Doctor Who: The Doctor Falls

Did Steven Moffat see an advance copy of Logan?

I say that, as this episode mirrors the tone of that film. As Bob Chipman put it, “a [story] about disappointment that isn’t afraid to disappoint you.”

That’s not a criticism; I liked this episode and I think it’s a pretty good ending.

All the story arcs run to their conclusion and end not where we’d been hoping they would but where they should. Specifically, the Doctor doesn’t have a way of reversing Bill’s condition as a Cyberman, Missy’s journey to becoming an ally is ended early by herself/himself and the Doctor does not come up with any awesome plan beyond die in a horrible explosion.

The Master/Missy’s story is the most prominent example of this. Everything right down to the trailer for this episode said she was going to fight along side the Doctor. But when it comes to it, she’s shot in the back by herself/himself after stabbing herself/himself in the back. This also nicely mirrors the theme of the Master being the dark parody of the Doctor. The Doctor will team up with himself and will normally have some sort of epiphany about himself. The Master will literally kill himself/herself if he doesn’t like what they have to say. The most tragic part of this arc is that the Doctor will never know that Missy tried to come back to help him.

Bill’s story arc is similar with the Pilot returning to save her at the end. There’s a throw away line about the Pilot being able to make Bill human again, which I wish wasn’t in there. I get that she has to have something close to a happy ending, but I think it would have been better if her story arc paralleled Missy’s.

Even Nardole gets a look in on the story theme, going to live on a floor with some farmers, safe in the knowledge that one day they’ll all be killed by the Cybermen.

The Doctor of course gets the lion’s share of the story, but I still wish that more time had been spent establishing his desire to remain as he is. Don’t get me wrong, Moffat writes the reluctant regeneration far better the Davies did. When Davies did it, it was basically, “I like my hair and Converse, please don’t make me change.” Here, we learn that the Doctor wants to stay the same because he’s afraid of the man he might become. This makes sense, given that one series before this he became the Hybrid and broke every rule that he’s ever lived by. He learnt his lesson from that and even used it to try and make the make the most dangerous creature in the universe (Missy) a better person. But given how strikingly different he knows himself to be from his predecessors, how can he be sure that the next Doctor will remember the lessons he’s learnt.

It’s also quite neat that the episode harkens back to the Doctor’s statement in Hell Bent. Bill now thinks he’s dead, but just because his body is dead doesn’t mean he’s not regenerating. “That’s why [Timelords] prefer to die around our own kind; they know not to bury us too soon.”

Overall, this is a pretty good ending to the series and the ending stinger of a team up with the First Doctor is pretty good.

Personally, I really hope that they don’t announce the new Doctor and that it’s revealed in the actual Christmas episode.

Doctor Who: World Enough and Time.

Well that was pretty damn good.

Steven Moffat gets a lot of flack for his writing, some it deserved, but most of it misplaced. The common complaint I’ve heard is that he’s obsessed with self-aware humour and fan service references.

In terms of the self-aware humour, I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t annoy me sometimes. This episode in particular goes overboard on it, with too many winks to the camera to a scene. I’m fine with Missy and the Doctor acknowledging that neither of their back stories make any sense and that throwing out lines like “He’s called Doctor Who; look at all the screens” but it’s just that they all come too close together. It’s difficult to engage in the episode when the self-aware dialogue is removing you from it every few seconds.

As far as the fan service references go, I’ve always seen them as secondary to the stories he’s building. They’ve never really bothered me and I always liked that Moffat is clearly a fan of the show and wants you to know it.

This episode it a showcase of Moffat’s ability as a writer. While it does have a significant development for Bill, the episode is actually about the Doctor and Missy.

This is a fact that you don’t really realise until the end. Bill’s transformation into a Cyberman is ultimately a distraction, from really delving into who Missy (and the Master) really is.

The Master is a dark parody of the Doctor and that’s the point that the story builds up to. The Doctors motivation in trying to help Missy is that she’s the only other Time Lord who’s ever seen the universe as he has.

I especially like the way that this factors in to her not recognizing her predecessor. In the same way as the Doctor appears to disregard memories from his previous incarnations (Twelve only ever feels de-ja-vu when he see’s something that we know Ten or Eleven already dealt with). Where all incarnations of the Doctor will cross their own timeline in order to save just one planet out of billions, the Master will cross his because he’s worried that his future incarnation isn’t killing enough people.

