SPOILERS ABOUND!!! AND I MEAN BIG ONES!!!

Production Details

• Doctor: The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)
• Companions: Graham O’Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill)
• Writers: Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall
• Director: Nida Manzoor
• Producer: Nikki Wilson
• Guest Starring: Jo Martin (Ruth Clayton/The Fugitive Doctor), John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Neil Stuke (Lee Clayton), Ritu Arya (Commander Gat), Paul Kasey (Judoon Captain Pol-Kon-Don), Michael Begley (All Ears Allan), Nick Briggs (Voice of the Judoon)
• Music: Segun Akinola
• Script Editor: Fiona McAllister
• Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevans
• Running Time: 50 Minutes
• Release Date: 26th January 2020

Introduction

Though ‘It Takes You Away’ was a favourite of mine, if you asked me what the best episode of Doctor Who Series 11 was, I would say ‘Demons of the Punjab’ written by Vinay Patel. It’s an emotional rollercoaster of an episode that fully dives into the biggest historical tragedy we Brits don’t talk about, The Partition of India, by showing how it affects one family. It’s beautifully done so you can imagine I was excited about Vinay Patel’s second outing in the show, ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’.

One of the first announcements of Series 12 was that the Judoon were coming back. I was happy with this as I like the Judoon as monsters but I thought nothing of it until I saw Vinay Patel’s writing credit. If anyone can turn a Judoon story into something beautiful, it would be him. Plus the trailers were painting this out to be an important episode of Series 12 which was another plus. However, one thing had me worried: Chris Chibnall’s writing credit. Vinay Patel wasn’t to be left to his own devices after all which is concerning but with everything going for it, this has to be good. And was it? Well I don’t know what Vinay Patel had planned for this episode but it certainly wasn’t this!

Trailers

Next Time Trailer

Series 12 Mid-Series Trailer

Synopsis

The Doctor picks up a Judoon warning transmission and discovers that they have invaded Gloucester in 2020. As usual, the Judoon are searching for a fugitive who seem to be the couple Ruth and Lee Clayton. As secrets are discovered about the two, the Doctor’s life is about to be changed forever and soon she must fight for her life against the Judoon and their mysterious contractor, Commander Gat. Meanwhile Graham, Yaz and Ryan meet an old friend of the Doctor who comes bearing a sinister warning…

Review

The episode starts out as I expected out of a Judoon episode by Vinay Patel. It effectively introduces Ruth in a cheesy but innocent way. She is an endearing character and you root for her to succeed and Lee is suspicious but the more you learn about him, the more you realise he means no harm.

The Judoon are also on top form in the first half of the episode as they do their usual schtick but in a way that feels ruthless. They are a legitimate threat here and the prosthetic and animatronic work is outstanding. We’ve come a long way since 2007. The Doctor dealing with them head-on is also a highlight as in ‘Smith and Jones’, the Doctor spend most of the episode hiding from them and we’ve never had a proper confrontation. Here, the Doctor is no longer hiding and her interactions with the Judoon combined with her attempts to get them to rhyme with something is a joy to watch.

However, the Chibnall-isms come into play when Graham and later Yaz and Ryan get teleported away to a mysterious spaceship helmed by the ever-dashing, ever-awesome Captain Jack Harkness. Now when he first showed up, I did squee like a fan girl and John Barrowman, despite showing his age, picks up on the role with ease and his reaction to learning that the Doctor is now a woman is just perfect. However, he doesn’t really do anything. All he does is give a cryptic warning about a future episode and that’s it. He doesn’t even meet the Doctor which is a huge disappointment!

He’s so pointless that if you cut him out of the episode, not only will ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’ be more streamlined but it makes series 12 better as a whole. Not only will the Lone Cyberman’s surprise appearance in ‘The Haunting of Villa Diodati’ be an actual surprise but his inevitable appearance in ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ would have a far greater impact. I feel like Chibnall jumped the gun here and it hurts the companions as a result as they don’t do anything in this episode. It’s especially heartbreaking for Yaz as she should have been used to delay the Judoon with her police training that she totally has.

