Doctor Who: The Pyramid at the End of the World.

Two episodes of build up….this better have a good ending.

So this episode stocks more mystery on the monks and where they come from. Apparently, their form is determined by those viewing them and they can’t do anything unless invited to do so.

Again, it’s getting a bit political with the idea of giving away your freedom for fear of the alternative narrative given to you by those asking for it.

This episode is the product of a collaboration between Steven Moffatt and Peter Harness, with the influence of both coming through.

It focuses on an otherwise mundane task leading to the end of world, as the dad from My Parents are Aliens is so hungover that he makes a super-virus instead of a crop control gas.

So yeah “don’t drink and science” is the overall message of this episode.

I do like that the ironic twist is that it’s actually the Doctor’s actions that end up damning the world to monk control. Him being trapped in the exploding lab was the only reason that Bill surrendered to them in the end.  It’s a god switch up, especially as it follows the monk’s dooms day clock reversing, leading us to think that the treat has been eliminated.

Bill does come across as a bit selfish, being legitimately willing to sacrifice the world to save one man. But I do think that this will feed into the overall story arc. There have been hints that she (and her late mother) are more than they seems and are connected to Doctor in some other way. Since Missy is returning proper next week, it’s probably that the Bill mystery is far more important than the vault arc.

On that point, it could still be that Missy is behind the whole monk plot. By the looks of the trailer, agreeing to their help seems to have created a parallel version of Earth.

The Executioners made clear that Missy’s prison cell (the vault) is shielded from everything including time, so she’d presumably be unaffected by changes to the time line. She also mentions that someone would have had to open the door for the monks to get to Earth.  This could easily have been the Master.

But getting back to this episode, it’s good, if a little slow in places. It sets up the stakes well…again. So yeah…not bad.

Doctor Who: Extremis

So…Agents of Shield already did this and Rick and Morty did it too…

This episode’s purpose is to set up the stakes for the next one and to give the reveal that it’s Missy in the vault. Why is the reveal always Missy?

Ok, it’s possible that this is a red herring and the Doctor let her go and imprisoned something else in there, but it’s pretty annoying to think that the massive reveal we’ve been working up to is the villain who’s been featured in all the trailers.

But anyway the episode. Basically, we get to the end of this episode and see that the whole thing has been the Doctor has been watching a simulation of the Earth that’s so advanced that the subroutines (people) in it have become sentient.

It’s a good idea but like I said, Agents of Shield already did it.

It’s pretty well handled with hints throughout. In the flashback scene it’s mentioned that Time Lords are mysterious and hard to find. Then when the Pope turns up the present, the TARDIS won’t translate Italian into English. This is presumably because aliens responsible for the simulation aren’t familiar with it and don’t know the full extent of it’s abilities.

It plays out quite well, leaving us with a good cliffhanger for the next episode.

The Doctor now seems to admit that he’s probably going to need Missy’s help to stop the invading aliens, which may be Missy’s opportunity to prove what she implied when begging for her life. That whatever else she is; first and foremost she is the Doctor’s friend…or it could be something else.

Perhaps The Master is behind the whole thing, maybe our real series reveal is going to be that Missy is the product of resurrection rather than regeneration and that the Simm master survived The End of Time. This could all be part of their plan; immobilize the Doctor in one location, by making him think he’s already caught the greatest threat the universe and locked in vault. Meanwhile, the Master is free to do whatever he likes unchallenged. Then the Doctor picks up a crippling injury making the planet he’s on a far easier target, so the Master capitilises on the opportunity and puts together an invasion designed to secure the release of the other him (who is a her) to double up on their universe dominating capacity.

Or there is an alternative theory that I quite like:

Simm isn’t playing the Master. Part of Capaldi’s original arc was figuring out why he had the face of a man he had met before. It’s also been mentioned that the Doctor’s death scene will happen before the Christmas special.

So assuming Missy continues her arc of proving to the Doctor that he’s not at all different from her (which has already kind of been proven by the events of Hell Bent) maybe the Doctor will take one of her faces as a reminder. Maybe John Simm is the new Doctor.

Probably not going to happen, but it’d be a nice twist.

Overall this episode is good, it has some pacing issues, but the story is solid and cliffhanger is pretty good.

Doctor Who: Oxygen

Some good character developments worked into a well-composed love letter to Star Trek.

This episode opens with a parody of the final frontier monologue from what’s probably the most well known sci-fi show in television history.

That might initially come across as mocking, but as the episode progresses you see the Trek fandom at work. The concept of the peak point of capitalism being companies programming equipment to kill workers who’s expensive oxygen consumption isn’t offset by their efficiency is something that anyone who works for a large company can relate to.

Weirdly, whilst this is an obvious reference to the non-capitalist system of the Trek universe (ie the human race works to better itself as a whole and no longer seeks individual gain) Jamie Mathieson actually gets the point across better than Rodenberry ever did. It was always difficult to empathise with Rodenberry’s stance on the issues of capitalism because he started from a point in the story, after the problem had been solved. This is a far more effective critique; the reaction of the workers when they find out that they’re being killed due to their lack of efficiency is to go into denial. Is this so different from someone assuming they’re protected from redundancy or contract termination.

