The Doctor faces a rebooted Master and the Cybermen in this jam-packed finale that combines the good, the bad and the downright weird. The best aspects are the revelations that both his arch enemy and staunch allies want the Time Lord to do the same thing; nourish his ego and take charge. Steven Moffat cleverly has The Mistress pulling Peter Capaldi's strings over the nature of his relationship with Clara, a source of much griping from fans. This strand also brings the issue of the new Doctor's dual nature to a reasonably satisfying conclusion. The Cybermens' water-based plot is rather unfathomable and veers onto the silly side (presumably the 'dark water' of last week is involved but it's never clarified).
Of the supporting cast, it's essentially Michelle Gomez's show. She makes a terrific Master, creepy and funny by turns. You can speculate why Moffat gave the character a sex change till the cyber cows come home. Either way, Gomez's performance is a pleasure, though she's let down by the script rapidly lurching into cartoon villainy so quickly. Some background as to how the Master ended up in her current form wouldn't have gone amiss. Jemma Redgrave is back heading up UNIT but she doesn't really add anything to the mix. Sanjeev Bhaskar is similarly wasted. Redgrave has apprently been inserted to usher in an odd cameo from her late onscreen father, itself part of Danny Pink's exit storyline, a bizarre tribute to the fallen of World War One.
As with last week there is a cruel streak to the episode that sits uneasily with the show in general. After "Cremationgate" we now see a popular supporting character bumped off in a manner arguably more suited to The Dark Knight than Doctor Who. I'd say overall this two parter has been the weakest story in the run, but there are still encouraging signs of the newfound maturity the series has displayed, seemingly inspired by its leading man. A hilarious end credit sequence suggests his mettle is going to be tested to breaking point by a rotund and rosy-cheeked polar opposite. Christmas couldn't come early enough for this reviewer.
The Doctor goes to the undiscovered country in this curate's egg of an opening instalment. Pitch black in its humour with very little to recommend for younger viewers, it heralds the start of possibly the most challenging and downright odd finales in the show's history.
Opening with the shock of Danny Pink's death before hotting up quite literally by the side of a volcano (candidate for most impressive scene in the run), it then takes us into the heart of Missy's world - what it represents and indeed who she is.
Having trumpeted the Cybermen as the villains of the piece it comes as no surprise to discover the identity of those skeletons immersed in the nefarious liquid of the title. It would have worked better if they'd been kept a secret (in fairness the production team
did have them stomping about St.Paul's). While I was disappointed not to see some Jason & The Argonauts-style action, this is at
least a novel way of introducing the monsters on a Halloween weekend. Whether "dark water" is going to form a solid part of the plot or if it's just one of Moffat's patented attention-grabbing gimmicks remains to be seen.
The setting and the script's attitude toward the afterlife could be seen as contentious. As someone who's experienced a bereavement I have to say I wasn't offended. The question for me is its suitability as a subject for family viewing, Danny's storyline being a wider case in point. I'll make a final judgment after the conclusion but I'd say, despite enjoying the episode, Steven Moffat has misjudged things here.
Michelle Gomez is a positive boon to the action. Showrunner Moffat has described her as treading a fine line between funny and scary. I agree. She's certainly dangerous and makes a strong counterpoint to Peter Capaldi. Chris Addison is also a clever piece of casting, his ingratiating yet cheeky presence adding dimension to the role of Seb. As for the revelation that Missy is the Master, well it's hardly a surprise if you've done any degree of fannish speculating over the past weeks. As someone who thinks the Master is a bland character I find it a shame they didn't create a more original enemy for Gomez. Why not just make her the Rani? She's going to be an improvement on John Simm's overgrown megalomaniac at any rate. A rather shoddy cliffhanger paves the way for an intriguing denouement.
The Twelfth Doctor goes undercover at Doctor Who's infamous Coal Hill School. He's there to get rid of a killing machine called the Skovox Blitzer but that turns out to be the sideshow to a proper confrontation - the introduction of Danny Pink to the TARDIS.
The Blitzer is truly an old school villain, more sophisticated than anything seen in the "classic" series but not a million miles away from it either. It has mechanical spider legs but is clearly trundling about the place and like the impregnable bank from last week its mythical status is questionable. Also it can be clearly outwitted if you do a bit of gymnastics. Peter Capaldi's means of defeating the menace is straight out of the Matt Smith era, first deploying an invisibility watch, then a Ghostbusters-style backpack to lure the enemy.
Gareth Roberts' and Steven Moffat's script is less about adventure and more to do with the evolution of the Doctor and Clara's relationship. He is now the disapproving father zeroing in on Mr Pink, the man who could spring her from the nest. Jenna Coleman (in full watt screwball comedy mode) sparks well off Capaldi and the light material that sometimes felt uneasy in Robot Of Sherwood works fine here. You'd think the ancient Time Lord would make mincemeat out of Danny but Samuel Anderson gives as good as he gets. I found the Doctor's blanket souring over soldiers a bit odd at first, but this military theme is being nicely developed and it'll be interesting to see how this incarnation takes to UNIT. Add to this an expansion of the series' "Missy" arc - a simple but compelling concept that I'm surprised hasn't been covered by the show before - and you have what is shaping up to be a consistent and mature run.
