Well, that was pretty powerful. I got a bit teary during Yaz's bit with the 50p especially. I feel like I know and understand her as a character a lot better now.
On paper it had a hell of a lot to fit in for the time available while still leaving space for emotional conversations about people confronting their fears and insecurities at the end, but I guess the villains of the week were quite simple and straightforward in the end, which is what allowed it to work.
Great villains, though! Gods of Pain and Fear - excellent in themselves and a nice prelude to next week's episode too. Just as the awkward yet somehow effective tone of the emotional conversations felt like they were building on Graham's little man-to-man chat with Jake last week. It all lends a sense of coherence to the season as a whole, beyond the Doctor's renewed vision of the tower and the Timeless Child.
Very interesting that Zellin should reference the Celestial Toymaker, subject of a Hartnell story, given the Hartnellish feel of the Ruth-Doctor, and the Master's hints of dark things in his and the Doctor's origins. This season is very definitely poking and prodding at that early era in the programme's history - and three cheers for that!
Dreamwidth version |
comments |
Leave a comment