There’s a lot more that could be said about what this episode is trying to get across, but I try to keep these things to a single page, so I’ll leave it there.

The character development is pretty substantial this episode. The Doctor is shown to be willing to maim himself to protect Bill. At one point, he doesn’t even hesitate before suggesting giving his entire space suit to her; an action that would kill him. Given the consistent easter eggs that keep being dropped about Bill’s mother, I’d say there’s a lot more to his behavior towards her.

Most importantly, the episode ends on a problematic yet interesting change. Namely, the Doctor is now blind and will have to rely on his companions to literally be his eyes. This is interesting given the change in dynamic and the fact that he doesn’t want Bill to know. It’s problematic however because the Doctor is a Time Lord. If his full fitness and able-bodiedness are essential to him guarding the vault, why would he not simply regenerate to cure himself. Both Ten and Eleven could use regeneration energy to heal serious injuries and failing that a new body would solve the issue completely.

The story reason is that Capaldi has until the Christmas Special before he leaves, but in continuity it doesn’t really make sense. Hopefully they’ll come up with an excuse for this in the next episode.

But for the moment, this was a good episode that I thoroughly enjoyed.  

Doctor Who: Knock Knock

Attack of the killer mummy’s boy.

That was  a very serviceable episode.  The setting was good, the atmosphere was well set up, the acting was good and the special effects were…well they had a budget.

Aside from the incredibly fake looking alien beetles, this was a definite step up in terms of the thriller sci-fi mystery they’ve been going for this year.

The acting is solid throughout, well from the main cast at least, and the villain is compelling…right up until his motivation is fully revealed and the attempt to make him sympathetic falls flat. Yes, in the end he was just a scared little boy and David Suchet does a great job of showing that at the moment it’s reveled. But there was nothing beforehand to make him in the slightest bit human. Personally, I would have preferred a villain who was just straight up evil.

But personal preference aside, he not a bad villain.

The main failing of the episode still comes at the end. I’ve complained before about the Star Trek trick. Namely, there’s a deus ex machina in place that pops up in the last few minutes.

This episode takes it too far. After establishing that the alien beetles are controlled by sound (hence why they can be summoned by a tuning fork) it’s reveled that the wooden lady upstairs can just control them with her mind. How can she do this? How is she able to suddenly exact complete control over them having never done this before?

No, no answer; just accept that she can…oh and everyone that died is going to be brought back as well…after being eaten…

That takes a freaky and pretty fun premise about the creatures in the walls eating you and guts it. It’s like ‘Kill the Moon’ with the ending revealing that there was never a real threat anyway.

Overall, a serviceable episode that’s let down by it’s ending.

We end on a stinger about the vault. Whatever’s in there is apparently definitely a person, who has now been furnished with a piano. Based on that, I’m going to say that the Doctor’s sacred vow was to prevent Jaimie Callum from releasing another album.

Doctor Who: Thin Ice

That was alright.

This episode isn’t really anything special. It broadly re-uses premise from The beast Below, but flips it so the villain is actually evil instead of desperate.

Despite the claim that Smile would help solidify the Doctor and Bill’s dynamic, this episode does that task quite well.

Bill is shocked by the Doctor’s disregard for death and the casual way in which he moves on after watching someone die. The best part of the resulting exchange is that we as the audience are on the Doctor’s side; we expect to see someone die to show how serious the situation is. Like him, long-term viewers of the show are simply desensitized to it.

The Doctor’s reactions to Bill’s criticisms are also quite refreshing. He’s dismissive in typical Twelve fashion. He doesn’t attempt to avoid the issue or act out in childish way like his predecessors, but instead points out that if Bill doesn’t pull her head out of her own arse and stop being self-righteous, far more people will die. I really hope that we see more of this side of the Doctor’s personality.

There are some definite downsides to this episode. Sarah Dollard seems to favour the moustache-twiddling villain (this being the first time she’s created a villain rather than using an established one). I understand that it’s easier for children who are watching if the villain is obviously evil, but Lord Sutcliffe comes across as cartoonish. He’s taking pleasure in causing pain; as a general rule, villains work best when they either have a warped perspective of reality (like Missy/The Master) or believe that the people they’re harming are an acceptable sacrifice. Sutcliffe has one throw away line about moving the British Empire forwards, but beyond that doesn’t really justify his actions and further than “I’m the bad guy.”

We get the sting at the end, with the contents of vault knocking, seemingly aware that the Doctor isn’t paying them as much attention as he should. This tells us that whatever is in there is able to at least take on humanoid form and is innately aware of the Doctor’s actions. Is it possibly one of the Time Lords’ self-aware weapons (like the Moment) or could it be a future version of the Doctor himself (The Valyard, possibly having adopted one of the Master’s old faces). Who knows? I only hope it won’t be as disappointing as the River Song and Missy reveals.