Menu Close

Tag: Series 9

A Zygon Conclusion

6 Comments

Review of The Zygon Invasion
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

This is one of those stories in which misdirection is the order of the day, and which on subsequent viewings doesn’t necessarily become clearer. At least, not without the second half of the story, which is yet to come.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

In other words, this is your fair warning that I have some oddball theories this week, so prepare to be inundated with my evidence. (Next week you can mock me mercilessly when I turn out to be completely wrong, but for now I’m going to pretend I’ve come up with the most brilliant fan theory of the series to date.)

Before I get into my speculative musings, though, let’s start with the more relatable mystery of which Osgood is which. Before the credits even roll, we see the surviving Osgood (who now wears question marks, whether on her lapels like the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Doctors each did, or on her replica of the Seventh Doctor’s vest) scrambling to escape capture. Hiding under the sheriff’s desk, she makes use of her inhaler. “Ah-ha!” we all crowed. “That’s the human Osgood! Zygon Osgood was the one Missy vaporized!”

Even the Doctor backed up our assumption, trying to help this Osgood come to grips with her identity. “Zygons need to keep the human original alive to refresh the body print. If you were a Zygon, you’d have changed back within days of your sister’s death.” But we’ve already seen these Zygons do something others have never done before: they can use mental images to take on a human form. (I’m kind of getting tired of Moffat’s finger in every goddamn pie, rearranging things to suit his own agenda. Yes, change is part of the show, and they have to keep things fresh. Still don’t like it.)

Read more →

It’s a Big Plot Point’s Life

Review of The Woman Who Lived
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Nominally, The Woman Who Lived was the second half of a two-parter that began with The Girl Who Died. In practice, it’s a brand new story featuring the return of a previously seen character, like Craig in Closing Time, the Meddling Monk in The Daleks’ Master Plan, or the Master in anything after Terror of the Autons.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

There was even a completely different writer for this episode than the previous one; last week’s episode was co-written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat, while this was written by Catherine Tregenna (halle-effin-lujah, finally a woman!). It’s hardly surprising, then, that it had a completely different character and feel than its predecessor.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. For me, though, the trappings of the mid-seventeenth century, the highwayman known as the Knightmare, and the fine lady in cahoots with Leandro of Delta Leonis (whom I was very disappointed to learn wasn’t actually a Tharil after all) were of little interest. They were merely the setting in which the real story took place.

Said real story, as I see it, is twofold. First, there is the fact of don’t-call-me-Ashildr’s effective immortality, stuck on “the slow path,” as Reinette put it in The Girl in the Fireplace. This exploration of what it would mean to live for centuries, outliving everyone you got to know along the way—and not being able to fly off in a blue box after—is the human side of the equation, though a modified one. We are not meant to live so long, certainly not alone. The way Ashildr’s perspective has changed, and her attitude toward the lives of others with it, is testament to the psychological effects of that isolation.

Read more →

Not Dead Yet

4 Comments

Review of The Girl Who Died
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

One of the advantages of avoiding as much information about upcoming episodes as possible is going in without any particular expectations. All I had this week was the trailer, the title, and knowledge of the big name guest star (which was neutral information, since I don’t watch Game of Thrones). I had no pre-conceived notions about The Girl Who Died, and figured we’d be getting an okay-but-not-fabulous story. I was, thus, not disappointed.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

Conversely, I wasn’t pleasantly surprised. It was, to my mind, merely average. Given how much I (a) love Capaldi and (b) disliked certain episodes in the last series, though, fair-to-middlin’ is still perfectly acceptable. As long as Capaldi’s on screen, it can’t be all bad.

As far as I can tell, though, the main point of this episode was to introduce Ashildr, the eponymous character. Unless there’s actually something subtle going on, rather than the anvil-to-the-head clues dropped here, we’ve just seen the seeds of a major piece of the series arc.

Back when Davros was crowing over the supposed success of his latest mad scheme, he justified it by claiming he was fulfilling a Gallifreyan prophecy. “It spoke of a hybrid creature,” he cackled. “Two great warrior races forced together to create a warrior greater than either.” Now we’re meant to see how that prophecy really gets fulfilled. Take the Mire, “one of the deadliest warrior races in the entire galaxy,” add their technology to a Viking, and voilà! Hybrid ahoy! The Doctor even says so, just in case we’re not clever enough to get it ourselves.

Read more →

Flood of Expectations

4 Comments

Review of Before the Flood
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

I don’t think I like it when the Doctor breaks the fourth wall.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

Perhaps that’s what got me off on the wrong foot such that I didn’t enjoy this episode as much as I’d hoped. It was better for me the second time through (as is often the case when I don’t immediately take to an episode), but after the strength of my positive reaction to the first half of the story, I guess I was just underwhelmed.

The fact that the tone of the second half of the story was—save for the scene when Moran was after Cass (brilliantly executed, by the way)—was completely different from that of the first certainly didn’t help in terms of expectations. Even knowing going in, though, that it would not—could not—be another Base Under Siege episode, I just couldn’t get a grip on this one at first.