But whatever, that’s just the subplot, how’s the main plot? Again, it keeps the mystery high as to who Ruth and Lee are and it’s well-paced but it falls apart when it’s finally revealed that Ruth is a hitherto unknown incarnation of the Doctor. Whilst I am open to a brand new Doctor and Jo Martin is excellent in the brief screen-time we have of her as the Doctor, we don’t know enough about her for this to be a satisfying reveal. It just asks more questions, none of which are answered and the Fugitive Doctor’s characterization is limited to telling the Thirteenth Doctor to shut up every 30 seconds. It’s not a satisfying pay-off because all it is is set-up for future episodes that, spoilers for the rest of series 12, don’t even give us proper answers to who she is! It’s also at this point where the Judoon disappear until the very end because we need to focus on this new plot point and this episode has way too much going on!

At least the episode looks good. Nida Manzoor’s direction feels more confident this time round and the Fugitive Doctor’s reveal is excellently handled. The music is on top-form as usual (especially ‘The Lighthouse’) and like I said, the Judoon animatronics are something else.

Conclusion

This episode really is a shame because it had so much promise with an intriguing mystery, a strong guest cast and good production values and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t leave me surprised and interested but it’s clear that this episode prioritised setting up future episodes rather than making this one satisfying. Jack’s cameo is pointless and the Fugitive Doctor reveal doesn’t really go anywhere, making the episode overstuffed with more questions than answers. It’s not bad but it’s definitely a mess.

Score: 6/10

SPOILERS ABOUND!!!

Production Details

• Doctor: The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)
• Companions: Graham O’Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill)
• Writer: Nina Metivier
• Director: Nida Manzoor
• Producer: Nikki Wilson
• Guest Starring: Goran Višnjić (Nikola Tesla), Robert Glenister (Thomas Edison), Anjili Mohindra (Queen Skithra), Haley McGee (Dorothy Skerritt), Paul Kasey (Harold Green), Robin Guiver (Bill Tallow)
• Music: Segun Akinola
• Script Editor: Fiona McAllister
• Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevans
• Running Time: 50 minutes
• Release Date: 19th January 2020

Introduction

Nina Metiver is no stranger to Doctor Who as she was the script editor behind ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’ and ‘It Takes You Away’. Apparently she did so good of a job that she was offered to pen a script of her own for series 12. Thus came ‘Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror’, a story about a famous inventor who never became successful due to his poor business practices and public rivalry with the more successful Thomas Edison but pioneered the alternating current system and wireless technology.

With Tesla growing in popularity thanks to the late David Bowie’s portrayal in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige and the brand of cars of the same name, it seemed right that a Doctor Who episode should focus on him, especially with the show’s focus on science. Does it work? Well it’s no classic but it’s certainly a fun ride.

Trailers

Next Time Trailer

TV Trailer

Synopsis

Nikola Tesla has fallen onto some hard times. His projects are getting rejected, Thomas Edison is turning the public against him and he is under attack from a man with a Silurian blaster. When the Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan save him, they discover that he is in possession of an alien orb and that he has been contacting aliens from Mars. Soon the Doctor discovers that a race of alien scavengers called the Skithra are after him and she must stop them before they tear the world apart to get Tesla.

Review

Easily the best part of this episode is Goran Višnjić’s portrayal of Nikola Tesla. He commands every scene he’s in with his energy that clearly shows his love of inventing. His joy is just infectious and he makes the historical exposition sound natural with his delivery. The episode doesn’t shy away at his failures but it’s more bittersweet. His final lines in the episode is genuinely inspiring as it encourages the viewer to keep going in the face of failure. It’s a nice message and a strong note to end the episode on. If I do have issues with how Tesla is portrayed is that it does fall into the same trap as other celebrity historicals in that it hero worships said historical celebrity. Though his failures are shown, they aren’t shown to be his fault (besides ones line). That’s just a minor thing though as they do try to keep it fair to both sides of the rivalry.

