 |
| 66 seconds: The countdown begins... |
1 episode. Approx. 48 minutes. Written by: Jamie Mathiesen. Directed by: Paul Wilmshurst. Produced by: Peter Bennett.
THE PLOT
Having had a chance to calm down after the events on the moon, Clara has agreed to allow the Doctor to take her on one last trip. The Doctor chooses the Orient Express - not the classic train connecting Europe and the Middle East, but rather an exact replica - in space in the distant future, but decked out to look like the 1920's, complete with passengers in period costumes.
Their interactions are awkward. Clara doesn't quite know how to say goodbye (or if she really wants to), while the Doctor doesn't quite know how to ask her to stay. Fortunately, their impasse is broken by some good old-fashioned mayhem. The Foretold (Jamie Hill) is a mummy, a creature of legend that can only be seen by the victim it is about to claim. Once you see the Foretold, you have exactly 66 seconds to live.
The Foretold is on this train, picking off passengers and crew one by one. And the more the Doctor investigates, the more certain he becomes that this is all according to some unknown figure's design...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: We've seen all season how this Doctor avoids emotional reactions - turning away from Gretchen's self-sacrifice; being bewildered by a kiss of gratitude from a woman he saved; being first confused, then near-desperate to appease, in the face of Clara's rage. We see that again in the early scenes of this episode. He can't quite grasp what Clara's sad smile means, complaining that it's like two emotions at once - He just can't decode it. Later, when he decides there truly is a mystery to solve, he stands uneasily at her door, not certain whether to wake her up to join him or leave her to sleep.
As bad he is with emotion, that's how good he is with intellectual puzzles. Once all the scientists and experts on the train realize that The Foretold is very real and coming for them one by one, he is constantly in motion, using each 66-second opportunity to gather as much data as possible, then using the gaps in between to process it. When he finally defeats the monster, it's a breathtaking scene, superbly scripted and acted as the Doctor uses every precious second to gather the last shreds of data before acting.
Clara: I'm not in any way advocating for a return to the Doctor/Companion "almost-romance" of the previous season... But I will say that as much as I enjoyed Jenna Coleman in Series Seven, she has much stronger chemistry opposite Peter Capaldi than she did opposite Matt Smith. When she's taking his arm, half-listening half-sadly as he rattles on about dead planets, she feels more like she belongs there than she ever did with the Eleventh Doctor... And in the ending scene, when she looks at him and finally sees the hero again rather than the flawed man, the hunger in her face for more adventures is tangible.
Danny: Is on board with Clara taking one final trip with the Doctor, and tells her that "dumping him sounds a little 'Scorched Earth.' You still basically get on." She's evidently not convinced by his expressed willingness for her to travel with him, though, as she lies to both Danny and Doctor at the end; she doesn't tell Danny she's continuing to travel, and she lies to the Doctor that Danny is fine with it. This is a lie that will certainly come back to haunt her - Though I'm guessing not until the season's end.
THOUGHTS
That was terrific. The Doctor/Clara awkwardness does just enough to follow up on the emotional turmoil of Kill the Moon, while making sure to play up the fondness the two characters have for each other enough to make it believable that Clara changes her mind. Meanwhile, around the character material, we get a fast-paced episode that mixes Agatha Christie pastische, horror, and an element that's not only uniquely Doctor Who, but uniquely Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who. Enormous fun.
This was the first Doctor Who script by Being Human's Jamie Mathieson. On the strength of this installment, I hope it is the first of many. He captures the Doctor particularly well, characterizing him as brusque without being deliberately hurtful. There's a hint of compassion in his brutal honesty as he tells two different victims that he won't be able to save them, but needs them to tell him as much about the Foretold as possible so that he can "save the next one." Which he finally does achieve, in a dazzlingly well-executed climax. Equal credit is due to Paul Wimhurst, whose direction maximizes the energy throughout.
All that really keeps this from full marks is an ending that feels just a touch rushed, with the Doctor somehow getting everyone into his TARDIS despite us being told that his ship is inaccessible, and all of this happening offscreen to be filled in with dialogue after the fact. A couple dangling threads are also left, though I suspect that may be done deliberately to be followed up either in the season finale or the next season.
Those minor issues aside, I thought this was a fantastic bit of pure entertainment.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
Previous Story: Kill the Moon
Next Story: Flatline
Search Amazon.com for Doctor Who
Review Index
No comments:
Post a Comment