The Doctor Who Review | Season 9 Episode 1

Last updated on 1 May 2016

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SPOILER ALERT! Do NOT read if you haven’t seen this episode yet. You’ve been warned.

It’s that time of year again! Doctor Who time. Oh.My.Goodness.Exciting! I really wanted to do something DW related this year, and thought rather than posting my usual freak-out post that it’s coming back, I’d post every week with my thoughts about the week’s episode. Please do not continue reading if you don’t want to read spoilers. This post will contain details from the episode, so avoid it at all costs if you don’t want to know!

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Title: The Magician’s Apprentice
Written by: Stephen Mofat

When it comes to the monsters, creatures, and villains in Doctor Who, there are only a few which I find super scary. Daleks and Cybermen just don’t scare me at all. I think it’s because they’re so robotic and obviously fake creatures … but the Weeping Angels. Oh.my.word. Nope. Can’t even. Creepy as. And my reasoning, I’ve come to realise, is because they are more human like. They look like people, the have human features. When the beginning of The Magician’s Apprentice began, I wasn’t really prepared for those terrifying hands that came out of the ground. Nor was I prepared for those hands to have eyes on their palms. *shakes head and hides under duvet* It must be the human element that freaks me out. But well done, Stephen Moffat, well done. What a creepy way to begin a new season. If this seasons continues like that, then we’re in for a good/terrifying 12 weeks.

I think it’s going to be an interesting addition to the season, now that Clara is being summoned by UNIT. I do feel sorry for her school and her pupils though, that she up and leaves them. But I guess the future of the entire planet is on the line, so I suppose it’s justified. Speaking of Clara, can we just mentioned how cool her outfit was? Loving that dress and jacket combination.

It’s episodes like this in which I am reminded how hilarious the Master/now Missy is. The actress, Michelle Gomez, plays her combination of crazy nut-case and evil mastermind incredibly well, and even though she’s the bad guy, my goodness she’s a laugh. When she was in her male form, as the Master, he/she was super creepy, and almost in an uncomfortable way. But I love her/him as a female, and I’m glad that she’s in this season (even if both she and Clara were exterminated in this first episode – don’t worry. The Doctor will sort it. Time travel and all that).

In terms of story line, jumping straight into a plot based on the Doctor’s archenemy, in the very first episode, was perhaps a bold move, but it was great to finally watch an episode where the Dalek’s creator was the main story line. The Doctor’s torn decision between killing/letting Davros die as a child, or saving him, knowing that he would go on to create the Daleks, and thereby killing thousands, millions of people is just the kind of moral dilemma that he doesn’t need, but that Moffat gives him anyway. Which, of course, makes for a fantastic story.

Missy comes looking for Clara, because she knows that the Doctor is in trouble, having received his last will and testament, and she and Clara head off in search of the time lord, only to find him riding into an arena on tank, playing the electric guitar, and sporting a pair sunglasses. Only in Doctor Who could you get away with this kind of crazy. But that was definitely my favourite scene. It’s been three weeks and the Doctor is having a chaotic party. Of course.

I did enjoy this episode, and though it probably wasn’t my favourite of Peter Capaldi’s, I suspect this is the beginning of a great season. I’m definitely looking forward to really getting to know Capaldi’s Doctor. Last season was his first as this iconic character, so I feel like we were all still getting used to him when the final episodes rolled around. Now that we are more familiar with how he plays and portrays the Doctor, I’m more excited to see what else he brings to the previous bow-tie adorning time traveller.

Doctor Who Season 9 continues next weekend, with episode 2: The Witch’s Familiar.

 

Original image from BBC