One thing Doctor Who has always been successful at is the "mash-up" of two or more genres in a single story. A science fiction series, about a time traveller, offers ample opportunities for this, and it's what has made Doctor Who unique as a TV series. EastEnders can't have a UFO arriving in the middle of Albert Square one night. Coronation Street can't have a vampire prowling the cobbles of Weatherfield. But Evil of the Daleks was like The Forsyte Saga, but with Daleks. Love & Monsters was a rom-com with aliens. The Unquiet Dead was a ghost story, with aliens. We've also had pirate movies, westerns, war films and more over the decades, all with alien elements.
Last night's story - The Haunting of Villa Diodati - was another example of this mash-up - period drama, literary biography, ghost story, and Cybermen.
The problem was, it didn't quite mash.
I actually quite enjoyed it as I watched it, Gothic Horror being a particular passion of mine, and I was well acquainted with the real story behind these events. Byron I can take or leave, but I do like Shelley. Apart from the whole haunted house, spatial warping, and Cyberman, there were some historical inaccuracies. For a start, the story-telling competition took place over the course of three nights - not just the one. Byron was presented as a bit of a coward, hiding behind Claire Clairmont's dress at one point. This is a man who elected to go fight in Greece against the Ottoman Empire, not because he had to - because he wanted to. We heard about Polidori's insomnia and sleep-walking, but no mention of the fact that it was actually a discussion between him and Shelley which sparked Mary Godwin's imagination and inspired her to write her story.
It was only afterwards as I thought about the episode that reservations began to creep in. I think the problem is that there were two good stories here, that ought to have been told separately.
The whole Villa Diodati thing could have sustained a story in its own right, with an alien more suited to the ghost / haunted house theme.
The Cyberman felt rather tacked on, as though it had to be there just to set up the next two episodes, and for no other reason. Yes, there is the connection between the stitched together Cyberman and the Frankenstein Monster, though that connection was only briefly touched upon in the scene set in the cellars, by which time it was clear that this story existed only to set something else up.
My other problem was the Cyberman himself. The whole point about the Cybermen is that they have no emotions whatsoever. Ashad could have been any other sadistic alien, travelling back through time to find something. He didn't need to be a Cyberman apart from the set up for future episodes. Imagine this story, if you will, where it was a purely non-emotional Cyberman hunting for the Guardian / Cyberium - pursuing its prey with the same relentless purpose. It would have worked just as well. An emotional Cyberman isn't a Cyberman.
It was another good episode for Yaz, but Graham hasn't been served as well this series. He seems to have been reduced to pure comic relief, with nothing but the odd one-liner.
Jodie Whittaker was better served, for a change. No lectures or bland homilies about the theme of the week this time. We've seen her be a bit short with the companions a couple of times this year, and last night saw her firmly put them in their place. At the end of the day, she is the boss and she calls the shots.
I noticed this morning that there was a very slight rise in the ratings - of around 60,000 - on last week's instalment. Perhaps if they'd actually advertised the return of the Cybermen (we all knew it was coming) this might have done better. Roll on the finale.
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