Doctor Who Series 8 - Refreshing, Messy and Brilliant
The Capaldi era has such a fascinating identity crisis throughout its run, there was never a clear idea what this era was going to be and as a result, so many stories are so inconsistent and we can go from brilliant masterpieces to absolute disasters week to week. But at the forefront is the incredible Peter Capaldi who manages to make any story well worth it, he is up there as one of my favourite Doctors purely from Capaldi's performance. The writing is often a bit muddled and inconsistent, he is sometimes written as this broody dark Doctor and sometimes he feels like he is still being written as Smith but Capaldi manages to make this character his own and once the series finds it's feet he is a marvel to approve. I much prefer this era because Moffat is just writing 'Doctor Who' rather than trying way too hard to create these long-form clever mystery stories that get eaten up by themselves, Series 8 is much less cohesive but this results in individual episodes that are glimmers of beauty. The stakes are lower, the stories are more personal, the focus is on Clara and The Doctor's relationship and it feels much more modest and full of little idea stories that I love. Even the bad scripts have Coleman and Capaldi at their full strengths and I very rarely find myself despising an episode due to what they bring to the table. Let's begin another journey through the wonderfully messy Series 8.
Deep Breath
About half of this episode is incredible and the other half is embarrassingly uncomfortable. There's a brilliant regeneration story hidden under a god awful amount of faff, this is possibly the unfunniest script Moffat has ever written and we spend far too much time trying to be funny. If you take out the majority of the comedy in this episode, you get a really cool story about The Doctor basically having a breakdown and working his way around a mystery in this insane unorganised way. I've said it time and time before but the Paternoster Gang are such a waste of time, they essentially come down to comedy relief but I did not laugh at a single line they said, it has this weird recurring joke with Vastra constantly treating Jenny horribly that is uncomfortable and then the episode has these bizarre sketch comedy scenes with Clara that are just a waste of time and I hate them. It also is really weirdly edited and put together, the production feels much more like it is trying to appeal to children and it comes as cringeworthy and bizarrely out of place when this is a story about organ stealing robots. The third act really shifts tone, there is this brilliant sequence where Clara has to hold her breath that is put together brilliantly yet there are still bizarre moments here and there. There is a lot of Moffat's signature faff, this extended bit with a dinosaur is ultimately pointless and just there to have action and an eye-grabbing set piece. The comedy gets exhausting for me, but obviously, comedy is subjective, but once it reaches the halfway point a lot changes and the episode really matures. It basically fixes Clara as a character, she has flaws and is much less whimsy and much more human, they sow the seeds of developing her as a teacher and pitting her with Capaldi creates this brilliant conflict that is well developed. Capaldi is incredible, once he stops doing the 'regeneration madness flapping about a bit' we get this clever, witty and flawed Doctor who opens up flaws in Clara and I love it. The story is much more camp and kind of dumb in places, the villains are literally reused from 'Girl in the Fireplace' but they are fun in a lot of ways, the tone is all over the place but when we get these dark moments they really shine through especially the final confrontation. It sets the tone, if being a bit silly in places but manages to do a lot with these new characters and I prefer a story that knows it is being a bit dumb rather than one that takes itself so seriously.
Into the Dalek
I often feel like there is always a couple episode a series that is very gimmicky, ones that have a core central idea that they love and tend to just focus on that. This is a story that manages to have a very gimmicky central idea and creates something brilliant from around it, there is a frustrating amount of safe ideas but what it does is very impressive and I think it is a really solid Dalek story. I love how the Daleks are a real classic 'Sci-fi villain' for Doctor Who's standards so they work best when put in a classic Sci-FI setting with an interesting perspective for The Doctor and Co to the explore. It is basically a less developed 'Dalek', the ideas explored are very similar but it doesn't quite do enough with the relationship between The Doctor and the Daleks. It is a bit too explicit with its thematic angle, the 'Am I a good man?' hook feels a bit out of place, I like exploring the consequences of The Doctor's actions but he is indisputably a good man, that is almost entirely the point of the character. He is a good man because he tries, he may fail, but he tries and this version of the character is weirdly too mean in places in a way that doesn't offer up much about his character but just used for comedic effect. I dont know, I think exploring whether or not The Doctor is a good man feels a bit unneeded, I wish the script wasn't so explicit with this and we spent more time with the subtle parallels and the suggestive impact of The Doctor's hatred for the Daleks. Clara doesn't get a lot to do but I enjoy her little moments with Danny Pink but there is a weird anti-soldier messy thing with this subplot and the actual plot that feels underdeveloped and very confused. It is fun if a really insubstantial story that has a brilliant atmosphere and stakes but a confusing set of themes and ideas that dont add much to the story.
