TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode 11 "Heaven Sent"

"Clara Said "Don't Take Revenge." You Should Know I Don't Always Listen..."

Every now and then, certain programmes attempt to remind you why you, as the viewer, readily choose to invest so much time and effort, both mentally and/or physically, in such a programme in order to fuel such the heavy, and sometimes rather unhealthy, addiction that has been created from such dedication. In the case of Doctor Who therefore, a programme in which I began watching as a young child, with bundles upon bundles of Classic Who VHS’s keeping me company throughout my younger years, it is a feat unparalleled when a show almost 53 years old can keep on pulling out surprise after surprise, hit after hit, without every feeling the need to slow down and say, “hey, we’re running out of ideas here.” Although Series 9 has been a consistently strong and inventive addition to the Who canon thus far, this week’s episode truly hit new sumptuous levels, with “Heaven Sent”, showing how our most beloved of Sci-Fi shows has once again hit that high watermark, peaking in similar brilliance to some of the best ever stories that have been told over the past five decades with it ticking all the right boxes in what makes Doctor Who well, Doctor Who.

Acting as a straight-forward continuation from “Face the Raven”, with our beloved Twelfth not having any time at all to grieve at the loss of his loving companion, “Heaven Sent” immediately sets out its’ genre-bending tones in the first few scenes. Alone, lost, and completely out of his depth, we witness The Doctor being menacingly stalked by a creature simply known as The Veil, a manifestation of one of the Doctor’s memories in which he witnessed a dead woman, still cloaked in her veil, being surrounded by a hoard of death-mongering flies, with its’ full form slowly following our Doctor in every step he takes throughout a clock-work maze, utilised and set up by some form of unknown entity in order to gain the Doctor’s deepest confessions. Not only does “Heaven Sent” fully ramp the horror element of Doctor Who up to eleven, with the presence of the Veil making me jump on at least two occasions, it also manages to add an even deeper level to the character of the Doctor, with the fear of death highlighting a more human side to our favourite Time Lord whilst expanding on the very nature of the Doctor’s escape from Gallifrey all those years ago, something of which has been leaned upon ever since “The Magician’s Apprentice”.

Although in the past, Steven Moffat has been criticised by many for introducing plot lines and stories that although look fun and mean well, actually end up making no logical sense whatsoever, “Heaven Sent” shows the brilliant side of Moffat, with its’ timey-wimey plot all coming clear in a final act that ranks high amongst some of his best work for the show.  Within the midst of the Inception-esque mind-bending science fiction and fabulous inventive writing,  is the performance from Peter Capaldi, a performance that not only can be regarded as the best so far within his tenure as the Twelfth Doctor, but one of the greatest in the series to this date, with the Pertwee/Tom Baker hallmarks being fully embraced in an episode that attempts to put our Doctor well and truly through the wringer in a similar vein to the Fourth Doctor’s venture into the Matrix within “The Deadly Assassin,” an episode in which our beloved Time-Lord is also companion-less and also returns to his homeland of Gallifrey. The only negative thing to say about “Heaven Sent” is that because of its’ sheer brilliance, next week’s “Hell Bent” has so much to live up to, but for now, let us sway in the remarkable abilities of both Capaldi and Moffat with “Heaven Sent” certainly earning the right to earn a place in the hall of fame of great Who stories. Roll on next week!

Overall Score: 10/10

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode 10 "Face The Raven"

"I Will Die, And Nobody Here Or Anywhere Else Will Suffer..."