Speaking of which, Robert Glenister’s Thomas Edison can be seen as cartoonish but the episode thankfully doesn’t portray him as a villain like a Tesla-centric episode could have. Though he is presented as treating Tesla unfairly, he isn’t a bad person as he genuinely cares about his workers and he doesn’t hesitate to help save the world. He also gets some good points towards the debate between theory vs execution as while his ideas aren’t exactly original, they at least work and he’s a good enough businessman to sell them.

But let’s not forget that this is a Doctor Who episode and for Team TARDIS, it’s a mixed bag. Jodie Whittaker continues to shine as the Doctor as shares the same excitable energy as Tesla. It’s always great to see the Doctor so passionate about science and this is no exception. I also like that her happy-go-lucky veneer is slowly edging away to reveal an inner rage at her lost homeworld and her threats to the Skithra are genuinely chilling.

Yaz surprisingly gets a lot to do this time around as she constantly helps both Tesla and Edison out of sticky situations and her ‘what would the Doctor do?’ mentality works well in the episode. The same cannot be said for Graham and Ryan who are this week’s window dressing. I’m starting to think that they should have picked one companion at a time for the standalone episodes as three is clearly too much. Especially when other characters like Dorothy Skerritt get pushed to the wayside as a result.

As for the villains, they represent the biggest problem with the episode: they’re out of place. The problem with historicals such as Vincent and the Doctor and Rosa is that they shoehorn in a monster or sci-fi element when one really isn’t needed and it’s no different here. The Tesla/Edison conflict is enough to carry an episode and they should have used that time to really delve deep into Tesla’s character because it kind of feels shallow as a result. It touches on those themes and explores them for a bit but puts them aside for an alien subplot that takes up most of the episode.

That isn’t to say the aliens themselves are bad however, because they are inventive. Not only are the designs of the Skithra creepy and animated with a lot of personality but they’re a unsubtle but still effective metaphor for Edison as they too have never had an original idea in their life. This even extends to a meta-level as the design of the Skithra Queen is similar to the Racnoss from ‘The Runaway Bride’ and she is being played by Anjili Mohindra, who played Rani Chandra in the popular Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It’s a nice touch and the casting pays off as Mohindra is clearly having a blast chewing the scenery as the Skithra Queen.

As for the plot, it doesn’t feel deep or complex but it’s well-paced and well-structured. Each scene flows nicely into the next and each plot point is introduced organically. However the lack of depth may hurt rewatches as it does feel by-the-numbers. The production values are also a mixed bag as the set design, costume and music are all excellent but the cinematography and editing feel off. For example, there is one scene where The Doctor and Tesla escape from a warehouse only for it to immediately cut to a train with no indication of how they got there. It’s touches like that that make the episode feel a little disjointed.

Conclusion

Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror is an enjoyable if slight episode with stand-out performances from Goran I-can-no-longer-be-bothered-to-spell-his-last-name, Anjili Mohindra, Jodie Whittaker and Robert Glenister with a somewhat unbiased take on the pair of them and a nicely structured plot. However, with the alien subplot taking centre stage, it does feel shallow and by-the numbers. It’s a solid episode but one that won’t be considered a classic anytime soon.

Score: 7/10

SPOILERS ABOUND!!!

Production Details

• Doctor: The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)
• Companions: Graham O’Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill)
• Writer: Ed Hime
• Director: Lee Haven Jones
• Producer: Alex Mercer
• Guest Starring: Laura Fraser (Kane), Gia Ré (Bella), James Buckley (Nevi), Julia Foster (Vilma), Amy Booth-Steel (Hyp3en), Will Austin (Vorm), Col Farrell (Benni), Lewin Lloyd (Sylas), Spencer Wilding (The Lead Dreg and Creature Movements)
• Music: Segun Akinola
• Script Editor: Fiona McAllister
• Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevans
• Running Time: 46 minutes
• Release Date: 12th January 2020

Introduction

Out of all of series 11, Ed Hime’s It Takes You Away was easily standout. It was imaginative and unpredictable with memorable characters, strong pacing and an even strong emotional core. Its exploration of the self-destructive nature of grief is something to behold and whilst it’s not perfect as it does feel like three episodes in one, it is a highlight in a mostly empty season.

