Doctor Who Reviews Roundup: Tombs, trees and a tiny Tardis

My Doctor Who reviews have got lost in the time vortex yet again but, using cutting-edge temporal physics and huge amounts of Artron energy I've managed to re-materialise them here for your reading pleasure, just ahead of the series finale. The lengths I go to for this 'ere blog...

Flatline
After plunging into 3D for the 50th Anniversary last year Doctor Who explores another relative dimension in this creepy episode. People are mysteriously disappearing from a Bristol council estate and the Doctor is trapped inside a dimensionally-challenged Tardis, leaving Clara to step up and solve the riddle.
Although this episode seemed superficially similar to worst-21st-century-Who-story Fear Her ( I'm yawning just thinking about it ) it turned out to be a small-scale treat with some clever ideas ( 2D creatures invading a 3D world ), fine performances from the leads ( "I'm the Doctor, but you can call me Clara" ) and a genuinely disturbing, unknowable enemy in the Boneless. And the Addams Family gag had us all roaring. On the evidence of this episode and the previous week's Mummy story, scriptwriter Jamie Mathieson is a welcome addition to the Who writing team. In fact, this series is notable for new writers, with excellent work from Peter Harness ( Kill The Moon ) and also the newbie behind the next episode...

In The Forest Of The Night
Frank Cottrell Boyce was a surprising choice to write new Who as he is primarily known as a children's author and the writer of the 2012 London Olympics' opening ceremony. However, with this unusual story he has created something new for the show, a truly different take on the old "invasion of Earth" plot, with some genuinely magical moments. I couldn't help but think of Where The Wild Things Are as a world-wide forest grows overnight to cover the planet, and Clara, the Doctor and Danny find themselves in a London overwhelmed by trees...

Almost harking back to the twisted fairy tale vibe of Matt Smith's first series, this story is a beautiful exploration of primal, childhood fears of the deep, dark woods with just a twist of that 12th Doctor harshness. Capaldi's Doctor is in fact showing more signs of softening here, interacting on a surprisingly human level with Danny's pupil, Maebe, the young girl whose visions are the solution to the arboreal apocalypse. Clara's character, on the other hand, is seen to be drifting further from humanity ( due to too much time spent with the Doctor? )  -  more concerned with the mystery and the wonder of the crisis than protecting the Coal Hill School children. Director Sheree Folkson creates a gorgeous vision of an unnaturally leafy London and hopefully is another talent ( like these new writers ) that the show can hang on to.

Dark Water
At last we have a two-part series finale again! It's been a long time. In this episode the mysterious Missy ( the ever-crazy Michelle Gomez ) finally takes centre stage as we see what she's been up to for these past 11 episodes. And it's not good.
The story starts with a shock as Clara's boyfriend, soldier-turned-maths-teacher Danny Pink is knocked down and killed by a car. ( That'll teach him to mess about with his mobile instead of watching where he's going! ) Consumed by grief, Clara demands the Doctor bring him back  -  "Time can be re-written" and all that. The Doctor goes one better, however, and attempts to break into the afterlife to find him...

This episode does indeed dive into some very deep, dark water for a perceived "family" show: we see a truly frightening version of an afterlife, where the dead are still conscious and linked to their earthly bodies; our friend Clara is so obsessed with saving Danny that she betrays and threatens the Doctor for her own ends; and the Doctor finds he is, er, out of his depth as Missy reveals her plans and her identity. This is a very brave and unsettling story, pushing the boundaries of what the show can be about and showcasing some very adult themes of grief and bereavement, leading even the usually-supportive Radio Times to call it "crass and in bad taste."
There are a couple of developments in this story that I can't really believe  -  Why would the rationally-minded Doctor even believe in an afterlife, let alone try to pilot the Tardis there? And why would he help Clara after she had treated him so badly, grief or no grief? These questions weren't enough to spoil this tough, challenging story for me but they were a distraction. That said, there was plenty to enjoy here, all the same: the grim, funereal atmosphere; the emergence of the Cybermen from the dark water tanks; the impressive realisation of the Nethersphere; some trademark Moffatt humour sprinkled on top of the chilling implications of the plot.
And, as I type this, there are only a couple of hours to go until the finale airs on BBC1. Can't wait...

Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or outraged critics ) ...that goes for all 3 episodes above :-)

Soundtrack: The Last Words Of The Great Explorer by TV Smith's Explorers

Doctor Who: Kill The Moon / Mummy On The Orient Express ( mini reviews )

With these two episodes Series 8 seems to be taking the darker turn we've been promised since the beginning. Kill The Moon is one of my favourite stories this year: a seriously creepy ( lack of ) atmosphere, coupled with some impressive visuals and a tough moral choice for the characters, all justifying the later time-slot. The production team have taken quite a risk with making Capaldi's Doctor so alien and this episode really pushes that theme into new territory. Is he a good man? Can he be trusted? For Clara, as the Time Lord seemingly abandons her to make an impossible decision on her own, the answer appears to be "no"...

Of course, it's no real surprise that the Doctor does the right thing at the last moment but his arrogance and aloofness are put under the microscope in Peter Harness' script and Clara's hurt, betrayed reaction is understandable. ( Jenna Coleman yet again knocks it out of the park in this episode. ) As well as all this angst, this episode also gives us a brilliantly-conceived moonscape
( filmed in Lanzarote ), some extremely nasty space spiders and a fine performance from young Ellis George as Clara's pupil, Courtney. ( There's also some very dodgy science on display here, but we'll ignore that for now. )
I'm giving this one Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or alien eggs )

Mummy On The Orient Express sounds like it's going to be more of a romp, but still goes to some fairly dark places as the grisly Foretold stalks the titular space-going train, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. And after their falling out in the previous episode, this is going to be the Doctor and Clara's final trip together, their "last hurrah..." Yeah, right...

This is a story that could only appear on Doctor Who  -  a mix of Hammer horror and Agatha Christie in outer space, with an appearance by pop star Foxes singing a jazz version of an old Queen song. As I said, only on Doctor Who...
The Foretold is a pleasingly old school menace, with the added, Moffatt-era high concept of the 66-second time limit between first sighting the creature and dying at its bandaged hands. "Start the clock..." A visually sumptuous episode  -  the train interiors are suitably glamorous, Capaldi looks great with a touch of the Southern riverboat gambler about him, and Jenna Coleman is absolutely stunning in her Art Deco dress.

By the end of the episode it looks like Clara is finally beginning to get under the new Doctor's harsh exterior and may be just about thawing those two cold hearts. Nice to see things progressing and it's always a treat to see this dour Doctor smiling once in a while. We could do with some more of that...
I make that another Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or bandaged toes )

Doctor Who: The Caretaker ( review )

"The walls need sponging and there's a sinister puddle..."
This week, the Doctor follows in the footsteps of Freddy Krueger, Hong Kong Phooey and Willie from the Simpsons as he adopts the identity of a ( not so ) mild-mannered janitor to investigate sinister goings-on at Coal Hill School. The Time Lord and Clara have to face the rampaging Skovox Blitzer and also a certain ex-soldier-turned-maths-teacher...

Even though this could be seen as writer Gareth Roberts getting yet more mileage out of the "Doctor passing himself off as human" theme ( see The Lodger, Closing Time ) it feels fresh this time with Capaldi's short-tempered, impatient Doctor failing to blend in with his surroundings, but in a different way to his predecessor. The Doctor just wants to be left alone to save the world but the complications of Clara's love life and the interruptions of a curious teenager conspire to irritate him. The humour in this episode works much better than in the recent Robin Hood story  -  the Doctor is just as snappy and unreasonable as before ( especially when berating Samuel Anderson's Danny Pink ) but there's more of a twinkle here, more warmth showing through. As ever with Roberts' scripts there are some hugely funny lines, with Jenna Coleman really rising to the occasion here  -  her exasperated exclamation of "Human beings are not otters!" has to be one of the highlights of the series so far. Seriously.
The story's nominal antagonist, the Skovox Blitzer, is relatively underused, being purely functional in terms of plot mechanics, but is still a bizarrely interesting visual. It has no personality to speak of, being just a robotic soldier, but its half-glimpsed, part-tank, part-spider look is quintessential, oddball Doctor Who.

