The Haunting of Villa Diodati Review

The Haunting of Villa Diodati

When Lord Byron scares you

Story 294, Episodes 859, Series 12 Episode 8

Doctor: The Thirteenth Doctor

Companions: Ryan Sinclair, Yasmin Khan, Graham O’Brien

Once again historical figures from the 1800s are drawn into the middle of this season’s story arc in a stealth preview for the finale.

The Review

Shelley, Polidori, Byron, Claremont

It’s a flat team structure: until it isn’t. It’s an irresistible premise for the Doctor to visit Byron and Shelley on that famous night where Frankenstein was dreamed up. (In fact, Big Finish took it a step further and had Mary Shelley travel with the 8th Doctor, if any historical figure could, it’s her). The cast of characters is immediately interesting, all geniuses that see through the psychic paper. What’s not to love about young 19th century geniuses all in their late 20s, with entangling romantic lives and intrigue. Lord Byron was my favorite of the bunch, especially by how taken in he was with the Doctor. It was fun to see somebody go out and hit on the Whittaker Doctor. Mary Shelley was not given as much screen time as I might have expected, and was a little flightier than I thought she might be. I loved John Polidori, the sleepwalker with a temper who tries to challenge Ryan to a duel. The other piece of the puzzle is Claire Claremont, who is obsessed with Byron but sees through his bluster by the end of the story. I wish we got to spend even more time with everyone.

Scary stuff!

There are lots of weird things going on, ghosts, the hands from Byron’s skeleton are now up and about, and much concerning: people can’t seem to leave the house. The Doctor keeps trying to leave a room only to walk right back in it. Percy Shelley is missing, and he had seen a vision of some bright hallucination above the lake. It turns out to be the Lone Cyberman, and it is unlike any Cyberman we have ever seen. Rusted and beaten and falling apart we can see a human face underneath, and this Cyberman has emotions: anger (and a name, Ashad). The Cyberman-Frankenstein connection isn’t a hard one to tease out, but it is effective and brutal. Shelley absorbed some kind of Cyber-consciousness that Ashad is after, and the Doctor weighs allowing Shelley to die or maybe letting the Cybermen rule again. The Doctor says that sometimes she is indisputably the leader in a brutal assessment that was verging on Time Lord Victorious territory: except she knows this is far from a win.

Byron would

The energy of the episode is a blast from the start with the weirdness abounding from the whole house. We see ghosts of an old maid and a young girl, and at the end Graham realizes that the Cybermen had nothing to do with that. I honestly hope that is never brought back up again. I think that the illusions in the house were coming off of the Cyber-goo thing in Percy, trying to protect itself. You know, it was kind of weird that they decided to focus on Percy as the person whom Doctor says ‘words matter’ about. The only way to save him was to flash-forward to his untimely death. In fact, Claremont is the only person in this story who does not die tragically. Foregrounding the horror of the Cybermen with a story about Mary Shelley was intimately interesting, but it made me wish we got more time with just her. Alas. All in all this is a very good episode, and Jodie Whittaker finally felt like the honest to god Doctor with continuity from the previous era in her hatred of Cybermen. Next week seems like it’s all about the Cyber-Wars, something we’ve never really gotten to actually see, so get excited!

One more story to go perhaps in the Ryan/Yaz/Graham era. Let’s do it.

9.25/10 That Cyberman above the lake, freaky! My friend thought it would be Captain Jack, he and Byron would probably have made out on the spot.

Searching for Percy

 

Cyberwoman Review

Cyberwoman

MY EYES

Torchwood Season 1 Episode 4

One of the worst costumes in Doctor Who history spoils what is actually a pretty good premise.

