Saturday 20 September 2014

DOCTOR WHO - TIME HEIST Review


A garbled American voice briefs the Doctor and Clara as they are pitched headlong into a whirlwind adventure that's perhaps a bit too breezy for its own good.  As with previous episodes in this run the action is very watchable and the design is great but Steve Thompson and Steven Moffat's script is choppy and out of recent instalments I'd rather this had been a two-parter.  An impregnable fortress that contains many man-sized ventilation ducts and where they reach the vault rather quickly doesn't bear the hallmarks of a satisfying takedown for me.    

The story is a tight fit for Capaldi's manipulative Doctor and there are two splendid adversaries in the looming, slug-like Teller and Keeley Hawes' Ms Delphox.  A creature that can get you if you so much as think is a strong concept and the excellent Hawes can do this sort of performance in her sleep.  Fellow heisters Jonathan Bailey and Pippa Bennett-Warner are decent but there's a distinct lack of time for fleshing out. 

All in all I was left with the impression of a story that while disposable was packed with hidden depths and ideas, some of which managed to make it out, in much the same way our heroes had to escape from the bank.  Brisk yet substantial, this is still an
improvement on breakneck tales of former eras (Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, I'm looking at you).
 

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