The Doctor / Clara / Danny triangle is coming to the fore now that Mr. Pink ( not Steve Buscemi ) has discovered the truth about his girlfriend. It's good to see Clara's character becoming more three-dimensional now that the "Impossible Girl" storyline has been tied up. And I quite like the fact that former squaddie Danny instantly recognises the Doctor as part of the officer class  -  it seems you can take the Time Lord out of Gallifrey but not Gallifrey out of the Time Lord...
The last scene reminds us of the arc-plot with another deceased character finding himself in the so-called "Promised Land", complete with cameos from Michelle Gomez and Chris Addison. It will be interesting to see how this plot resolves in the finale and how it ties up with the Cybermen. Anyway, I'll give this episode:
Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or janitor's brushes )

Soundtrack: Clouds Taste Metallic by the Flaming Lips

Doctor Who: Listen / Time Heist ( mini reviews )

"Fear makes companions of us all..."

Listen is a strange episode of Doctor Who  -  for the most part low-key and creepy in a classic ghost story style, yet also encompassing the end of the universe and some Coupling-esque sitcom moments. Revolving around the all-too-familiar childhood fears of something unseen close behind or something lurking under the bed, this story is an effective attempt by Steven Moffatt to put the chills back into Doctor Who. Peter Capaldi is excellent as an obsessed, driven Doctor having some kind of minor mental breakdown, while Jenna Coleman also shines, whether suffering through an awkward first date or confronting an eerie apparition in a child's bedroom.Some people aren't happy about the story's final revelation but I think it's a bold move of Moffatt's to add to the show's mythology. Even after five decades we can learn new things about our favourite Time Lord.
4 Out Of 5 Sonic Screwdrivers ( or pieces of chalk )

Time Heist, by contrast is a Doctor Who take on ( strangely enough ) heist movies. The Doctor and Clara find themselves part of a small team assembled to rob the most impregnable bank in the universe. They have all had their memories wiped and must find out who hired them and why... and also avoid a terrible fate at the, er, eyeballs of the gruesome Teller, an alien who can sense guilt.
Considering this episode was written by the usually-lacklustre Steve Thompson it's got a lot to recommend it: Capaldi channelling Malcolm Tucker, Jenna Coleman looking very cool in a suit, some chilling moments with the brain-blasting Teller and a well structured plot that rewards repeat viewings. Its biggest failings are no real sense that breaking into this bank is all that difficult, and a waste of the wonderful Keeley Hawes who surely should have had more scenes of verbal sparring with the Doctor.
3 1/2 Out Of 5 Sonic Screwdrivers ( or Memory Worms )

Soundtrack: Talking Heads '77 by Talking Heads

Listen... later...

Apologies to anyone expecting this week's Doctor Who review to appear on time. As frequently happens, the "real" world has had to take precedence. We've spent the last three days moving Sophie to her new student digs down in Bristol. Why three days? Well, we did the bulk of the work on Saturday and it all seemed to go very well... at first. She rang to say she had a bug problem in her apartment on Saturday night, which we assumed to be typical teenage overstatement. It actually turned out to be a ( minor ) cockroach infestation. Not nice. We had to move her back out on Sunday, which was a huge pain in the arse, to prepare for the place to be treated by the pest control bods. To be fair to the letting agency's staff, they were mortified by this and paid for her to spend two nights in a nearby hotel while it was being sorted. She should be back in her apartment tomorrow morning. Phew! So, my review of Listen will follow soon, probably after I've watched the episode again...

Doctor Who: Robot Of Sherwood ( review with spoilers )

"No damsels in distress, no pretty castles, no such thing as Robin Hood..."
This week, the Doctor and Clara drop into Sherwood Forest in 1190 AD ( -ish ) to meet the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and aid him in his struggle against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Or, they would if Robin Hood were real. As the Doctor points out "Old-fashioned heroes only exist in old-fashioned storybooks, Clara". But who, then, is this dashing character in Lincoln green who laughs in the face of danger and protects the good people of Nottingham from the Sheriff's mysterious metal knights? Can he really be England's greatest hero? And what of the Doctor? How will he react when he becomes a part of somebody else's legend...?

Unfortunately, this episode is the first misstep of the new series in my opinion. Writer Mark Gatiss has written a few stories for the show since 2005, veering from the sublime ( The Unquiet Dead, Cold War ) to the distinctly average ( The Idiot's Lantern, Night Terrors ). Robot Of Sherwood falls more into the second, er, camp. It's not bad... it's just unexceptional.

