Doctor Who: It Takes You Away

In almost every series of the revived Doctor Who, the penultimate episode has been an experimental one, trying new or offbeat ideas for the show. Sometimes it pays off and you get something wonderful like Heaven Sent. Other times you get something that's a bit of a mess, like Fear Her or Nightmare in Silver.  This time around,  It Takes You Away felt somewhere between the two. Some good ideas but not executed as well as it could have been

The episode started out well, with our intrepid group of time travelers arriving at a Norwegian Fjord and investigating a boarded up house. There's a bit of a horror theme going on with these segments, with a creepy house, and figure in the shadows moving around. Segun Akinola's music aids in building the haunting atmosphere.

It turns out that the shadowy figure is a blind girl. Her father has gone missing and there seems to be a monster outside. As our explorers investigate it turns out that the father did not dissapear from outside the house but inside. A mirror in the house is a gateway to a dark realm known as the anti-zone. After dealing with the horrors of the anti-zone our heroes each the gateway to a sentient universe known as the Solitract. This is where the episode loses the horror theme and becomes an emotional story. The girl's father is alive but has been tempted here by a recreation of his dead wife. Graham soon meets a copy of Grace.

It is in the final moments that the episode slightly falls apart. The Frog was a weird element in the episode. Treated seriously. Like Buddweiser Frog.

The father, Ed, was not dealt with as harshly as perhaps he should have been. This is a an who left his disabled daughter alone in a boarded up house in the middle of nowhere with no food and no clear way back to civilization. It's not clear whether the solitract was influencing his decision or whether he is generally a terrible parent. The lack of clarity on this issue hurts the episode.

Nonetheless, the episode still had an interesting theme about moving on. The Man from his dead wife and Graham from Grace. Both have a responsibility to the living.

Graham had a lot of development coming close to his dead wife. He has the strength to pull away from it. He also gets the comedy scene of carrying food around.

Ryan was good as the helper to the girl. His proecting father issues was good.

Yasmin a little less well served as she was mostly there for the Doctor to explain things to. Liked her calming the victim.

Hopefully this episode is the calm moment before things get interesting. Next episode. with a familiar voice in the trailer, the result should be interesting.

Score = 7/10