Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

[louisedennis]

The Teenager really like Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, certainly far more than any other thirteenth Doctor episode. I'm not sure I entirely share her enthusiasm. In many ways the most notable thing about the episode is that it doesn't really get anything wrong. It doesn't deliver the high of Spyfall but there's also a lot less to criticise.

Comments

[deinonychus_1]

I quite enjoyed this one, although to be fair a large part of that was the extremely aesthetically pleasing Goran Visnjic in period costume. Why yes, I am shallow when it comes to good looking men in period costume.

I think the whole memory wipe thing in the opening episodes seems to be the anomaly, as it hardly ever seems to happen in other historical circumstances. Not entirely sure why they felt the need to do it in that one instance, to be honest.

The Guardian DW blog pointed out the similarity to the one with Van Gogh from the eleventh doctor's era - historical figure who was not recognised or celebrated in their own time but their achievements recognised later. But this seemed to have a bleaker ending because neither the doctor or any of the companions made any attempt to tell Tesla that his work would be remembered, even if they knew it wouldn't change the way his life pans out, whereas with Van Gogh that was a big part of the episode's payoff.

[louisedennis]

I think the whole memory wipe thing in the opening episodes seems to be the anomaly

I agree. Doctor Who has never worried about historical figures Seeing Too Much in the past, and it didn't here, so worrying about it suddenly in Spyfall is odd and, in the context of the whole of NuWho's history in terms of discussing the ethics of mind-wipes, kind of weird - why was it there? was it meant to contradict something Moffat did? is it supposed to be about how the Doctor hasn't learned this lesson? did Chibnall just forget there'd been this whole thing about mind-wipes? I don't understand!