It's new Doctor Who month again. There's already tons of opinion pieces about this episode all over the internet but who cares? Let's have another.
It has been ten year since Doctor Who was brought back to our screens. The show has built up a large fanbase and no longer needs to prove itself to audiences . I wonder whether this affected Steven Moffat's development of the episode because it seemed more relaxed about dropping continuity references than ever before. It's only the first episode and we've already had the return of Missy, Davros, Kate Stewart, UNIT, the Shadow Proclamation, the Sisterhood of Karn and the Maldovarium. There were even clips of older Doctors. Most of these elements are relevant to the plot and some are explained but you probably wouldn't show to this episode to a beginner. As a result I have a hard time knowing whether I enjoyed the episode because it was good or whether I enjoyed it because it pushed all my fan buttons.
Of all these returning elements it is Davros that is the main core of the episode. Children have been appearing more frequently in Doctor Who since Steven Moffat took over. Normally they are rescued by the Doctor, or he inspires them in some way. Here we are presented with a very interesting and cynical twist on this format. What if the child you rescued turned out to be someone who would become a dictator? This argument was also put forward in Genesis of the Daleks and forty years later we get to see how the Doctor would actually react in that scenario. It seems that the Doctor left Davros alone in a field of Handmines. Many years later, a dying Davros sends his new agent, Colony Sarf, to search for the Doctor.
Meanwhile, on Earth the planes have stopped. Clara Oswald is sought by UNIT and together they track down Missy. It's an interesting sequence, but one which largely exists just to reunite Clara with Missy. Arguably, unless UNIT are more relevant in the next episode, Missy could have sought Clara out via more simple means. On the other hand it is nice to have a scene of four smart women in positions of power, working together.
The Doctor, who has apparently left Missy a confession dial which will open after his death. Missy and Clara use Vortex manipulators to track the Doctor to medieval times when he makes a grant entrance with a guitar and a tank. This sequence goes on for slightly too long but then we get Colony Sarf back who takes them forward to Skaro, the planet of the Daleks that has apparently been concealed from the rest of the universe. The Doctor is taken to Davros while Missy and Clara are taken to the Supreme Dalek.
It is here that the episode gets back on track as Davros and the Doctor discuss old times. It was great to see Julian Bleach back as Davros. I was lucky to have avoided spoilers about this character's return so it was a nice surprise. It's also been seven years since we last saw the character, so his return is more exciting than the return of his Dalek creations. Julian Bleach holds back on Davros' mania and we get a much more chilling performance, perhaps indicative of the fact that Davros is apparently dying.
The episode ends on an interesting cliffhanger. Missy and Clara appear to be exterminated while the Doctor re-appears in the past of Skaro with a Dalek gun to apparently 'exterminate' someone, Supposedly Davros. It's more likely that he will use the gun to destroy the handmines and Missy and Clara probably used their vortex manipulators to escape before extermination, but I coild be wrong. It'd be more interesting if that was wrong.
Overall the tone of the episode is interesting. There is a lot more humour in episode like the old Matt Smith series. Nevertheless, the idea of Doctor's guilt over leaving a child to die make it appear that we will retain some of the darkness of Series 8. It's a good balance. The episode is also brimming with interesting ideas such as the Handmines, as well as Colony Sarf as a creature made out of snakes.
Murray Gold continues to create more subtle music as he did in Series 8. I barely noticed it, but it felt suitable in providing the right mood at the right points.
There are only a few real negative points. One is that Jemma Redgrave underplays the role of Kate Stewart to the point that the character comes across as a bit boring. It is also odd that Kate, the head of a military organisation, would be too slow to see the idea of he trapped planes potentially being used as weapons. Osgood's replacement, Jac, is not yet a patch on her predecessor. The joke about Clara kissing Jane Austen was a bit naff, as was the Doctor using the word 'dude'. Also the plot thread of the Doctor preparing for his death has been done before in The End of Time and Series 6. Hopefully this time it will go in a different direction to either of those two.
The negatives are mostly overcome by a spectacular cast. Jenna is, as always, brilliant. Michelle Gomez is also brilliant, having dialed down the craziness a little bit and made more of an emphasis about being the Doctor's friend. I like the way the character embraces her Time Lord status as a sign of superiority. It is also good that she is still utterly ruthless, killing snipers and making the occasional threat to kill Clara. It’s not quite clear what Missy’s overall function is in the story but we will probably get that next time. Liked seeing Missy and Clara working together. Love her response when the Doctor calls Davros his arch enemy.
Of course, Peter Capaldi is brilliant as the Doctor. Any other Doctor, such as David Tennant, might have seemed irritating playing the guitar, but Peter Capaldi, as an older man, makes it seem good. Cool and uncool at the same time. He pulls off the ageing rockstar look well. Capaldi also pulls off the Doctor's vulnerable when the Daleks threaten his companions. I was worried they would lighten his character too much, but he still has a certain self doubt and insults people at times.
Overall this was a pretty good start to Series 9. Perhaps it teetered a little bit too much onto the continuity heavy side, but was fun regardless. I look forward to seeing how the story resolves itself in The Witch's Familiar.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment