I'll start this post by saying that this is all my own personal opinion and view, you are completely free to disagree. Also - spoiler warning!
If you know me, you'll know I'm completely obsessed with Doctor Who, to the point which the show and its characters inspire very big aspects of my life, such as, my morals, my perspective on the world, my dress sense and my social life. If you know me personally, you'll also know that there has been a new series air recently, because I'll have pestered you to watch it, or at least asked you if you were watching. I know some people who like to discuss Doctor Who (you are the saviours of my sanity), this post is mostly for them, but please, keep reading, you may develop an interest!
I've decided to first talk about all ten episodes in the series, in order, then I will rank them and explain my ranking. I will then talk about things I liked and disliked in general about the series.
Episode One: Spyfall, Part 1
Spyfall 1 was, for me, a 'return to form'. I hate that saying in most contexts, as it limits the evolution of whatever the saying is applied to, however, I feel it is appropriate to use. This episode was the first episode in Chibnall's run that felt confident, it felt like he knew what he was doing. There were references and returns and characters that felt like they were real people, not characters in a family tv series. The story itself, about a series of deaths of spies across the globe, which seem to link to Daniel Barton, the CEO of a media corporation, who was wonderfully played by Lenny Henry. The story was thoroughly enjoyable and introduced us to the first villains since 2017 that felt like a real threat, not only the Kasaavin, but the return of the Master, who was played by Sacha Dhawan, who was number two on my 'actors I want to play the Master list'. It would be an understatement to say that Dhawan's delivery was perfection. Jodie Whittaker, who returned for a second series as the Doctor, also shone in this episode, much to my delight. I felt the companions, Graham, Ryan and Yasmin, still needed work, but their characters did feel more developed, much helped my our reintroductions to them at the start of the episode. That being said, there were some questionable moments in the script, though most of them very small portions, the most prominent being Ryan introducing himself to Barton. The other main criticism of this episode I have is the use of Stephen Fry, who played C, the leader of MI6, who appeared on screen for a mere five minutes, during which he makes a joke regarding the Doctor's gender, which are really not that funny anymore, especially when countered by the heavy-handed, though well-meaning "I've had an upgrade." If you are going to use Stephen Fry, you may as well use him properly! Overall, however, this episode was a massive success with me.
Episode Two: Spyfall, Part 2
I'll admit, going into this episode, I was very nervous, there was a lot set up in part one that needed resolving, but it needed resolving properly. Although ultimately, the resolution was not incredible, it did the job and took us on a good journey, which saw the Doctor meet Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan, two historical figures who the audience was briefly educated about. In all honesty, I believe some of the problems in this episode are to do with Khan, as her character seemed to be underwritten and rather pointless, merely an excuse to visit another time zone, which also posed another problem that many people (myself included, to an extent) with the episode, specifically the Master disguising as a Nazi general. The problem I have isn't with the fact that he is dressed as a Nazi, as this does suit his character, but the Doctor's solution to getting out of the situation (disabling the perception filter that stopped other Nazis seeing he looked to be Asian) meant that she was putting the Master, indirectly, into a concentration camp. Whilst I don't believe this was done completely on purpose, I believe people have mistaken the intentions of Chibnall, I do believe that the writers should think a little more when dealing with sensitive subjects, such as Nazis and negatives perspectives on ethnic minorities. I have so far been rather negative about this episode, though I did really enjoy it, I enjoyed the companions' interactions with each other and having to develop plans for themselves, as there was much less of a focus on the Doctor, letting audiences get to know her friends a little better. Laser shoes were always going to be good fun, too. This episode also introduced us to the series arc, the mystery of the 'Timeless Child' and the destruction of Gallifrey (again), which really nicely planted the seed of excitement in my head, that naturally grew into a tree that sprouted apples for me to pelt my poor friends with. Though it couldn't beat part 1, Spyfall, Part 2 was a solid episode and another enjoyable watch.