The Review

Ianto really is put through the ringer

Clearly RTD and Chibnall were well aware of the short stick that Ianto has been drawing the first three episodes with us knowing almost nothing about him. The other four team members go to get drinks, but Ianto stays behind because it turns out his girlfriend was halfway into being Cyber-converted at Canary Wharf in Doomsday and he wants to cure her. The whole story is a tragedy, with Ianto desperately caring for his girlfriend Lisa but it becoming clear that Lisa just won’t be able to be saved. The ending packs a particular punch with Lisa putting her brain into a pizza delivery girl. Ianto really wants to kill Lisa then and there, but just can’t bring himself too. The other Torchwood team puts and end to the body horror, and that’s that. It has all the trappings of another good Torchwood tale, with some usual stuff like Owen getting to kiss Gwen and the team see Captain Jack survive horrific electric shocks. Good for Ianto getting screen time!

cursed_torchwood

However, we have to talk about the costume. It is terrible. You think it would be easy, put a woman into half a Cyberman suit. Instead, they went and made her sexy! It’s inexplicable. She’s got big metallic breasts, and as one shot shows us: heels. Why would a Cyberman have heels and breasts, and whatever the fuck else was going on with her costume. Instead of seeming like a dangerous threat, Lisa just seems incredible bizarre. The doctor Ianto brings in to help her gets hideously disfigured as Lisa tries to cyber-convert him. It’s just impossible to take Lisa seriously looking like a ridiculous over-sexualized thing that she is. Their initial plan to deal with her is to hurl their CGI pterodactyl at her that Torchwood has for some reason, and that’s not the best idea. Tosh also gets more to do this episode but still feels criminally undeveloped especially now that we know so much about Ianto. Hoping for a Tosh episode soon.

There is genuine emotional pathos in this episode, but it’s undermined by all the absurdity surrounding it.

7/10. Would be a lot higher without the epic costume misfire.

But seriously Ianto, why does she have Cyberheels?

 

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday Review

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday

Welcome to Torchwood

Story 177, Episodes 722-723, Series 2 Episodes 12-13

Doctor: The Tenth Doctor

Companions: Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, Donna Noble

The dramatic finale of Series 2 brings back the Cybermen and features the new series’ first true goodbye to a companion as the Doctor has to say goodbye to Rose.

The Review

Cybermen reaching this reality

At the beginning of Parts 1 and 2 of this story, Rose keeps telling the audience that she is going to die. She doesn’t, but suffers a fate almost as heartbreaking. For two months now, ghosts have been appearing at regular shifts across the globe, and as he researches it the Doctor flies straight to Torchwood, who we have been hearing about all season. We get the thrill of Jackie finally get upgraded to companion status as she and the Doctor get a tour of Torchwood from their charismatic and kind of nationalist leader Yvonne. The first half is all drama and suspense building, especially around a mysterious sphere. The Cybermen were advertised before this episode, and connecting them to the ghosts was not a stretch. It is still fun to see the Cybermen phasing in across the world, but the real shock is that the void ship sphere they followed to get this reality is filled with…Daleks. Bam. Daleks. Cybermen. Cliffhanger.

The Dalek Cult of Skaro takes on the Cybermen

It is fun to see the Dalek and Cybermen finally meeting after forty years of separately fighting the Doctor, and it is does definitively prove that in a 1v1 fight the Daleks would wipe the floor with the Cybermen. The Daleks have a mysterious Time Lord device called the Genesis Ark, and Mickey (who has returned from Pete’s World) accidentally activates. Turns out it’s a Time Lord prison ships filled with millions of Daleks that begun spreading out over the globe. The Doctor is putting 3D glasses on all episode, and we finally find out that they allow him to see ‘void stuff’. But Torchwood’s technology in reverse, and boom, there go the Daleks and the Cybermen to hell. I’ve heard this called a deus ex machina, but it’s not entirely out of nowhere: the Doctor keeps wearing the glasses for a mysterious reason and the similar time travel background radiation concept is used to open the Genesis Ark. It’s a fun Doctor Who solution, but it is really powerful not for the plot stakes but for the emotional stakes.

Rose wishing she can get back to the Doctor

Rose starts the episode saying that she is going to travel with the Doctor forever, but we all know that nothing will last forever. Early on, Jackie accuses her of changing unrecognizably during her time with the Doctor, something that we’ll see again with Clara later. Pete and Jackie have an emotional reunion together, with their respective Jackies and Petes already having died. Jackie is sent off to live with Pete in his world, but Rose determines that she would choose eternity with the Doctor over seeing Jackie and Mickey again. The Doctor doesn’t want to talk about that he is going to have to leave Rose behind, but he agrees to let her stay with him. When Rose is almost forced into the void, the Doctor screams in horror like we have never seen…but dear old Pete saves her. They’re separated, and the Doctor says one last goodbye to her at Bad Wolf Beach. It’s a crushing return to a reality for Rose. She chooses the Doctor, but is sent back to her family.