Robot of Sherwood
Right. 'Doctor Who' is built on this foundation of campiness, the original show has always been known for its ridiculous camp energy but this transcends camp and becomes embarrassing. I dont know what Gatiss is going for, this feels like an episode made for CBBC and maybe its harsh to criticise a show with a strong young fanbase for appealing to that but my god is this just painful to get through. It is a pantomime, so over the top and so unfunny with this confusing tone that isn't quite self-aware enough or stylistically unique enough to pull off a ridiculous script like this. I can understand that perhaps this is all intentional, it is meant to be a 'satire' of the Robin Hood story and the tone is meant to match classical versions of this character, but that isn't developed on at all, because you bring attention to the fact you know this is dumb, doesn't detract from the fact that it is dumb. The tone is so over the top, but the comedy, stakes and characters are all truly invested in this tone so it never breaks that wall to create the satire, instead it just is a story with the tone of a terrible Robin Hood adaptation. I get what Gatiss was going for, it is meant to be this fun story that is an ode to this character but instead, it comes off as just awkward and way too jarringly jovial for this series, we go from a war drama last week to a psychological horror next week so here this feels bizarrely out of place. I dont even really enjoy any of the comedy, it feels like dumbed-down Monty Python and there's only so many 'Robin Hood does a Robin Hood trope and The Doctor gets annoyed' jokes out there which creates this insufferably repetitive feel. I guess it's a fun dumb plot, the supporting cast gives it their all (Ben Miller is always a delight) but it isn't for me and I find it too be way too awkward and embarrassing.
Listen
I remember not being a massive fan of 'Listen' when it first aired, but revisiting it for this review made me appreciate it so much more and it might be my favourite story in this Series. It is a very conceptual little story, it is my kind of Moffat story, one that has an idea that it wants to explore with and does it through a series of brilliant big idea sequences. I love small stories like this that are told through a big lense, it is a really personal story about anxiety, fear and facing our irrational behaviour in moments of the unknown. I dont think we've ever had a story that is based around The Doctor investigating something, it is a trait about Capaldi I have always loved which is his intellectual side and his constant need to know and discover the universe. The story basically works around Clara and Danny's date as a set story and The Doctor's obsession with this fear concept as a parallel to this story, I like how essentially it is about understanding other people and learning that fear is not something to be ashamed of, it just has a tendency to overwhelm. Clara and Danny have brilliant chemistry and their date is honest and human, it is something Moffat very rarely does with 'Doctor Who' which is using his 'Coupling' skills and write genuine human interactions that aren't overblown and have a real impact. I like how the date runs parallel with three sequences with The Doctor, one set in the past with Danny Pink, one at the end of the universe with Orson Pink and one in the Past with The Doctor as a child that all function to grow Clara as a character and help her understand Danny as a human being. I think it is a wonderful emotional script but with this fantastic psychological horror angle, it is basically revolved around the fear of the fear of the unknown with each sequence with horror elements are completely different and uniquely presented. It is a wonderful story, perhaps it goes a bit too conceptual with its ideas but I love how we keep focused on this date and manage to fit so much in this small story.
