Doctor Who: Flatline

The central premise of 'Flatline' is fascinating, between the Foretold and 'The Boneless' writer Jamie Matheson is the guy to call when it comes to inventive monster ideas. Apparently Matheson offered up four different story idea's with drawings of four different monsters. Moffat picked the 'Flatline' one and was so happy with Mathesons script he asked him to do another episode: 'Mummy On The Orient Express'. After this episode I really want to see his other ideas on screen! 

This week Clara has to tackle beings that exist in another dimension, ones that only perceive the world in 2D. Outside of the Futurama episode '2-D Blacktop' I don't think this idea has been explored before, so to extrapolate it into terrifying beings who suck us into the walls is a great premise. The Boneless start taking physical form by leeching off of the TARDIS's external dimensions, shrinking it's exterior to a size very similar to that of the toys you can currently find in Toy's R Us (this is an ingenious way to promote the merchandise, intentional or not). It also enables the director/writer to go crazy with the sight gags, hence Clara putting the mini-TARDIS in her handbag or the Doctor using his hands Thing style to get the TARDIS away from danger. These moments are either ludicrously silly or clever depending on your resistance to slightly out there sci-fi idea's but if you can buy the 'bigger on the inside than the outside' bit then why not extend your imagination a little further?

With the Doctor trapped inside the TARDIS Clara is on her own, but thanks to a handy neuro-uplink the Doctor can see what Clara sees, and for once take on the role of observer. This handy metaphor is a great role-reversal as it reveals just how much Clara and the Doctor are alike. I continue to be amazed at Clara's character growth this season, Clara's trajectory is the main drive of the show now. As for Jenna Coleman's and Capaldi's performances, they're predictably amazing and the highlight of every episode. Everyone moaning about this series being 'Clara-Who' are right, she literally becomes the Doctor in this episode. All the hallmarks are there: lying, excessive use of the sonic, the 'I'm the only one who can save you' speeches, turning people into soldiers, she even has her own companion in Rigsby, the only decent supporting character. She's good at it, but to quote the Doctor 'goodness' has nothing to do with it: she's very good at lying to people and being manipulative, particularly in the scene where Rigsby wants to sacrifice himself to become the hero. These past couple of episodes are really taken with the morality of behind the Doctor, past seasons have shown that the Doctor takes ordinary people and makes them better. Yes this has the unfortunate side effect of turning them into warriors willing to put themselves into harms way (Rigsby) but they're still better for it, a symbol for humanity. Clara, (while no where near to anything resembling a bad person) is the antithesis of this, her experience with this Doctor is making her worse, even if it is necessary in order to survive. The Doctor picks up on this, he doesn't seem proud by her actions at the end of 'Flatline' at all. She's no longer his 'carer', acting as his conscience, she now actively gets his way of thinking (thanks to the beach scene at the end of 'Mummy') and starts developing similar traits. All of this is a whirlwind away from the Clara at the end of 'Kill The Moon', angry at the Doctor for leaving her to make the tough decisions. Now she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie, addicted to making these kinds of choices. I wonder if this is how she leaves? Perhaps she becomes so much like him he can't stand the sight of her and leaves her behind? Maybe this was just an interesting detour for this episode, but with only three episodes left her excessive lying to Danny and the Doctor is going to come to a head soon. Also, what's up with Missy and her ipad? She chose Clara? In what way?

Only on Doctor Who!

Visually this episode is a bit bland (not counting the SFX). The story takes place on a council estate in Bristol, so there's no flashy recreations of the Orient Express or moon walking here. The dreary choice of environment is unfortunate because every episode of Series 8 so far has had a distinct location that sticks out whether it be Victorian London, the Bank of Karabraxos, Sherwood forest or the overgrown London we're going to see next week. Most of 'Flatline' is set inside a subway tunnel (creepy but generic) so the only thing that returning director Douglas Mackinnon can do is latch onto the idea idea behind the monsters i.e they can come from anywhere. He succeeds in making them visually interesting and scary, although you might want to credit the CGI team for that. They excelled at making a potentially laughable idea creepy, apart from their '3D' form. How to describe them? They look like a video game glitch that's been crossed with a zombie covered in clear gello, it's difficult to discern but the crappy CGI might just have made them look more unsettling, they definitely have a unique look at any rate. It's hard to feel anything towards them though when the characters they're chasing after for most of the episode are bland redshirts that exist solely to be picked off.

The worst thing about 'Flatline' is it's supporting cast, which is surprising because Matheson's last episode had a pretty decent line-up of supporting characters that were fleshed out quickly with a few lines. Here it's perhaps to much to even call them characters, half of them barely get a line in. Christopher Fairbank's Fenton is a grade A arsehole. I know it's intentional but he doesn't evolve at all, he's quite simply a dick to ram home the fact that better people are dying while he's still walking, a message that NuWho has treaded on before (almost line for line) in 'The Voyage Of The Damned'. The other three community service workers have about five lines between them before they're gruesomely dispatched by being 'flattened'. Anyone else? Well the police woman was OK, and the train diver guy seemed....nice? They're given no real personality at all, Rigsby is only one who seemed half decent. Jiovian Wade does a really good job breathing life into a character who's only defining trait is 'graffiti artist'. Everyone else was pure cannon fodder. Considering this episode ran three minutes shorter than normal they had the time to put a bit more into the supporting characters, maybe a conversation or something? But no, they're too busy being chased to be given any backstory. This is probably why I felt uninvolved on my first viewing, if I don't feel anything for the characters being chased then why should I be scared?

Who are those two other guys again?

Another thing that bugged me was the Doctor's speech before wiping out The Boneless. It feels out of place with Capaldi's character, 12 doesn't seem one to boast and it's odd that he would blurt it out now, nine episodes into the series. Add to that the fact that we've seen this speech a dozen times by now (and better), I think we should call these 'I AM THE DOCTOR!' speeches a day for a while. It was also poorly written: 'I AM THE DOCTOR AND I FIGHT MONSTERS SO.....I WILL FIGHT YOU!' Really? The speech and the fact that he basically sonic-ed them away took the wind from the episodes sails a bit. 