Episode Three: Orphan 55
The most controversial episode of the series, the episode that divides the fans and caused wars all across social media. I want to make it clear from the start, I enjoyed this episode whilst watching it, though afterwards, I think there was certainly some significant problems that made themselves apparent. I'll start positively though and say that I think the concept was fantastic. The idea of a holiday resort, or 'fakation', that is built in a dangerous area, for profit, is a very familiar idea. The dangers posed by 'the Dregs' was very threatening, the Dregs themselves being genuinely rather frightening creatures, and really could have been so much more, however, the episode seemed to lose focus halfway through, specifically, when Benni, an elderly visitor to the fakation, went missing. The relationship between Benni and his partner, Vilma, was very strangely written, we were obviously supposed to sympathise with Vilma's situation, but I found myself unable to, due to her constant cries for "Benn-EE!" After Benni has been- dealt with- by the Dregs, all of the survivors escape into a series of tunnels that run under the dead planet's (Orphan 55) surface. Whilst in these tunnels, it is revealed to us that Orphan 55 is actually Earth, in the far future, killed by climate change and nuclear war, this is done by showing us an underground train station sign, which is written in a foreign language, which surely should have been English to the TARDIS team, since the TARDIS's telepathic field should translate that. Soon the characters come to the realisation that the Dregs are in fact mutated human beings. The tunnels themselves continue to confuse me, as we see Vilma suddenly give Yaz her remaining oxygen, and runs off to be eaten by the Dregs. All of the characters in this episode were very odd. An explanation as to how the security was breached, to begin with, is given halfway through the episode surrounding the character Bella, who is revealed to be the daughter of the Kane, the owner of the establishment. Bella decides to endanger everyone in the facility as a means of revenge for her mother, who was not present in her childhood, as she was building the fakation. I really don't like the reasoning behind this, as it seems extremely unrealistic and immature, which leads to a rather unlikeable character, so when Ryan displays a romantic interest in her, it is extremely difficult to support. Onto the ending, which is the most problematic part of the entire episode, mainly due to how rushed it felt. Not only do we get a series of convenient and quick explanations of escapes and 'winning moves', but as soon as we realise Bella and Kane are going to die saving the Doctor and friends, after making up all too quickly, the Doctor gives a speech about how humanity needs to change if we don't want the planet to end up like Orphan 55. Instead of having the speech at the end of the episode, I think the speech would have been much better received if given in the tunnels, as the survivors escape the Dregs. Taking it back to Bella and Kane's sacrifice, a big problem I had was why Ryan let this go so easily, he didn't seem bothered by it much, I was expecting a Donna Noble style 'save them' moment, which would have added lots to Ryan as a character. Sadly, this episode didn't entertain nearly as much as the first watch, I would say initially, this episode was great, but now, after much thought, there is hardly anything left after so much of it can be picked apart.
Episode Four: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
After a rather flimsy episode, I hoped this episode would prove that Spyfall wasn't just a fluke. I knew this was the historic figure episode, which are so often the weakest in the series, however, much like series 11, Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror proved to be a good adventure, heavily outshining Orphan 55. The main reason for the episode's success was the portrayal of Tesla himself, by Goran Višnjić, who gave a performance that outweighed the rest of the cast, majorly. Tesla gets my vote for the next companion! Robert Glenister also appeared in the episode, playing Tesla's rival; Thomas Edison. Glenister brought just enough of a cold persona to the character, to suit the accounts given about him throughout the episode, which sufficiently educated me on Tesla and Edison. The real monsters of the episode were the Skithra, large scorpion-like beings, with glowing red eyes. The Skithra are another species to be added to the plethora of shapeshifters in Doctor Who, which now I find tiring, despite the ability to shapeshift was rather vital to the story, it is something I feel is becoming a little 'deus ex machina'. The story itself was nicely paced, with a decent payoff, but unfortunately, the only real standout feature was Tesla, who I would love to see back.