Time Heist
Maybe it isn't technically the best episode but I have a real soft spot for this story, it is kind of messy but I think it is just a really slick, fun and blockbuster episode that I find interesting and unique. I like episodes that feel stylistically original and do some interesting things combining elements we are familiar with and elements that are unique 'Doctor Who'. After something like 'Listen' it does have a tendency to feel somewhat safe and 'by the books' as it doesn't bring many interesting sci-fi elements to the table. The shapeshifting character, the android, the misunderstood 'last of the kind' creature are all elements so uniquely NuWho that it's a shame they overcrowd this wonderful little fun romp of a heist story. It really effectively combines loads of wonderful heist film tropes into this sci-fi setting, there isn't exactly an overshining brilliant idea here but the little elements combine to make a really fun story. And that is just it, the story is just really fun, not a smug story, not a mean-spirited story and definitely not a rushed story, it just doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel which is a shame because I enjoy quaint little stories like this even when they get a bit forgotten about. The heist aesthetic is wonderfully done, I love Gold's score in this episode because it feels wonderfully alien and wonderfully 'Italian Job' simultaneously and it manages to create genuine tension and stakes to the heist wonderfully. The supporting cast is fun if woefully underdeveloped, they function as interesting plot points and it is nice to see The Doctor interact them in a more vulnerable and human way than he usually does, Capaldi does a brilliant job here. It is a quaint little fun story that manages to be effectively entertaining if thematically lacking and woefully unoriginal.
The Caretaker
This feels much more like a mid-tier RTD era story than a Moffat era story and honestly I welcome it for that. This is one of those 'characters over story' episodes and that is something that the Moffat era hardly ever does and something I enjoy more than his style of story. It functions as something that just contains an alien plot as the B plot to the human drama story as the A Plot and unlike something like 'Power of Three,' the A Plot is excellent and is actually a really interesting perspective. Have we ever had a companion (in NuWho) actually question The Doctor this much before? Danny Pink makes his impact in this one single story and it such a welcome change of pace to not only bring Twelve down to his wits but confront the Moffat trope of 'companions absent-mindedly obsessing over The Doctor' whilst developing Clara wonderfully. It is full of a lot of wasted space, there are far too many 'The Doctor' hijinks that stories like this love, the punchline 'The Doctor does something alien' is basically what episodes that I can't stand like 'The Lodger' are built around but thankfully Capaldi is actually a fantastic comedic talent and manages to keep afloat these awkward jokes. I really appreciate the fact we explore the consequences of travelling with The Doctor properly, I feel like RTD did an excellent job especially with characters like Martha at understanding that this life wouldn't be as perfect as it seems. The way this episode does it is wonderful as it adds this interesting layer to Danny Pink, a character who we've enjoyed seeing so far but hasn't had much depth, it manages to make him realistically hurt by his time in the army and how that has built him to be sceptical to people like The Doctor. He isn't swept away in the mystery of it all and actually manages to see straight through The Doctor and Clara's relationship opening up Clara as a character and developing Capaldi's darker persona. It is wonderful on that front, the actual alien plot is bad and pointless but it is in the background to exploring these characters relationship and developing Clara to be more forefront and less whimsical.
Kill The Moon
Blimey this is a tough one. 'Kill The Moon' is (or at least was at the time) one of the most controversial and divisive episodes of the show and it people absolutely despise this episode. I think it is fine? Kind of a big mess but not an absolute disaster like some people claim I'd take it over any Chibnall era episode that is for sure. It basically falls into that weird Doctor Who formula of abandoning a plot halfway through to focus on a moral dilemma that takes upon the majority of the episode and ends in a simple convenient manner anyway. There's a really good creepy Moon invasion story in the first act, I love these creepy spider monsters infesting the moon and The Doctor having to figure out how and why they got there before the moon collapses is a wonderful story. However once you find out what the spiders are and what this episode actually is, it falls apart embarrassingly. I dont know why NuWho has this bizarre obsession with 'moral dilemma' stories that dont have anything else but the 'moral dilemma', once we get into the third act all we have is this difficult choice dilemma that doesn't even have any consequences. Take something like 'Fires of Pompeii' that has this excellent alien conflict but with a moral dilemma to develop the characters, here the whole episode is devoted to this and it feels mean spirited and uncomfortable. There is this bizarre abortion message that is underdeveloped and extremely messy, I just dont really understand what they were going for other than this 'the moon's an egg' clever idea. I get they needed something to split The Doctor and Clara up, but this is ridiculously over the top, the moral dilemma feels way too contrived and treats The Doctor awfully. Again in Fires of Pompeii, he leaves because he knows it isn't his place, but placing Clara and Courtney in charge is just a step too far I think, the stakes are too high for The Doctor to treat this as some sort of lesson. It paints him awfully, I like the darker meaner character but I think this is a step too far. On top of this, the decision they make doesn't even matter, the consequences are non-existent and it is far too easy rendering the actual dilemma pointless. It should have been a story about a moon invasion, not a messy abortion metaphor stuffed into a sci-fi story, plus we have to spend time with the god awful Courtney. However I think Jenna Coleman does an incredible job here, she basically saves the episode and their conversation in the ending is heartbreakingly well done.