It’s got Cybermen, Daleks, Torchwood, Rose, and has everything you want and more. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty great.

8.5/10. The end of Rose…for now.

Oh who’s this now?

 

Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel Review

Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel

The Doctor and Rose meet the Cybermen

Story 172, Episodes 715-716, Series 2 Episodes 5-6

Doctor: The Tenth Doctor

Companions: Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler

Doctor Who returns to a parallel world for the first time since Inferno to re-introduce the Cybermen to a modern audience in a story I liked better than I remembered.

The Review

Hard to argue with the Cyber-Controller

David Tennant’s first two-parter, and it’s a big one: the re-introduction of the Cybermen. RTD decides to have it take place on a parallel world, for many reasons, but one is to show the Cybermen inflicting horrors on a different Earth and not have repercussions in the primary universe. They are here created by John Lumic, a dying insane businessman who owns basically the entire planet. Lumic is a rip-off of Davros, and not a particularly good one either. His conversion into the Cyber-Controller looks cool, but it is not shown how he is superior beyond his intellect. The design of the Cybermen is actually good, the chunky ear-pods everybody wears look awful but the design is very 2006 so it makes sense. The thought of people getting sliced up screaming and placed into Cybermen, shown just off-camera, is very scary and unnerving. The two rebels we meet are punk Jake, and the standout middle-aged tech guru ‘Mrs. Moore’ who is brutally killed off near the story’s conclusion.

“Trust me on this!”

A lot of the obvious narrative arc is about Rose, who immediately sees that in this world her father Pete’s ridiculous schemes paid off and he’s an insanely wealth businessman. Unfortunately this world’s Jackie is even more vain and spiteful with all of her acquired wealth, but it is still shocking to see her converted into a Cyberman. Pete seems like a dope but it turns out that he’s been the mole inside Lumic’s operation, helping to fund resistance groups. He even gets the final kill on Lumic, dropping him into his exploding factory. Rose desperately wishes to bring him along in the TARDIS, but Pete is understandably unnerved about Rose. Lesser writing would have had him ecstatic to have a daughter, but as Pete lived his whole life without one the idea of Rose freaks him out of his mind. In one of the funniest gags of the series, they do have a tiny yorkshire terrier named Rose, which the Doctor bursts into laughter at when he realizes.

Ricky antagonizes Mickey

In this two-parter we finally get the Mickey story that he deserves. Having considerably evolved from his pathetic characterization in Rose, we learn that Mickey’s parents abandoned him and he was raised by his grandmother until she died in an accident at home. The disrespect that the Doctor has consistently shown Mickey really starts to get more and more disgraceful, with him completely forgetting Mickey is even around for stretches of the episode. Mickey meets his counterpart, the supposedly tough man Ricky who turns out to be putting on a bit of an act. Even more crucially, he meets his blind grandmother, who is still alive. When Cybermen kill Ricky, Mickey decides that in this universe he can make a difference. His decision to let Rose go, knowing that she’s fallen in love with the Doctor over him, is incredibly mature. Mickey knows that she found her place with him, while he feels his is here, stopping the Cybermen. Bravo, Mickey.

The Cybermen are introduced, there’s action, humor, and emotional pathos as Mickey’s store seemingly reaches a satisfying conclusion.

9/10. I thought this story would be full of bluster from Lumic with Cybermen stomping around the place, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Noel Clarke, take a bow.

Alternate dimension? Hm

 

Revenge of the Cybermen Review

Revenge of the Cybermen

They’re back!

Story 79, Episodes 399-402, Season 12 Episodes 17-20

Doctor: The Fourth Doctor

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan

The Cybermen make their color debut in their singular story in the 1970s, and unfortunately it isn’t all that much to write home about.

