(I've not reviewed a Doctor Who episode in over 2 years, so you will have to be gentle with such clunky sentences until I get back into the groove)
But saying that much is still saying quite a lot. I stopped watching for a little bit, because the casual sexism made me feel so cruddy, and the lack of character development was frustrating, and it got to a point where I couldn't ignore it.
All of that was there in this episode. But I feel like Peter Capaldi is going to take the edge off it. I like him a lot, and I look forward in hope to seeing how his character evolves over time.
Twelve
I especially liked the shot where he held up the silver plate, and realised that he too had been changing so many elements of himself that he cannot necessarily be said to be the same man. So too the suggestion that he has taken on this face because it is a lesson he needs to be taught (PC appeared before twice in the Whoniverse, once in Fires of Pompeii as a family the Doctor only saves because his companion reminds him that he can; and once in Torchwood: Children of Earth as a morally compromised civil servant who fucked up very badly before killing himself and his whole family. The Doctor wasn't around in the latter crisis, so there is perhaps a message there instead.) I liked the subtlety with which this was done, and also the reference to Girl in the Fireplace - it doesn't matter if you don't know where the reference is, because the Doctor also can't remember and doesn't much care.(Colin Baker also appeared in Who before he took on the main role, as imperious Timelord soldier Commander Maxil. Some links:
- Commander Maxil was a defender of Gallifrey. During Trial of a Timelord, Six exposed the corruption at the heart of Gallifrey and
- Commander Maxil shot the Doctor. Six's greatest villain was also a future version of himself.
- Both have the same personality attributes of being a real stick up the arse to anyone who disagreed.)
The true test of any Doctor is the sitting-down-and-talking-to-the-villain scene. I guess we all knew PC would be capable of it, seeing as his acting opposite an empty fishtank in Children of Earth was so spine-prickling. Talking someone into killing themselves is definitely a Doctorlike attribute - a man who likes to think of himself as a man who doesn't kill. I don't think the robot jumped, I think by and large robots - even ones which use human body parts - don't tend to do things like that.
(I guess it's going to be some time before I use "Twelve" as a name for an individual. Give me time. It'll happen)
Eleven
The phone call from Doctor 11 was a really cool idea. I have some misgivings about it, in that I felt it kinda undermined the new Doctor. Regeneration episodes tend to have the Doctor pass out a lot, so that the danger feels so great that by the time he wakes up, you're just so darn glad to see him that you don't care there's a new face. Reintroducing 11 after that process has happened is therefore cheating, but it's a kinda cool idea.
But what I realised is that I really hate the Eleventh Doctor. That feeling I was getting when I stopped watching the show, and which had been mostly absent during this episode, came hammering back as soon as he picked up the phone. What a horrible, emotionally manipulative thing to do to your companion. I know the Doctor does that stuff all the time, but when I look back Eleven now feels...particularly involved in his companion's hearts and lives to a somewhat unhealthy extent.
The Castelanne, fellow member of Team Traken, suggested that he was an incredibly needy person and ended up doing bad things because he couldn't master his emotions; I rather like that interpretation. I always had trouble figuring out where Eleven came in the Doctor's emotional development, but I would accept that in his desire to regenerate into a more carefree person, he became emotionally irresponsible. I feel like I could rewatch his series interpreting the character as pretty damaged but in a less obvious, more damaging way and enjoy them more for that understanding. "I'm not your boyfriend...I didn't say it was your mistake" is a colossal admission, and I think a large key to 11's character.
And maybe one reason I found the casual sexism less objectionable in this episode is because the Doctor was not involved in it. I don't mind the Doctor having romantic plots in principle, but if "involved in romance" means "involved in the weird sexual/gender politics of the post-RTD series", I'm happy to see it go.
Everything Else
I've never liked Clara before, and I feel like her relationship together with the Doctor is going to be fun.
The plot was fun tosh. I'm a sucker for all things steampunk. I think the concept of the clockwork robots was cleverer in Girl in The Fireplace, because it was set in a non-traditional steampunk era. Seeing the robots in top hats in the fog is always fun, but translating that meme to 18th century France adds a clever touch.
"Don't breathe" is up there with the other Moffisms ("don't blink" being the most famous; but I know there have been others; but I can't remember them, because the time has passed when this information was on the surface of my brain. "Stay out of the shadows" in Forest of the Dead. Others, I can't remember.) but I liked this one a lot.
"Doctor Who ‘lesbian-lizard’ kiss will not face investigation" is the best headline I've ever seen. There were six complaints; my Companion suggests that he hopes at least one was because it broke class barriers. A lady kissing a maid? Shocking!
Don't talk to me about Missy. I don't want to think about this subplot. Like this show needs another River-Song-template woman person. Could that paradise they were in be the cloisters of a TARDIS, and could she be the Rani? Perhaps, but I already find this character unbearable.
Sexismwatch
Preditory lesbian characters? Check! (Listen up Clara, and also straight ladies of the world. Just because you're talking to a lesbian, it doesn't mean she's secretly attracted to you. What a crass addition to the episode). Dodgy relationship politics? Check! (Listen up, Moff! I feel like 80% of the point of being a lesbian is that your partner doesn't casually objectify you by demanding you stand half-naked and be decorative while she works. And while there clearly are creepass lesbians in the world, this felt more like translating a heterosexual power imbalance straight into a gay relationship, in a way which felt utterly inauthentic.)
A longer post following on this topic. For now, though, let's give this a 7/10 for a promising standard episode.
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