The Doctor Falls - Review

I was a little worried going into the final episode of Series 10. Steven Moffat has tended to avoid two-part finales altogether, or has failed to deliver after a great penultimate episode. The Big Bang was a let down after The Pandorica Opens, and Heaven Sent just couldn't top Hell Bent.
I had also read a preview which mentioned that much of the new episode centred around the Doctor staying to protect a community of humans - which just happened to be the framework for Matt Smith's final episode. Moffat has tended to reuse plot elements a lot this season.
I'm very pleased to report that The Doctor Falls did not disappoint.
The story did shift from the urban horrors of the Cyber-city, but this did not jar. There was no sudden "Six months later..." trick. We got to see the immediate aftermath of the conclusion to last week's episode, as the Doctor is knocked out and wakes, shackled to a chair, on the hospital roof, where he's confronted by the Master and Missy, who appear to have quickly bonded - acting at times like a twisted pair of siblings. They could so easily have killed the Doctor, and are even debating how they would do this, but it is significant that they haven't actually done it. Deep down I don't think the Master could ever bring him (or her) self to do this.
The Doctor has done a thing, however. One of his clever things. He has changed it so that Time Lords are just as much targets for the Cybermen as the humans are. Before escaping in a shuttle piloted by Nardole, the Doctor gets zapped in an electrical bear hug by a Cyberman, Presumably this is what is actually going to kill the Twelfth Doctor. That's unless you go with the theory doing the rounds that he has been dying ever since Oxygen, when he was left blind.

Last week I posed a couple of questions - namely how this fitted with known Cyberman chronology, and how could the Master be present. Both were answered. The Cybermen here were simply a separate group to those who developed on Mondas. As for the Master, well this was where he ended up after being dragged back to Gallifrey at the conclusion of The End of Time. Significantly, he mentions having a TARDIS. Now, since 2007, the Master / Missy has never had a TARDIS. The Master had to steal the Doctor's to escape Malcassairo, and Missy always went by Vortex Manipulator. Nice to see that the dematerialisation circuit was like the ones seen during the Jon Pertwee / Roger Delgado era.
The Master had ruled this domain, but had been overthrown, and so resorted to his disguise as Mr Razor. He maintained this for 10 years just out of pure malevolence, as he was setting up Bill's fate.
I could have done with a bit more of the two Masters. What we got was very good, but there was too much going on to let them really shine. The Master was simply nasty. One of Peter Capaldi's defining moments as the Doctor - his impassioned speech to the duo to try to get them to stay and help - was followed by the Master simply stating that he hadn't been listening. Missy, on the other hand, appears to have learned something from her years in the Vault, and the Doctor's attempts to rehabilitate her. It looked like she might just stay behind. Later, in the forest, she will decide to do just that, and it was probably inevitable that the two Masters would end up stabbing / shooting each other in the back. The Master went off to regenerate into Missy in his TARDIS, whilst it looked like the end for the character as a whole, as Missy died without regenerating. Is it the last we have seen of the evil Time Lord? Of course not, though Michelle Gomez has claimed it will be the last time we see Missy. But then, John Simm said that he was David Tennant's Master, and couldn't see himself ever returning with another Doctor. Never say never. In The Last of the Time Lords, the Doctor defeats the Master when he points out that he could never commit suicide, and I don't think he would kill his own future.

One last word about the Cybermen. I don't think we really needed the newer versions at all. I think the production team were worried about how the crude originals would work, and so hedged their bets. We certainly didn't need the RTD era ones. A stand out moment in the episode was the Doctor's climactic fight with the Cybermen in the forest. Lots of references to previous Cyber-stories, as he mentions places where he has fought them before. Fans will have especially picked up on reference to Planet 14 (mentioned in The Invasion) as well as Marinus. This latter comes from a Doctor Who Magazine comic strip of the Colin Baker era, where it was claimed that the Voord from 1964's Keys of Marinus evolved into Cybermen. Don't tell Terry Nation's estate, or they'll be looking for 51 years worth of back royalty payments.
On to the principal cast. In general, the story arc for everyone who has travelled with the Doctor should be that they benefit from the experience. They leave as better people, their eyes opened to the wonders of the Universe - and the Doctor is enriched by his encounter with them.  Even Missy has become an ever so slightly kinder person. The Doctor has been travelling with Nardole because he used to work with his now dead wife - River Song - and it transpires that he was not a very nice person back in the day, out to make a quick buck whenever he could. He is left to look after the human community, mostly children. Like Missy, the Doctor has been rehabilitating him.
It was inevitable that Bill was not going to be simply represented by her new Cyberman body in the finale. Having her appear as she still saw herself is another old trick of Moffat's. Remember our first sight of Clara in Asylum of the Daleks? She had been turned into a Dalek, but her mind refused to accept it. It looked like Bill would sacrifice herself and die, but then we go full circle and Heather from The Pilot turns up to save her. She has the chance of becoming human again, but elects to go travelling the cosmos with her new best friend. Her fate transpires as the Doctor lies comatose, so he will never actually know what happened to her - or to Missy.
On waking, the Doctor decides that he is not going to regenerate. Not this time. He's had enough of becoming someone else. We got to see glimpses of past companions - including Sarah Jane Smith. The Doctor also saw Clara, though he shouldn't have as she was wiped from his memory in the last series finale.
Last week, I  hazarded a guess about that wintry setting where the Doctor ended up - based on rumours about David Bradley's return as the First Doctor. Looks like I was right. I presume that it is the South Pole, and the end of the First Doctor's life during the events of The Tenth Planet. The First also refuses to regenerate. I assume that the Christmas Special will be about the two Doctor's talking themselves into giving up the ghost, because of what will follow.

Overall, I think it has been an enjoyable series. I was so worried about the character of Bill, but I needn't have been. In some ways it is a shame she wasn't introduced sooner. Clara certainly overstayed her welcome, having a perfectly good ending in Death in Heaven. Bill may return at Christmas, if only as a cameo to give the Doctor the closure about her fate. I think that your opinion of the three part Monk story, sitting at the heart of the season, will decide whether or not fans see this as a great series.
Roll on Christmas.