Episode Five: Fugitive of the Judoon
From the get-go, it was clear Fugitive of the Judoon was set to be an exciting episode, solely because of the return of the Judoon, who in the end, seemed overshadowed by the many bombshells that were dropped throughout this exhilarating fifty minutes. The story starts by introducing us to Ruth Clayton, a Gloucester tour guide, who has a rather shifty husband. Soon after our introduction, we are reacquainted with the rhino-faced alien beings, the Judoon, who look for a fugitive. The Judoon themselves have been improved drastically, with new masks, which are animated superbly, giving them a great, life-like quality that really adds a level of fear to their on-screen presence. Not long after the Doctor and friends arrive back on Earth, the episode really starts to ramp up, firstly, when Graham is teleported onto a strange ship, that is piloted by none other than Captain Jack Harkness. At this point, I was watching with a large grin on my face, in utter shock and disbelief. Back on Earth, the Doctor, Ryan and Yaz are trying to stop the Judoon from attacking the apartment of Ruth and her husband, Lee. The Doctor enters the house, where we are very cleverly lead to believe that Lee is the fugitive, though we are not cleverly lead to believe that the Doctor, Yaz and especially Ryan are as calm and as dismissive as they are when they realise they have lost Graham in the midst of an invasion of brutal space policemen. Soon after the Doctor escapes with Ruth, Lee is revealed to be the fugitive's associate, who hides secrets of the extraterrestrial kind, Yaz and Ryan are teleported aboard Jack's ship, where he reveals to the companions that they need to warn the Doctor not to give the lone cyberman what it wants. Though I was delighted to have Jack back, I couldn't help but feel that his part of the episode was simply laziness, Jack would have been much better placed in Spyfall. Placed in this episode, Harkness felt like a place to put the companions, so there wasn't any need to write complex dialogue in the final ten minutes of the episode. As the episode climaxed, we learn Ruth isn't all that she seemed, we learn that she is a Time Lord, not any Time Lord though, she is the Doctor. This does make up for the lazy Jack excuse, as we are as confused as our Doctor (Whittaker) as to what is going on, which makes for some great food for thought. As we are trying to get our head around the mystery of where the Ruth-Doctor fits into the timeline of the Doctor's lives, we are confronted with more questions: who is Gat? Why was the Doctor being hunted down by the Time Lords? Why didn't Gat know about the destruction of Gallifrey? All very well placed questions that really made for a great ending, leaving me wanting as much as I could get, already bored of waiting for episode six.
Episode Six: Praxeus
Praxeus was one of the episodes that originally really attracted me, especially from the sneak previews in the DWM, or the fantastically Hitchcock-esque shots from the trailer. Unfortunately, I felt this episode really failed to deliver. The episode certainly had its moments, such as saving astronaut, Adam Lang, or the very tense moments leading up to the discovery of the tunnels under the sea. Other than that, the episode felt like a real flop; apart from the regulars, I found it very hard to like any of the characters, especially those we were supposed to like, Jake seemed like a rather selfish person, even the end couldn't spin that, Gabriela (possibly my least favourite character of the entire series) was extremely annoying and rather arrogant. I felt we weren't given enough of a chance to get to know Adam at all, we were supposed to emotionally converge with Jake to feel something, but that was virtually impossible. Suki Cheng, who was revealed to be the hidden villain at the beginning of the episode's act III, felt very oddly portrayed, I felt as if it was a human, merely pretending to be an alien scientist, which now that I think about it, seems like a nicer way of saying 'Molly Harris was not a very good actor.' I really don't like to so plainly barrage a piece of work with blatant criticism, but I feel it is necessary to point out many illogical or not very well thought through points of the episode, the most prominent being what happens to Gabriela's vlog partner, who is found or taken by medical workers (who were conveniently out in the middle of the wilderness) to an already abandoned hospital and left there, whilst nobody has alerted Gabriela of her partner's condition, even if she took herself to the hospital, you'd expect her to have notified Gabriela of her deteriorating health. Another piece of writing I really didn't like was the ending, specifically saving Jake. If the Doctor could materialise around him as the ship explodes, this suggests she could have saved many other people from death, namely Adric, the young companion of the early eighties era of the show. Although it is hard with this episode, I will end on a positive note by saying the cinematography for this episode was very good.
Episode Seven: Can You Hear Me?