The Review

Vogans in the flesh. Don’t worry they have different haircuts

The idea of returning to Space Station Nerva prior to the devastating solar flares of the Earth is intriguing, but that honestly has little to do with the story. The Cybermen are at it again, invading an Earth space station and preparing to conquer the galaxy and all that. It so turns out that the Cybermen are allergic to gold, and the roving planet Voga (currently in Jupiter’s orbit) is almost pure gold. Naturally, they want it destroyed. The most interesting character is the shady Kellman, who despite helping the Cybermen murder almost all of the base is a double agent for a group of Vogans who are tired of hiding underground after the Cybermen last attacked. Any time an alien race is portrayed as looking not exactly like humans I am here for it, and the Vogans do have an interesting look about them. The intercene squabbles between are intriguing at best, and reminiscent of The Sensorites at worst.

This isn’t the scene, but the Doctor yelling “HARRY SULLIVAN IS AN IMBECILE” is funny and pretty unrecoverable for Harry’s character

The Doctor, Harry, and Sarah Jane are all serviceable in this story, but it’s the worst of the season for all of them. Apparently this was a story not written with Tom Baker’s Doctor in mind and had to be adapted, so that’s a good explanation. For these four episodes being the Cybermen’s only appearance in an entire decade, you’d hope the story would be a little more memorable. The Cybermen are just right back at their same old tactics and tricks, with the Vogans providing enough spice. With how aces Genesis of the Daleks was, it is disappointing that Revenge of the Cybermen similarly fails to reinvent the Cybermen. Not that we need an origin story (which we won’t get on tv until World Enough and Time), but this story just isn’t terribly exciting. Doctor Who so far avoids complete disasters because of the successful formula, but I wasn’t thrilled by this one.

Season 12 ends on a dull note with a story that seems a clear cut below. The Cybermen deserved better than this.

7/10 Surely the Cybermen’s weakness to gold won’t get over-exploited later in the series!

Stealing glimpses at those silver bums

 

The Invasion Review

The Invasion

Story 46, Episodes 221-228, Season 6 Episodes 11-18

Doctor: The Second Doctor

Companions: Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot, The Brigadier

For the first time, modern England is invaded by an alien foe. In this eight-part epic, we get a lot of great UNIT action, but not enough Cybermen action.

The Review

Zoe and Isobel meet Vaughn. Zoe’s feather boa is pretty special, though she returns to the sparkly catsuit for some reason. 

Like the better classic series episodes, the wind-up toward the later episodes are still pretty good. Before the Cybermen, we have the villain in Tobias Vaughn, an ultra-powerful businessman in control of his own private security force. Not much more talk about large corporations is given here, but Vaughn himself is a fine imposing figure. The Doctor gets involved kind of by accident, the TARDIS goes invisible so he goes to find Travers. Travers’ house is now lived in by another professor who has been forced to work for Vaughn, and they meet his niece, Isobel there. Isobel is an aspiring photographer, she has some fun telling off the Brigadier for sexism later and is a good counterweight to all the serious military men. Eventually UNIT picks the Doctor and Jamie up, and helps them rescue Isobel and Zoe after Vaughn captures them.

Two episodes were animated, which was neat. I hope everything gets animated

The big returning player is of course, the Brigadier. The Brigadier is basically the consummate military good guy. He is always calm, fast-acting, but also always listens to the Doctor and does not shut him out. After so many stories where the Doctor has to convince people to do the right thing, having a full crew that believes him is a lot of fun. The Cybermen are more interesting than the Wheel in Space, and I really like their sleek new design. That famous cliffhanger with them walking out in front of the St. Paul Cathedral is great…but then we basically never see the Cybermen occupying London. The biggest issue with the Invasion is we barely see it. We get a lot of action fighting the Cybermen, and one shot of people reacting to their Cyber-signal but no people being menaced by Cybermen. The Cybermen deciding to bomb out the whole planet reveal comes too late, but we do get ‘the longest 12 minutes ever’ as the Russians manage to bomb it in time. The Invasion is an easy watch, but falls short of actually showing one.

With my foreknowledge of this as a template for the 70s era, my biggest wish is we actually see aliens invading in action.

8/10. The Invasion does a lot of things right, but stops short of providing genuine suspense and intrigue.

The Brigadier’s mustache is impeccable

 

The Wheel in Space Review

The Wheel in Space

Party!

Story 43, Episodes 204-210, Season 5 Episodes 32-37

Doctor: The Second Doctor

Companions: Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot

Base under siege stories continue to get less and less original as Season 5 sinks to a dismal conclusion.

