance, which is what I’d expect from a grown man whether or not he’d been on life-changing adventures in space, and the scene where he shares Grace’s belongings with her son worked better than the one between Ryan and Aaron at the café.
Also, Aaron has brought along a microwave oven, which I’m sure won’t be important in any way, shape or form before the closing credits.
6. So the Doctor figures out she’s up against a Dalek that’s been on Earth since the 9th century, and the cat and mouse game begins. There were some good moments here, from the Doctor trying to speak to Lin from within the Dalek’s control, to the Dalek building its metal casing in a scene that felt like a dark reflection of the Doctor remaking her sonic screwdriver back in the first episode, to the truly awful sound of the Dalek’s laughter.
But we run into some odd continuity issues, which is the case every time a new showrunner comes on board. In this case, shouldn’t Ryan, Yaz and Graham know what Daleks are? There was an invasion of Earth less than ten years ago, which all of them would have lived through.
And I thought the Dalek’s monosyllabic voice was created by the casing they lived in, so why was it speaking like that when suctioned to Lin’s back? Or am I misremembering Dalek biology?
7. Two scenes stuck out as ones that contained ideas which could have easily been expanded into an entire episode: the first when the Doctor rings UNIT (namedropping Kate Stewart as she does) only to find that funding has been cut and all operations have been suspended.
The second is when the Dalek cuts power to all technological devices, leading to a family dazedly realizing in shock and horror that they might have to have a conversation with each other. It was a bit of an anvil-drop, but like I said – both were fun, interesting scenes which could have easily been expanded to fit into an entire episode.
8. Less successful was the scene in which soldiers open fire on the Dalek, having taken cover behind… absolutely nothing. (And like I said earlier, shouldn’t they know what a Dalek is capable of?)
I suppose with each new showrunner we need a reminder of how much damage a Dalek can do, along with a few explosions for the trailer, but this was still incredibly superfluous.
9. And the big climax, in which the Dalek takes over Aaron’s body, is defeated by a microwave oven, and is sucked in an imploding sun. Ryan somehow manages to hang onto his dad despite there being absolutely no hand-holds of any kind, as well as a complete turn-around in attitude towards the guy who ditched him, missed his grandmother’s funeral, and took time out of their reconciliation to shill a microwave oven.
I’m trying to be kind, but the truth will have its day: this part was terrible.
10. Despite the lazy ending, this was a pretty solid episode, with some likable guest stars (I was worried about Lin’s survival odds), a reasonably solid plot, some cool one-liners, and a reminder that sometimes the stakes don’t have to be high in order for a story to be suspenseful.
Just the Doctor facing off against a single Dalek, who demonstrated just how much damage it could do in a very short space of time. There was closure on Ryan and his father (despite the clumsiness of how it was done, I at least appreciated that it was eventually woven into the A-plot), all the Companions got a moment to shine (though Yaz is still hopelessly wasted) and we’re off on more adventures.
(But won’t Lin be wanted for the murder of that policeman? I’m pretty sure there’s dashcam footage of her killing him.)
This episode was par for the course for this season as a whole, which was pretty solid but uneventful all things considered. It’s been fantastic having the Doctor in a woman’s body, as well as a diverse cast along race/gender/age lines, but all these characters really need something more. Better stories, stronger development.
As it is, I’d say the best episodes have been Demons of the Punjab, for shining light on a bit of history that most of us aren’t aware of in a bright and creative way, The Witchfinders, for its interesting plot and three-dimensional guest stars, and Rosa, for being powerful and relevant despite the obvious manipulation at work.
But more than that, this season of Doctor Who rekindled my interest in the show. Chris Chibnall certainly has his weaknesses (and did so long before this) but it's also fair to say that Moffat had done his dash and was clearly ready to go off and do heaven knows what to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Despite its flaws, new life has been breathed into Doctor Who, and I'm ready to see where it goes next.
No comments:
Post a Comment