DOCTOR WHO REVIEW : Series 9 Episode 1 - "The Magician's Apprentice"
So Doctor Who came back to our screens, the past Saturday (19th of September) after a long hiatus.
It was a very bold way to open the series, the way it has and obviously it was a clear step into a new direction in terms of the production path way and the way Steven Moffat wants to present the series.
Now before I begin this review, this is going to be filled with Spoilers so if you haven't seen the episode and you don't want it to be spoiled you may want to turn away now.
We know Capaldi's Doctor now, and he's still developing great characteristics. Clara and Missy are also back, as are Kate Stewart and the new UNIT Team.
Being totally honest even though this is a two parter and I know that my glass should be half full rather than half empty, I felt as an episode it was nothing more than just Okay. I know there are some people who loved it and others who didn't like it quite so much, however I felt it was Okay. The Dalek stuff I liked a lot and the light humour not so much.
This episode is set in three different settings, Modern day Earth (2015), Medieval Times (1138) and the planet Skaro (Planet of the Daleks) I was sceptical at first as to how three settings were going to necessarily work in one episode but honestly it worked out to be just fine, every thing had a reason for being there and it flowed really well in terms of going from one place to the other. We also visit destination like the Planet Karn and The Shadow Proclamation as well.
It's great that we got Davros back, its been a while since 2008 we last saw Davros and now he is back. I'm pleased that they got Julian Bleech back to play Davros as he did such a brilliant job the last time and he was a bit nutty in 2008, but that was due to the way he was written. In this Davros is written a lot better, he's not so off his nut. In any case he is dying, and he summonds the Doctor to his bed sit.
Meanwhile Clara and Missy are on a mission to find The Doctor, the two of them team up and find The Doctor in medieval England, in an arena of some sort to which The Doctor makes a dramatic entrance on a tank playing the guitar and this is where things started to get a little bit silly for me. It all leads back to that light humour which doesn't quite work, I personally wasn't to keen on the lighter humours moments that the episode had to offer.
I liked all the stuff with Colony Sarff, I thought the effect of Sarff was good when he unraveled and turned into a giant snake, that was brilliant and a really impressive technique.
All in all, for me it was all about leading up to the last fifteen minutes as that for me was the best part of the episode overall. We're on Skaro, We got Daleks and lots of them, including classic Daleks such as 60's versions, Remembrance renegade, Special Weapons Dalek, Evil of the Daleks Emperor Guard, even a lookalike Dalek Sec, though I prefer to see it as just being a black Dalek, We got Davros, We got a helpless Doctor, Companion in jeopardy. What more do you want to situate the definition of 'peril'.
What kind of ruined it for me was the trailer at the end of the credits, I would have preferred it if there wasn't a trailer because by having a trailer, it gives you an insight in what to expect and with a story which ends on such a chilling cliffhanger; a trailer takes the fun away of not knowing what to expect.
Clara and Missy are supposedly killed by the Daleks, which I think is quite interesting. I know they're going to be fine because there's the rest of the series to go but still even knowing that it kind of puts you on the back foot into what to expect in this story.
We also get treated to some nice clips from various other Doctors from other Davros stories such as Tom Baker in Genesis in that famous bit in Genesis where he has the wires in his hand and he's ready to do it and we get the quote of 'if you knew a child could grow up to be evil and kill and destroy millions of lives, could you kill that child knowing what he'll become'. as well as that we got clips from the Fifth Doctor in Resurrection, The Sixth Doctor in Revelation, The Seventh Doctor from Remembrance, etc. I thought that added a nice touch of reference to the scene, especially the Tom Baker quote from Genesis.
The main question that sits in our minds at the end is, will The Doctor kill a young Davros in order to save Clara and Missy?
I don't quite get how Davros survived, because as soon as The Doctor knew the little boy in the marsh pit was Davros, he left him alone. How did he survive? to me that's not clear. And also why was this episode called 'The Magician's Apprentice'? those two bits are the only bits that don't make sense. other than that I thought it was an okay episode.
I look forward to the next part. But for now, I'm going to give it a 3/5.
NEXT WEEK : The Witch's Familiar.
