Can You Hear Me? - Review

Not with your finger jammed in my ear'ole I can't...
I liked this episode for the most part, though there were some aspects which didn't work for me at all. I was particularly happy with the set-up, which is also what Praxeus had going for it last week. We were presented with a mystery and had to try to work out what was going on, and how seemingly unconnected things might be linked. It all fell apart with last week's story when the mystery was finally explained, but here the resolution to the mystery worked out okay.
Negatives out of the way first. The whole Aleppo thing was a pointless diversion. There was absolutely no reason for part of the story to be set there. The god-like immortals were attacking people in present day Sheffield, and that's where they eventually decided to go once the female one had been freed. Why also attack people in 14th Century Syria? The Doctor's section of the set-up could just as easily have been somewhere else in the city in the present day. Also, I very strongly doubt that the phrase "mental well-being" was ever uttered by anyone in 14th Century Aleppo, no matter how advanced the attitudes of medieval Syrian physicians were to public health.
Initially, the finger thing was weird and creepy, but the more you thought about it the more stupid it looked - especially when you see racks of fingers on the space platform. Surely there was a better way of getting this across. There are going to be helluva lot of "fingering" jokes about this episode, which it could well have done without.
Something else which annoyed was the use of the sonic screwdriver to first of all free Rakaya, and then to trap her and Zellin. The people of the two planets had to crash their worlds together to trap her, yet the Doctor did a quick wave of the magic wand to break her out, then put her back in again.
Good things included the focus on the companions and some much needed character development, though I feel this is all very late in the day. We should have had something like this last series. I did feel at times that Chibnall was stealing from one of his own stories here - The Power of Three. That focused more on the companions, and the people they had left behind, and featured the companions beginning to question their lifestyle and how much longer it might last. Back then, this was immediately followed by their departure. Could something like this be about to happen? Won't be next week - but probably in Episode 10. Whilst Whittaker has been talking of late about this not being her last season, Cole and Gill have been talking as if they are looking for other work recently. Either both are leaving, or there is another long gap between seasons planned.
Other positives were the villains themselves. Ian Gelder was excellent as Zellin, and even Clare Hope-Ashitey impressed despite only appearing towards the end. It was nice to hear the Eternals, the Guardians and the Toymaker mentioned. And no, Zellin and Rakaya aren't Eternals themselves, as some fans are claiming. He clearly talks about them as if he isn't one of them.
I also liked the use of animation to show their history (even if it was inspired by the Deathly Hallows). This could have been a rather dull bit of exposition.
Nice to see the Doctor being duped again, thinking she's on a rescue mission when she's actually helping a villain break out of jail.
I've noticed that one particular vlogger has started referring to Lectures instead of Episodes. (One of those who really hates the series in its current incarnation, but will insist on watching it just so he can publish negative reviews of it). This week's theme was obviously mental health, and it's not the first time the programme has tackled this subject. Nearly 10 years ago Vincent and the Doctor tackled depression, and also included a message about help-lines during the end credits, so I don't feel that this story should be attacked for covering similar areas. On the whole I think it was handled sensitively.