Mummy on the Orient Express
Oh, what a treat this episode is, it might be one of my favourite one-off stories of this era. It is just so much fun and a clever, witty and well thought out script proves that the smaller stories are always much more impactful than the bigger messier episodes. I have a real love for this episode, it is my favourite characterisation of The Doctor/ Clara relationship and just a brilliant concept with a beautiful presentation. A mummy that only its victim can see on a floating Orient Express replica in space is just so quintessentially 'Doctor Who' and it pulls off this concept wonderfully. It is paced brilliantly, I love how quickly we get into the conflict of the episode and let the characters establish and develop their relationship throughout the conflict. There is a confident mystery at the forefront, the 'Foretold' is this terrifying unfathomable monster that has these specific rules that essentially extends this added stake due to the disturbing details. I adore what they do with this creature and how it doesn't essentially just revolve around the mystery, this era has a tendency to have several episodes that function and fall apart around the mystery, Moffat is guilty of encouraging his own mystery so the answer feels disappointing. The actual answers are ones that can be somewhat worked out, the reveal isn't designed to subvert your expectation but to have a satisfying mystery with actual consequences. The design of the whole episode is beautiful, the use of a literal timer is fun and creates this wonderful tension, the train itself looks incredible with this futuristic 1920s design that I will never get bored of. We also do so much with The Doctor and Clara's relationship, I love how it still remains that Clara isn't happy with The Doctor and instead he learns to adapt and evolve as a person. She helps him mature and grow rather than letting him repeat the cycle of pulling the wool over her eyes, it is wonderful and Capaldi gets to actually act like a person trying to fix his begrudging attitude, I even think he gets his defining moment so far with his potential sacrifice in the third act. A delight of an episode with a brilliant guest star in Frank Skinner, a beautiful monster and some amazing character moments.
Flatline
Maybe it is the pure spectacle of the whole thing, but I adore how conceptually brilliant 'Flatline' is. Mathieson proved himself as a brilliant writer with these two episodes and I just love how this is such a brilliantly out-there story grounded in all the right ways. I remember seeing the trailer and thinking, oh this is going to be an extremely gimmicky episode and to an extent, it is, the tiny TARDIS and 2D monsters are one of those 'Doctor Who' elements that seem much more pointless than they actually are. I love how this is just a strong idea that is backed up by confident writing, the way Mathieson presents mysteries and then manages to make them compelling and intriguing without ever feeling insubstantial is wonderful. The conflict is set up in a really simple gimmick with the shrinking TARDIS, it is instantly charming and wonderfully intriguing, Mathieson has to do some writing convenience to keep this relevant to the plot but it mostly lands. A lot of people complain about the 'Clara Who' thing but I quite like it, she has wonderful agency to her and I think it is a creative way to do a Doctor-Lite story where he still gets to be himself. The absolutely fantastic production is what makes this episode, it is full of these wonderfully unique visual moments that the 2D monsters provide, rooms collapsing in, people being converted to 2D and that absolutely incredible 'Adams Family' moment with the TARDIS keep the episode beautifully entertaining. Riggsy is fun, the supporting cast dont add a lot but I like how they manage to test and play with the concept of Clara being The Doctor with them being awful people and evaluating how The Doctor has become so cynical. It has a couple of weird moments in the third act and the solution is perhaps a bit too convenient but it is an excellent story and a lot of fun.