'Flatline' leaves me in an unusual situation because I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. On the one hand we have another great monster idea coupled with further development for Clara and the Doctor's ever evolving relationship, but then it gets mired down by a weak supporting cast and the fact that it is essentially one long chase scene. I recognise there's some good stuff here but I felt slightly uninvolved while watching it. Maybe after a few re-watches my opinion of it may change, but it's certainly not the best of the Series like some are saying. Having said that, Jamie Matheson should still be brought back for Series 9, he seems like he gets the monster-side of Who at any rate. 

Positives:

+ Excellent monster idea
+ Clara-Who
+ Mini-TARDIS!
+ Addams family gag!
+ Rigsby was OK

Negatives:

- Supporting cast was barely there
- Fenton was a caricature
- One-note episode
- Painful 'I AM THE DOCTOR' speech we've heard a million times
- Did the 3D Boneless look silly or scary?

Overall Score: 7/10

Doctor Who: Mummy On The Orient Express

With a title like this do I really need to explain the plot? There's a mummy lurking about on a gorgeous recreation of the Orient Express, and it's picking people off one by one. The Doctor has to find a way to stop it before they all fall victim to the Foretold...

'Mummy On The Orient Express' is one of those episodes where everything just works. On the surface this episode looks like a light romp, which it still is, but it also deals with a lot of the leftover baggage from 'Kill The Moon' and turns an inventive premise into something rather special that feels fresh. The acting, direction, plot, set-design...everything is well executed and adds up to a satisfying whole. Jamie Matheson's script is no sloucher either, he manages to feature a lot of supporting characters that are given a surprising amount of characterisation in little screen time AND build upon the Doctor/Clara dynamic in the wake of last week (he's another 'fresh blood' writer that's been brought onto Doctor Who this season to shake things up and is penning next weeks episode 'Flatline' as well). I was surprised at how adept the guest cast was, they all deliver straight performances that imbue their character's with believability. David Bambers' Captain Quell comes off as your stereotypical 'NOTHING TO SEE HERE!' type of guy but backs down after the third death: 'Three, the amount of people that have to die before I stop looking the other way'. It's a small thing but it stops the character from being a caricature. Another neat moment was Professor Moorhouse's death, him breaking down after he realises the Doctor isn't going to save him was juicy as hell. Then we have Mrs. Pitt, an innocent that the episode uses to turn Clara against the Doctor again before he saves the day. And Perkins was a fun character that was again played surprisingly straight by comedian Frank Skinner. Skinner is a die hard Who fan so to finally see him feature in an episode of the show is a delight. I hope we see Perkins again someday because there was definitely something going on with the intelligent engineer in a boiler suit. I mean where does he come from? Who is he exactly? How come he knows so much about 'phasing' and doesn't seem to be fazed too much by the TARDIS? Interesting...    

The main 'gimmick' here is that only the victim can see the Foretold and they only have 66 seconds left to live, played out in real time thanks to a handy timer on the corner of the screen that's ticking down til' their untimely demise. It's a genius twist on a classic movie monster and the Mummy itself is superbly realised, heaven knows how long it took for actor Jamie Bell to get done up in those bandages. Every encounter with him is a thrilling ride that captures a morbid fascination as the various victims succumb to their death. The episode isn't content to stop there however, something nefarious is going on, a neat little mystery other than the identity and motive of the Mummy itself which literally turns the rest of the story into set-dressing. There's no resolution to it, things have clearly been left dangling for another time, I wonder if this *GUS* will pop up again sometime soon?  

That's one creepy looking mummy alright.

Threatened with death unless he figures out the Mummy's secret places this Doctor in another situation that makes good use of his ability to completely detach himself from the situation emotionally. His seemingly callousness nature is justified for once though, which makes him even more compelling. He's a dick, but only so he can save you. That line at the end about how he might've just saved Clara and everyone else perished is wonderfully ambiguous, you genuinely get the sense that with Capaldi's Doctor anything can go. His unpredictable nature has been a big draw of this series so far. What's he going to do next?

My only disappointment with this episode is what's NOT in it: we skip ahead a few weeks from 'Kill The Moon' where Clara has softened up a little and is once again travelling with the Doctor. Interestingly ALL of the marketing materials for this episode have kept Clara's involvement in 'Mummy' a secret, giving off a false pretence that this was a companion-free episode. Notice her absence on the poster up above? That's just the BBC screwing with you! It's jarring to see her show up on relatively chummy terms with the Doctor again so soon after last week, it's seems that Danny's line about never being finished with someone whilst you're still mad at them is the only breadcrumb we're going to get about her total 180. This isn't to say the events of last week are ignored, Clara spends the entire episode pondering over whether or not she should leave the Doctor for good, the Mummy adventure supposedly being their 'last hurrah' together. 

New Who sure likes it's beach scenes...

Fans of the show are complaining that the show has recently become 'Clara-Who', putting Clara at the forefront of every adventure and leaving the Doctor on the side-lines. While I agree, the show is infinitely better for it. Jenna Coleman continues to be a revelation, every scene she has alone with the Doctor is complete dynamite thanks to an emphasis on a more 'talky' Who. Seriously, I got chills during that beach scene. Her decision to stay with the Doctor at the end (and blatantly lying to him) adds another interesting spin to their dynamic, that will probably have consequences with her relationship with Danny. The finale is just around the corner and Danny's words at the end of the Caretaker: 'Lie to me about your safety again and we're finished', has to lead to something because Clara has done exactly that. They might as well put up a sign saying *FORESHADOWING*. 'Is it like an addiction for you?' Clara asks. 'Well you can't really tell if something's an addiction until you try and give it up. Tell me how it goes'. Telling words indeed. 