By my second viewing, I approached it with a sense of reservation. With this dampened enthusiasm, I was able to see Before the Flood more favorably. Although the question of how the Doctor will cheat death and save Clara is clearly the main focus of the storyline, I found the “B story” centered on O’Donnell and Bennett more engaging. (Maybe once I knew the “trick” it wasn’t as fun watching the illusionist’s act?)

Read more →

Base Under Water

Review of Under the Lake
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Sometimes there’s a really good reason that something becomes a trope. Take, for example, Doctor Who‘s well-known “base under siege” story archetype (seen most commonly in the Troughton era). While its frequent use tends to make certain elements easy for the audience to predict (unless actively subverted), the inherent tension of a situation in which a pre-determined, non-expandable set of individuals have to defend themselves against an unknown, mysterious, or seemingly unbeatable enemy can make for a gripping narrative.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

Such is the case with Under the Lake. Writer Toby Whithouse (whose previous Who credits include School Reunion and three other episodes) uses the tried-and-true setup to great effect, keeping the crew both separated from outside help and in valid fear for their lives.

Upon first watch, I was so taken with the story, in fact, that I couldn’t think of anything I didn’t like about it. Further thought and a second viewing highlighted a few, but none were enough to dampen my general delight. I can’t even express how refreshing it is to feel so unreservedly pleased with an episode.

The first of the relatively small down sides happened even before the opening credits rolled. While the Drum’s crew was relatively diverse (two white women, three men of color, and one white man (who isn’t technically even part of the crew)), it was still the black guy who was first to die. As a white woman myself, it took me a while to realize that sad truth, and I can’t decide how much it ought to bother me.

Read more →

Something Familiar

2 Comments

Review of The Witch’s Familiar
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

Well, it wasn’t godawful.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

In fact, it may well be the best second half of a Moffat two-parter I’ve yet seen (though the bar isn’t set very high, in my opinion). That’s not to say it was anywhere near flawless, but I did find plenty to enjoy.

The episode begins by resolving the we-didn’t-believe-it-anyway deaths of Missy and Clara and giving an actual explanation for the method of their escape (and Missy’s in Death in Heaven). It struck me as odd that Missy would need Clara to suss out why the Doctor always survives. Does Missy already know the answer or not? If she does, why walk Clara through it just to ask the follow-up question (“What happens if the Doctor assumes he’s going to die?”)? The only reason to do so is to bring the audience along (which is not good storytelling).

If Missy doesn’t know why the Doctor survives, then she was dead wrong when she told Clara “you’re the dog” in the relationship. Despite knowing him for millennia, Missy still needs a human who’s only traveled with him recently, on and off for a couple of years, to figure out the Doctor for her? Neither of those interpretations makes much sense, and the scene thus left me vaguely dissatisfied.

Read more →

Same Old Tricks

6 Comments

Review of The Magician’s Apprentice
Warning: This review contains episode-specific spoilers and wild speculation about future episodes.

I think most fans can agree by now that, like him or not, Moffat has a pretty distinctive style. When you go into a Moffat episode, you have certain expectations. No one should be surprised, then, to discover that in the Series Nine opener, he’s up to his same old tricks.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2015 BBC

The first, and perhaps most notable, of these tricks is giving us an (at least mostly) enjoyable Part One in a two-part story. Moffat excels at set-up, giving rich scenes and hints at things to come that get our fannish hearts pumping with that lifeblood of our breed, speculation. Time will tell how it all pans out, but experience suggests that the conclusion of the tale is unlikely to live up to the promise of its beginnings.

One thing we know Moffat can do well, though, is creating creepy “monsters” (at least the first time he uses them). The opening scene on the unknown battlefield provides that in spades with the “hand mines,” even though I’m still trying to decide whether I think they’re more or less frightening after finally seeing one tripped. The mix of this advanced weaponry with more archaic kinds (biplanes, bow and arrow) gives us—in retrospect—visual clues to go with the spoken ones about which war it is (especially for those viewers familiar with Tom Baker’s run). Yet, it’s still a bombshell when the boy’s identity is revealed and the opening credits roll.

Read more →

Five Point Countdown Plan

8 Comments

Next month will bring a new series of Doctor Who to our screens, but what are we supposed to do with ourselves during the five intervening Saturdays between now and then? Watching more Doctor Who always seems like a good plan, so I propose a five-week regimen of episodes from each of the extant eight series of modern/post-Hiatus Who to tide you over.

I’ve put together a curated list of episodes that I recommend for this exercise. When I outline the plan below, I’ll also explain why I’ve made these particular selections. As always, take my list with a grain of salt, as YMMV regarding what is representative of any given Doctor/Companion/series, and what is worth repeated viewings.

As I put together my list, I went through several iterations of how to structure the schedule, and eventually settled on two episodes per session: one story from each of the eight series (including a single two-parter) and a special. Some that I’ve chosen are longer than the standard 45-minute run time, but each weekly installment still clocks in at between an hour and a half and two hours.

So without further ado, I present to you my five-part plan for ramping back up to Series Nine.

Read more →