Can You Hear Me? (which is the first episode of the show to contain a question mark) was the episode I knew the least about going into, there was no prior information released before the episode that gave anything away, there was only one piece of filming done on location that gave any information about the episode, which was hardly anything. Naturally, because of this, I was very interested to see what this was all about. The opening sequence introduced us to Tahira, a citizen of 14th century Aleppo. The presentation of Tahira in the opening minutes led me to believe the show was about to pull another Ruth situation, though this was not the case. In Aleppo, there is a group of strange werewolf-like creatures, who are later revealed to be manifestations of the nightmares of Tahira. Whilst the Doctor investigates Aleppo, her companions are all at home, with their friends and family. Not only does this give a very good opportunity for character development for the companions, but it also gave Whittaker the opportunity to completely control the scenes in which she is alone, which she does incredibly well, at the time of airing, her performance as the Doctor in this episode was her best. Though Ryan and Graham didn't get as much explicit character development in this episode, they weren't the ones who needed it the most, though we still got sufficient development on Graham's cancer fears, which I'll talk more about later. Ryan didn't get much, though we were offered more of an insight into his home life and the interior conflict he is having about travelling with the Doctor. Yaz, on the other hand, got lots of development this episode, associating with her the idea that the Doctor is the one to have given her purpose, but not only the Doctor, the police officer who gave her help when she needed it most, which was a very welcome and positive addition to the episode, though I still feel the companions are not developed enough. The latter half of the episode focused on the immortals known as Zellin and Rakaya, both of whom were played perfectly by Ian Gelder and Clare-Hope Ashitey. The story here was very strong, especially the trap the Doctor fell into, releasing Rakaya from imprisonment. We were also treated to mainstream Doctor Who's first cartoon sequence, which beautifully explained how Zellin and Rakaya ended up in their situations. Like many of the most recent episodes of Who, the ending is the problem with the episode. Fortunately, I feel the resolution itself was well done, it was not the most complex thing the series pulled off, but it worked. However, I feel, again, like many previous episodes, the story was tied off way too quickly. In the final moments of the episode, we are given a rather delicate moment in which Graham tries to talk to the Doctor about his fears of his cancer returning. This point of the episode caused much controversy online, and I can understand why, because as human beings, generally, when someone voices personal concerns, we try to help as much as possible. The Doctor does not try to help, however, instead, she tells Graham that she is "too socially awkward" to help in the passing moment. Many people misread this as the Doctor being plainly insensitive, though I think they forget the many previous occasions the Doctor has been horribly insensitive, without knowing it, such as in series nine's Under the Lake, when the Doctor has to be handed cards, to prompt him to show the slightest sign of sympathy, which ends up backfiring completely, when he reads the slashes written in between words. However, my perspective on the interaction between the Doctor and Graham was that the Doctor was not being insensitive, but in fact, she was just trying her best. As someone who struggles with social situations, especially verbal interaction, and as someone who has often been picked up on saying things that may be considered insensitive, I see this as the Doctor trying her best to make herself comfortable, while trying to prevent herself from offending Graham or appearing cold, though, sadly, this is how some people read it. The only negativity I have for the episode is the very inconsistent special effects, which is outweighed heavily by the many positive things about the episode, including performance, sets, story and cinematography.
Episode Eight: The Haunting of Villa Diodati
The series's token scary episode turned out to be one of the most memorable episodes of Doctor Who for the past few years. Not only did it take its viewers' prejudices and concerns about being the scary episode (usually being branded as filler) and another historic figures episode (usually known for being weaker) and tear them to shreds, but it may have just redefined both categories. Not only done with the incredible acting from guest stars, all of whom were fantastically introduced, and all felt like fleshed-out characters, but the fantastic story Maxine Alderton placed her characters in. The story started off like any other haunted house episode of any television show started (not necessarily a bad thing), with tense and ironic talk of the supernatural. Soon after the arrival of the Doctor and her team, we also get to see even more strange goings-on, including a skeleton hand, moving by itself, and even apparitions. As the story intensifies, the layout of the house starts to change, or loop, and Polidori starts moving as if possessed, which ends in the Doctor figuring out what is happening. Soon after, the episode presents a large twist, in the arrival of the lone cyberman, or Ashad. Ashad himself is a fantastic character, who is extremely interesting and very unsettling, not only due to his broken-down appearance, but his demeanour and ironically non-robotic thought processes. Ashad has come to 1816, looking for the Cyberium, a physical manifestation of everything the cybermen have ever known. Not only is this concept a good one, especially for the cybermen, but the stakes that come with letting Ashad get what he wants poses a fantastic argument between the Doctor and the rest of the characters. Listening to Jack's warning from Fugitive of the Judoon, Ryan urges the Doctor not to give the Cyberium, which is inside Percy Shelley, to Ashad, which will kill Shelley, but the Doctor argues that killing Shelley will cause many repercussions in the future, possibly including Ryan ceasing to exist. The argument that happens could have been rather calm, but (thankfully) Jodie Whittaker's Doctor finally loses her patience. This the first time we get to see the true 'angry Doctor' that becomes a staple in the portrayal of the Doctor. This was the moment I enjoyed most from the episode, not only because of the moral questions that are asked, essentially in the most sci-fi trolley problem that could ever be presented, but the performances from every actor in this scene is just phenomenal. Eventually, the Doctor decides to save Shelley, and then gives the lone cyberman what it wanted all along, which is very effective, and further reminded the audience that, as the Doctor said, the team is not such a flat structure all of the time. There is nothing I can think of to criticise in this episode, there was a constantly moving, perfect pace, fantastic writing and seriously good acting. As the Doctor and friends leave, the tease that ghosts could really exist is also a fantastically cheesy addition that I love, just a perfect touch to a family sci-fi show.