Here we go then... The departure of Jenna Coleman as long-term companion Clara Oswald has been big news in the Who fanbase for many months now, thanks in part to the overblown nature of the world in which social media prevents such things as spoilers and secrets (Screw you Daily Mirror!) when it comes to high profile shows such as Doctor Who, yet not many would have guessed that the departure of Coleman would have been done so nonchalantly and without warning in an episode that firstly, was not a series finale or mid-season break, but was not in fact penned by the lead writer, with newcomer Sarah Dollard being handed the task of crushing the hearts of many Clara fans out there within the Whoniverse, and given the chance to pen the final scenes between our beloved Twelfth Doctor and his latest favourite human, Clara Oswald. Coming from an eagle-eyed Who fan where even the writing or directorial credits announce something rather epic is set to happen, the untimely demise of our latest companion was a shock to say the least, albeit if it ends up serving a slightly different purpose in the next few weeks left of Series Nine.

Much like the latter end of Series Three, "Face The Raven" seems to be similar in form to that of the rather excellent "Utopia", whereby a first-thought standalone episode may in fact hold the beginnings of an epic trilogy, where this time its' focus is set clearly on the end of the line for Ms. Oswald as well as a possible return to Gallifrey, judging by the clips at the end of the episode which show the destination to which The Doctor is sent via that of a teleportation bracelet. Although the rather far-out plan spearheaded by an unknown entity forcing the Doctor into a sudden change of scenery featured way too many holes in terms of clear-cut explanation, the fact that "Face The Raven" is set to be part of a bigger story in the long-run means the two remaining episodes will hopefully clear up such mind-boggling plot-lines and explain why the character of Ashildr, played with confidence once again by the wonderful Maisie Williams, was ever needed in the first place (So much for her as the new companion too don't you think?)

If anything, "Face The Raven" felt strangely enough like a return of the Russel T Davies led Who, with the sets in which the unknown Diagon Alley-esque streets were presented feeling rather 420p, leading me to believe we had returned to 2007 and David Tennant as The Doctor, a notion not helped by the return of Davies era creatures such as the Judoon, yet witnessing Peter Capaldi looking rather suave in his Pertwee-inspired velvet coat gave a soft reminder that we were in fact back in 2015, with Capaldi once again showing his awe-inspiring range of emotion with his sheer heartbreak at not knowing what to do in order to save his long-term companion, a devastating loss that is set to have major repercussions in the weeks that follow. Whatever you do, don't make THIS Doctor angry. Although Clara's death in this week's episode of Doctor Who seemingly marked the end of the line for our latest companion, the means to her end ultimately felt strangely uncertain, albeit managing to  play rather effectively on the heartstrings, suggesting more is certainly set to come within the next few weeks in the concluding parts of Series Nine, a series which just keeps getting better and better.

Overall Score: 9/10

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode Nine "Sleep No More"

"None Of This Makes Any Sense!"

As a huge advocate of horror movies in general, this week’s episode of Doctor Who attempted to hop aboard the well-and-truly-used trope train that is the “found footage” genre, a film-making technique that has now begun to strike fear into the heart of many critics who believe the invention of franchises such as Paranormal Activity and subsequent admirers, including this years’ terrible The Gallows, have well and truly sealed the fate of the once ground-breaking mode of movie-making which although came to the attention of many with the release of The Blair Witch Project in the late 1990’s, can be traced all the way back to the release of Cannibal Holocaust in the mid-1900’s. For me personally therefore, “Sleep No More” was bound to be an interesting and slightly off-key episode of Doctor Who, yet the signs were inherently positive from the beginning. Doctor Who meets The Blair Witch Project? Sounds unmissable in my book.

Beginning with a notable dismissal of the opening theme tune and credits, something of which I believe has not occurred throughout the shows’ 52 year history, we are introduced to a spectacle-wearing mystery, a man who appears to be the last survivor of a deserted space station, and a man who is very clearly telling us not to watch any of what is to come in the next 45 minutes. Intrigued? Sure, and add into the equation a minor rescue squad and the rather swift introduction of some rather eerie deathly creatures, this weeks’ episode sets the tone straight away, with “Sleep No More” essentially being Doctor Who meets Event Horizon with a dash of Blair Witch, and it’s rather brilliant. Although it can be easily argued that Who has kind of missed the boat when it comes to embracing the lost art of the found footage genre, it can also equally be argued that with all the nonsensical releases that adhere to such a format released in the past few years, that Who in 45 minutes has accomplished what some feature films completely miss out on, a sense of threat and drama which uses the found footage technique to its’ advantage in creating a spooky and fundamentally organic episode of Doctor Who, of which, I believe, will be one of the most memorable episodes of the Capaldi era in years to come.

