After ten weeks and numerous plot twists we've finally made it to the series finale. After last week's cliffhanger of the Cybermen rising and the promise that nothing would ever be the same, did the episode deliver on this promise?
In short, I don't think it did. It's needless to say that the episode packed a lot into its 65 minute run time - perhaps too much - and the episode could've done with being maybe 90 minutes in order to fully explain things and allow some breathing room in the episode. But let's dive into what I would say is probably the best thing to come out of the series overall, Sacha Dhawan as The Master! Wow! He brought such an intensity and unpredictability to the character that we haven't seen in recent times and he has truly been able to make the Master evil once again.
The cast was also great, as ever, particularly loved that heart to heart scene between Graham and Yaz. If anything Ryan was the weakest link and I wasn't a fan of how casually he allowed the Doctor to sacrifice herself, especially given how adamant Yaz was to stop her. But, especially given her brief cameo, Jo Martin continues to shine as the Doctor. If only we saw more of her Doctor!
The CGI was also incredible, that time lapse of the construction of the Gallifreyan Citadel being a particular highlight. But that shot of the Cyber ship landing on top of the Citadel really stuck in my mind as the production team having a much higher CGI budget than previous series.
This story was absolutely crammed with easter eggs and references for us long term fans. Particular highlights include Borusa, 'assassinating presidents' (clever nod to 'The Deadly Assassin'), the Matrix, among so many others! However all of these moments boiled down to perhaps the greatest moment of this era so far; I am of course referring to that great scene in which the Doctor breaks out of the matrix by overloading it with their memories. We saw everything! Every Doctor, companion and monster EVEN the mysterious 8 from 'The Brain Of Morbius'. Coupled with that incredible rendition of the theme that played over this and it's safe to say that my mind was blown!
It's a real pity of the Cybermen that they always end up being the cannon fodder to the Master's story (*ahem Death In Heaven*) and really that was no different here. The squads were quickly wiped out and beyond that they didn't really do much besides getting a nice new (if slightly silly) Time Lord-esque design. Personally, I really liked the 'Cyber-Lords' design, it's just a real shame that we didn't see more of them - I think, to my memory, they only appear in two scenes?
Now let's get to the elephant in the room: the Timeless Child is the Doctor! I've been thinking about this all of last night and all of this morning and I've come to the conclusion that I honestly don't mind it. When the episode first went out I really liked it, then I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I didn't like it, however now I don't mind it. Although I can understand why it would really offend some fans. Ultimately though, this doesn't tell us anything new about the Doctor, it merely makes their backstory even more complicated and mysterious - and while this was an okay expansion of the law there is a part of me that still wishes that the Doctor's origin was merely that he was a man who got bored and ran away. But alas.
I think the problem with this is that the execution wasn't as clear as it could've been. We weren't definitively told what's what which I think is the problem. There's still a level of ambiguity about it that, because it doesn't really tell us anything new about the Doctor, makes you question 'why bother?'. Had Chris Chibnall dedicated a bit more time to this story (perhaps drop the Cyberman sub-plot?) we could've had a better and clearer idea of this whole Timeless Child story.
This episode also didn't really answer many questions, Who actually was Brendan? Where does Jo Martin's Doctor fit into the timeline? It's a real shame we'll have to probably wait until next Autumn for, hopefully, some of these answers.
But enough of the convoluted Timeless Child stuff, let's talk about that cliffhanger! I did not expect the Judoon to return, but their return was awesome and to see the Doctor imprisoned (Shada?) is a neat change of pace and i'm looking forward to where the show goes when it returns this winter in 'Revolution Of The Daleks' (great title!)
Overall, this was a good, if underwhelming finale to an overall mixed series. Was it a step up from series 11? Absolutely. But then again anything is better than 'The Battle Of I-Can't-Remember'. I think i'll definitely have to re watch this one to fully understand it and process it, but my gut reaction; this was Jodie's second best episode so far (only falling slightly behind last weeks)
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