There was no Christmas special this season, but there was a New Year’s Day special, hence the double-entendre of the title “Resolution.” While it was one of the better episodes of season 11, I had some issues. (Don’t I always?) Let’s dive in.

***MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD***

“Resolution” has a pretty great setup - in the 9th century an army defeats a ( Read more... )

The Doctor Who revival’s 11th season has been something of a mixed bag, in my opinion. I thought it started out strongly with “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” “The Ghost Monument,” and “Rosa,” then went through some peaks and valleys afterward. For every strong episode like “Demons of the Punjab” or “Kerblam!,” there was a mediocre episode like “The ( Read more... )

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

“It Takes You Away,” like many of the episodes this season, can best be described as okay, with a few standout moments, but not great. It’s more middling than anything else. The problem is that the episode is actually two different stories, and both are somewhat disappointing because the other is attached to it and by necessity ( Read more... )

***MILD SPOILERS AHEAD***

“The Witchfinders” is a fun episode, but for a story dealing with such heavy themes - paranoia, scapegoating, the senseless murder of villagers accused of being witches, the way women were generally belittled, disregarded, and mistreated in 17th century England - it felt curiously lightweight. If this were a season with ( Read more... )

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

“Kerblam!” turned out to be a much better episode than its trailer (or its exclamation-marked title) led me to think. With its use of social satire, it felt almost like a throwback to the best of the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who, and I could easily see Christopher Eccleston’s or David Tennant’s Doctor in this same story ( Read more... )

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I found the sixth episode of the new season of Doctor Who, “Demons of the Punjab,” to be a return in quality to the stronger episodes that began the season. If I have any real criticism, it’s only that “Demons of the Punjab” is nearly identical in structure to “Rosa” just three episodes ago - an adventure that takes place ( Read more... )

While I definitely felt this episode was a step up from last week’s “Arachnids in the UK,” I didn’t find it all that great, either. It has some funny bits and some good character moments, but the Pting was ridiculous (it reminded me unfavorably of the Adipose, those cutesy little “fat babies” in the season four episode “Partners in Crime”), and the ( Read more... )

***MILD SPOILERS AHEAD***

“Arachnids in the UK” is the first episode of the 11th season so far to leave me feeling meh. The story was very blah, in my opinion. I enjoyed meeting Yaz’s family (although to be honest I don’t feel like I know Yaz any better for it) and learning a little more of Ryan’s story through his receiving a letter from his dad, ( Read more... )

Most seasons of the new Doctor Who feature one episode where the Doctor meets an important historical or cultural figure, whether it’s Shakespeare or Dickens or Agatha Christie. Season 11’s historical-figure episode arrives early with “Rosa,” which takes a different tack from previous episodes of its ilk. Where those other episodes focus on the ( Read more... )

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I don’t have much to say about this episode. I enjoyed it. Plotwise it’s okay, and features a good callback to the Stenza, which makes me think we haven’t seen the last of them, but what’s really working for me are the characters, in particular the companions. Graham, Ryan, and Yaz continue to act like real, well-rounded ( Read more... )