So you can imagine I was excited when Ed Hime was among the first guest writers confirmed for series 12 and when I discovered that he will be writing episode 3, Orphan 55, I was intrigued, especially after the trailers. However, like Neil Gaiman before him, Ed Hime went from writing one of the best episodes of series 11 to the absolute worst episode of series 12…

Trailers

Next Time Trailer

TV Trailer

Synopsis

A teleport cube transports the Doctor and her friends to Tranquility Spa, where they enjoy an all-inclusive stay. No sooner do they arrive however than things start to go wrong. The spa’s systems have been infected by a Hopper Virus, allowing the local apex predators known as Dregs to attack and kill the guests. When one guest is taken away, the Doctor leads a rescue mission onto the barren surface of Orphan 55 where she discovers the terrible truth behind the Dregs’ origins…

Review

The worst thing about this episode is the pacing. When I said ‘no sooner do they arrive’ I meant it! It literally takes the episode 2 minutes for the plot to get going, leaving no time to establish the characters and settings. The supporting characters are all underdeveloped and that’s mostly because there are too many of them. Belle and Kane I get because they move the plot along as do Benni, Vilma and Sylas but the rest such as Hyph3n, Vorm and Nevi could either have been killed off in the opening massacre or cut from the episode entirely. As is, it’s too crowded and the episode feels messy as a result. It doesn’t help that they’re all unlikable, badly written and in some cases, badly acted (looking at you Julia ‘BENNI!’ Foster).

The main cast don’t fair much better either as Graham and Yaz get practically nothing to do. Ryan is a bit better as he gets a love interest in Belle but even that is clumsily done as Ryan comes across as a bit desperate and Belle doesn’t believably fall in love with him. The saving grace is the Doctor. Jodie Whittaker continues to be great (even if she is starting to get choked a lot) and there are genuinely tense moments involving her and an oxygen tank, which brilliantly uses her defining feature, her talkative nature, against her.

The monsters are surprisingly really good as well. The make-up job and costume job is fantastic and the design is truly grotesque. They are genuinely freaky and are responsible for some truly chilling and horrifying scenes. They’re not the best monsters the show has had as they lack a distinct personality but they get the job done and look good while doing it.

As for the plot, its biggest issue, as I mentioned, is the pacing but the structure doesn’t help either as it constantly shifts around from premise to premise. This was the case in It Takes You Away but due to a slower pace and smaller cast, it flowed much better. Here, the episode doesn’t breathe and the plethora of characters keeps things cluttered. It’s a shame as well because the inital premise, a spa under attack, is gripping despite the pacing due to some genuinely funny moments and some downright horrifying scenes involving the Dregs.

But the biggest point of contention is the episode’s message against climate change. Now I’m personally for environmental messages in Doctor Who… if done well. Because climate change is the biggest threat to humanity right now, Doctor Who had every right to address this but like the rest of the episode, it’s clumsy and awkwardly done. They do the whole ‘it was Earth all along’ twist that was done so many times and done better in other sci-fi media and the Doctor just tells us to change the future… without telling us how. It also fails on a structural level because the Earth twist was introduced too late with little time to develop with everything else going on and the message itself was just dumped on us at the end. Again, I’m fine with the message itself but it’s done so badly that it just irks me.

As for the production values, they really are a mixed bag. Like I said, the Dregs look fantastic but the rest of the make-up and costuming is laughably bad (especially with Hyph3n who looks like she walked off an amateur production of Cats). Lee Haven Jones’ directing can be effective in some scenes, like the opening massacre, but incomprehensible in others and the effects set design feels been there, done that. Segun Akinola’s music keeps the tension high but it’s not very memorable either.

Conclusion

Fans have called Orphan 55 the worst episode of Doctor Who and I disagree. Episodes such as Fear Her, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, Asylum of the Daleks, Nightmare in Silver, The Time of the Doctor, The Caretaker, Kill the Moon, In the Forest of the Night, Hell Bent, Twice Upon a Time, Arachnids in the UK and The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos had all proved to be worse than this. But it’s still bad.