World Enough And Time - Review

Let's get that pre-credits regeneration scene out of the way. Mr Capaldi had a particularly bouffant head of hair in comparison to the subsequent episode, so I suspect that what we were seeing was actually a throw forward to the Christmas episode - the Twelfth Doctor's last hurrah. Note the wintry setting. There has been a rumour kicking around that David Bradley might be playing the First Doctor at Christmas - rather than the actor who played him. The Doctor is absent from the third episode of The Tenth Planet. Could he have sneaked off and had an adventure with his later self?
Our thoughts are obviously with that first Cyberman story from 1966, as World Enough And Time sees the return of the Mondasian Cybermen.
Lately, the Doctor has been attempting to rehabilitate Missy, and this story opens with him allowing her to play his role. She is "Doctor Who". Back when The Tenth Planet was made, Gerry Davis was story editor on the show (as well as co-creator of the Cybermen). During his tenure, it is frequently implied that this is the Doctor's real name. The computer WOTAN states that "Dr Who is required...". The Doctor then calls himself Dr Von Wer in The Highlanders, and signs a note to Professor Zaroff as "Dr W" in the subsequent story. This only happens during Davis' tenure, and is never revisited by any of his successors. Presumably Steven Moffat included these scenes as an homage to the Davis era.

As soon as blue-skinned alien Jorj appears brandishing a gun, the Doctor can no longer sit back and observe. Nine minutes in, and Bill has a hole in her chest where her heart should be. This, naturally, came as a great shock. It is one thing to build towards a life threatening situation for a companion - but this just comes out of nowhere.
Her "death" allows her to go off to take the lead in the main part of the episode. The creepy patients come and take her away, claiming that they can repair her, but she won't be able to come back. We know, from the voices and from the bandaged heads, that these are proto-Cybermen - and this is the fate in store for Bill.
The Doctor, Missy and Nardole are sidetracked - stuck at the front of the spaceship where time is going much slower than the lower levels, thanks to the gravity well of the nearby Black Hole. They only set off to find Bill towards the end of the episode. It's only been a couple of minutes for them, but for Bill, trapped in the hospital, many, many months have passed. She has a cybernetic heart now, and has been befriended by Mr Razor, the caretaker. I'm afraid that, despite a wonderful make-up job and vaguely Eastern European accent, I could tell that this was John Simm.
The only real frustration I had with this episode was the foreknowledge that the Mondasian Cybermen, and John Simm's Master, were to return. Such a pity that both things were spoilered by the production team themselves.
It meant that we weren't waiting to see what would happen - only when it would happen. At least Bill's shooting, and subsequent conversion in to a full Cyberman, weren't flagged up in advance - though publicity materials did state that the Doctor would lose someone he was pledged to protect.

Who would have thought that the images of the Doctor with the Cyberman were really images of the Doctor and his companion?
This story pushes the boundary when it comes to body-horror. We have always known that the Cybermen were once human - their bodies replaced with plastic and metal, and their emotions removed. Only the Colin Baker story Attack of the Cybermen dared to give us a glimpse of what this actually looked like. The scenes in the hospital of the bandaged patients in pain and longing for death were disturbing to say the least.
Two big questions - beyond that regeneration scene.
First of all, how does this fit in with what we already know of the Genesis of the Cybermen? The planet Mondas was Earth's twin, and at some point in the ancient past it left its orbit and went travelling through space. The humanoid inhabitants had to adapt to this peripatetic lifestyle and so gradually, over time, replaced limbs and organs with artificial ones. They then started removing those other weaknesses that we call emotions. The implication was that this was born out of necessity, and the Cybermen went through the process willingly. Only later did they forcibly convert others to join their ranks.
In this episode, the spaceship has been constructed to take colonists from Mondas - humanoid ones. Mondas can't be run by the Cybermen at this point, as the ship clearly has cultivated zones, and a city designed for flesh and blood people. These Cybermen are the descendants of the 20 crew members who went down to the lower levels - so seem to have evolved on their own, irrespective of what will eventually happen on Mondas. We don't know what will happen next week, but these Cybermen might survive to reach Mondas and be the impetus to start the planet's conversion. Then  again, the Doctor might simply crash the ship into the Black Hole. A complicating factor is the appearance of those more advanced Cybermen. How can they evolve if they come from a higher level, where time is going more slowly? They have to come from lower down. All slightly confusing for now.
And talking of confusion, my other big question?

What on Earth is the Master up to, and how is he even there? Having him in disguise for no discernible reason is clearly an homage to the sort of thing the Anthony Ainley version got up to. No-one on the ship knows who he is. They won't know who Harold Saxon was, as in Earth terms this has to be before 1986 - when Mondas returned to the Solar System. Why spend years impersonating Mr Razor? If he wants to take over the Cybermen, then why not push their development along and adopt a position of authority?
He doesn't recognise Missy, but does work it out after a while - or so he tells her. How, though, if all he has to go on is very slow moving images on his TV set? There's no mention that Bill has told him about her, though you would think that she would tell her new friend who these three people she arrived with are.
The last time we saw this incarnation of the Master, he was being dragged back into the Time War in David Tennant's last episode. There never was any explanation of how and when he regenerated into Missy. There might even have been an incarnation or two in between them. How did the Simm Master end up here? Why does Missy not remember any of this? Hopefully events next week will answer some of these questions.
It was a bit of a swizz, the BBC releasing images we thought were from this episode, when they're actually from the next - namely the different Cybermen in the streets. The trailer for next week doesn't show us anything of substance, being composed mostly of battle sequences.
The beginning of the end for Moffat, Capaldi and Gomez. Is it also the end for Mackie? Can't wait to see how this is all resolved next week, and leads into the Christmas episode.

World Enough And Time Images

The BBC have released a number of photographs for this week's forthcoming episode. Three different lots of Cybermen, and our first proper look at John Simm as the Master.

I believe "Squeeee!!!" would be an apposite epithet.