Positives:

+ Thrilling Mummy encounters
+ Intriguing mysteries
+ A surprisingly good guest cast
+ Capaldi's Doctor is morally ambiguous 
+ Perkin's was a fun character
+ Great set-design

Negatives:

- Clara's departure at the end of 'Kill The Moon' is surprisingly muted
- A teasing loose end

Overall Score: 9,5/10

Doctor Who: Kill The Moon

The second half of Series 8 (Eps 7-10) is populated with a bunch a new writers/directors who are as of yet unproven when it comes to working for Doctor Who. It's an attempt from the show-runners to inject fresh blood into the show, giving new writers the reins to let themselves loose with the unlimited scope of the show. 'Kill The Moon' is the first of these episodes and newcomer Peter Harness has crafted a morally complex tale that will undoubtedly have major ramifications on the rest of the series.

The first half is chock full of atmosphere and verging more on the scary side of Doctor Who. The thing that becomes immediately apparent to the viewer right away is how good this episode looks. The moon actually looks like the moon! This is a result of some great location shooting in Lanzarote, it's volcanic wastelands seem perfectly suited for the moons surface and give the show that cinematic edge. Newcomer Who director Paul Wilmshurst has a great visual eye, he perfectly captures the eerie, cobweb infested moonbase as well. The moon spiders are quite terrifying for arachnophobes such as myself, largely due to some spectacular sound work of them scuttling in the shadows. Inspiration has definitely been taken from 'Alien', they even have a small second mouth! They're also unusually vicious for Doctor Who, the episode quite clearly shows a shot of a redshirt's spacesuit lashed open, ribcage bones exposed. Unfortunately the spider threat gets diminished somewhat by their embarrassing weakness: dettol bacteria removal. It's a fun joke but immediately diminishes their scare-factor for me. It's a shame but like most episodes of Moffat Who they're not the focus here.

Courtney was another addition to the episode, even if she didn't really contribute much outside comic relief, admittedly something this episode needed. She's a nice addition who doesn't come off as annoying (thank god) and I liked all of her scenes. 

It's almost impossible to talk about this episode without discussing the somewhat amazing second half, but the main jist of it is this: in the year 2069 the moon has suddenly got a LOT heavier causing widespread natural disasters and chaos on earth. Commander Lundvik (played by Hermione Norris) and her team of ageing astronauts are sent up with 100 nuclear bombs to basically blow up the moon, because science. The Doctor, Clara and Courtney (the 'disruptive influence' from last episode) stumble upon them just before they land on the moon. There they find a deserted moon base filled with corpses and creepy moon spiders crawling around. Yes you heard that right: giant spiders, on the moon. God help us all. However all of this is merely set-up for what's really going on, thus the spoiler filled second half. What starts out as a typical base under siege story quickly evolves into a complicated debate: would you end an innocent life for the sake of mankind or suffer the unknown consequences? Doctor Who is rarely morally complex, I don't think we've seen a thorough exploration of an ethical dilemma in a episode of Doctor Who for quite a while, or at least not one that's being mined to this degree. The Matt Smith story 'Cold War' had a similar debate about the survival of the Silurians. One of my favourite Who episode ever, 'The Waters Of Mars' has David Tennants Doctor confronting an equally impossible situation and suffers the consequences of his actions as a result. 'Kill The Moon' is just as complex as any of these stories and comes off as the antithesis of 'The Waters Of Mars'. I can't discuss further without serious spoilers, so make sure you watch the episode before scrolling down...

Moon walking.

Based on the first 20 minutes alone I would've called 'Kill The Moon' a horror-tastic base under siege story but the episode takes a stark turn when it reveals what is causing the moon to become unnaturally heavy lately: 'The moon...is an egg!' explains the Doctor. 'And it's hatching...' Science be damned, eh? So they have two options: blow up the moon, destroying the alien baby inside or let it hatch and see what happens. Both options are potentially catastrophic for the human race, so what to do? Clara turns to the Doctor for help but he's having none of it. 'This is humanity's decision' he claims, and then buggers off in the TARDIS, leaving Clara, Courtney and Lundvik stranded on the moon with an impossible choice to make. This is a brilliant twist, in 'The Waters Of Mars' the Doctor tries to leave the members of Bowie Base alone but eventually recedes, changing history in the process. Here the Doctor DOES leave the humans to their own devices, in both cases you can argue he goes to far. Interestingly now the Doctor is out of the picture you have no idea what's going to happen, either choice could change the future of humankind forever. Hermione Norris is pretty compelling here, Lundvik has some really great points to counteract Clara's arguments.

So what does Clara do? She tries to do it democratically, sending a message to earth asking them to vote via lights on/off whether they want to destroy the creature or let it live. This is a pretty dumb idea, what about the side of the earth that's in the daytime? And everyone on the dark side should be asleep by now so how could they 'vote' if all this is happening while they're in bed? Also the entire planet earth managed to coordinate together in under half an hour? BULLSH*T! *SIGH* let's just let that go, okay?

The result is unanimous, mankind wants to blow the motherf*cker up (or at least the people controlling the electricity grids). But Clara overrules humanity's decision and presses the abort button at the last possible second, so....f*ck democracy? The Doctor shows up again and takes them back to earth to see the outcome. Clara made the might choice, the creature bursts out of its eggshell (handily disintegrating so no moon chunks come flying at earth) and flies away unscathed. In fact everybody wins, the baby somehow laid another egg that looked exactly like the moon it had just burst out of. HOW MIRACULOUS. Look, again that's kinda bullsh*t. Aside from the fact that your enjoyment of this episode largely rests on your suspension of disbelief there's no consequences here. Saving the baby is indisputably the right choice. The baby dragon pulls another moon out of it's ass, everyone is saved horaay! This is even good for the future of mankind, according to the Doctor:

'The mid 21st century. Humankind starts creeping off into the stars. It spreads its way through the galaxy to the very edges of the universe and it endures to the end of time. And it does all that because one day in the year 2049, when it had stopped thinking about going to the stars, something occurred that made it look up, not down. It looked out there into the blackness and it saw something beautiful, something wonderful that, for once, it didn’t want to destroy. And in that one moment the whole course of history was changed.'

