Dr Who hasn’t had me on the edge of my seat for a while now, but this episode brought back some of the inexplicable magic of the show. High stakes, good acting, some good writing (finally) and it felt like I was watching the resurgence of my childhood instead of the death of it.
Don’t get me wrong I’m still cautiously optimistic at best, one good episode does not discount two middle of the road ones. Not everyone will agree with me but the ‘meta moment’ in episode two was painful to watch. The promotion of ‘Blink’ being the best episode of Dr Who (something I don’t totally disagree with) and having the Doctor and Belinda address these fictional fans of his adventures – who of course provide him an answer to the quandary of how to defeat that episode’s ‘undefeatable’ monster all added up to make an unnecessary, clunky scene that did not hit the spot.
Back to episode three though (since I’d rather talk about the positives). The plot is relatively simple: the Doctor and Bel land on planet 6767 with several soldiers who are investigating the recent radio silence from mercury mine where thirty-five people live and work only to discover thirty-four dead bodies and Aliss Fenley, the chef, played by Rose Ayling-Eliss.
Don’t get me wrong I’m still cautiously optimistic at best, one good episode does not discount two middle of the road ones.
The monster who has attached itself to Aliss and killed the rest of the crew turns out to be familiar to those of us who have watched David Tennant’s Doctor, it’s the creature from Midnight, a diamond planet (which is now the thoroughly mined planet 6767). Terrifying and seemingly undefeatable and with only one goal: to get off the decimated planet.
Rose Ayling-Eliss was particularly strong in the episode, a deaf actress who in an interview stated that Aliss can trust the Doctor straight away as he signs to her. She says that in a world where deaf people are often left out from the conversation that she was met halfway by the Doctors signing made it easier for Aliss to communicate and therefore be understood. She portrays a scared woman under the scrutiny of the many soldiers well and I think was largely responsible for the fear we feel when we find out something is ‘behind her’ but we have yet to discover what it is.
Overall, the episode impressed me and gave me hope for the rest of the season. Whilst I still have worries about the Whoniverses’ future, especially since BBC have yet to renew the show for a new season, I feel we’re no longer lost and scrambling to find the good in the show. Hopefully with the return of Ruby Sunday in the coming episode and then the rest of the season we’ll see some of the best of Dr Who.
So Geronimo… I guess?