The biggest problem is that the almost constant bickering between the Doctor and Robin becomes irritating very quickly and has the unwanted result of making the Doctor look childish and petty. The humour is often forced and weak, although there are a couple of good gags about Errol Flynn and the North of England. It's not really enough, though. Another major concern is that this is ( Spoilers! ) yet another of what have come to be known as " broken switch" stories. The robotic alien knights have crashed to Earth and need gold, looted from the people of Nottingham, to repair their spaceship. It's bad enough that we've seen this kind of story too many times before ( The Girl In The Fireplace, The Lodger, The God Complex ) but the last example was only two episodes ago! This really is poor planning on Steven Moffatt's part.

So, what's good about this story then? It all looks great, with some fine sets, costumes and direction. Tom Riley steals the show as the larger-than-life, laughing-out-loud Robin Hood, charming Clara and hurling insults at that "bony rascal" the Doctor. The other "name" guest actor, Ben Miller, also has a great time playing the vain, egotistical Sheriff. The robots, while having no personality whatsoever
( unsurprising for robots, I suppose ), look suitably imposing and their crucifix-laser-beam stare is a cool effect. Gatiss' script, while nowhere near as witty or clever as it could have been, has some nice touches: a couple of quotes from Karl Marx (!), the odd call-back to the Pertwee era and some insightful thoughts on the importance of legends and heroes. Oh, and Jenna Coleman looks absolutely lovely in her faux-mediaeval gown:

Definitely a case of "must try harder" then. Hopefully, next week's Moffatt-scripted spook-a-thon should bring the series back on track. For now, I'll give this one  -
Three Out of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or broken arrows )

Doctor Who: Into The Dalek ( review )

OK... two episodes into the new series and my Doctor Who reviews have already started running late. Same old story. In my defence we did have a mega-busy weekend with Sophie's marathon birthday party ( 8 hours of socialising! ) and several Ice Bucket Challenges taking up a lot of valuable blogging time :-)

After the traditional post-regeneration trauma of last week's episode, the Doctor now seems more stable... and can even fly the Tardis accurately. He proves this by saving the life, somewhere in deep space, of Journey Blue  -  a soldier fighting a last, desperate battle against overwhelming Dalek forces. On board Journey's space shuttle, the Aristotle, the Doctor discovers the rebels have a patient: a captured Dalek who is so damaged he has turned "good". And he needs a doctor. After a quick hop back to Earth to pick up Clara ( who seems to be doing just fine on her own, chatting up new character Danny Pink ) the Doctor and a military escort ( shreddies ) are miniaturised and sent... into the Dalek...

For me, this is one of the best episodes in years, especially after last year's regular series ( away from all the 50th Anniversary hoopla ) was so hit and miss. And it's definitely the best use of the Skarovian pepper-pots in a long time, restoring their full menace and deviousness. Director Ben Wheatley brings a suitably intense, filmic quality to the story with some of his signature slow-motion / trippy visuals  -  I love the psychedelic scene where the Doctor and co travel through the Dalek's eyestalk like it's a funhouse hall of mirrors. The script is fine too, examining this series' theme of what it is to be a hero or, indeed, a good man. The new Doctor can be abrasive and seemingly uncaring at times, a harshly pragmatic man who seems to forget that humans have feelings... but also very funny, exasperating ( especially for Clara ) and at times vulnerable. And calling the damaged, deranged Dalek "Rusty"? Brilliant! Capaldi, while maybe not yet fully comfortable in the role is excellent as ever and promises great things.

The only quibble I have is that there are elements to this story which are overly familiar: the Doctor confronting a chained, broken Dalek ( er, Dalek ), the miniaturisation and attack by antibodies ( Let's Kill Hitler ), falling into the digestive tract of a beast ( er again, The Beast Below ). These are only mild irritations and don't detract from a claustrophobic, exciting and surprisingly scary episode. I can't wait to see what else this new / old Time Lord has up his magician's sleeve...

Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or Dalek antibodies )

Doctor Who: Deep Breath ( review with spoilers )

"Where did he get that face? Why's it got lines on it? It's brand new. How can his hair be all grey? He's only just got it..."
After what seemed like an eternity in the Time Vortex, the Twelfth Doctor finally crashed to Earth last night, giving us the first proper look at the 100% rebel Time Lord. So, how was he? Take a deep breath...

