Doctor Who: Series 10 Episode 8 - The Lie of the Land
Earth has been invaded and Bill is living alone, an isolated figure surviving in occupied Britain. The Doctor is imprisoned and appears to be on the side of the enemy, flooding the airwaves with fake news. Bill and Nardole must embark on a dangerous mission to rescue the Doctor and lead the resistance against the new regime. Whatever the cost.
This episode this week, has very much the sort of feel that "Last of the Timelords" had when Earth was under the Master's rule. It kind of had that sense of feel to it when I first started watching it, the sort of post-apocalyptic style to the world.
This episode marks the conclusion to the three part story that we've had over the past three weeks, it wraps up the storyline with the monks and their whole plan to invade Earth and it really tests the Doctor and Bill's friendship. When I started watching "The Lie of the Land" it started very strong, I liked how everything began and the introduction into this world under the rule of the monks. It was very sort of doom and gloom and not very pleasant, people brainwashed into believing that the monks have always been here when in reality they've been here for no more than six months. At the start Bill seems pretty helpless. She's on her own, she's scared, she's caught up in world based on propaganda and lies, but despite all of that she never loses hope in the fact that the world that she's living in now under the rule of the monks isn't real and that there is a way out and that things can be put right and it's only when Nardole comes back she starts that shows a sign that that can happen. Nardole's arrival in the story is Bill's confirmation that things will be put right.
They both go to find the Doctor, they find him only to discover that the Doctor has joined the monks and is helping them. Bill then shoots him dead, which causes the Doctor to start regenerating, false alarm, there were blanks in the gun. So why did the Doctor start regenerating if he was only shot with blanks? does he have it ready as a failsafe or something like that? and also if he really did get shot, we'd be able to see the bullet wounds in where he got shot, no bullet wounds made me question "hmm blanks?" basically in that scene, I think the Doctor was just being a total dick to Bill. Because at the end of it he just said "Ah ha! I got you! It was all part of my trick to see if you were not under the influence of the monks" when she clearly wasn't. The emotionally centered performance that Bill gives in that scene leading up to her shooting the Doctor is clearly genuine so why is it all part of a test?
It's only after they go into the vault and see Missy that they get an idea as to how to beat the monks. It all seems so simple if you think about it. Speaking of the monks themselves, we didn't actually see very much of them in this and when we did they didn't do very much at all. They seemed to just want to let themselves be defeated, because you don't see any other monks trying to stop the Doctor's insurgency, apart from the bit where they're in the Pyramid and two monks zap some of the soldiers to show that they're badass. If I was a monk, I'd try everything I possibly could to stop any resistance from preventing the cause of our rule of a planet which we like being the masters of. There didn't seem to be much resistance from the monks in wanting to prevent change and in the end, they just bugger off anyway. Also a Pyramid in the middle of London. F*cking Pyramids! what is Steven Moffat's obsession with Pyramids?
The ending of this is the most interesting part of the episode to talk about. Spoiler alert coming, so please look away now if don't want the ending to be spoilt for you.
Bill defeats the monks with love. Basically, there's this head piece which is wired up to this thing that channels the monks power and gives them influence on the world, the way of beating to them is to corrupt the channel flow of that power. the Doctor tries in a similar thing to what he did in 'Face of Evil' where he tries to wire his brain into the computer, but that turns out to not work out in his favour, in fact, he makes it worse and ends up hurting himself. Bill decides upon herself to fix the problem that she started and link herself to it, it's the memory of her mum which she channels into the system and then suddenly everything sorts itself out and the monks bugger off. The end. That's what's so funny about all of this the monks just run away in a cowardly fashion. Not exactly the way which I expected this story to end.
Things that I liked? It's hard to say. I did enjoy the episode. I didn't dislike the story very much, but I can't say that I rated Bill very much in this. The Doctor was a bit of an arsehole, Nardole I don't like anyway, Missy didn't see very much of her and when we did she just talked in riddles. So you know, it was just one of those episodes for me.
5/10.
Next week looks good. The Ice Warriors are back! and more than one this time. Let's hope it's a good one.
