Doctor Who – The Lie of The Land Review

The Doctor and Bill take on fake news in this week’s episode (sort of).

This week’s episode concluded the recent run of stories regarding the mysterious Monks that were first introduced back in Extremis. The Monks have managed to take over everything after the conclusion of The Pyramid at the End of the World. In The Lie of the Land the Monks haven’t just taken over the world, they’ve always been there.

The Doctor and Bill were obviously going to be fighting back, but I was confused why the episode said that the monks had been there for six months before they fought back. Was there meant to be some significance to that which I missed? I find it a little hard to believe that it would have taken the Doctor so long to finally put his plan of resistance into action without there being some big secret reason. Previously when an enemy has actually succeeded in taking over the world there’s usually been some reason as to why it takes time to fight back, such as when Martha Jones had to inspire a belief in the Doctor in 2007’s The Last of The Timelords.

Aside from my issue with the timing of this story I think this was a solid conclusion to the Monks trilogy. I will be glad to see the return of stand-alone stories next week but this episode felt like a good way to round out this mini-arc. We saw the full realisation of the Monks plan before the Doctor, Bill and Nardole defeated them. There was clearly a bit of sub-text regarding the real world trend of fake news in the way that the Monks had controlled everyone to see the Monks as having always been there. I like Doctor Who stories that echo contemporary issues, it’s something that Doctor Who has a long tradition of doing such as in 1973’s The Green Death. (Side note, if you’ve not seen The Green Death you really should it is one of the very best classic Doctor Who stories).

The Monks have been an interesting opponent. It’s been quite interesting to see what is ultimately just another ‘take over the world’ monster having such an usual strategy which we’ve seen misdirecting us and unfolding over several weeks. I can’t help feeling like there’s still quite a few unanswered questions about them so I wonder if possibly they’re not quite finished and the TARDIS team might have a rematch with them in a future episode.

Once more Bill Potts steals the show. I think I’ve said this every single week but honestly I just can’t praise Pearl Mackie’s performance enough. Bill really is becoming one of the all-time greatest companions, right up there with Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith. I liked the narration from Bill throughout the episode when she was speaking to her mother and it made the final resolution feel very satisfying. The ending with Bill’s mother actually reminded me of when Clara Oswald defeated an evil alien sun 2013’s The Rings of Akhaten, which in my opinion was one of Clara’s finest moments. One thing that is starting to worry me with Bill is that this is two weeks running where she’s been willing to sacrifice herself to save the world, I really hope this is not foreshadowing for the season finale because I don’t want her to just be a one series companion. On a separate but related note, please can they hurry up and release Bill’s action figure already!

In conclusion, The Lie of the Land was a satisfying conclusion to the Monks trilogy and Bill Potts was once again the star of the episode. And next week isss the return of the Ice Warriorssss which I have been eagerly awaiting!

Doctor Who – The Pyramid At The End of The World Review

A tale of misdirection in this week’s Doctor Who.

The Pyramid At The End Of The World carries on from last week’s episode Extremis. It opens with one of the most entertaining previously recaps that Doctor Who has ever done, we saw clips from Extremis contrasted with Bill going on a date with Penny. After that the episode then unfolded following from the promise that was set up in the conclusion of Extremis. The mysterious Monks are now ready to enact their plan and take over the world. I wanted a big alien invasion and that’s what we got, however it’s an alien invasion unlike any we have seen before.

At first it appears as if the Monks are manipulating the world’s most powerful armies but it turns out that was just a distraction. The significance of the scenes in the lab weren’t initially obvious, but then we learnt what the actual threat was and suddenly it fell into place. By the end of the episode we still don’t actually know what the Monks are really after. I always find Doctor Who stories that have twists and turns throughout to be enjoyable and this was one of those types of episodes. Much like Extremis I think this is an episode that would benefit from a rewatch.

The Monks are definitely one of the weirdest adversaries we have seen in Doctor Who and I suspect they’re going to end up being one of the most well remembered monsters. In my first few reviews of this series I kept mentioning that I wanted to see an interesting new monster and a real big bad, the Monks definitely fit that description! They’re clearly very powerful and very cunning but we still don’t really know that much about them. The scariest thing is often the unknown and the Monks are definitely something of an unknown quantity. Where did they come from? What is their ultimate end game? Why have they chosen Earth as their target?