Ellis George appears to be joining the crew as disaffected schoolgirl Courtney. I'm not sure what qualities she is going to bring to the programme, though her involvement is fairly crucial. This looks to be Capaldi's first proper encounter with a child, Courtney representing a section of the audience that are maybe under-served by the current regeneration. In a canny move she is as lippy with the Doctor as everyone else.
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).
Doctor Who has long been associated with everyday fears, from shop window mannequins to excess body weight. But Steven Moffat goes right back to basics for Listen, creating a story around the things that lurk beneath your bed. You might think this is a bit
simplistic at first, however the writer uses this idea as a springboard for an involving episode that has the feel of a play about it. It's been a while since we've had intimate drama like this in the show and the result is the meatiest Capaldi instalment so far.
The main story of the Doctor's investigation into aloneness is supported nicely by Clara's date and the proper introduction of Danny Pink. Paranoia over unseen creatures is contrasted with paranoia over making first impressions and the way the elements are drawn together is quite satisfying. The relationship between Time Lord and companion is fast becoming one of the more interesting ones - two people of wildly different ages who are nonetheless equals and not a trace of sex in sight. Peter Capaldi's incarnation is one that truly could go anywhere and it's fun watching him develop. The Twelfth Doctor doesn't dominate the screen like former selves yet still has charisma. Listen sees him interact with a child, though I'm still unsure how younger viewers are taking to this new take.
There's also a sense of Moffat revisiting and refining key concepts that have underpinned his era and working on them again with a restraint and maturity befitting his leading man. He has crafted a script that is complex without being boastful, scary without being
overconceptualized. The TARDIS top opening is weird and there's a dodgy bit of wire work but these are minor quibbles. Arguably this most cerebral of writers is giving his series room to breathe for the first time.
Peter Capaldi's Doctor gets another litmus test after the experiment of his debut episode, as he comes beak to stalk with the Daleks. The challenge of any Dalek story is to put the show's most famous monsters in an interesting context and while this tale doesn't break new ground for long term fans it does provide an unusual angle on the trundling menace. Crucially it uses the foe as a mirror for the Twelfth Time Lord and gives us an idea of how he's going to shape up over the coming weeks.
I had little idea what was going to happen in this one aside from the obvious, so it was a pleasant surprise to see Into The Dalek is literally just that. The innards of the machine are well-realized, a good combination of the functional and fantastical. Returning director Ben Wheatley has some fun with trippy slow motion and proper splattery explosions. The opening sequence of an escaping ship is a dazzling spectacle, taking us light years away from Deep Breath's Gothic claustrophobia.
Wheatley brings his old collaborator Michael Smiley into proceedings but the standout guest star is Zawe Ashton, who uses her tough but vulnerable persona to strong effect. Capaldi becomes a part of the action, rather than the swaggering presence guaranteed to yank something out of the hat. Writers Phil Ford and Steven Moffat certainly serve up something to chew over as the Doctor saves a life then discards one within the space of the first half. Having met Moffat's bold redefining of Clara head on last time, Jenna Coleman runs with it and proves a solid match for Capaldi's fractured hero.
The script also introduces us to Samuel Anderson's Danny Pink, a lucky chap who has Coleman throwing herself at him during his first morning. This element couldn't hope to compete with the main action, though Anderson looks like he'll make a refreshingly low key addition to the cast.
What to do when you cast a scary-looking man as the Doctor? Make the Doctor a scary man. Just as showrunner Steven Moffat applied a simple solution to the question of a modern day Sherlock, so the dilemma of a markedly older Time Lord in an age where forty is seen as a dead zone gets solved the same way. The leading man himself is a roaring success, in some scenes literally. He's as gaunt as the stick of chalk he finds on the floor but also hilarious. It's easy to forget with all the publicity concerning a journey into
darkness that Capaldi has a comedy background and his confrontation with the tramp bears the hallmarks of a 3 am altercation in a Glaswegian alleyway. Certainly this is Doctor Who as we've never seen it before.
The tone has arguably shifted. Ben Wheatley is well-suited to direct this tale of clockwork men and organ appropriation, but whether children are included in the mix this year remains to be seen. The Doctor definitely isn't approachable and there's no comfort in Madam Vastra's Paternoster Gang. Strax as always is amusing but it falls to Jenna Coleman to carry the human element as Clara. The way she raises her bark to match her companion's bite is a bit forced - at one point the Doctor mentions Amy, another spectacularly resourceful young person. Coleman is good though and Clara's fear at being abandoned to the monsters by her former hero makes for some solid sofa diving.
Despite the sea change Moffat has kept his habit of including eye-catching elements that tend to pad out the plot (in this case a rogue dinosaur) and there is the usual landslide of lines that run before they can walk. However, all in all this ushers in a spiky, thrilling and rather nasty dawn for a more grown up show and I'm fascinated to see how the trick will be sustained.