Spot the odd one out.

It's too tightly wrapped up, to neat. And the science holding this thing together is wafer thin at best. In 'The Waters Of Mars' the Doctor suffered for his actions, his arrogance directly causing Adelaide Brooks to commit suicide. That had real emotional weight, and could hardly be considered a happy ending. That episode had balls. The consequences here is Clara abandoning the Doctor but that would have happened regardless of her decision. Anyway point being: Clara made the right choice while the rest of humanity chose poorly. This is all down to the Doctor's influence (if he's to be believed) but he has gone too far to prove his point. So Clara flips out at him: 'It was cheap, pretentious and bloody ignorant' she sobs, threatening to slap him so hard he'll regenerate. This entire scene was amazing, echoing Martha standing up to Doc No 10 in Series 3 only on a much larger scale. Clara is outright furious with him, and the Doctor doesn't seem to register why. You can see where he's coming from but he knew the 'correct' choice and knew that she would choose correctly, he just didn't tell her that. So Clara is 100% justified in telling him to f*ck off and leaving, a first for a Who companion. She'll obviously be coming back at some point but if the trailer for 'Mummy On The Orient Express' is any indication it won't be any time soon. 

Look, this episode has holes. The science is wonky at points, the outcome is wrapped up too nicely and the Earth voting via lights was a dumb idea even if it resulted in another cool slo-mo-let's-run-down-the-corridor explosion scene. But the social debate, acting, direction and Clara confronting the Doctor are elements to good to ignore, it looks and feels like hard sci-fi even if it creaks around the borders, and it's something that TV needs more of. So for that alone I commend Peter Harness, it's a ballsy début and his eagerness to push the boundaries of the show has me eager to see him again next season. 

Positives:

+ Intriguing moral dilemma
+ Excellent location work
+ Creepy spiders
+ Courtney was fun
+ Unpredictable
+ Clara's outburst
+ The Doctor's dickery
+ Cold Lundvik
+ Like 'Listen' it's trying to do something different, pushes the boundaries of the show

Negatives:

- The moon dragon laid another egg, REALLY?
- The whole 'turn your lights off/on' made no logistical sense
- Painfully bad 'science'

Overall Score: 8,5/10

Doctor Who: The Caretaker

Gareth Robert's previous Who stories 'The Lodger' and 'Closing Time' don't really have a plot. His episodes are perfectly content to plop the Doctor into everyday human life and watch the sparks fly with a poorly developed monster sneaking around on the outskirts. 'The Caretaker' is no different, this time around he's undercover in Coal Hill school, the same school from Doctor Who's very first episode way back in 1963. Why? He's looking for the Skovox Blitzer, a supposedly deadly killing machine that's attracted to the numerous deposits of artron energy scattered around the area. Hijinks ensue but the main crux of the episode is Clara dealing with two parts of her life that have collided with one another, aka Danny and the Doctor. 

I'm going to start off with listing my the only negative of this episode: the Skovox Blitzler. The bad guys are always the weakest link in any Gareth Roberts story, they barely register as a threat. The Blitzer isn't a sin to humanity unlike the way he treated the Cyberman in 'Closing Time' but the machine's design is incredibly weak and is dispatched with little to no effort from the Doctor, who's plan boils down to imitating the Blitzers superior so he can shut him down. And that cringe-inducing Olympic grade somersault from Danny? *SHUDDERS* He jumped higher than his body height! The Blitzer is barely a threat and despite dispersing flashy pyrotechnics he comes across as a giant remote controlled toy, another robot amongst a sea of robots in this series with barely any personality other than the standard 'SEEK. LOCATE. DESTROY!'. I recognise that the monster isn't the focal point of the story (it's simply an excuse for the Doctor to go undercover) but come on man, you can do better than this! You're clearly not interested in crafting a decent threat so why not have one at all? Isn't the Doctor checking up on Clara's everyday life reason enough? 

Thanfully the Skovox Blitzer is barely in the episode so it's horribleness is immediately side lined by everything else, particularly the excellent character work on display. It's impossible to deny how entertaining the rest of the episode is, Roberts has a fantastic grasp on the relationship between the trio of leads. I've been saying this for weeks now but the Capaldi/Coleman dynamic is getting better every episode. Capaldi continues to be an amazing screen-presence giving us what we've all wanted from his Doctor: Malcolm Tucker-lite, seething with grumpiness and general disdain for the people around him but somehow keeping intact the core values of his character. He does want to save the school from the Blitzer and clearly cares for Clara, 12 is a Doctor that pretends to hate everything but doesn't really. A perfect example of this is with a sup-plot involving disruptive influence number 1 in Coal Hill school: Courtney Woods. The Doctor pretends to brush off this smart alec but (surprisingly) ends up spilling the beans and takes her on a quick trip into space, despite never showing any affection towards her over than 'GET LOST!' I love this Doctor so much.

'GET OUT. Just....there's the door. Leave.'

Meanwhile this is Jenna Coleman's best episode yet, Clara once again proving to be the perfect foil to Capaldi's simmering grumpiness, bursting with enthusiasm and wit that used to be given to Matt Smith's Doctor. Together they're the perfect odd couple which is why the episode is so smart at pairing them off one another without a pesky plot to get in the way. That amazing restaurant scene in 'Deep Breath'? This episode fulfils the potential of that scene with the intro alone. They're so good together I'm hoping the rumours of Series 8 being Clara's last are fake, we've struck gold here.