Eaters of Light - Review

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudenim faciunt, pacem appellant.
So Tacitus claimed that a Caledonian chieftain - Calgacus - said of the Romans, but writer Rona Munro gave part of this quote to young Pict Kar in Eaters of Light. Roughly it means: to ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert they call it peace.
For those not in the know, Munro wrote the last ever story of the classic period of Doctor Who - 1989's Survival. This makes her the only person to have written for both eras of the show - and 12 years in, it's unlikely anyone else will be invited to do so, unless Chris Chibnall is busy trying to coax Terrance Dicks out of retirement.
The inspiration for this story is the mystery of the Roman 9th Legion - IX Hispana - which disappeared. The last record of them was in York in 108 AD, and it is believed that they met their doom fighting local tribes in Northern Scotland. Bill mentions reading "the book" - presumably Rosemary Sutcliff's 1954 novel The Eagle of the Ninth. It was adapted as a movie in 2011 - The Eagle.

Like her other story, Munro makes a group of young people her protagonists - in this case two rival bands. First we have the mostly young Picts, led by Gatekeeper Kar and her brother; then we have the young deserters from the 9th Legion, led by Lucius. Being Rona Munro, she has strong female characters - in Survival all of the stronger characters were the female ones, whilst the male characters included the easily manipulated Midge, the evil Master, and the bullying Paterson. I'm going to assume that the similarity in names with Kar and Kara (the principal Cheetah person in Survival) is just coincidence, to tie in with the crow motif. That was a nice touch - that the crows talked and were remembering these events.
In case you hadn't worked it out from her name, Munro is Scottish, so it was only natural that she might look to her homeland for a story idea. It allowed for a number of jokes at the expense of my native land - mainly weather-related. Of all the places a light-eating creature could have turned up. The Doctor only had to wait for the August Bank Holiday and the monster would have been done for. (The chief jokers about the Scottish weather are the Scots themselves).
Talking of the monster, it did look like it was a bit of a bolt on, like the series has to have a monster of the week. Munro clearly wanted the story to be about the two groups of young people coming together. I couldn't quite get the monster's MO. It fed on light, yet seemed to be most active at night.

The young cast acquitted themselves admirably - especially Rebecca Benson (Kar) and Brian Vernel (Lucius). Vernel is no stranger to Sci-Fi, having had a role in the last Star Wars movie. The regulars were all well served. I enjoyed the banter between the Doctor and Nardole. I'm glad that we've been getting to see a bit more of the latter, him having to take a back seat whilst Bill was being established. Now, just before the series began, it was stated that Bill was going to be an out and proud lesbian. Pearl Mackie and Steven Moffat were at great pains to say that this was no big deal. Indeed, it shouldn't be. So why is it being made such a big deal of? It's nice to see that the average Roman teenager was quite open minded about sexual mores, but did the story have to stop dead whilst Bill reminded us yet again that she prefers girls?
And so we come to one other strong female character - yet another appearance by Missy. There she was sitting in the TARDIS, which she now seems to have the run of. She's even been doing a bit of engine maintenance. The Doctor clearly feels that the time is coming to trust her, that they might actually become friends once more as they once were as children. From the trailer for the next episode - the first half of the series finale - we see the Doctor is sitting it out in the ship whilst Missy gets to be him, at least for a bit. Interesting that the Doctor calls them Mondasian Cybermen, rather than just Cybermen. All Cybermen originated on Mondas, apart from the parallel Earth ones. It will be interesting to see how they explain two Masters. From the latest issue of DWM we know that the spaceship is 400 miles long and is on the edge of a Black Hole, and that time runs differently at one end from the other. Might this temporal differential be the answer?
Expectations for the next two weeks are running high.

Empress of Mars - Review

I always worry going into a new Mark Gatiss Doctor Who episode. After writing one of the best stories for the very first series - the spooky The Unquiet Dead - he followed up with a number of very weak entries. Just looking at the DWM 50th Anniversary poll, three of his stories lie in the bottom quarter - The Idiot's Lantern, Victory of the Daleks, Night Terrors. Cold War, which brought the Ice Warriors back, fared a little better. Since then we have had Robot of Sherwood, which is very badly structured, and Sleep No More, which gained the bottom place in last season's polls. Victory was particularly awful, and it's significant that the Daleks themselves couldn't be bothered waiting for it to end - clearing off fifteen minutes before the finish.
I'm very pleased to say that his reputation has improved somewhat with Empress of Mars. It is a good old-fashioned sort of story, one that could have fitted into any previous era. Gatiss is known to be a big fan of the Pertwee era, and this had a certain Pertwee vibe. We even had a cameo appearance from Alpha Centauri from the 1970's Peladon stories, which proved to be the swan song for the Ice Warriors in the classic series. Centauri was even voiced by its original actor - Ysanne Churchman, still going strong at nearly 92 years of age.

The episode was littered with movie references - some explicit, as Bill suggested viewing ideas for the Doctor. The original of one of these - The Thing - was itself an inspiration for the original Ice Warriors story. A mention of Disney's Frozen was inevitable. It's clear that Gatiss is a big fan of 1964's Zulu. We have a beleaguered squad of pith-helmeted red jackets on foreign soil, fighting against the superior numbers of the native population. It's significant that Ice Warrior "Friday" was found in South Africa. Much could have been made of Imperialism and colonialism - turning the Red Planet pink - and overt messaging could have killed the episode dead. The soldiers are more mercenary - more interested in promised mineral wealth than imposing Victorian values. Fortunately Gatiss decides to make the story one of trying to get two races to get along with each other, as the Doctor has previously tried to do with the humans and the Silurians / Sea Devils. The Pertwee era again.
I'm going to hazard a guess that Gatiss is also a fan of The First Men in the Moon - another 1964 movie, derived from the H G Wells story, which opens with present day space explorers discovering that the Victorians had got there first.