It has some strong moments, legitimately horrifying monsters and a lot of ironic enjoyment (BENNI!) but the structure and pacing is all over the place leading to a overblown cast of poorly-written characters, a tacked-on climate change message, inconsistent direction and a messy plot. This really needed to be edited down and streamlined for it to work. As is, it’s a colossal mess and a blemish on an otherwise promising series.

Score: 4/10

SPOILERS ABOUND!!!!!!!

Production Details

• Doctor: The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)
• Companions: Graham O’Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) and Yazmin Khan (Mandip Gill)
• Writer: Chris Chibnall
• Directors: Jamie Magnus Stone (Part 1) and Lee Haven Jones (Part 2)
• Producers: Nikki Wilson and Alex Mercer
• Guest Starring: Sacha Dhawan (O/The Master), Lenny Henry (Daniel Barton), Stephen Fry (C), Sylvie Briggs (Ada Lovelace), Aurora Marion (Noor Inayat Khan), Mark Dexter (Charles Babbage), Shobna Gulati (Najia Khan), Ravin J Ganatra (Hakim Khan), Bhavnishna Parmar (Sonya Khan) and Struan Rodger (Voice of the Kasaavin)
• Music: Segun Akinola
• Script Editor: Fiona McAllister
• Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevans
• Running Time: 59 minutes (Part 1) and 60 minutes (Part 2)
• Release Dates: 1st January 2020 (Part 1) and 5th January 2020 (Part 2)

Introduction

So after a year long hiatus, Doctor Who returns with a lot to prove. Series 11 has been… divisive to say the least and whilst the fan backlash has been blown way out of proportion with some nasty things said on Twitter, in my opinion it wasn’t entirely unfounded as Series 11 lacked anything substantial with an inconsistent Doctor, underdeveloped companions, slow-moving and clunky stories, a lack of any significant threat and a huge let-down of a finale. Suffice to say, I was underwhelmed and whilst I don’t think it’s as bad as series 7 or series 8, it’s in a similar ballpark.

So Spyfall (I hate the title too), written by Chris Chibnall whose name is now mud in the fandom, has the task of winning us back and on that front, it succeeded… but it’s still got a way to go to be as good as it was in the 00s.

Trailers

Series 12

Spyfall Part 2

Synopsis

Earth’s greatest intelligence agents are being picked off by a mysterious race known as the Kasaavin, who are rewriting their DNA. MI6 calls the Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan for help as they suspect that tech mogul Daniel Barton may be involved. With the help of Agent O, the fam investigate Barton and his involvement with the Kasaavin. However, when O is revealed to be the Master, the situation grows more dire as the whole universe may be at stake…

Review

Let’s just get this out of the way: Spyfall is an awful title. It’s clearly a parody of Skyfall but it’s not even that clever and it’s a terrible pun. Personally, I think it should have been called The Spymaster but hey ho… too late now.

Anyway, the story fixes series 11’s issues somewhat by upping the pacing and keeping it flowing well throughout the most part which is good because the plot, when you think about it, doesn’t quite add up. The Kasaavian’s plan is never properly explained. As best as I understand it, they want to convert humanity’s DNA into massive hard drives but to what end? How does it help them conquer the universe? What does Daniel Barton and the Master have to gain from it? Why did they target other points in time? It’s never really explained and the episode kind of falls apart.

In that regard, it’s similar to the Series 6 opener, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, it’s entertaining and ambitious but the plot never really adds up when looking back on it. But at least that had a clever resolution whereas here, they unironically used the ‘I bribed the architect’ gag from The Curse of Fatal Death as the resolution happens immediately and off-screen. It’s a lazy way to resolve the conflict and ends the story on a bit of a dud.

But like I said, it is entertaining and that’s largely due to the performances. One problem with series 11 was that, despite doing her best, Jodie Whittaker never really clicked with me as the Doctor. Don’t get me wrong, I support a female Doctor in principle but 13’s inconsistent characterisation and Jodie’s lost performance held this Doctor back. Luckily, this all changed here. This is a Doctor who is nervous and doesn’t always know what she’s doing but she is kind and really enthusiastic and oh my gosh, I just related to the Doctor! The final moments are where she truly shined as she is finally allowed to have some dramatic weight and her facial acting is brilliant. I hope to see more of Jodie Whittaker acting her heart out.