And then we have Danny Pink, an ex-soldier who for the most part seems like a nice bloke. Unfortunately this new Doctor HATES soldiers with a passion so when the two of them meet sparks inevitably fly. 12 is incredibly nasty to Danny, refusing to believe a soldier could ever become a maths teacher and brandishing him as an idiot. Danny throws one back at him though, he's smart to compare the Doctor to a general barking out orders, essentially branding him as a hypocrite. Previous boyfriends (Mickey and Rory) started off as wimps who over time grew into bigger shoes, Danny comes pre-packed with baggage and his alpha male qualities makes him another great match for Capaldi's Doctor. I especially loved the scene where Clara tries to convince him that her and the Doctor are just putting on 'a play' and he completely sees through it. Mr. Pink is clearly no fool. Samuel Anderson is also given a lot more to work with this time around and delivers a solid performance. He's very good at portraying an average joe, a very naturalistic performance.

'The Caretakers' ace in the hole are the scenes with Danny and Clara discussing their relationship now that Clara's second life has unearthed itself. They're short but both scenes are extremely well written because in a short amount of time you buy their relationship: Danny is hurt about the lies Clara has told him and wants to know what Clara is really like around the Doctor because if you found out your girlfriend was going on space adventures with an older man inside a police box wouldn't you be concerned? He's also troubled by the danger the Doctor puts her in. If Clara lies again, their relationship is over. It might come off as controlling but Danny is concerned for her well-being like pretty much any person would be in that situation. 

Missterious goings on...

'The Caretaker' also advances the series arc, introducing a new gatekeeper to heaven called Seb played by Chis Addison. The arc is extremely confusing at this point, I mean what the F*CK is going on in this weird depiction of heaven and how can the Doctor possibly be aware of it? Right now my theory is that none of these people have actually died and were instead teleported away a split second before their death, thus making them think they did die or something convoluted like that. I don't think Doctor Who would go so far as to represent the true afterlife at any rate, this 'Nethersphere' has to fake somehow. Something is going on but no clues have been given, guess we'll just have to wait for the finale then...

'The Caretaker' is probably my second favourite of the season so far, it's hilariously constructed, brilliantly acted and all around a fun episode. It edges out on being a classic simply because once again we have a poorly conceived monster that adds nothing of value to the story but writer Gareth Roberts is clearly a master at these fish out of water stories.

Positives:

+ Fantastic comedy
+ Great dialogue
+ Back to Coal Hill school!
+ The Clara/Danny/Doctor relationship dynamics
+ Courtney Woods
+ The Doctor's fish out of water escapades
+ Danny's bullsh*t detector
+ Heavenly goings on

Negatives:

- The Skovox Blitzer
- The cring inducing somersault at the end

Overall Score: 9/10

Doctor Who: Time Heist

'Time Heist', the episode where the Doctor, Clara and two augmented humans rob the most secure bank in the galaxy without knowing why they're doing it or even what they're after. Doctor Who revels in being able to dramatically change tone and genre every week and 'Time Heist' takes the basic formula of a heist movie and twists it into a unique take on the genre that's miles away from the atmospheric thriller we got last week. Moffat said his goal for Series 7 was to make a blockbuster every week ('Take your best movie idea and give it to the Doctor to fill 40 minutes')  but I feel he's accomplished that a lot better with Series 8. The scripts haven't felt short-changed due to the running time and the ideas are much more fleshed out this time around. Speaking of Moffat, 'Time Heist' is the second episode of this season to be co-written by him, the first being 'Into The Dalek' which he co-wrote with Phil Ford. This time around he's splitting the writing duties with Stephen Thompson, who's Doctor Who past hasn't exactly had the best track record. 'Curse Of The Black Spot' and 'Journey To The Center Of The Tardis' were really mediocre stories, probably the worst out of their respective series. Not here though, the writers manage to pull off an entertaining script that zips along and manages to tie up every loose end satisfactorily by the time the credits roll. I'm not sure if the slight increase in quality is due to Moffat having a more active role in the script but this is nonetheless a solid episode.  

'Time Heist' gives the pre-credits zinger for last week's episode 'Listen' a run for it's money by segwaying from the TARDIS's ringing telephone to the Doctor and Clara stranded in a room holding memory worms with a briefcase on the table in the front of them. Two other people are also present, they're also holding memory worms and according to an audio file they've just consented to having their minds wiped. After some confusion the case in front of them clicks open revealing a tantalising gold light shimmering inside....cue the intro. If that doesn't immediately draw you in then what will? The silent star of the past two episodes has been director Douglas Mackinnon. Between 'Listen' and 'Time Heist' he's shown a wide variety of range that's made Doctor Who look really slick. The intro here for example and the slo-mo shots of the gang walking into the bank a few minutes later look really impressive and the Teller is a great, if misplaced practical effect. Contrast this with the slower, more moodier 'Listen' I think he's a real asset to the show and is definitely a director to watch considering what he's accomplished. I certainly hope they bring him back for Series 9!

Up until now the series has put a strong emphasis on Clara's POV but here the 12th Doctor is very much taking the reins. I'm fine with the companion taking a back seat for once and letting Capaldi do his stuff, because again he's having a ball with the role. We return to the less-caring side of his character seen in the first few episodes, his cold exterior once again unsheathing itself as he brushes a character's death to the side. What's interesting is that despite what the Doctor is saying Capaldi's performance is clearly stating the opposite, as *SPOILERS* death definitely had an impact on him. So maybe he's repressing his emotions now? This adds to my confusion about his character because in 'Into The Dalek' he is very clearly a grade A arsehole. I still can't get a latch onto who this Doctor is, which may be intentional or just the result of the writers not finding their feet with him yet. I'm hoping the Malcolm Tucker side of him keeps coming out though, his 'Shut up, shut, shut, shittity up!' is basically a PG-13 version of 'Fuckity bye!' from the Thick Of It and I am loving every second of this Doctor we see on screen.

Once you get past his mind rape abilities he ain't so bad, honest!