The soldiers were well served by the script, with some of the minor characters given some depth. Special mention must be made of Anthony Calf as the commander - Godsacre. He is looking for a fresh start after being almost executed for cowardice many years ago. His secret is known by Captain Catchlove - a splendidly villainous turn by Ferdinand Kingsley - son of Ben. Godsacre gets his moment of redemption, and it was only right that he was the one to plug Catchlove.
Nice to see more than a single Ice Warrior, and Iraxxa - the Ice Queen - is a great addition to the Ice Warrior race. Gatiss could have gone for a new Ice Lord, like Izlyr or Azaxyr. One slight quibble was the Ice Warrior method of despatch. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. The compression effect in this episode was supposed to look gruesome, but tended to appear slightly comical. Back in the day, deaths by Ice Warrior sonic disruptor were achieved by filming the victim in a flexible mirror substance - Mirrorlon - which was manipulated from behind by a stage-hand, so that the victim's body seemed to warp and buckle. It was actually more effective than the new effect.
Set in the late 19th Century, this is the earliest Ice Warrior story, chronologically speaking. They head off to a new home at the conclusion - explaining away some very old continuity problems where the creatures were noticeably absent from their own home planet. The humans are going with them, but aren't likely to last long if there aren't any women with them. I'd like to think that they get settled on Peladon - where we know the biology is compatible.
Finally, the story arc. There was no explanation as to why the TARDIS returned to Earth, or why Nardole couldn't get it to return to Mars. I am going to guess that this was the work of Missy, who is plotting to get her hands on the ship. Since the Master was brought back, it has been clear that he / she does not have a TARDIS, and presumably she no longer has her Vortex Manipulator, so if the character is to escape back into the cosmos she will have to obtain some wheels at some point. The latest issue of DWM declares that Michelle Gomez is leaving the series along with Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat, but I'm sure the character in a new incarnation will be left available for Chris Chibnall to bring back.

The Lie of the Land - Review

A great first half to last night's episode - the concluding part of the Monks trilogy - but I was left a bit disappointed with the latter section. Not for the first time this series I was looking at the clock and wondering how things would be tied up with so little time left to go. The resolution to the invasion seemed a bit too easy. The Monks never did reveal why they had invaded, and the fact there only seemed to be three or four of them made the logic for their plans even murkier. The Pyramid spaceship seemed to have been left pretty much undefended, especially the crucial central chamber from where the memory manipulation was being generated. And, as she was crucial to their plans, you would have thought that the Monks would have been keeping a closer eye on Bill. The Doctor wasn't very well guarded either.
It all started off promisingly enough, with shades of Last of the Time Lords as the populace is enslaved, overlooked by massive statues of their oppressor. Not only that, but the Doctor seemed to be in agreement with the invaders, helping to peddle their propaganda. I have to admit that the Monks seeding themselves throughout history was slightly reminiscent of the Silents, though this was fake memory rather than forgotten memory.

Bill is suing memories of her mother to keep her own memories alive, and she's soon reunited with Nardole. Together they set out to rescue the Doctor - except he doesn't appear to want to be saved. His behaviour finally drove Bill to grab a gun and shoot him - leading to that apparent regeneration glimpsed in the series trailer. Of course it was all a ruse, to make sure Bill was free of Monkish influence. Things picked up with the visit to Missy in the Vault. It's a great pity that we couldn't have seen her earlier in the series, with the Doctor seeking her advice on other matters, like Clarice Starling visiting Hannibal Lector. Seems Missy is going cold-turkey on being evil. We know that she will be travelling in the TARDIS as a companion later in the series, but presumably this change of hearts won't last long.
As I said, once the action moved to London, it all seemed a bit rushed - with the Monks plan looking very shaky. Earlier, Missy had claimed that the Monks had lost planets in the past when they lost the person who was the focus for their power. Again , this just showed up the illogicality of their scheme. It also seems very odd that the Doctor has never come across them before, if they have ruled planets for thousands of years.
Taking the trio of episodes as a whole, there was definitely a problem with structure and pacing. The first part was certainly the strongest of the three.

The Pyramid at the End of the World - Review

The middle episode of The Monks trilogy could have been a lull between the opening segment and conclusion, but it turned out to be a cracking 45 minutes. In some ways we didn't actually need last week's story at all. They could have simply started things going with the appearance of the titular pyramid in the middle of Turmezistan, with the Monks declaring they will take over the Earth, by invite. Last week I queried why the Monks should look the way they do, and this week we got an answer. They don't look like this all the time. They have chosen their shape to resemble humans - dead humans, as they see us as little more than corpses. Their MO is an interesting one. They don't just need to be invited in to take over the planet. The consent must be pure, with no ulterior motive other than love. Of all the invasions over the last 54 years, no alien has ever done it for this reason. Quite why they want the planet - what they want to do with it - hasn't yet been explained, but there is still one more section to go.

Initially we don't know why we're seeing events at the Agrofuel research centre. Definite shades of Terry Nation's Survivors. First Erica has her reading glasses smashed, then hungover Douglas gets a decimal point in the wrong place. You see disaster starting to loom, as a GM substance threatens to get into the environment, destroying all living matter. Douglas' death was particularly nasty, as he dissolved into gloop, so it was lucky that this episode aired a little later than usual for this series.
What was nice to see was equal prominence given to all three of the regulars. Capaldi in particular had a very good episode, from his guitar based musings in the TARDIS at the start, to his almost snatching victory at the last moment. He did manage to stop the life-killing virus, but his admission of his blindness to Bill, and that it had lead him to be trapped in an about to blow up lab, spurred Bill into consenting to the invasion. Despite knowing that there was still another episode to go, it looked as if the Doctor was going to win. Bill had yet another disastrous date with Penny. First the Pope, and then the Secretary General of the UN interrupting things. Nardole began life as a bumbling fool a couple of Christmases ago, but he is now much more companion material, working things out along with the Doctor.