Episode Nine: Ascension of the Cybermen
The first part of Chris Chibnall's second finale proved that he really was going to be improving from the first five minutes, not only is there a real sense of despair in the fantastic opening scene, taking place on Earth in the far future, which was shot on a fantastic set, which was actually on location. We are also introduced to a group of survivors, most of whom later become rather developed for guest stars (which is no bad thing!). The opening only really contains a few slightly annoying features, such as the brother who 'doesn't speak anymore' (was your budget getting a bit tight, eh?) and the extremely lazy design of the cyberdrones, which really didn't matter much, but I think they could have been a lot more effective than just a fleet of flying cyberman heads. At the very end of this scene, the Doctor becomes very snappy with her companions, not for the first time this series, which I really enjoyed seeing, she orders them to flee, however, Ryan gets separated, which initially scared me, but when he found the Doctor, I realised we would now get something I had wanted since the beginning of series eleven: Ryan and the Doctor on a team. When the Doctor splits the group, she nearly always puts Graham and Ryan together, understandably, but I have always wanted to see Whittaker's kooky, child-like character paired with Tosin Cole's goofy at times, but rather cool character. I liked this a lot, but I also liked the opportunity this supplied to strengthen Yaz and Graham's relationship, which had been exhibited in Praxeus (which was one of the only strong points of the episode). I'll skip much later into the episode, because there really isn't that much to talk about, other than some very scientifically inaccurate space scenes and Ashad being intimidating. On the cyber-carrier ship, we are given a rather tense ten minutes when Graham and Ravio (a survivor) discover the freshly designed 'warrior cybermen', which I hope are the default design for the foreseeable future, because they are very, very cool. Whilst this is happening, the Doctor and Ryan, along with Ethan (another survivor) land on a planet they believe to be 'Ko Sharmus', which is where 'the boundary' is. Soon after landing, we discover Ko Sharmus is actually a person, the guardian of the boundary, which is revealed to be a portal to Gallifrey. Just after we discover this, the Master makes a fantastic entrance, through the portal and exclaims that everything is about to change forever. Cue the trademark Doctor Who cliffhanger noise, which I have never been more unhappy to hear, I just wanted part two there and then! Throughout the episode, we were given numerous vignettes, featuring the life of a man named Brendan, who was found as a baby in the Irish countryside. Brendan grows up to be a police officer, who one day gets into a situation that results in him being shot and falling off of a cliff. Miraculously, he survives, much to the surprise of the people who know him. As a much older man, Brendan retires from the police force and on the way out, is confronted by two men, his adopted father and his previous mentor, both of whom have not aged. The two men take him into the back room and proceed to wipe his mind, telling him that they have to start again. I'll be honest, the Brendan storyline was the most interesting part of this episode, for me, after thinking about it, I realised that really, not much happened at all, the only parts that really mattered were the Brendan vignettes and the last ten to fifteen minutes, although this is a criticism, the good part about this is that the first half an hour, though not supplying much story, was very entertaining. It set up nicely the grand finale, but maybe forgot that it was an episode itself.
