I really think there’s a heck of a lot of good stuff here, all in order and all worth ticking off. There’s too much good to count, so I’ll stick to just a few that strike me now.
Darlings are killed off. Really didn’t expect that. Magically doing otherwise would have been cheap, mawkish and fail to deliver on the pitch of the series going “into darkness” with Capaldi. Thanks for not disappointing us seems due! When Camfield used UNIT, people died a bit. They should do. And if they're just scenery parts, nobody will care. It’s having cast built up over time and then offing them, in a meaningful way, that tells a pro from a shmoe.
Osgood reminded me of one of the few nice things I recall from RTD’s first run, when the “almost companion” gets to look good, receives Doctor approval, and then screams soundlessly as Daleks blast her to bits. Want to show how the new threat, the Mistress, is all that? Have her kill the puppy. She is, she does. As a holdover from the Smith days, this was smart and necessary. Else no one will believe it can be done or will be done. Old cast should be fair game if there’s good story reason for it. It helps the viewer to think that maybe things aren’t as safe as they used to be - and indeed, it sure looks like they aren’t. Alas poor Osgood, but your death was a cracker!
And props to Moffat for tweaking the nose of a certain kind of viewer by having only the cosplayer fangirl cotton on that Missy was previously the Master!
Danny’s initial death provides counterpoint, and he dies three more times. Once, it’s a tragic mundanity. Next, it’s a barbarous assault as he’s recycled into a Cyberman. Then, a hero’s death - providing that strong male supporting cast aren’t antithetical to the show. (Indeed, Capaldi forever calling him “PE” brought to mind Ian, a dashing teacher who was well received by the ladies, able to handle a bit of rough stuff and far from dazzled by the Doctor!) And finally, a truly noble sacrifice, that showed how similar he was to the lead - he balanced the scales by letting the boy whose life he took as a soldier be returned to the living, with the legacy granted to Clara to find the lad his parents.
If Clara does wind up ultimately sacrificing her prospects of traveling with and helping the Doctor to care for the child, it strikes me as a pretty solid exit for her. Being a parent, doing it properly, matters. And Clara is as far from a 50s domesticity stereotype as you can get. But no doubt there’ll be those who were het up about Murphy Brown as a single parent once again hitting the war path…
We also saw a glimmer of a hint that Moffat has an idea about what to do if the show must some day be rested for a time. The Doctor’s brave speech to Clara, about his turning his attention to his lost and surely missed Gallifrey, seems a natural evolution of the character. What’s the point of saving everyone else’s home, if you can’t go to your own once in a while? What’s the point of encouraging others to help themselves, if you refuse to include your own people?
If the day comes, and may it be long off, that the TARDIS has to fade from the screen for a time, a phase-in like this seems to me mature, respectful, fresh. I don’t want Gallifrey handed to us on a plate, and I’m glad it didn’t happen this week. Maybe it’ll be the culmination of Capaldi’s run, a bit like what Barry did with Pertwee and his what can you call it, spiritual growth? I’d be happy with that, with little asides or nods here and there that don’t distract us from moving out there, to new and strange vistas to be explored and threats to be faced and overcome. Maybe that Gallifreyan hard drive (obviously no mention was made of The Matrix as way too many associate the word with the Watchowski films rather than Bob Holmes, and it’ serve as a distraction in a very busy two parter) will be hooked up in a quiet scene sometime, so the Doctor can sit by himself and soak in a sort of home movie of the old planet, to remind him of what he’s looking for and why.
On the way, I just hope he gets a rotating mix of companions as wide ranging and surprising as his travels in time and space. That’s for next year. For now, I’ll be happy with a fun base under siege tale in Santa’s Toyshop, come December 25. Smith’s first special seemed to me the best of the batch but after this week’s ep, I’m hopeful his replacement will get something as good or better to tide us over until Series 9!
The Cyber-Brig being silent was exactly right. Use a snip of Nick’s lines from the show, and you overegg it. The man and his era has been given respect, far and above what I expected. I’m glad he landing the “killing” blow on the Mistress, no one deserved to more. And like Danny he left as we always remember him and how he always should have been portrayed, as a dependable man of action for any crisis situation. It would be hard after watching this to think that the show has a biased mad-on for soldiers but no doubt some do. Series 8 has given us point and counterpoint on the subject, whilst still showing us in Capaldi a Doctor who knows his own mind and the words to speak it. If the show retains this degree of serious words and genuine jeopardy, balanced with a playful irreverence and a thoughtful exploration of adventure, the good times will be here to stay.
One point on “originality”. It’s bunk and overrated. Did Bob Holmes invent the Gothic horror genre? Nope. Great artists steal. But if that was all they did, nobody would care or notice. Details matter, both big and small. This two parter has shown a deep understanding of the legacy of Doctor Who. Yet it hasn’t written it off as stale and irrelevant. Rather, it’s used the strengths of the past to reinvigorate and reconnect to the essence of the series. There’s been many visual nods through Series 8, just as there’s been tweaks of existing models. Doctor Who can be genuinely unsettling again. Music mix is less intrusive. Doctor Who can let you figure out how you feel. Characters we think we know can make you a little unsure again. Doctor Who can make you doubt - be it companion or lead.
Yep, Cybermen rose from the grave. Just like in many good horror movies. Just like in many bad horror movies, too! To me, the cemetery scenes and etc brought to mind Plan 9 From Inner Time. But there’s far earlier stories which feature revivals of apparent and actual corpses as key plot points. Did those who inscribed the epic of Gilgamesh on clay tablets know that one day a mad man with a box and a screwdriver would tap into the human love for stories that resonate with the unbeatable mix of the fantastic and the everyday? Did the vacuum fluctuations in the quantum foam have any inkling of the initial boundary conditions that gave rise to our Doctor Who filled universe? Did... You take my meaning, hopefully?
We’ve seen the TARDIS a long time. The Doctor, the Daleks, Cybermen, Master, all that. What matters is whether the stories are any good. How these iconic elements are pressed into service, either with style and fresh insight, reverently and with useful purpose, or extruded like so much paste from a pudding pop.
Yes, there are clunkers in every batch. Some batches are more botches. But when Doctor Who plays to its strengths, when it has the talent and the support, at the Beeb and on our side of the telly, it can make a kind of entertainment I’ll watch over much anything else. What I saw by the end of Series 8 was a show that was now about to enter a newly invigorated era, more like it once was yet charged with a dynamism it cannot - and should not - eschew. That a grey-haired cranky genius, full of confidence and ambiguity in equal measure, is one-switching the TARDIS on this new track is to me a good time to welcome aboard new fans and encourage the old ones to reappraise what’s on offer with fresh eyes.
I went into Series 8 unsure, but came out thrilled to bits. I hope others feel the same!
I think the xmas one looks cool......