One element that was missing was UNIT, save for a mention that they would be observing the labs via CCTV. Peter Harness had, of course, written the Zygon story last season, set in the same fictitious Asian country. He clearly likes to write stories with a topical bent - the Doomsday Clock has been in the news since this episode was recorded. I'd like to see him tackle something more fantastical at some point in the future, should Chris Chibnall invite him back.
The throw forward to next week's conclusion reminded me strongly of Last of the Time Lords, with the Earth already subjugated and massive statues of the subjugator in evidence. The series trailer featured a scene in which it looked like the Doctor was beginning to regenerate. It looks like this scene comes from next week's Lie of the Land, presumably after Bill shoots him. We will also be seeing Missy again.

Extremis - The Review

It's actually been a while since Steven Moffat served up a twisty-turny storyline. Last night we were treated to two seemingly unconnected plot lines, and one of these turned out to have been entirely a computer simulation. Everything that we saw from the point the Doctor got an e-mail took place in an elaborate Matrix-style domain which the Monks have created in which to test out their invasion plans, Kraal style.
Of course we don't know this until the conclusion. Up until then, it was a doom-laden affair, and you wondered how they could possibly wrap it up with less than 10 minutes to go. The Veritas has been driving everyone who reads it to commit suicide. A young priest shoots himself soon after e-mailing a transcription to CERN, and the team there are all set to blow themselves up. That's because the book lets you know that the world isn't real. You think of a string of numbers, and the sequence is there, printed over the page. Everyone thinks of those same numbers, because they are all part of the computer program.
There was a bit of humour early on - with Bill's disastrous date with Penny. Clara had some bad dates with Danny Pink, but nothing so laugh-out-loud funny as the sudden appearance of the Pope in Bill's flat and Penny's priceless reaction.
Matt Lucas had a lot more to do as Nardole this week. In the other plot-line, where the Doctor was tasked with executing Missy, he turned up posing as a priest - sent by River Song from that last night on Darillium.

Initially we thought that it was the Doctor who was to lose his life, but instead he was there to kill his old foe / best friend. Quite why this was happening remains unanswered. Hopefully all will be explained later in the series. That it is Missy who has been in the Vault all this time is, to say the least, a disappointment. I think we were all hoping for some big new revelation, perhaps the return of an old character from the Classic era of the series. Moffat could still throw a curve ball, and it isn't Missy in there at all, but we know that the Doctor has been inside recently.

The Monks make for a great new alien race. There's a hint of the Silents about them, as well as the Pyroville Sibyl. They have mummified features. Quite why an advanced alien species would look like this remains to be seen. Indeed, we know they want to invade the Earth, and we have seen how they have prepared for this, but why they should do so, we will have to wait for. They will be featuring in the next two episodes, forming a sort of three-parter.
A strong start to what looks to be an intriguing set of episodes.

Oxygen - The Review

Hands up who thought that GUS was back. I think they missed a trick by not having the homicidal computer system behind Ganymede Systems rather idiosyncratic approach to labour relations. I was wondering how they were going to explain zombies in a science-fiction setting. The corpses were just along for the ride, and it was the suits that were really doing the walking and shocking.
Said corpses were one of the most disturbing things we've seen for a long time in the programme -especially that chap who they first came across in the workshop.
It was a great opening sequence, though I was annoyed that the lady whose oxygen was on the point of running out kept blabbing away. The implication was that she already knew that her comms system wasn't working properly. No wonder this lot of miners were regarded as being less than efficient. The shadows of the dead pair descending was a great image.

We were promised a big shock in this episode, and twice it looked as if it was going to involve Bill. First she gets exposed to the vacuum of space - only to survive without any ill effects at all. Then she seemed to get killed by the suited zombies. Again, despite being given an electric shock - enough to scar her face - she recovered straight away. No, it was the Doctor whose life has been turned upside down. He was blinded after giving up his helmet for Bill, and at the conclusion he revealed that Nardole's cure did not work. No sign of regeneration energy being used to heal his sight, which is odd. How long will he stay this way? Is this just a temporary thing - so that he can get away with handling the Veritas next week without dying like all the others who have read it, so merely a linking thing? It would be interesting to have a Doctor with a disability for a while, though I'm sure the sonic spectacles will compensate.

One slight negative this week. I thought the racism thing was a bit laboured. I don't recall it being made such a big issue with Mickey or with Martha. The ending was a little too close to that of the Flesh two-parter as well, with the survivors going off to challenge Head Office. The whole idea of a space crew only having a finite amount of oxygen seemed a bit too far-fetched. We saw at least three suits in for repair, so surely accidents with the oxygen can occur. Not very efficient for a business not to give its staff the tools to do their jobs. Had they been more efficient, wouldn't they have used up their oxygen faster, doing all that hard work.
Nothing really new on the Vault front this week, except that whoever is in there does pose a threat (so not likely to be Susan or anything like that).
Next week we are promised something special. Apparently it is two parallel stories for the price of one. I'm assuming this means that Missy's strand will be seen separately from what the Doctor gets up to. This also opens the three interlinked tales that make up the mid-point to the season.

Knock, Knock - Review

The first three installments of the series have been rather slow to get going, but Knock, Knock hits the ground running. Bill has moved into a creepy - creaky - old house, and one of her new flatmates falls foul of whatever lurks within before the opening credits roll. Once the others arrive, things start going wrong for them pretty quickly too. Quite what the threat is is held back until quite late on. In the meantime, we get the flat-sharers plagued by mysterious knocks and banging, with doors closing by themselves - sealing them in.
And all the time, the Landlord keeps turning up. He seems benign, if a little creepy himself, but there is clearly a darker undercurrent. Note how he turns when Harry asks about the tower.
I'm sure a lot of reviews will single David Suchet out for praise, and I won't buck that trend. He gave a marvelous performance. It takes a very good actor to elicit sympathy and horror at the same time.
We learn that he has been feeding young people to the house in order to keep his daughter alive. She's his secret, held in the tower. What's making the noises and absorbing people into the floors and walls is a species of alien woodlouse, which the Doctor names as Dryads. Every twenty years a houseful of people are absorbed, their lifeforce going to feed Eliza.