Episode Ten: The Timeless Children
As far as Doctor Who finales go, I don't believe there has been one ever this big, bold and lore-changing. The episode was a rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from anger to delight, with side helpings of shock and relief. Since Spyfall, I had, along with many other fans, wanted a Whittaker and Dhawan central episode, focusing on how they bounce off of each other incredibly. The episode gave us just that, showing us actors who both very obviously play their characters with passion and with respect for each of their characters' respective pasts. I found myself grinning with morbid enjoyment as the Master delivered some incredibly revealing lines, my favourite being the "ask me why I did it" exchange, which perfectly sums up the Master as an entity. Whittaker also had powerful moments in which I found myself internally cheering or silenced in shock, the best, by far, being when the Doctor resorts to attacking the Master for details on her forgotten past. There were so many other magnificent things in this episode, like the cybermasters, which again, managed to sum up the Master's very show-offy side, as well as the skilled strategist that he is. The appearance of Jo Martin as 'the Ruth Doctor' was also very welcome, and I can very much forgive the show for not explaining exactly where she fit, due to the beautifully Doctory moment in which the Ruth Doctor tells Whittakers Doctor that she hasn't ever been limited by who she was before, meaning it really doesn't matter. The episode didn't focus just on the Doctor and Master, though, there were many great moments featuring the companions, such as the wonderful heart-to-heart between Graham and Yaz, and their plan involving posing as cybermen, which honestly, I believe could have lead to a much greater plot point. One of the only negative thoughts I had coming out of the episode was that there needed to be a bit more companion drama, there was plenty for the Doctor, but the companions really didn't have any. Really, in my completely dark mentality, I was looking for a death. I believe a companion death would have added so much more to this episode, and I can think of a great place for each of them to have been mowed down (I promise, I'm no psycho!). If Ryan was shot after celebrating his victory by the cybermen that were coming over the hill behind him, to be discovered by Yaz and Graham, this would have supplied some really heartbreaking television, it would have opened the opportunity to really develop the two surviving characters. One further development could be, if Ryan had died then, for Graham to sacrifice himself instead of Ko Sharmus at the end of the episode, claiming that the only thing he had left now was the Doctor, and she needed saving. Alternatively, Ryan could have killed either Yaz or Graham before they unmasked from their cybersuits, leading to a guilt storyline, or perhaps even rage at the Doctor for letting them into a situation that was this bad, which would have been very interesting. Essentially what I wanted from the companions in this episode was a little more effect, something to further connect us, at the cost of another, especially because I felt Ko Sharmus's sacrifice felt a little bit weak, seeing as we had no connection to him at all. There were two very big ongoing stories in this episode, the first, was the resolution of Brendan, which was explained to be the story of the Timeless Child, masked as Brendan, to lock the Doctor out of her own past. Although it took me a few watches of the episode to really grip this concept, eventually I got it and I think it's alright. It's not massive, but it is clever and rather heartwrenching. The second, the big bombshell of the episode (and series) was the revelation of the identity of the Timeless Child, which was the most predictable outcome I think I have ever witnessed being executed. Even in 2018, after the ghost monument, when people were talking about the Timeless Child, which admittedly, I said was just a one-off remark, I said that it was the Doctor, it had to be, the smoking gun was pretty much there, in the Doctor's own memories, it could have only been her, or someone very important in her past. Saying that, I wasn't at all disappointed or angry with the explanation, firstly, it opens up so much possibility for future stories, secondly, it probably means the Doctor has endless regenerations, meaning another showrunner will never have to explain how the Doctor gets another regen cycle again, though this does, if true, reduce the threat of anything in the show by almost every stake, but we'll have to see how that is dealt with in another fifty years time. I've seen many people get very upset because it 'wrecks the mystery' of the character, I would argue that it only increases it by much more than what it used to be; we always thought the Doctor was born into Gallifreyan society, but now we know she created it indirectly, which does really lean into Cartmel Masterplan territory, but honestly, I don't mind that, this can only be better than Cartmel's plan, because the Doctor didn't do it herself! The fact that the Doctor came from a portal is also a big mystery increaser, simply because the on the other side of that portal there could be anything, and anything is an almost endless possibility! The episode also fixed one of the show's biggest plotholes, the Morbius Doctors, which I'm not going to explain, but I thought it was worth mentioning that lots of good came from this episode. Overall, this episode, I thought, was fantastic, though there were some things that could have been changed to make this episode perfect, I believe this was one of the best finales we have had for ages, possibly the best ever. It'll be interesting to see how the ending is resolved in 'Revolution of the Daleks' and whether we will get any more information about The Division in series thirteen.
