DOCTOR WHO REVIEW: SERIES 10 EPISODE 11 - WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME
The finale begins. Episode eleven or in some cases episode twelve is always the episode which sets everything up for the epic conclusion which is yet to come at the end of every series. In regards to Series ten, we already have had lots of exciting and fresh new adventures happen and we've got to know the doctor and bill as the series has tested their friendship.
Now they face the ultimate test where the Doctor wants to try and make Missy one of the good guys. He knows deep down at the bottom of his hearts that there is the potential for there to be some good in her, and deep down he thinks she knows that too. So in order to examine this fully, the Doctor decides to put Missy in the drivers seat and try her out in how she might play in the Doctor's role.
The situation being he picks a random scenario, with its own dangers and problems to solve and see how she does while he watches from the TARDIS console room. But this is Doctor Who and Steven Moffat so it's highly unlikely to end up being a smooth job like a regular episode would be. I think it's just a matter of bad luck that of all the places to pick, the Doctor picks a spaceship on the brink of disaster as it heads towards a black hole. What's extraordinary about this ship is, it's a ship of infinite space built up of several floors, it's almost like there is an alternate universe happening in your back garden on every floor.
What's interesting about the beginning for is that it starts off as being like a regular episode that we'd expect to find and then it's turned on its side after Bill is brutally shot down and killed and we actually see the damage done, we see a hole in her chest and it's actually heart breaking to see her fall to floor in slow motion, it states a shock factor of 'Oh my god! Bill's dead and we're not even half way through the episode' She's taken away to a different flaw and the Doctor sends her a message to her physic memory simply saying "wait for me" while he, Missy and Nardole find a way of getting to her.
What they don't know is that time moves faster or slower in each part of the ship, and we have no idea what's going to happen next. There is constant turn of surprises which are waiting around the corner which we as viewers have the pleasure of sitting back and enjoying.
Throughout this whole ordeal, we follow Bill's journey through her life on the ship, and she's taken to the operating theatre and had an operation done on her, what shocked me when I first watched it was the fact she had her chest was square, she had a box shaped rectangle attached to her chest which looked as if the operation was only half done, sort of to drop you a clue into what was going to happen at the end, and as she stays up there waiting for the Doctor to come and rescue her, she sees other patients on the ward who have clothes masks over their faces and lots of tubes sticking out of them, a chilling moment was the "Pain" scene where a line full of patients are crying out and had had the volume of their speakers turned to mute so that the nurses can't hear them. It's almost as if these poor people are being ignored and shoved to one side like outcasts.
Bill also has a creepy guy following her around who looks sort of like a rat from his facial features and speaks with an Albanian sort of accent and he is very mysterious. It's through him that we are guided through the ship, he is with Bill throughout most of her time where she is, and we get the sense to believe that he is helping her, but has a hidden agenda.
In the meantime, the Doctor is desperately trying to get to Bill in order to save her, with the aid of Missy and Nardole.
Bill in the end, meets a terrible and chilling fate right when the Doctor and Nardole finally get to her.
What happens in this story and at the end of this episode I think was spoilt by the publicity made months in advance before series ten was released. About that 1) Mondasian Cybermen were coming back and 2) the return of the Master played by John Simm. It is a shame that things leak or there is inside information on the production, it just spoils any form of massive surprise for people watching it. The fans mostly. If this had been quietened down and no one knew what was going to happen, and we were dropped clues as to what was going to happen throughout the episode and then to get the big reveal, that would have been jaw dropping.
I've come into an age now, where nothing or very little surprises me nowadays. I have nothing to get excited about in comparison to when I was a child. In the case of Doctor Who it's mainly due to situations like this where something is leaked online or I find out on my social media what's happening to decrease my expectations of anticipation towards seeing it live as I'm watching the episode. If I hadn't of known all that I did know, I think this would have turned out to be one of the best well-kept surprises in Doctor Who's history since before 2008. To have the Albanian guy reveal himself to be The Master in disguise or to find out that Tenth Planet style Cybermen would be in it, both would have been a tremendously pleasant shock, but also speaking as someone who doesn't work on Doctor Who, I understand and know about the pressures in which Moffat and his production team face, it could have been a circumstance where they had no choice but to make a formal announcement about it, due to something which had happened down the line that forced them. It well have been a number of things, and I don't know for sure why. I'm merely pointing out that if those circumstances hadn't have happened, it would have been an amazing reveal and in some cases may have helped the viewing of the story better.
As a result of this, it causes the episode to lack a sense of suspense for me because I know what's going to happen, I would expect to see it.
The story ends on a great cliffhanger though, I did enjoy seeing the Doctor's face when the master walked out and stood by Missy and gave the whole "Genesis of the Cybermen" speech. I thought the ending was very effective. Even to get a close up on Bill within the suit and sheading a tear, I thought was effective. It did add to the emphasis of the drama and put episode twelve in good setting to pick up from.