Some wonderfully horrific imagery on show - such as Pavel half absorbed into a wall, still clearly alive, or the likable Harry being consumed by a swarm of the Dryads. Best of all is Eliza herself, played by Mariah Gale. It's a pity we hadn't glimpsed her around the house earlier in the episode.
This wooden woman instantly reminded me of the animated wooden figurehead that appears in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, which always unnerved me. Things which are human-looking, but not human, always unsettle. As it is, she is no monster. She is the daughter that the Landlord is protecting. Except Bill works out that can't be right. The old man can't have been protecting her for 70 years if he is her dad. Dads don't bring insects in to show their children - but little boys might, to show their parents. Yes, Eliza is really the Landlords mother, not his daughter. These scenes show Suchet at his best, as you can see the rather warped little boy struggling to break out in his performance.

The ending did seem a little rushed. Eliza quickly accepts that her time has passed, and she takes her son with her. The recently absorbed flatmates are all returned safe and sound. If it wasn't for Suchet I might have felt a little cheated by these scenes, after all the creepiness that went before. Eliza and the Landlord have gone, and the house is falling down, but it isn't at all clear what all this means for the Dryads. Sure, Eliza can control them, but does this mean that they all die?
A pity they couldn't have stated that Harry is the grandson of Harry Sullivan, once of UNIT and a travelling companion of the Fourth Doctor. It was deemed too obscure a reference, but if handled the right way it wouldn't have got in the way of the narrative and would have been a nice treat for fans.
On to the Vault. Now, if you've read the latest issue of DWM you'll know that the reveal of who or what is in the Vault will be revealed half way through the season - not as part of the finale. The occupant started playing the piano in this episode, and the Doctor can access at will and have dinner with the occupant. It is clearly of Gallifreyan design, judging by the panels on the doors. Three possibilities spring to my mind, so I'll set them down here. Going back to that picture of Susan on his desk, it might be her. He may have hidden her away to protect her from the Time War. Biggest problem with this is why she should still be in the Vault long after Gallifrey has been saved. Theory two is the John Simm Master. The pianist did seem to take delight at the prospect of a story featuring alien woodlice that ate people. Could this be how there are two versions of the Master around at the same time? Problem here is that as far as we know Simm only features in the finale. Third theory is a bit off the wall. Did you notice how the Doctor clammed up when Bill started to question what "regeneration" was? We've twice seen Time Lord avatars of their future incarnations - Cho-Je and the Watcher. What if the person in the Vault is the next Doctor, somehow incarnate too early?
Answers on a postcard...
Next week we have what looks like another haunted house story - but set on a space-station. The crew are coming back from the dead. Certainly looks good. Just to say that I will be away for a few days, so my review won't be coming to you until mid-week

Thin Ice - The Review

Last week's episode ended with the TARDIS failing to return to the Doctor's university rooms. Instead, the ship had materialised on the frozen Thames in 1814, during the last of the great Frost Fairs.
We're still in that phase of a new companion asking lots of questions, and the programme is still setting out its stall for all the new viewers who are supposed to have joined in the last three weeks. It's Bill's first foray into Earth history, and they are in a period when slavery is still a fact of life. Naturally, she expresses her concern - just as Martha had done when she was taken to London in 1599. Then, the subject was quickly brushed aside. The city was already a cosmopolitan place, and so she needn't worry. Looking at the visitors to the Frost Fair, Bill needn't have worried either, as there was much ethnic diversity on view. Racism was a running theme through the episode. The monster became a metaphor for slavery. Owned by a rich white member of the aristocracy, exploited and kept in chains. The villain - Lord Sutcliffe - was a racist, but this was simply one aspect of a general sociopathy. I don't think you would have found many members of the House of Lords in 1814 who didn't share similar views on race.

Sutcliffe was prepared to feed Londoners to his sea monster purely as a means of making money. The episode worked best when it was looking at the Doctor's ethics. As with Kill The Moon, the Doctor insisted that a human being take the decision as to what to do with the river beast. He claimed to act only on behalf of the human race, as their servant. Apart from the above named episode, this is far from consistent with what has gone before.
The actual scheme of Lord Sutcliffe didn't bear too close a scrutiny. He had his monster, which we are supposed to believe lay on the river bed of the Thames for centuries without anyone noticing it - even when the TARDIS scanner showed that it stretched from Westminster all the way past Greenwich. What did Sutcliffe's family actually do with the creature, before the coming of the Industrial Revolution? It's of use to him now, since its poo can be used as a highly efficient form of fuel, but prior to the family opening its steel works, of what possible use was it?
Sutcliffe's sudden decision to blow open the ice also failed to make much sense. The creature has lain hidden since before records began, so why do something that might draw attention to it. He acts when the Doctor and Bill turn up, thinking others may have found out about it. He doesn't wait to see if this is the case, and he keeps them alive instead of just bumping them off in the privacy of his own stately home.
And whilst I am in "things that don't make sense" mode, why does the Doctor not take the TARDIS to the river bed to check what's down there. Why use old diving suits when he has spacesuits in the ship? And where was the air coming from for those suits?
And if the angler fish hunt out food by sound, surely Stevie Wonder playing for River Song would have meant big trouble for the Eleventh Doctor...

Yes, the actual plot this week was nonsensical, so best to just ignore, and concentrate on the plus points. It looked amazing. The sets were remarkable. The child actors were more than bearable. Some viewers will have been shocked that a child was killed early on in the piece. The Doctor usually saves children, but not poor Spider. Bill's reaction to his death reminded me strongly of Donna in Fires of Pompeii. Pearl Mackie showed that she can do more than just act goofy and ask annoying questions, which is mostly what she has been called upon to do up til now. I'm enjoying the Doctor / Bill relationship more than I did the Doctor / Clara one of the previous season.
The season story arc moved on a little. We now know that there is definitely someone in there, because they have started banging on the doors. The Doctor suddenly seems to be on the verge of reneging on his oath. Presumably this will impact on the latter episodes, as the Doctor's negligence leads to the events of the series finale.
Overall, another good episode, though again not a great episode. Were I to be giving these stories marks out of 10, we would be looking at 7's. We've got David Suchet next week, and a creepy old house, so I am expecting great things.