The supporting characters for this episode weren't bad either. Psi and Saibra were both decently sketched out characters considering the amount of screen time they had and were well acted by Jonathan Bailey and Pippa Bennet-Warner. Saibra is a carbon copy of Rogue from X-Men, wanting to get rid of her powers so she can 'touch' again. She's ok but Psi is probably the better of the two, his speech to Clara about 'seeing no-one' when his life flashes before his eyes was surprisingly powerful. I did grimace when he pulled out a USB key to display a hologram of the bank's interface though. Look, it's clearly a USB key guys, couldn't you have covered it up with something? It's a tiny thing but it took me out of the fiction for a second. 

My problems with this episode stem from the two 'antagonists': Ms Delphox is moderately entertaining as a villain but her character is just another amalgamation of all the previous female villains on the show: Miss Foster, Madame Kovarian, Ms Kinslet from last year, they're all pretty much playing the same confident business woman in a suit and it's starting to get repetitive. Why isn't there more variation with female villains on this show? Actress Keeley Hawes is great in the role but feels a little bit wasted because of her thin character. As for the 'monster' of this story, the Teller has a great look but ultimately comes off as a tad goofy. When I think of a monster that can turn my brain into soup a snail headed bull doesn't immediately come to mind. It's a nice design but he just wasn't very intimidating for me, and the effect of him actually caving someone's head in was a gruesome image but looked really fake. The radio waves emanating from his head everytime he uses his power also looked naff. Admittedly there was one really good jump-scare but that wasn't enough to convince me this being was going to hunt down and slurp everyone's brain out...but considering the ending to this episode that is probably for the best.

Also the most secure bank in the galaxy appears to be surprisingly pregnable despite what the episode tells us. How come they've got ridiculously large human size vents that you can use to get right to the main entrance of the vault? And what's with the endless line of corridors with different mood lighting? Why the endless (unguarded) corridors if the deposit boxes head directly down into the vault? In a universe with Time-travel and miniaturisation devices you'd think they would have put some sort of defence around the vault, right? The bank also seems vulnerable to attack, surely they would know in advance that a solar flare was coming to wipe them out? Most of these are nitpicks of course that never actually occurred to me while watching the episode but I would have at least liked an explanation about that solar flare that literally came out of nowhere! 

Where have I seen you before?

Nitpicks aside the best part of the episode is that ending, which pulls several twists out of it's sleeve. Two of them I saw coming a mile away, like the identity of the architect and the fates of Psi and Saibra, but the other two were smartly put together. There's also a massive clue in the title, once again showing what Doctor Who's unique brand of science fiction can bring to heist movies. Capaldi was fantastic during all of this, perhaps putting his best performance to date as the Doctor in his confrontation with the Teller. These handful of scenes elevated the episode a lot, a mystery is only as good as it's resolution and 'Time Heist' delivers.   

'Time Heist' is another great edition to Series 8, an enjoyable ride that never lets up thanks to a watertight script and great direction. I do have a few grumbles but nothing that majorly impacted my opinion of the episode. Five weeks in and 'Into The Dalek' aside we're still going strong. Bring on 'The Caretaker'!

Positives:

+ It's Doctor Who's take on a heist movie
+ Slick presentation, even pacing
+ Great pay-off 
+ Better than average supporting characters
+ The Teller was a great practical effect

Negatives:

- Ms Delphox was a paper thin villain
- The Teller wasn't as frightening as the episode wanted it to be 
- The bank itself could have been developed better
- A lot of repeating corridors 

Overall Score: 7,5/10

Doctor Who: Listen

SPOILERS ahead...

'Listen' is driven by two things: the Doctor's obsession with finding a monster that will literally take him to the end of the universe and back, and Clara's weird relationship with Danny Pink. It's also an episode about fear, the kind of fear that gave you nightmares as a kid. The nightmares about the monsters under your bed, the boogyman, that kind of stuff. It's a minimalist episode that is laser-focused on these three main characters and how (thanks to time travel) they impact each other's lives. If all of this is ringing a bell then you'd be right in saying that 'Listen' is basically a collection of Moffat's greatest hits:

- A monster that preys on a basic human fear? Check.
- Timey-wimey? Indeed.
- Lot's of moody/atmospheric settings? Lot's.
- Time travel severely impacting the lives of the protagonists? Ditto.
- An obsession with finding more about the Doctors past? Yep.
- Lot's of awkward relationship banter? Uh-huh
- Multiple versions of the same character? You guessed it.
- Any extended scenes involving children? YES.
- Twists? Revelations? They're all here.

Like it or hate 'Listen' is the ultimate Moffat episode, encapsulating in 45 minutes his take on Doctor Who. Even if he's been using the same recipe book for quite a while now he can bake a darn good cake and this episode was incredible in quite a few aspects. 

In every season of NuWho there's always a couple of episodes that stand out from the pack, ones that immediately make you want to jump out of your seat and clap. 'Listen' is one of these episodes. Like 'Blink' and 'Midnight' 'Listen' tries really hard to scare the crap out of you by exploiting your fear of the unknown, taking a common fear and questioning whether or not it has a tangible physical form. It's masterfully presented in the opening minutes as the Doctor speculates how one could discover a creature that's perfected the art of hiding. He correlates this idea with a recurring nightmare every human being has supposedly had about a monster under the bed. What if there was a monster underneath our bed, one that has perfected the art of hiding? The Doctor might just be going a bit mad after being alone for to long but then who wrote LISTEN on his chalk board? Did he just forget he wrote it or was it something else? It's pure psychological horror, freaking you out without an ounce of gore or violence. It's also an extremely juicy premise, and while playing with similar idea's (The Silence anyone?) it manages to reinvigorate itself by not actually showing the monster at all. That's right, this is one of the few Doctor Who episodes that has (supposedly) no monsters whatsoever in it. It's entirely up to you whether it's just a bunch of coincidences or there really is a monster under your bed! Do even need to explain why this is such a brilliant idea? 

Bad hair day?