General Comments:
The best things about this series:
The series was a massive improvement on series eleven, as I've already stated, the main reason being that the writing improved drastically. Not only did the stories they were telling strengthen, but the dialogue between characters seemed to improve and become more realistic this year, giving the show an overall better appearance and general feeling. The regular cast seemed to improve a lot more this year, mainly in their character portrayals. This could be down to experience, or more likely, confidence. Jodie Whittaker, in particular, seemed to improve her performance, she definitely seemed more comfortable this series, a little bit less cautious even. Again, the writing for the Doctor got so much better, finally showing us a different side of her character, such as the darker, snappier, secretive side to the Doctor, which is vital to have present in each incarnation. It was really effective to see her separate from her companions once in a while, or even to send them away. This series also felt so much more tied together, which was one problem series eleven had, which really proves that a prominent series arc is essential to success, to further this, I think the familiarity in having returning villains really helped, as well as the fact that audiences also know the Doctor and friends now, as opposed to being launched into series eleven, not knowing any of the characters properly. I will also mention the costume and set design here, both of which were fantastic, much like last year. In the costume department, there were some pieces that really stood out to me, some that help remind audiences that there is more to the show than just what's in front of the camera, these included: the cybermen and cybermasters, the Master and the Ruth Doctor. The Ruth Doctor especially demonstrated costume designer, Ray Holman's, skill and thoughtfulness when putting together the costume, thinking about the actor and their identity, but also making references to past Doctors in very subtle ways, such as the choice of boots based completely on Capaldi's boots. Though not as memorable as last years, Segun Akinola's score really helped ramp up emotion where needed. The cyberman theme from Ascension may be the most memorable piece, definitely one of the most effective pieces to appear on Doctor Who to date. As a film student, of course, I am going to appreciate the real effort that goes into the cinematography of each episode, and much like series eleven, this series continued to convey the natural beauty of our world and other worlds, with fantastic shots in every episode that really brought a cinematic feeling with them.
Points the series needed to improve on:
Although this series did clear up lots of problems series eleven had, which mostly lay in writing, Chibnall's team didn't manage to clean up all of them, though there are obvious attempts at it. The main problem is a collection of very small things, moments, that broke continuity, though didn't have much overall effect on the outcome of the episodes, the first, and most game-changing, being the Judoon teleporting into the TARDIS at the end of the Timeless Children, which has been already been established as impossible (they better speak English from now on!). There is a chance that Revolution will explain this, but it better be good. I've already mentioned a couple, such as the Russian writing in Orphan 55, or saving Jake in Praxeus, the Doctor also opened a wooden door with her sonic in Nikola Tesla. There were a few little bits like that scattered around, but they will only annoy the really picky nerds among us. Another writing issue is that some of the episodes seemed a little bit bloated, or empty, like something else was needed, whether it be to do with the companions, which it mostly was, or something extra in the story, I think most of the scripts could have done with a tightening up. At least none of them felt like first drafts. I also felt John Barrowman's return felt completely pointless, like a really badly thought out fan service, I'm hoping his return in Fugitive means he will be back soon (hopefully in Revolution!), but I feel we should have had someone a little more relevant to the series playing that role, Ko Sharmus is the best I can think of, especially since he was the one dealing with the cyberium in the first place, this also would have added a little more meaning to the final sacrifice Ko Sharmus made. The last thing that generally could have been improved was the endings to some episodes, I felt episodes 2,3,6,7 and 10 all could have been a bit sharper towards the end, or a little bit slower, to help the audience keep up.
Ranking of episodes:
Best
1. The Haunting of Villa Diodati (Episode Eight) 10/10
2. The Timeless Children (Episode Ten) 9/10
3. Can You Hear Me? (Episode Seven) 8.5/10
4. Fugitive of the Judoon (Episode Five) 8/10
5. Spyfall, Part One (Episode One) 8/10
6. Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror (Episode Four) 7/10
7. Spyfall, Part Two (Episode Two) 7/10
8. Ascension of the Cybermen (Episode Nine) 6.5/10
9. Orphan 55 (Episode Three) 4.5/10
10. Praxeus (Episode Six) 4/10
Worst
Although I have put lots of criticism into my review, I want to make it very clear that I really enjoyed this series, it was very engaging and has really helped Chibnall make more of a name for himself within this community, I look forward to seeing what he and his team come up with next, here's us praying for sea-devils and more Jack Harkness!
Thank you very much for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to know your own opinions on the series, and I hope you'll continue reading my blog if you haven't read it before!