Smile - The Review

First of all, let's get the look of last night's episode out of the way. Traveling to Valencia to film really paid off. The cityscape, and the sweeping vistas of wheat fields were beautiful to look at. It was such a pity that the plot then moved into the spaceship interior, which was plainly yet another factory location.
Apart from a brief appearance by Nardole at the beginning, plus the two colonist women, the first half hour was pretty much just the Doctor and Bill. Knowing that Ralf Little was appearing, I kept looking at the clock and wondering if it would be worth his while ever turning up. (It wasn't - a real waste of a good guest actor. Same with Mina Anwar, who was so good as Rani's mum Gita in The Sarah Jane Adventures).
So, for much of the running time it is just the Doctor and Bill. He deduces what is going on, whilst she is still in educating-new-viewers mode by asking all of those questions which have already been asked and answered for longer term fans. Had there been any aliens this week, she would no doubt have asked the one about how she could understand them.
Watching the Doctor work out what was going on in this seemingly deserted colony was interesting, as we already knew what was afoot.

The robots - both the tiny flying Vardies and the cute little Emojibots - were killing people who weren't happy. Helen A could have done with some of these on her colony world in The Happiness Patrol. Once again, we have technology designed to help humans acting against them due to over-literal programming. Just like last week. The Doctor works out that this was all caused by them encountering grief, which spread through the human community following the death of a much loved elder. The robots have been programmed to make sure everyone is happy, so they eliminate sadness by killing people and turning them into fertiliser for the gardens. As a threat, they didn't quite work. The Doctor and Bill simply ran out of the city. While they were back at the TARDIS, why didn't they remove their emoji badges, by the way?

The Doctor decides he's going to blow up the city - only to later discover that the colonists have already arrived. They're in cryosleep in the spaceship at the heart of the complex, which is where Ralf Little comes in. The Doctor makes reference to having encountered a number of craft which have fled a dying Earth - something which has caused a few continuity headaches for fans. Little announcing he is a Medtech obviously reminds us of The Ark In Space, where Medtech Vira was the first of the crew to be reawakened. The Doctor states that Gliese is one of the first Earth colonies, but that can't be the case if these people have come from the dying Earth. The history of Doctor Who is littered with much earlier colonies. Then again, the Doctor does get things wrong. He says so here, when he admits to not having recognised a nascent AI lifeform.
The name of the spaceship is significant - The Erewhon. This derives from the book by Samuel Butler, published in 1872. This features a Utopian place (the name taken from "Nowhere" backwards, with the W and H transposed). This place does not allow machines, as they are thought to present a threat to humanity, which is exactly what the robots here pose.
This season's story arc gets a mention, but not in any way that moves the mystery forward. We already know that he has promised to guard the Vault. Who he promised this to, and why, are still for a later episode.
Overall, it was a good episode, but certainly not a great one. If it was intended to further introduce us to Bill and some of the series' core tenets, then it succeeded. It just needed a bit more oomph.

The Pilot - The Review

Series 10 kicks off with a slow-burner of an episode, that takes its time setting up the new companion, Bill, and setting the scene for what looks to be this year's story arc - that mysterious vault under the university where the Doctor and Nardole have based themselves for decades. We finally learn how the latter returned from the dead - he's got a robotic body.
The story title was for a long time "A Star In Her Eye", until someone pointed out the similarity to the well known "impersonate a celebrity singer" light entertainment show. The new title - The Pilot - was well chosen.
Apart from Christmas Specials and the opening episode of Class, we haven't seen much of the Doctor for quite some time. New viewers could easily jump on with this episode. The TARDIS is reintroduced, as it is seen travelling through both Space and Time, and Bill gets to do the "bigger on the inside" bit. The Doctor is in the middle of a mission, which we don't need to know all about quite yet. He has Nardole as his assistant, and now a new companion arrives. The Doctor looks at the photo of grand-daughter Susan on his desk as he invites Bill to become his special project. She is the new unearthly child, though thankfully Bill seems to be really ordinary. Nothing impossible about her, and she isn't going to turn out to be the Master's granny or anything like that - I hope.

My biggest worry going into this episode was Bill's quirkiness. I wasn't impressed by the introductory piece shown last Spring. She just seemed too stupid - annoyingly so. Apart from the "kitchen" comment about the TARDIS interior, she turned out to be quite endearing. I think I'm going to like her after all. Not at all sure about the appropriateness of the "perversion" dialogue for a family show. Says more about the writer than the character.
As for the plot, well it was a bit of a greatest hits package. I was reminded of a number of other stories as I watched. First of all, we have The Lodger - with a mysterious spaceship needing a pilot in someone who wants to travel. Heather's watery appearances reminded me of the Siren, from Curse of the Black Spot, as well as the transformed humans in The Waters of Mars. Like the Siren, Heather's motivation turned out to be the fault of over-literal programming. Bill had promised to go with her, and she was holding her to this vow. The Doctor's university life obviously puts one in mind of Prof. Chronotis in Shada as well.

Whilst accessible to new viewers, The Pilot also had lots of little references for the more established fans. As well as the photo of Susan on his desk, there was also one of River Song. He has a brace of older sonic screwdrivers on his desk as well. The Daleks made what may be their only appearance this year, in what was little more than a cameo, and they were seen in mid-skirmish with the Movellans. These were clearly Movellans from an earlier era than the ones seen in Destiny of the Daleks, from a time before they became totally robotic, judging from the shouts and screams they were making. The Doctor's attempt to mind wipe Bill was halted by her asking him how he would feel if it happened to him - and we heard a snatch of Clara's theme.
Overall, a strong start to the new series. Next week, Bill goes on her first proper TARDIS voyage as companion, and we get the Emojibots. The preview for this episode did kind of seem to give the game away as to the plot - even showing us the colony city being blown up.
We were also treated to a preview of the rest of the series - the highlight being our first glimpse of John Simm's Master - and hooray, he's got a little beard.