Where the episode strangely both succeeds and fails is in its’ attempt to coherently paint a picture of what is actually happening aboard the spaceship, with the Doctor’s ramblings of “None of this makes any sense!” essentially mirroring the exact same feelings from the viewer with Mark Gatiss’ script obviously attempting to be rather ambiguous in a similar vein to last years’ Series 8 episode, “Listen”, a trait I believe will cause some viewers to underrate the episode because of its’ desire to not paint out a whole picture by the numbers and instead leave it dangling by a titillating thread. Ending on a rather spooky cliff-hanger, “Sleep No More” continues the trend of Series 9’s surprising consistency, mixing the found-footage genre in with the sci-fi wonder that is The Doctor and Clara’s ventures around time and space, making it for me personally, one of the best of Capaldi’s reign so far. 

Overall Score: 9/10

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episodes Seven/Eight "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion"

"You Have Left Us With An Impossible Situation, Doctor..."

This week I have to admit to taking a slight and minor kop-out when it comes to our weekly review of Doctor Who wherein instead of focusing on just one episode, I felt it was plausible to review both stories of the returning Zygon menace at the same time due to not only having all the facts and all the answers to the questions from both parts of the story, but mainly because it fits in rather well with my over-burdened work schedule (Screw you real life!). Returning from their short stint in the 50th anniversary episode, "The Day of The Doctor", an episode where we were left with the notion that the remaining Zygon threat had successfully been integrated into society via that of a rather flimsy peace treaty, "The Zygon Invasion/Inversion" focuses on the uprising of a rogue Zygon threat, hell bent on releasing chaos throughout the world whilst attempting to break free from the secretive nature of their newly found Earth-based lifestyle. It is no surprise that this season of Doctor Who has definitely been more on the solid and consistent side than those previous with the return of the two-parter no doubt being one of the many reasons why with this week's story only adding to the quality that has been inherent throughout this year's entry into the Who canon so far.

The fundamental image that comes to mind whenever the Zygons are on-screen in Doctor Who, whether it be their first appearance in the 1975 Tom Baker serial Terror of the Zygons, or in today's NuWho, is that of the alien race present in the many versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a tale in which the titular "body snatchers" slowly take over the earth by hatching duplicates of those they have captured and then integrating themselves into society. Sound familiar? Of course, but what this week's tale effectively managed to do was increase the paranoia and sense of unknown of which the alien Zygon race automatically bring about with them whenever they appear on our screens culminating in a rather spectacular appearance of the "evil" Clara, a Zygon doppelganger of our beloved companion who tortuously attempts to bring about the death of not only Clara, The Doctor and that UNIT, but the entire world, with Jenna Coleman clearly having bundles of fun with her newly found evilness in such a role.

Where part one of this latest Zygon tale sought to show the uprising of the Zygon threat, the second part ultimately concluded in a resolution that not only was similar to that of the discussion that took place between human/Zygon Kate in "Day of the Doctor", but also gave Peter Capaldi another chance to shine, with his speech in which he describes the horror of war and the consequences it brings being another accolade in the Twelfth Doctor's already star-studded reign as the travelling Time Lord, a speech both incredibly heart-felt and powerful whilst being incredibly apt for a British audience in terms of its' relevance to Remembrance weekend. Not only does "The Zygon Invasion/Inversion" show how the two-part format most definitely has added a new level of consistency to NuWho, but it also shows that when a story is given that extra amount of time to breath and to metaphorically spread its' legs, can result in a quality that may have been absent if squeezed into the relatively short and rather familiar, 45 minute time slot, something of which we seemingly are returning to next week in the Mark Gatiss penned, "Sleep No More". Will it hold up to the quality of Series 9 so far? We shall see. 