The companions however really start to feel overcrowded. It was a smart move splitting them up as we got some character development but they don’t get much room to breathe. Yaz finally gets a scene of development but it’s only one scene and Graham and Ryan are pretty much comic relief (though Graham remains a treasure in that regard). This is especially egregious in episode 2 where they have no impact on the plot as the Doctor basically fixes it all.

As for the supporting characters, Lenny Henry is nice and threatening as Daniel Barton but his character lacks the sufficient motivation to be evil. I do like that his evil plans tie in with people ignorance towards internet privacy. It’s a very unique and topical angle in sci-fi and I’m glad to see it used here. Stephen Fry on the other hand is completely wasted as C as he is killed off after 5 minutes of screen-time. The Kasaavin as villains have an effective design and they have some truly creepy moments in part 1 but they’re too vague to be suitably threatening and the fact that they’re unable to cause lasting harm to our main heroes massively devalues the threat. Maybe if they came back they can be properly explained but as of now, they’re pretty weak overall.

But the true standout is Sacha Dhawan as the Master. The reveal and cliffhanger at the end of part 1 was genuinely surprising and helps raise the stakes and his performance from then on is electric. He successfully combines the class of the Classic Masters and the craziness of the New Masters whilst also bringing something new to the table. This is a Master full of rage and pain and you get the impression that he doesn’t enjoy this as much as he lets on. Because of this, he might actually be my favourite Master from the Revival Era since he blends the fun craziness with genuine evil and menace.

Part 2 shines when it focuses on the Master hunting down the Doctor in the past. Dhawan and Whittaker have some terrific chemistry together and their dynamic remains faithful to the past whilst keeping things fresh by swapping their genders, creating a somewhat kinky power dynamic (‘Call me Master’). Also giving him back the TCE (complete with doll effects) and his own TARDIS fills me with so much glee!

Setting half of part 2 in the past was a stroke of genius as it helped keep things fresh and it even taught me about some unknown historical figures such as Ada Lovelace, one of computing’s pioneers, and Noor Inayat Khan, the first female wireless operator to be sent behind enemy lines. Though I am okay with the big historical figures like William Shakespeare and Rosa Parks, this is a nice change of pace and they work well with the Doctor.

But it’s really the ending to the story that truly got me excited for this series. Basically, the episode reveals that the Master destroyed Gallifreyan society after learning the truth about ‘The Timeless Child’ aka our arc for Jodie’s era which not only gives Jodie Whittaker something to do in these but it also fixes a problem with the Moffat Era. See in The Day of the Doctor, Steven Moffat brought Gallifrey back which was fine but he proceeded to do nothing with it. He brought them back in Hell Bent but didn’t do much and the Doctor just leaves with no fanfare. With that awkwardness hanging over Doctor Who, Chris Chibnall made a smart decision in redestroying it as it gets rid of that burden whilst simultaneously setting up a potentially interesting storyline. It’s a smart move to say the least.

The production values aren’t as great as they were in series 11 but they’re still solid, especially in part 2 with mostly good direction and excellent music from Segun Akinola who leans into the Bond-pastiche more than everyone else. The period design is well done, as to be expected with the BBC, and Jodie’s tuxedo looks fantastic, blending Bond with the Doctor seamlessly. I was also pleased to learn that her bow tie was made in my home town. I never felt more proud of it.

Conclusion

Spyfall is a very fragmented episode since the plot ultimately doesn’t add up and it’s frustratingly vague but it manages to still be fun with strong pacing, an excellent performance from Jodie Whittaker, a new and exciting status quo, good comedy and action, strong time travel elements and a phenomenal new Master. It’s a step in the right direction for Doctor Who and I hope it keeps its upward trajectory

Score: 8/10

Graham, don’t ever leave the series…