It’s not perfect; John Simm’s make up job isn’t really good enough so you guess it’s him as soon as he turns up and the time difference thing with the ship (while necessary) is really annoying.

But overall, this is a showcase of character driven story and definitely recommended.

Regarding the opening stinger with the Doctor regenerating, I don’t think that they’d do two fake outs in one series.

Moffat has said that this year’s Christmas special is going to be unlike any other in terms of the Doctor. Personally, I think that means the Doctor will be in a pre-regeneration state right up until the climax of the episode, possibly with the new Doctor surfacing in time to beat whoever the villain is.

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: Death in Heaven

If zombies were robots!

So we come to the finale; Clara’s in trouble, the Master’s a woman and Cybermen are all over the world, having been made from all the dead bodies.

This episode is very emotional, while still managing to be quite fun. Although we do have the answer to the question: is there a point behind all the repetition in this series?

The answer is no, there is not. We’ve got all the way to the finale and we’re still getting the same get-out-of-jail-free card. Danny can retain his humanity and memories because he loves Clara so much. Which is in no way the same as Rory being able to retain his humanity, when he was turned into a plastic thingy, because he loved Amy so much.

But enough complaining; there’s plenty of good to be looked at. Both Jenna Coleman and Michelle Gomez are on top form (as is Capaldi, but goes without saying at this point). Both these women manage to steal most of the show, with Clara’s attempt to stay alive by pretending to be the Doctor and Missy’s…Missy. As Capaldi is the middle ground between the classic Doctors and modern ones, Missy is a mixture of John Simm’s Master the Master of old. Old fashioned attire, with a penchant for divulging evil plans to anybody listening, with just the right amount of on-show insanity. Gomez puts to rest the question of whether well established characters can still work with their genders changed. A high point for me was when she killed Osgood. Now I quite liked Osgood (especially as she was an in-universe Whovian), but killing her off really solidified Missy as a proper villain. She’s not just going to kill the guards and a redshirt; she’s going to kill well established and liked character.

That said, I can’t pretend I’m not a little bit disappointed in her end goal. She wanted to orchestrate a situation where the Doctor would have conquer the Universe. Her motivation for this can be found (I think) in a line of dialogue from the Simms Master, who described the Doctor as “sanctimonious.” This is essentially the Master picking up that line and running with; trying to prove that the he/she and Doctor really aren’t that different. That’s a pretty clichéd thing got a villain to do, but you barely even notice since it’s so much fun watching Gomez’s dark parody of Mary Poppins.

Now I know that this never could have worked (unless Capaldi was going to be a one-series Doctor) but I would have liked to see Missy’s plan work. I would have liked this to be the birth of the Valyard. It would link up nicely with the classic era. Why was the classic Master so helpful with the Valyard; because it was future version of himself that made the Valyard. Practically that wouldn’t work, but hey, it would have been a very ballsy move by Moffat.

Disappointed not to see what Missy’s TARDIS looked like before she was vaporized (although let’s all just agree that she teleported away at the last minute and not be surprised when she comes back).

The Doctor as President of Earth is an interesting angle, but it seems to be there just to give him nothing to do while Missy and Clara carrying the weight of the show.

Now the Doctor as the person who has to pull the trigger and kill Missy in cold blood. That’s something worth watching. He was willing to do it; not because she was a threat, but to spare Clara getting blood on her hands.

Danny’s ending speech is cheesy, but the timing of this episode is not a coincidence and I think, the idea that a normal soldier could succeed where a member of the most powerful species in the universe couldn’t is a pretty good tribute.

The episode ends on a new dynamic between Clara and the Doctor. When they first met, most of what the Eleventh Doctor said to her was a series of lies designed to keep her around. With the Twelfth Doctor most of what Clara tells him (with regards to her personal life) is a series of lies designed to keep him around. The end of this episode shows that we’ve come to a point where neither tells the other the truth. Clara can’t tell the Doctor that Danny’s well and truly dead and the Doctor can’t tell Clara that Missy was lying about Gallifray.

And there’s a teaser involving Santa Claus….no not getting into that.

Got some holes in the story but a good villain, worth watching.