Moffat's Radio Times Synopses

The new Radio Times was published today, covering the launch of Series 10. Steven Moffat gives his usual brief synopsis for each episode, and the final story titles are revealed. This year, all of the titles that were already attached to episodes 1 - 10 have been confirmed, with no changes.
Episode 11 is to be called World Enough And Time, whilst the finale is called The Doctor Falls.
That first one comes from a poem by Andrew Marvell - To His Coy Mistress. Apt, as it involves Missy. There's no mention of the return of John Simm's Master, so presumably this went to the publishers before the BBC were forced to announce his reappearance.
A few snippets of info about the episodes are included in the piece, though nothing really new for the first three (The Pilot, Smile and Thin Ice) which have already been previewed by the latest DWM.
The house in 10.4 - Knock Knock - is one which Bill and some friends are thinking of renting, and there is mention of a strange tower in the middle of the building which no-one can find a way into.
The space station in 10.5 - Oxygen - is called Chasm Forge, and all but four of the crew are dead. Problem is, the dead ones are still up and about.
10.6 - Extremis - sees the Doctor employed by the Vatican and involves a book in the Haereticum (one of the secret archives) called The Veritas, which leads people to kill themselves after reading it. Problem is, it has just been published on-line. Missy has been confirmed as appearing in this one.
Extremis leads into The Pyramid at the End of the World. A 5000 year old pyramid is found in the middle of a conflict zone (between America, Russia and China). Problem is, it wasn't there the day before. There's something about aliens who can't invade unless they get the consent of the human race.
The third of the interconnected episodes - The Lie of the Land - is about everyone in the world believing a deception, except for Bill, and even the Doctor has been fooled.
10.9 - Empress of Mars - features a human invasion of the Red Planet. Whose side should the Doctor take? One of the Ice Warriors - probably the Empress herself - is called Iraxxa. The invading humans hail from the Victorian era.
10.10 - The Eaters of Light - involves the disappearance of a Roman legion in the north of Scotland. A cairn on a hillside has a portal leading to the end of the world.
World Enough And Time sees the Doctor trapped on a huge spaceship on the edge of a black hole. Mention of the death of someone whom the Doctor was pledged to protect, which drives him to some rash actions. The quote for this episode is "My name's Doctor Who." As mentioned, Missy is back for this one and the finale.
The Doctor Falls simply states: "The Mondasian Cybermen are on the rise. It's time for the Doctor's final battle...".

Series 10 - The Story So Far... (Updated)

Episode One - The Pilot - was premiered in London on Tuesday evening, so expect spoilers from this point on around the interweb.
We've just learned that new companion Bill is gay - the first openly gay companion at last, though the omnisexual Captain Jack has certainly helped pave the way. Clara has also had this thing about Jane Austin.
Rumour has it that this will be Bill's only season, with Chris Chibnall getting a clean slate for his first series. The New Doctor rumour mill has gone from a female Doctor to younger male one.
The second of the two trailers has shown a clip of the Doctor appearing to begin the regeneration process. We've seen two false regenerations before, but there is no reason why the Doctor can't start his regeneration at the end of the series, considering he makes the change in the following episode, which will be the 2017 Christmas Special. The Tenth Doctor went on a lengthy series of voyages between the start of his regeneration and its culmination - visiting all of his old companions.
As for the episodes themselves, The Pilot obviously introduces Bill, who works in the canteen whilst the Doctor is lecturing at a university. The brief plot synopsis only states that the Doctor and Nardole are on some kind of a mission.
Seems this is where they are going to insert the Dalek scene that introduced Bill last Spring. Also includes the girl made of water. There is a brief glimpse of Movellans, so the Dalek sequence takes place during their war.

The second episode has a tentative title of "Smile", was filmed in Spain, and is the one that features the Emojibots. They look nice, but kill you when they hug you, apparently. Set on a human colony, but there's no sign of the colonists. Includes small bird-like creatures called Vardies.

Getting a bit of a Handbots vibe from this lot. This is the Frank Cottrell-Boyce episode.
Episode 3 is by Sarah Dollard, and is the Frost Fair one - set in the Regency Period. A big serpent in the Thames under the ice, apparently. Possibly called "Thin Ice".

The fourth episode is the one with David Suchet as "The Landlord". The creepy wooden woman, and giant woodlouse creatures - the real reason why your floorboards creak at night... Might be called "Knock Knock".

Episode five is by Jamie Mathieson, and is set in space. It has been referred to as "Oxygen" and is the one with all the spacesuits and the blue-faced people.

Six, seven and eight are three linked episodes, featuring the Monk characters, and see the return of Missy. I say linked, as each part has its own writer - Moffat, then Peter Harness, then Toby Whithouse. An early title for the first part is "Extremis". The second part is called "The Pyramid at the end of the World", with the third part named "The Lie of the Land".

No. 9, appropriately enough, comes from one-time League of Gentlemen star Mark Gatiss, and is the Ice Warrior one - with the new female Ice Lady. "The Empress of Mars" - and it features lots of Ice Warriors.

Episode 10 marks the return of Rona Munro, and is the one with the Iron Age characters, and possibly some Romans. It has been referred to as "The Eaters of Light". The above image comes from this one, set in Pictish Scotland.

Then we get to 11 and 12, written by Moffat. The return of the Cybermen. Missy is also supposed to feature, and there was an image doing the rounds on Wales-Online of the Mondasian Cybermen with the new ones in the same scenes. The latest issue of DWM mentions three different types of Cyberman. We also know that there will be two versions of the Master - as John Simm is returning. One scene features the Doctor and Missy on a rooftop observing an apocalyptic cityscape, of fire and furnaces. Might this be Mondas?
This might be where the apparent regeneration scene also fits - but as mentioned above it may well be a bit of hoodwinkery...

Just five and a bit days to wait... Tuesday 11th sees the release of the new Radio Times, which will have Moffat's episode synopses, and confirmation of story titles. The BBC always release the main tranche of publicity photos on a Tuesday during a season's run.