Overall Score: 8.5/10

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode Six "The Woman Who Lived"

"You'll Have To Remind Me, What's Sorrow Like?"

If last week's episode of Doctor Who attempted to cram in as much craziness as humanly possible, with electric eels, spider mines, testosterone craving alien race, and of course, Arya Stark, then this week's concluding half of the story of Ashildr, was much more composed and carefully designed to focus on the possibility of immortality from someone else's point of view, rather than that of the wandering Time Lord who seems all too secure with the notion that he may just carry on travelling around the galaxy for eternity. What "The Woman Who Lived" attempted to embrace was the notion that immortality and the chance to live throughout Earth's long and arduous history is in fact a terrifying nightmare, with young Ashildr, played tremendously once again by Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams, facing the fact that all her gift brings her is heartbreak and pain. Kudos must surely go to not only the writers and the actors, but the general distributors of this particular episode in the form of the BBC who even though are continued to be getting a hard time in the press, continue their argument for success with the balls out approach in releasing an episode of Doctor Who that wasn't all spaceships and mud monsters and instead focused on the coldness of loss and the painful nature of death.

Such a notion of death and loss was clearly emphasised to reach out to the impending departure of Jenna Coleman as long-serving assistant Clara Oswald, who even though only showed up in the last few minutes of this week's episode, had just enough screen-time to emphasise that her bubbly demeanor and classy Blackpudlian accent will well and truly be missed by everyone, particularly The Doctor himself, who ended the episode staring at our beloved companion with a sense of sadness in the knowledge that he well and truly knew the answer to Ashildr's question of how many Clara's had been lost throughout the Doctors' own long lifespan. Ultimately, the slight reservations of the episode was when it duly swerved off course from the deep characterisation study and then remembered it was in fact a science-fiction show, resulting in a concluding act that felt rather rushed and wholly out of place for an episode in which the first half was truly something rather genius in retrospect and different from the usual swing of Doctor Who, something of which we look like getting more of next week with the return of the Zygons. Solid Who once again, this season is one to keep an eye on.

Overall Score: 8/10

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode Five "The Girl Who Died"

"Immortality Means Watching Everyone Else Die..."

Five weeks into this latest series of Doctor Who and it is fair to say that this week's episode, written two-fold by both chief writer Steven Moffat and Jamie Mathieson, the mastermind behind two of last series' best episodes in "Mummy On The Orient Express" and "Flatline", is completely bonkers. Not only are we rushed straight between space, spider mines, and Vikings within the space of five minutes, but "The Girl Who Died" also featured not one, but two fake reincarnations of Odin, with the latter screaming an oath to Valhalla in a similar vein to the War Boys in Mad Max: Fury Road, an alien battle fleet known as the Mire, and Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams as the mysterious Ashildr, who although carried speculation of being someone of vital importance to the Doctor such as Susan Foreman or someone of similar familiarity, simply was in the end, a Viking girl, albeit a rather extraordinary one who is set to feature quite a bit in the concluding part next week.

In the midst of all this complete and utter mayhem, which although was pretty darn fun from the outset, resulted in a overly flashy, if rather underdeveloped episode in terms of certain aspects such as character development and plot threads (I mean is it just me, or did the reasoning behind the creation of the massive eel thing seem rather brushed over?), is the performance from Peter Capaldi who once again showed the flawless nature in which he can divert his incarnation of the travelling time lord from the humorous, sarcastic stick insect, to the snarling, emotion-riddled old alien that he is, with the speeches in which he explains the curse of immortality and the realisation of why his face is something in which is overly familiar, a real standout of the episode. As for immortality, this week's cliffhanger showed how such may have affected one young viking girl in particular with next week once again setting up a whole new range of questions that need to be adequately answered. Man, I'm glad these two-parters are back.

Overall Score: 8/10