Director Douglas Mackinnon recognises that a creak in the floorboards is far more terrifying than any slasher villain and he makes sure to milk every last drop he can out of the the Moffat cookbook. A lot of the work is done already with Capaldi's Scottish accent whispering creepy nursery rimes at the camera looking absolutely terrifying but Mackinnon still manages to bang all of the doors, rattle all of the pipes and crank the mood lighting up to 11. Add in Murray Golds soundtrack and you've got pure nightmare fuel on your hands. A silent figure under a red blanket is the first time I've been legitimately scared watching Doctor Who since 'Blink' (I was 11). Well done sir.

Not content with just being the 'scary' episode 'Listen' also provides an insight into both Danny and the Doctor's lives. There's a surprising amount of meat to chew at here, not least of all the Doctor's obsession with the supposed monsters under the bed. As I've said before Capaldi's performance is unnerving, we still don't know quite know which side of the bed his Doctor lies on. One minute he's giving these batsh*t crazy grins that would make Tom Baker blush and five minutes later he's dispensing jokes about finding Wally. When asked why he's going to such extreme lengths to find the truth, he simply states 'I have to know!' like he's got a mental disorder. And Matt Smith's Doctor would certainly not steal someone's cup of coffee, that's just plain cruel. His portrayal of an extremely flawed Doctor continues to be fascinating, where is this going? 

And then there's Danny, an ordinary bloke who's past and future is tied with Clara. Samuel Anderson is good at portraying an ordinary bloke but I'm still not sure where exactly we're heading with him. This episode strongly hints that both he and Clara will eventually hook up. In fact they pretty much confirm it, so...now what? If we know they're getting together and (eventually) having a kid then where do we go from here? Danny's past as a soldier must have something to do with something, right? There is an unsettling element of pre-determined destiny at play here as well. Thanks to a mishap with the TARDIS we end up visiting Danny as a child in the 1990's. It turn's out he's an orphan called Rupert (what, ANOTHER kid with no parents?) and Clara unintentionally inspires his later name and his career choice when Rupert names a toy soldier Dan. This is reinforced when, after the Doctor uses his telepathy to send Rupert to sleep, he reveals that he has wiped his memory of the events and left him only with a dream of being 'Dan the soldier man'. Clara also massively impacts the Doctors future later so no one seems to have any free will in this story, everything seems determined in advance thanks to time travel. That to me feels slightly disturbing and I'm wondering if this was intentional or not. Either way time travel can F*CK you up!

A lot of mood lighting going on here...

Despite Capaldi's manic eyes threatening to consume the audience this was Jenna Coleman's episode through and through. The Doctor's obsession fuels the scares and the plot forward but it's Clara who has to do the heavy lifting, and holy crap does she deliver. This is Coleman's best performance to date, once again demonstrating a variety of emotions that if nothing else just confirms how much growth the character's been given in the new era of the show, to the point where she's basically the main character now. Despite the age difference she challenges this Doctor a lot, becoming the voice of reason in an almost maternal way. In 'Listen' she's a parental figure for both the Doctor and Danny. The Doctor/companion dynamic this season is super interesting, and not just because of that twist...

Wow. Who could have seen that ending coming? While the specifics of how she got there are murky the reveal was fantastically handled and really put a cherry on top of this magnificent cake (yes, I'm continuing with the cake metaphors). It's also a really ballsy move, once again revealing an aspect to the Doctor's past that's barely been hinted at previously. When Moffat eventually leaves the show no one can say he hasn't left his mark, in the past year alone we've had a new regeneration cycle, an entire arc based around the title of the show, the major Time War conflict resolved AND a secret Doctor unearthed. Now add the Doctor as a child to this list! The reveal has gone down rather well with fans, it's the idea that Clara has single-handedly shaped the Doctor's life into what it is that ruffles up some feathers. In that one scene she instilled into the young Doctor his trait of being 'the soldier without a gun'. She's already fractured herself throughout his entire timeline and convinced him to think of another way to end the Time War, maybe this is a step too far? It definitely seems like too much power to bestow on any single companion, but for the purposes of this particular story it's too good of an idea not to include. Please though, we've seen enough of the Doctor's past for the time being, can we move on? We've discovered more about the Doctor these past few years than the other 48 years combined!

'Listen' is also ballsy enough for implying what drives the Doctor: his fear of the dark. Clara's speech about fear being a superpower was wonderful (although didn't she get that from the Doctor? PARADOX), I loved the way it dovetailed back into the 50th Anniversary with the barn. Why would the young Doctor go and hide there anyway? It looked like it was in the middle of nowhere! And that final shot of the toy soldier? Chills man, pure chills. It's hard to see how Moffat can top this. 

No matter how you look at it 'Listen' is an ambitious piece of work. It has an amazingly ballsy script, sleek direction that makes Doctor Who legitimately scary and an ending no one is going to forget anytime soon. For a standalone episode it's impact on the show as the whole will be felt for a long time to come. Bravo Moffat you smart ass: 9,5/10.

Positives:

+ It's scary as hell
+ Ending twist that reveals a lot about the Doctor's past
+ Brilliant performances from Capaldi and Coleman
+ Fantastic direction from Douglas Mackinnon 
+ Ballsy script from Steven Moffat
+ More insight into Danny's life
+ Ambiguous monster  

Negatives:

+ Clara is perhaps a little to proactive when it comes to shaping the Doctor's past
+ The story is a little fragmented

Overall Score: 9,5/10

Doctor Who: Robot Of Sherwood

Now this is more like it!

'Robot Of Sherwood' is the token historical figure episode of Doctor Who. We've had Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Vincent Van Gogh and now...Robin Hood?! Really? Well I guess he does technically count as a historical figure...