The Review

“Oh Jamie, I’m just so bored of these bases being attacked!”

Well, we learned a good lesson: you can’t just add Cybermen to a story and hope it all works out. The biggest problem with The Wheel in Space is nothing really happens, and everything that does we’ve seen before. The biggest problem with bad classic Who episodes is that they’re aggressively bad, they just don’t justify the length. The first episode of the Doctor and Jamie aboard an abandoned rocket could’ve been two minutes. Most of the story is spent doing the old rigamarole of trying to prove that the enemy is real to the crew of wherever they are, find whatever it is they’re planning, and taking them out. For the fourth time in two seasons, it’s the Cybermen, and the show has little clue how to make them interesting. Now they mind-control humans, but we saw seaweed do that more effectively just last week.

The Cyberman costume design is great at least

The new companion, Zoe, seems to be quite young. Wendy Padbury was 21 at the time, but sure seems younger. Compared to Victoria’s relative lack of knowledge, the clear choice was a genius in Zoe (even if she’s lacking the practical knowledge that Jamie is here to provide). Once again, episode two is Troughton-less giving him a well deserved break, but it also means that the episode is quite dull. This is maybe the least interesting classic story I’ve watched, and it had Cybermen! At least Zoe has good bits using her excellent math skills to prove things about the Cybermen plan. She also laughs at Jamie’s kilt, which is quite good. Clearly the goal for next season is finding something else to do other than a base under siege, because it is just out of steam.

This is being animated, so when new animated versions come out I’ll do re-reviews. It will probably score a little higher.

6/10. It’s just boring.

“Take us to the distrusting male commander”

The Moonbase Review

The Moonbase

Gaze upon us!

Story 33, Episodes 148-151, Season 4 Episodes 24-27

Doctor: The Second Doctor

Companions: Polly Wright, Ben Jackson, Jamie McCrimmon

The Moonbase is a find second outing for the Cybermen, at its best when the mystery is at its highest.

The Review

Amazing retro-futurist spacesuits. The Doctor happened to have the 2070 models the base crew were using.

The tension in the story is the best part. Why are people falling prey to a disease? What is behind the mysterious pressure changes and fluctuations in the Earth’s weather? It’s a classic Who scenario, the Doctor and his companions show up right as it all goes to hell and start to be blamed. Of course, the Cybermen are behind it all. Modernized from earlier in the season, they have harsh robotic voices and certainly must’ve been a fright in the 60s. Their immediate screen presence shows how they endure. Set in 2070, the story has plenty of tension and different aspects to consider, such as Earth radioing down, and weather reports making sure we don’t miss a thing. The final solution to lower the Cybermen’s gravity is a smart one, cleverly foreshadowed by the TARDIS team jumping about at the start.

A look at the very awesome animation. Polly tells Ben he can suck it with this ‘men’s work’ nonsense.

The guest cast is well done, the head of the station, Hobson, is a good authority figure and his French number two Benoit is well done too. There is one non-white guy on the crew, but it’s diverse in terms of country of origin. The Doctor is up to his wry self before, and I continue to love Troughton. His monologue that there is evil out there that must be fought is pitch perfect, as well as is hysterics when he realizes the Cybermen are in plain sight. Jamie is sick a lot of the story, so his character is still developing. Ben gets a lot to do, but Polly is the companion star. She first sees the Cybermen, comes up with the way to liquify their organs, and even goes out and attacks after Ben tells her that’s ‘men’s work’. Polly does twice make coffee for the crew, but pleasingly gets as much action as Ben. This story’s guest cast is superb.

This is a fine, classic, easily watchable story. It doesn’t have the pitch-perfect tension that would elevate it to an all time classic, but shows the Cybermen are here to stay.

8.75/10 Don’t think we’ll be waiting for more Cybermen for long.

Stone cold.

 

The Tenth Planet Review

The Tenth Planet

A change is coming

Story 29, Episodes 130-133, Season 4 Episodes 5-8

Doctor: The First Doctor

Companions: Polly Wright, Ben Jackson

The first regeneration story is a curious one indeed, drawing its tension not from the Doctor’s demise but the incredible tension from the Cybermen’s first appearance.

The Review

 

The game is afoot.