In the Forest of the Night
My god, this is a genuinely disastrous episode of television. It lives in infamy and often pointed to as one of the most embarrassing things the show has ever attempted, it is as bad as people say it is and it hurt to rewatch it. I hate it, I really do, it doesn't work at all and comes off as a total disastrous. I dont know what to say, it attempts this fairytale style story where a forest appears overnight and we spend time with a group of children as they wander the mystical forest to uncover the true mystery behind its origin. Instead, it is an irritating story of people wandering around aimlessly, repeating the same dialogue at each other and stumbling about whilst The Doctor just kind of stumbles into the answers and any conflict just disappears. I feel like Frank Cottrell Boyce (yes that Frank Cottrel Boyce) just stopped caring once he had written the premise like he thought 'Oh a forest appearing overnight that's a good idea' and then didn't think he needed an actual plot. Its just pointless filler, Clara and Danny walking through the woods with a bunch of irritating kids wasting time and doing nothing of consequence with occasional embarrassing moments of forced conflict to keep it going. Now if this episode was just a small little story where The Doctor and Co have to work their way through a forest than it would be a filler boring episode that you would just forget ever existed. But instead, it shoves this gross misjudged anti-medication message and bizarre muddled approach with these annoying troubled children and their problems. It does that awful trope of 'mental illness as a superpower' and doesn't offer a nuanced approach to a very nuanced topic, making it dangerous and woefully muddled. A terrible embarrassing story, one that is mean-spirited, ridiculous and tonally messy, genuinely one of the worst episodes the show has ever done and one I won't be rewatching in a hurry.
Dark Waters/ Death in Heaven
I haven't really touched on Missy throughout the review as her little appearances are akin to an RTD mystery, they are small moments that are essentially just a mystery box to set up the finale. I really love the style of the sequences, they are mystical and unnerving with such wonderous appeal that really gets the audience excited for her reveal. 'Dark Waters' is genuinely incredible, it is a daring and bizarre story that boldly undertakes some really interesting and confident elements that the show hasn't really tackled before. 'Death in Heaven' on the other hand is a by the books cyberman invasion without much else going on. Intrigue is Moffat's greatest strength, but he does something he hardly ever does with the intrigue by building it around an emotional concept that is daring and brilliant. Danny Pink's death is something that comes out of nowhere and treated with the perfect amount of time and emotion. Jenna kills it in this performance, the fact the moment before his death is her struggling with her arc with The Doctor and his death tips her over the edge in that brilliant volcano sequence. She pulls of grief, shock, anger and this desperate feeling of being lost and depressed with brutal honesty but I also love how The Doctor understands her grief and treats her with respect and understanding. The line 'Do you really think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?' is a quintessential beautiful character moment, The Doctor cares in his cold angry way but he always cares for Clara and people even if he doesn't outright say it. From here we get to the eerie 3W facility, the introduction of Missy, the disturbing 'Don't cremate me' and the reveal of Danny's past trauma. These elements are beautifully done, the pacing and intrigue are wonderful, it keeps unravelling wonderfully and the tension is beautiful. It is such a wonderful story, Michelle Gomez absolutely kills it, Chris Addison, of course, kills it (the man is an absolute icon), Coleman and Capaldi are glorious and I just love this stories' infectious intrigue. It has that feeling episodes like 'Utopia', 'The Stolen Earth' and Bad Wolf' have that manage to just keep the audience hooked on what is happening and let them fall in love with the concept and the stakes put forward. The reveal Missy is The Master is a tad bit disappointing, it was my first guess but boy does Gomez revel in that reveal.