'Sherwood' your quintessential Robin Hood tale shrunken down to fit 45 minutes with the Doctor and Clara stumbling into the middle of it. Yes it looks too sunny, yes Robin Hood is an extreme caricature and yes everyone looks clean, but all of this is immediately poked fun at by the Doctor who spends the entire episode refusing to believe that the man in the green tights is real. He's right, there is of course a clever sci-fi twist (can we go ONE episode without aliens?) that's literally in the title of the episode. I think it's safe to say hilarious hijinks ensue, and several of the Robin Hood 'iconic moments' are evoqued. You've got it all really: a climactic hero/villain sword fight, an archery tournament, the band of merry men, the Sheriff plundering the land for it's wealth to fuel his evil schemes...a lot of it is covered here. Nothing is done is an original way (a lot of this stuff has been adapted loads of times over the years) but if you're curious about what a goofy Robin Hood themed episode of Doctor Who would be like then 'Robot Of Sherwood' is right up your alley. 

It's comes as no surprise to see that Mark Gatiss is on scripting duties here, writer of 'A Crimson Horror' from Series 7. His latest episodes revel in the slightly sillier aspects of the show, esquing the seriousness for some frothy campy fun. The tonal shift is welcome after a couple of rather bleak episodes and allows Capaldi to stretch his comedy muscles, which are sublime. 

The Doctor subtlety giving Robin Hood the finger. I love Doctor Who

They should just rename this episode to 'The Capaldi Show' because he stole every single scene he was in. Whether it was the spoon fight, the arrow contest: 'This is getting silly...' or the best buddy cop duo since Bad Boys 2 (omg the banter between the Doctor and Robin was hilarious) he excelled at being the grumpiest git around. I mean just look his facial expressions, the guy's a comedic genius. It's taken us a couple of episodes but we're finally seeing the lighter side to this incarnation. Jenna Coleman continues to be great as well, her ability to inject every scene with boundless enthusiasm is infectious and she continues to run circles around the men: Clara's shtick of getting the bad guys to reveal their evil plans seems to be her insta-win card. I mean out of the three episodes so far she's managed to outsmart the villain twice AND put the Doctor in his place on several occasions (definitely the signs of a closet control freak...). She's quickly becoming an extremely likeable and head-strong companion without resorting to the damsel in distress stereotype that even the best companions fall stray to occasionally. In short: I like her a lot better now.

Guest starring this week are Tom Riley and Ben Miller, both of them great in their roles. Riley's take on Robin is more spiritually linked to the men in tights version then the more recent Russell Crowe adaptation, with a few echoes of the Disney version sprinkled in at the arrow contest (notice the floppy hat). He's very much an idealised and larger than life depiction of the character just like Gatiss's depiction of Winston Churchill in 'Victory Of The Daleks'. Riley puts in a solid effort, and looks the part. This Robin isn't quite three dimensional though, it's a shame his character is only really explored in the scenes where he interacted with Clara. Ben Miller's Sheriff was another pleasant surprise. Right down to the facial hair he's a dead ringer for Anthony Ainleys Master and seems to be parodying him at points: 'First Darby, then....Lincoln. And then....THE WORLD!!' He's an entertaining villain that's threatening enough to at least be taken partially seriously. It's a shame they cut the *beheading scene though, I hope it will be on the DVD as it added quite a lot to his character and actually explained the title. Both of these actor's ham it up but don't quite take it to the point of ridiculousness, the script is adept enough to put a fine line just before we reach the point of absurdity.  

Filming pic: now all we need is a moustache twirl...

While the more serious Who fan in me was hoping for a more realistic approach to the legend (the tear-heavy Vincent Van Gogh episode comes to mind) this episode was so much fun and the performances where so charismatic you kinda get over it after a while. The episode is smart to provide both viewpoints through the main characters. You can side with the Doctor's viewpoint: that all of this whiffs of sterilised Disney bullsh*t, or embrace the larger than life goings on with Clara. Either way you're going to be laughing with or at Capaldi as he's essentially the straight man of the story. The plot goes halfway into explaining why everything is the way it is, suffice to say alien tampering has altered events a little. The robot beings in this story are note for note the same as the robots in 'Deep Breath': we're not told anything other than the fact that they're robots and they want to rebuild their crashed ship to escape to the promised land. It's LITERALLY the same plot, so it has to be intentional right? Where is all this stuff with heaven building to? People are apparently aware of it's existence but why do robots want to get there so much? This is utter speculation on my part but Cybermen have been confirmed to feature in the finale....cyborg/robot team-up anyone? Other than the copy/paste extra-terrestrial element, I found the resolution to be lacking. It's complete bullcrap and makes little to no sense at all but...*LOOKS AT WATCH* 'OH NOES! I'VE ONLY GOT TWO MINUTES OF EPISODE TIME LEFT! I'VE GOT TO WRAP THIS UP QUICKLY.....TIME TO DEPLOY NONSENSICAL SOLUTION THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE THE SONIC SCREWDRIVER!'

....yeah, I'm guessing that's exactly what happened. Props for making fun of the screwdriver though. 

While not exactly a classic, 'Robot Of Sherwood' is nonetheless a greatly entertaining bit of fluff to spend 45 minutes on. Quite like Gatiss's previous story 'The Crimson Horror' it's an expert blend of humour and wit wrapped up with a golden bow.

Positives:

+ 12th Doctor giving Robin Hood the finger
+ More of grumpy 12
+ More great Clara moments
+ Campy fun
+ Ben Miller hamming it up as the Sheriff!
+ Tom Riley hamming it up as Robin Hood!
+ It's really funny
+ The tournament scene

Negatives:

- The nonsensical resolution to the villain's plot
- Might have preferred a more serious take on the legend

Overall score: 9/10

*For those not in the know, Robin originally lopped the Sheriffs head off during the fight...revealing the Sheriff as a robot! His talking head (rolling onto the floor) claimed that his Robot pals had to rebuild him after their ship crash-landed on top of him, and after a brief altercation his head was then put back in it's rightful place and the fight continued as normal. It's only a minute or two and it's a shame that the recent news events prevent us from ever seeing this in the finished episode. Maybe for the Blu-Ray/DVD release?