So there are lots of good and effective things in this episode, just let down by faults in the production and early publicity. 8/10.
Next week: The Doctor Falls.
Now they face the ultimate test where the Doctor wants to try and make Missy one of the good guys. He knows deep down at the bottom of his hearts that there is the potential for there to be some good in her, and deep down he thinks she knows that too. So in order to examine this fully, the Doctor decides to put Missy in the drivers seat and try her out in how she might play in the Doctor's role.
The situation being he picks a random scenario, with its own dangers and problems to solve and see how she does while he watches from the TARDIS console room. But this is Doctor Who and Steven Moffat so it's highly unlikely to end up being a smooth job like a regular episode would be. I think it's just a matter of bad luck that of all the places to pick, the Doctor picks a spaceship on the brink of disaster as it heads towards a black hole. What's extraordinary about this ship is, it's a ship of infinite space built up of several floors, it's almost like there is an alternate universe happening in your back garden on every floor.
What's interesting about the beginning for is that it starts off as being like a regular episode that we'd expect to find and then it's turned on its side after Bill is brutally shot down and killed and we actually see the damage done, we see a hole in her chest and it's actually heart breaking to see her fall to floor in slow motion, it states a shock factor of 'Oh my god! Bill's dead and we're not even half way through the episode' She's taken away to a different flaw and the Doctor sends her a message to her physic memory simply saying "wait for me" while he, Missy and Nardole find a way of getting to her.
What they don't know is that time moves faster or slower in each part of the ship, and we have no idea what's going to happen next. There is constant turn of surprises which are waiting around the corner which we as viewers have the pleasure of sitting back and enjoying.
Throughout this whole ordeal, we follow Bill's journey through her life on the ship, and she's taken to the operating theatre and had an operation done on her, what shocked me when I first watched it was the fact she had her chest was square, she had a box shaped rectangle attached to her chest which looked as if the operation was only half done, sort of to drop you a clue into what was going to happen at the end, and as she stays up there waiting for the Doctor to come and rescue her, she sees other patients on the ward who have clothes masks over their faces and lots of tubes sticking out of them, a chilling moment was the "Pain" scene where a line full of patients are crying out and had had the volume of their speakers turned to mute so that the nurses can't hear them. It's almost as if these poor people are being ignored and shoved to one side like outcasts.
Bill also has a creepy guy following her around who looks sort of like a rat from his facial features and speaks with an Albanian sort of accent and he is very mysterious. It's through him that we are guided through the ship, he is with Bill throughout most of her time where she is, and we get the sense to believe that he is helping her, but has a hidden agenda.
In the meantime, the Doctor is desperately trying to get to Bill in order to save her, with the aid of Missy and Nardole.
Bill in the end, meets a terrible and chilling fate right when the Doctor and Nardole finally get to her.
What happens in this story and at the end of this episode I think was spoilt by the publicity made months in advance before series ten was released. About that 1) Mondasian Cybermen were coming back and 2) the return of the Master played by John Simm. It is a shame that things leak or there is inside information on the production, it just spoils any form of massive surprise for people watching it. The fans mostly. If this had been quietened down and no one knew what was going to happen, and we were dropped clues as to what was going to happen throughout the episode and then to get the big reveal, that would have been jaw dropping.
I've come into an age now, where nothing or very little surprises me nowadays. I have nothing to get excited about in comparison to when I was a child. In the case of Doctor Who it's mainly due to situations like this where something is leaked online or I find out on my social media what's happening to decrease my expectations of anticipation towards seeing it live as I'm watching the episode. If I hadn't of known all that I did know, I think this would have turned out to be one of the best well-kept surprises in Doctor Who's history since before 2008. To have the Albanian guy reveal himself to be The Master in disguise or to find out that Tenth Planet style Cybermen would be in it, both would have been a tremendously pleasant shock, but also speaking as someone who doesn't work on Doctor Who, I understand and know about the pressures in which Moffat and his production team face, it could have been a circumstance where they had no choice but to make a formal announcement about it, due to something which had happened down the line that forced them. It well have been a number of things, and I don't know for sure why. I'm merely pointing out that if those circumstances hadn't have happened, it would have been an amazing reveal and in some cases may have helped the viewing of the story better.
As a result of this, it causes the episode to lack a sense of suspense for me because I know what's going to happen, I would expect to see it.
The story ends on a great cliffhanger though, I did enjoy seeing the Doctor's face when the master walked out and stood by Missy and gave the whole "Genesis of the Cybermen" speech. I thought the ending was very effective. Even to get a close up on Bill within the suit and sheading a tear, I thought was effective. It did add to the emphasis of the drama and put episode twelve in good setting to pick up from.
So there are lots of good and effective things in this episode, just let down by faults in the production and early publicity. 8/10.
Next week: The Doctor Falls.