'Death In Heaven' has a big job, due to how brilliant 'Dark Waters' is which is why it suffers a bit when you watch it. To go from an episode that is essentially this slow setup story, relying on mystery, intrigue and setting the stakes with a return of one of the most iconic 'Doctor Who' villains of all time to the payoff to that very story is not an easy job. Moffat is often terrible at payoff but he adapts here, the cliffhanger we end on is just the set up to the stakes that are reasonable and not so farfetched and up itself. The issue with 'Death in Heaven' is that is far too full of plot and it moves at such a frustrating pace with no real direction or unique thought process. It is an episode of two halves, the first half is dull, it is a very generic action story with just faff and filler we dont need, I wish we didn't have to spend so much time with UNIT faff and Clara's bits that were just for the trailer. But the third act has this wonderful extended scene in the graveyard, a genuine emotional conclusion to Danny's story, he stays confident to his character and opens up this brilliant angle on The Doctor. I'm unsure about this series weird 'Am I a good man' thing because it ultimately gets thrown out of the window for the real angle which is exploring The Doctor's methods. It just gets a bit contrived and convenient in order to reveal this thematic moment, Missy giving the Cybermen to The Doctor is an interesting conversation but perhaps a bit muddled because it kind of reduces any stakes to nothing and gives it a far too convenient ending. Michelle Gomez is downright incredible, she plays madhat psychopath gorgeously and I love this obsession with The Doctor, she slips into this role gloriously and honestly keeps this episode chugging on. I do really enjoy that little conclusion of both Clara and The Doctor lying to each other in a really depressing ending (number 1) of these character's relationships. It tries to shoehorn too many elements in at the last minute but does a good job with some of them resulting An inconsistent two-parter with a beautiful first half and a muddled second.
Last Christmas
One thing I came to realise whilst rewatching this series is that it is much stronger on a rewatch, when I first watched it I really disliked a lot of the episodes due to frustrations and exhaustion in the context of the time. That is especially true with this wonderful Christmas special, it is a bit wishy-washy and gets a bit bogged down in itself on occasion but I think it is an absolute treat of a special with some really beautiful qualities. Who would have thought that an episode that literally contains Father Christmas would actually be a quality sci-fi story and not just a dull Christmas nonsense story? The Dream Crab idea is a fantastic Sci-Fi concept and I love how the episode truly revels in playing with its audience and feeling so difficult to track what is reality and what is a dream. I like the fact Santa Claus is essentially this beacon of hope in nightmares, it translates such an iconic part of Christmas really well into a high concept Sci-Fi story, mostly to a fantastic performance by Nick Frost who was born to play Santa. It combines disturbing horror with this idyllic Christmas tone that I love so much, I like how this juxtaposition works its way throughout the whole episode wonderfully. We get a conclusion to the Danny/Clara/Doctor dynamic in Clara coming to terms with his death by turning to The Doctor for help. It actually does an incredible job at showing a change in Capaldi, he is still his cynical self but his relationship with Clara grows and you can tell that Missy's lie about Gallifrey really hurt him but helped him grow as a person. There is one major problem with this episode but it isn't really a problem with the episode itself but the series as a whole, I think this should be Clara's farewell and it seems like it is beautifully working towards that but it resets to normal far too quickly. It is a brilliant follow on from 'Death in Heaven' and that depressing end to The Doctor and Clara's relationship, this could have been a heartbreaking story of The Doctor making a crucial mistake and his obsession with finding Gallifrey resulting in Clara growing old without him. It could have been so dark and tragic, the reveal of old Clara is like a stake to the heart and I wish it wasn't dismissed so early, It detracts from a fantastic episode because at the time I was feeling Clara exhaustion., I enjoy her a lot more on a rewatch but this is just a beautiful ending to their story that isnt even the end which is a shame. A wonderful story that doesn't quite pull through in those closing moments.
I had a lot of fun revisiting Series 8, I remember it being a lot messier than it actually is, which is probably due to just how terrible 'In the Forest of the Night' is but it is actually a strong if inconsistent series as a whole. There are some amazing little stories here and there and even in the worst stories, Capaldi makes them something beautiful. He is incredible in this role, he doesn't fall into dark and brooding archetypes and makes this mad idiot who often doesn't think before he speaks a wonderfully empathetic messy character. I just love him and Coleman in these roles and it keeps afloat the more basic and frustrating stories. Moffat seems less ambitious in this run, but I think that is for the best, his stories have lower stakes and feel more polished rather than gimmicky and overblown. It is a really solid underappreciated series and I think a lot of people should revisit it and appreciate it for what it is.