DOCTOR WHO REVIEW
FUGITIVE OF THE JUDOON
*SPOILER WARNING* A lot of spoilers have been leaked on social media about this week's episode of Doctor Who by viewers watching it whilst it was on so like all my reviews I will say if you do not wish the episode to spoiled then please read this review after you have watched "Fugitive of the Judoon".
There is a lot of big things that will be discussed and brought up and want to give everyone a fair chance.
Hello, and welcome to another Doctor Who review by me Dan Bury on this blog, and today we are going to be taking a look at episode five of ten in Series Twelve which is "Fugitive of the Judoon" an episode that's already causing a shit storm online. The internet has blown up with loads of fans voicing their opinions of their theories and excitement, so let's not waste any time and get straight to it.
I felt that the episode did start off really well in terms of setting up the story, re-introducing the Judoon to a new audience, and picking up from where we left off with Spyfall.
It does all of that really well, and as the episode progressed, I got even more excited and my jaw literally dropped with 'OMG' moments which is something that hasn't happened to me whilst watching a new episode of Doctor Who in a long time. It was a really good episode until the last fifteen minutes, which in my view was like a jenga tower collapsing. It's a shame; it is a bitter shame to have an episode start of so well and actually progress well to go down hill so quickly.
I'll go through what bits I didn't like about the episode first as there really wasn't much I didn't enjoy about this one, there is lots of great moments within it, but it's the big twist at the end which really lets it down for me and it's such a shame, and these aren't just my feelings, a lot of other fans feel this way as well.
The Fugitive of the Judoon turns out to be a past version of the Doctor. Why or how she's on the run isn't explained properly, the audience are left to keep guessing on that one, and Jo Martin's actual performance whilst she was playing the Doctor I didn't like very much either. I didn't appreciate her portrayal of the role in the way it was acted, I didn't like her attitude, and I didn't really like her being the Doctor in general as a big reveal twist, yes it does flip the whole story on it's head - just when you thought it can't anymore amazing it can. It baffles the mind in good ways to some but to others in catastrophic 'WTF' ways.
There is something about that big reveal twist really didn't sit well with me, I am left with an uncomfortable feeling about of all this. I am hoping this will all make sense as the series continues, in my view Jo Martin isn't cannon until I am shown otherwise. If she had been The Rani, that would have been fine with me, and actually have made more sense. It's a 'what if' - 'What if we had Charles Dance as The Master as apposed to Missy', 'What if Roger Delgado hadn't died in a car crash and had lived to play the part in Jon Pertwee's final story?' things like that.
If Ruth had been revealed as The Rani I would have been the happiest man in the world right now to be sitting down watching Doctor Who, alas it was not to be.
That's the only thing I didn't like, but it does create an impact on my view of the episode as a whole with it being such a big plot twist.
The bits I liked, well... Captain Jack IS BACK and I am delighted to see him return, I loved all of Jack's scenes that he was in and I am still flabbergasted and struck by this surprise, not only was I on the edge of my seat, I actually fell of it. I also liked the mystery of Jack's warning to Jaz, Ryan, and Graham. Very mysterious, and a great tease for the Cybermen's return.
Ritu Arya as Gat was really good as well, a shame she wasn't used more as she was a good actress being underused. That is something which is not uncommon in New Doctor Who.
The Judoon were excellent, they're the reason this episode scores a seven instead of a six. Great to see them back in Doctor Who in their first proper story in thirteen years.
I found Graham's speech at the end to the Doctor very heartfelt and genuine, it shows solidarity between the TARDIS crew and how they're four friends who will look out for each other no matter what and I like that. The TARDIS crew should be about companionship and one should have the other's back, friendship, loyalty, and love. I found what Graham said to be very genuine, which I liked a lot.
I'm starting to like this TARDIS team more, Yaz is getting better by the day and Mandip Gill is brilliant, Bradley Walsh absolute delight, Graham definitely my favourite of the three and he is genuinely funny. I like Ryan's wit and cheek in the scenes on Jack's spaceship. This team are really starting to grow and develop their characters more and I like what I see with that. So, keep up the good work.
The visual effects were really good in this as well, I enjoyed the Judoon's blaster effects and of the spaceship. Though I didn't like Ruth's doctor, her TARDIS console room interior I liked, way more then Thirteens.
Lots of exciting twists and turns and shock moments which I adored, and I'm really excited to see what's going to happen in the series finale. I'm not going to over speculate or over think anything, but I am excited for what's to come in the future. This series is a vast improvement over series eleven already and we're only five eps in. I'm impressed.
Fugitive of the Judoon gets a 7 out of 10 from me.
Next Week's I've been reading up on it and sounds really good, and from the next time trailer I am intrigued and can't wait to find out what it's all about next week.
For now it's good bye, thank you for reading this and I will see you again for another Doctor Who Review.