There’s one thing that this story has going for it, tension. It’s as if all the best parts of The War Machines were taken and put into effect here. There’s no ridiculousness, the stakes are high and there’s no letting go. The Doctor, Ben, and Polly arrive on the South Pole in 1986, and quickly a rocket they launched sees another planet, Earth’s twin Mondas, quickly arriving on Earth. Soon we are visited by the Cybermen, incredible old costumes and sing-song voices and demeaning of emotion. What lends the tension is that this is a military base, and General Cutler (who consistently reminds us that his son is up in a rocket) demands a military solution. There’s not a lot of reminiscing on the philosophy of the Cybermen, but it’s very interesting when Hartnell asks them if they have no emotions.

It’s not the best animation, but has kind of a cool aspect. And I’m certainly glad it’s here.

The Doctor is laid up for the entire third episode on account of Hartnell’s health, leaving a lot of heavy lifting to Ben, who’s a bit shouty. Polly cleverly says she’ll make coffee to stay in the main situation room. Cutler wants to blow up Mondas with the ‘z-bomb’ which may decimate Earth too, but he is stopped by Ben in the nick of time. He’s going to kill him and the Doctor, blaming them for his son’s death, but the Cybermen get him. The thing that works best is not actually the Cybermen themselves, but it is instead the dilemma of what to do. In the end, in a kind of anticlimax, the Cybermen draw too much energy and Mondas explodes, killing that vein of Cybermen. There’s some kind of philosophy to their ending, but the episode pays no mind. Barclay is the best of the scientists, well acted. Thought I’d say that.

This is the end. But there is so much good left to come.

Of course, I must talk about the end of the First Doctor era itself. I admit, I was surprised how suddenly I got emotional, even watching the cheap animation as the Doctor, knowing his day is done, is shaken awake by Ben. Here he is, with two kids he hardly knows, far from his home. “Keep warm.” hardly rates as far as last lines go, but there’s something beautiful in the simplicity. The last thing that the Doctor was looking out for was again a paternal wish for his companions. The scene of the Doctor alone in the TARDIS playing with the console for the last time was beautiful and sad. We’ll have to see what David Bradley does as the actual First Doctor, but I have to speak to his Adventure in Space and Time performance, full of sadness, but knowing that something great is coming. It’s small but poignant. I’m going to miss him.

The Cybermen are appropriately spooky, the military tension is well done, the blowing snow makes for a hell of a setting, the destruction of Mondas without any influence by the good guys is a philosophical anticlimax. The departure of the First Doctor is understated, but beautiful. It’s Christmas Eve. Can’t wait to see David Bradley.

9/10 It’s a classic because it doesn’t mire itself in history or its surroundings, and goes straight for the throat. If the First Doctor’s last story wasn’t going to be directly related to him, giving him the Cybermen and a good story is a fine way to go.

The Second Doctor!

 

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls Review

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

The fall of the Doctor

Story 275, Episodes 838 and 839, Series 10 Episodes 11 and 12

Doctor: The Twelfth Doctor

Companions: Bill Potts, Nardole, The Master (Missy)

This story starts off interesting enough in the first part showing the Cybermen forming like we’ve never seen before, but really hits its stride when the characters other than Bill are really allowed to shine with her.

The Review

 

Missy pretending to be the Doctor to she if she’s good is just absolutely delightful

This is the most character focused finale, since, uh, the last one. And the one before that too. Let’s focus on the outright plot first. The team + Missy respond to the distress call of a massive massive ship (seen in a beautiful establishing shot) trapped on the edge of a black hole. And Bill immediately gets shot by a panicked janitor and has a big hole in her chest. She gets taken down by mysterious figures for repairs, and it turns out the ship is time-dilated because of its proximity to the black hole. After ten years she is made into the Cyberman before the Doctor gets to her. The Doctor + CyberBill + Nardole + the Masters (more on that!) make it halfway up in a ship to floor 507, an idyllic farm. There the Doctor sacrifices himself to save them from the rapidly-evolving Cybermen and dies. It’s actually pretty simple as far as finales go, and being constrained all on a spaceship is pretty cool. Very The Parting of the Ways.