The new Doctor and Clara make a bizarre entrance in this episode  -  the Tardis is vomited out of the throat of a T-Rex and onto the banks of the Thames in Victorian London. ( It's that kind of a story. ) Old friends Vastra, Strax and Jenny are on hand to help a bewildered Clara and an erratic, post-regeneration Doctor... or they would be if the wayward Time Lord hadn't run off into the London fog in his nightshirt like a demented Wee Willie Winkie. The new-look Tardis team and Victorian allies find themselves caught up in a grisly plot involving spontaneous combustion, a buried alien spaceship and a half-faced cyborg harvesting human organs. Clara also has to deal with the sudden and frightening change in the man she had come to know and trust throughout many adventures in space and time. This new, fierce Doctor with an older face, "attack eyebrows" and all, is a harsh, erratic presence... when he's present at all. At one point he even seems to abandon Clara to the not-so-tender mercies of the Half-Face Man and his clockwork army. It's a far cry from the days when Clara could twist the Eleventh Doctor around her little finger...

This first, feature length episode of Series 8 is far from perfect but is loads of fun. In a gambit reminiscent of Tom Baker's first adventure, Robot, this story surrounds the new Doc with familiar characters, themes and surroundings, seemingly to reassure viewers that, yes, this is still the same show. The tone of Deep Breath is still more or less that of the Matt Smith era, with plenty of running around and comedy courtesy of the Paternoster Gang, although a darker, creepier vibe is seeping in  -  not surprising when the director is Ben Wheatley, the man behind Sightseers and A Field In England. We can expect the mood to darken as the series progresses.
Unsurprisingly, much is made of the new Doctor's apparent age and older look. He is as much confused by this change as his companion. In a lovely scene he has a manic, rambling conversation with a tramp in a back alley, forcing said hobo to look at Capaldi's face in a mirror, demanding to know if the tramp has seen these lined features before, because he hasn't  -  "Who frowned me this face?" he asks in a moment of existential angst. The Doctor also confronts the Half-Face Man, himself made up of stolen body parts over a robotic interior, and, while questioning him, questions himself too...

"There's not a trace of the original you left. You probably can't even remember where you got that face from..."

This may all sound too grim and serious but there are plenty of Steven Moffatt's trademark witty lines, with Clara and the Doctor trading insults in a sinister restaurant being a standout scene. And, as for Capaldi... well, he's as excellent as I had expected. Managing to bring just the right amount of vulnerability and charm to a harsher Doctor who could so easily have alienated the audience ( no-one wanted to go the Sixth Doctor route ) he is a joy to watch, whether conversing with a dinosaur like a time-travelling Dr. Doolittle, cavorting around London's rooftops or coolly pouring himself a drink before facing his cyborg enemy. I can't wait to see what he does next. Oh, and Jenna Coleman is fantastic, finally getting some meaty drama to, er, get her teeth into. She really brings to life Clara's fear and bravery when, seemingly abandoned by the Doctor, she faces down the Half-Face Man and his clockwork killers, armed with nothing but anger and intelligence.
I've got a few reservations about this episode ( the Paternoster Gang probably need a rest now, the dinosaur in the Thames would surely be a major disruption to recent history, I don't like the new theme music ) but I'm feeling very positive about this new era so I won't dwell on them. Instead...

I'll give this episode Four Out Of Five Sonic Screwdrivers ( or slimy eyeballs )

Soundtrack: Deepest Purple: The Very Best Of Deep Purple ( old school rock! )

Suited and booted

OK, I'm probably the very last blogger this side of Raxacoricofallapatorious to comment on the 12th Doctor's new costume but I couldn't resist posting this picture of a very sharp-looking Peter Capaldi. I definitely approve of this new, stylish look for Capaldi's Doctor. It's pretty much exactly what I'd hoped for  -  a darker, more severe look for what is being heralded as a darker, more severe incarnation of the character. A few people here on t'internet have compared this image to a stage magician, and the hand gestures certainly back that up... and hasn't the Doctor always been a kind of magician? The coat's red lining also reminds me of John Simm's Master. As well as Dracula. And a crombie coat and DMs? Perhaps this Doctor's an ex-skinhead...

Soundtrack: Grace by Jeff Buckley