Bill has been awesome since week one. Every week I keep praising Pearl Mackie’s performance as Bill Potts and this week was no expectation. For every companion there tends to come an episode where they are forced to make a difficult decision without the guidance of the Doctor. Think Martha Jones in 42, Amy Pond in Amy’s Choice or Rose Tyler in Dalek. I think The Pyramid At The End of The World was that episode for Bill Potts.

I’d like to know more about Penny – Bill’s date from last week and this week. It would be really irritating if the first Doctor Who companion to be in a homosexual relationship whilst travelling in the TARDIS didn’t get a properly developed relationship. Obviously it seems that Bill and Penny are just on a first date at the moment, but no one wants to see a repeat of Mickey Smith and Martha Jones randomly being paired up in The End of Time after no interaction between the two of them for what feels like little more than just ‘they’re both black and both single’.

I was a bit disappointed to find out that next week’s episode is continuing the overarching story that started back in Oxygen. On the one hand it is creating a truly epic tale with lots of twists and turns but at the same time I was enjoying having standalone episodes like we got at the beginning of the season. I guess we’ll just have to wait until it’s all concluded to decide for certain if it was worth linking (at least) four episodes together like this.

In conclusion, this week Bill continues to shine in an intriguing story that was not quite what it seemed as the TARDIS team faces one of the weirdest and most powerful enemies in Doctor Who.

Doctor Who – Extremis Review

Spoiler warning, it probably is impossible to talk about this episode without giving a few spoilers. This episode is best watched without knowing what’s going to happen so please only read this review after watching the episode.

First off, Pearl Mackie once again was excellent as Bill Potts. Bill is a really likeable companion and she brings a great sense of excitement as she sees new things. But Pearl is also great at delivering the emotional beats that are necessary, there’s more to Bill than her one-liners.

Speaking of companions, I like Nardole. He’s been a good addition to the main cast and Matt Lucas brings a welcome dose of humour which is something that has been missing from the programme over the past couple of years. I also liked the revelation in this episode that River Song sent him to look after the Doctor. It’s nice to get a reminder that even though River has gone she certainly hasn’t been forgotten.

I think the plot of this episode can best be described as the Doctor Who version of The Matrix. But before we got to that twist this was an episode about a mysterious book that should not be seen. I liked the mystery aspect of Extremis, it was an intriguing concept which was interesting to watch unfold. I simultaneously wanted Bill and the Doctor to read the Veritas to find out what it was but also really didn’t want them to. I also really liked the twist when it turned out that everything we had been watching was actually a simulation and the Doctor was really sat outside the Vault all along. This is one of those episodes that will be good to re-watch once you know how it all ends.

Extremis has filled us in on what’s in the Vault. I was really hoping that the Vault was going to turn out to be a series long arc and so I was disappointed that we got a more or less full reveal in episode six. After Knock Knock it was not a surprise to learn that it was Missy lurking in the Vault but it was still interesting to learn the how and why. I really don’t like Missy but she wasn’t actually that irritating in this episode, the flashbacks to her where nicely used throughout the episode and I liked the way that they contrasted what was happening as the story unfolded.

Missy wasn’t actually the main villain for this week. Instead we got some zombie like creatures – I don’t know what they’re called yet but the BBC Doctor Who website is calling them the Monks. Their design kind of reminds me of the humanoid form of the Pyrovile’s from 2008’s The Fires of Pompeii. After the first few weeks lacked proper monsters these were interesting creatures to see. We don’t know much about them yet which is intriguing to watch. However they are clearly very powerful and they are planning a massive invasion of Earth.

I don’t know if it’s just because I’m out of the loop but I was surprised to find out that this episode leads into next week’s episode, I thought it was another standalone story. I actually really like the way that Oxygen, Extremis and The Pyramid at the End of the World will all link together. It reminds me of how back in 1975 The Arc In Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen all linked together. Each one can be viewed as a story in its own right but they all link together.

In conclusion, this was an interesting episode with an intriguing concept and finally some really cool monsters! Extremis also did a good job at tying up several dangling story threads whilst also setting up a second half. Once again Series 10 has given us another solid episode of Doctor Who!