“I waited. I waited for you.” Oh poor Bill. Oh and the woman and guy are the same person. This show man

Most of the first episode is focused on Bill living out her life as Cybermen are slowly developed alongside Mr. Razor, who is the Simm Master. Now I knew John Simm would be in this episode, but damn he had me fooled until he told Missy he figured out who she was. Other than that…I was disappointed with the Doctor not getting to do much and how obvious the Cybermen reveal was. Compare it to Dark Water, a better episode than World Enough and Time because the Doctor got to do things! And investigate! The time dilation was cool, but I wish the Doctor could do more. The reveal of Bill becoming a Cyberman, gloriously rendered as the original Mondasian versions with her saying ‘I waited’ is just sad. Still, there was not as much punch as Dark Water which still gets me giddy every time I watch it. Then the rarity of rarities, a Doctor Who finale two-parter gets better in part two.

Capaldi finally gets a lot of moments to deliver. Simm almost copying his costume is a nice touch

Really, not much happens. The Doctor prepares a village for an invasion, it happens, and he sacrifices itself to delay the Cybermen. But it is the character moments that really shine through. Bill is depicted as she sees herself in a lot of her scenes, as herself and not a Cyberman. Nardole gets more great secondary moments, telling people to remember the Alamo (or not), and that he always quickly starts a black market. It’s Capaldi who finally gets some emotional moments, he explains to Bill who she is, but then his speech to try and get the departing Masters to stand with him is beautiful. He does not do anything to win, he does everything to do what is right. The Doctor shares some great moments with Bill, who tells him she’d rather die than be hated for her appearance and tells him that she likes 20-something girls…but would’ve loved the Doctor. All this happens as the sun starts falling, and nighttime is upon us.

In the end…Missy decided she had enough of the Master. But Simm gets the last, long laugh

The death of the Masters is one of the best things you’re ever going to see. Missy really has to decided to stand with the Doctor, and stabs the Master as he goes to flee in his TARDIS. Simm was delightfully villainous all episode, no remorse for what he’s done, completely evil. Missy, played perfectly by Michelle Gomez, draws him close and leaves him to die. Simm isn’t done, and fatally injures her with his laser screwdriver so she can never stand with the Doctor. They both lay dying, and start laughing and laughing. Perfection. Nardole is left to shepherd the humans to safety, and maybe live with one of the women there. It’s an understated ending, but a good one for the character. At complete dusk, the Doctor and Cyber Bill take their places and fight the hordes of Cybermen to their last.

Peter Capaldi: THE Doctor

Bill ends up dying, but is saved from death by Heather, the puddle, and they go to have space lesbian adventures. People are bitching again that Bill got a happy ending, Moffat can’t kill a character blah blah blah. It’s Doctor Who, there’s always a happy ending. It’s a bit close to Clara/Ashildr, but the tone is so so different. We might see her again, but it’s a fine to ending to a good run by Bill. This season, Pearl Mackie never missed a beat, but I thought she didn’t get as much time on her as I thought she should get. But boy, the Doctor gets the best. Him shouting the names of all the places he’s defeated the Cybermen as he blows them up. Getting pounded to the last, he tells them he is the Doctor and destroys them all. The Doctor starts to regenerate, but says to forget it, and passes into a coma. “No stars…pity…I hoped there would be stars”

It just feels so right.

The Doctor bursting into life, and starting to rage against the dying of the light feels so real. I understand the controversy of Tennant in The End of Time not wanting to go, but somehow it feels so real for Capaldi. He is tired of doing all this, tired of having no continuity, makes sense after seeing the previous Masters squabbling with each other. It is immense, it is beautiful, and then I cheered when the rumor was true. Out of the cold in 1986 undoubtedly is David Bradley as the First Doctor reborn. Doesn’t sound quite the same, but damn it’s good. Can I watch every Hartnell story until then? We’ll see. This story had so many moving parts, but like the best stories ended up small. Series 10 has had its ups and downs, not let its main characters live like I wanted, but by the end, it felt like the end had come.

World Enough and Time is imperfect, and in a way so is The Doctor Falls. But it just bursts and breathes with such character moments that really feel earned. For that, it has my undying respect.

9.35/10 An army of Cybermen, two Masters, two companions, heck even two Doctors but it’s a story that never loses sight of its characters, as fantastic as they are.

The original