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King James VI (Alan Cumming) puts the Doctor on trial for witchcraft!
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THE PLOT:
Attempting to take her friends to see the coronation of Elizabeth I, the Doctor instead lands in early 17th century Lancashire. They are in the village of Bilehurst Cragg, where local landowner Becka Savage (Siobhan Finneran) is conducting an enormous witch hunt. They arrive just in time to witness the dunking of an old healer (Tricia Kelly). The Doctor tries to save the woman, unsuccessfully, then declares herself and her friends to be witchfinders working for King James.
The ruse works long enough for Becka to reveal that the witch hunt has gone on for some time, and that 36 women have been killed so far. But before the Doctor can learn more, an unexpected visitor arrives: King James himself (Alan Cumming)! As strange occurrences persist, and the dead rise and walk again, the Doctor finds herself accused of witchcraft.
"We shall save the souls of my people from Satan - even if it means killing them all!"
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker's best performance in Series 11. She is proactive and confident from the opening minutes, in a story that sees her alternately compassionate, forceful, even angry. Her scenes opposite Alan Cumming are particularly strong, with their conversation ahead of her witch trial ranking among the best-written and acted scenes of the season. Also - and at long last! - the Doctor actually has to deal with being treated differently as a woman in a meaningful way, her gender causing King James to be dismissive toward her for the first half of the episode, then casting suspicion on her in the second half. "If I was still a bloke, I could get on with the job and not have to waste time defending myself!" she snaps in disgust.
Graham: Since a "wee lassie" could not possibly be the witchfinder, King James assumes Graham - the middle-aged white male - must surely be the person in charge, earning a very funny nonverbal reaction from Bradley Walsh. Graham does his best to try to steer the king away from pursuing the witch hunt, but is largely impotent in the face of the monarch's single-mindedness.
Yaz: Her strong compassionate streak shows itself again; when the others focus on finding out the big picture with Becka and King James, Yaz instead checks on Willa (Tilly Steele), the dead healer's granddaughter. She bonds with the girl, sharing a story of a school year in which she was bullied by an insecure classmate. She is also the one to rescue Willa from a mud tendril, the first sign the TARDIS team see of the force behind the strange occurrences.
Ryan: Draws the attentions of King James, much to his discomfort - But he doesn't react with over-the-top comedic "gay panic," instead actually talking with the king. He shows empathy toward James' family history, sharing with him the loss of his close family, and seems genuinely concerned that James keep himself safe, turning what might have been a one-joke comic subplot into some good character scenes for both men.
King James: Alan Cumming gives a wonderfully theatrical performance as the king whom Graham finds to be as "barking" as Becka. Initially, King James seems purely comedic - But underneath what might have been ham is a surprising amount of subtelty. The theatricality is made firmly part of James' character, and Cumming retains it even in the more serious scenes, peeling it back and altering his tone and speed of delivery when recounting his past to Ryan. Best are the scenes between King James and the Doctor. He verbally spars with her, turning her words back on her when she accuses him of hiding behind a title; "Just as you hide behind Doctor, perhaps?" When the conversation grows too personal, he calls for a trial by dunking, only to stand wrestling with his own doubts as the dunking proceeds.
THOUGHTS
All of the above makes The Witchfinders sound like a great episode. The setting is interesting, the character work is excellent. The regulars are at their best, and the guest actors are terrific. As noted, I think the scenes between the Doctor and King James are the best of the entire season, and Jodie Whittaker's performance here is outstanding.
The Witchfinders is my least favorite episode of Series 11.
Part of my problem is that, unlike the other two historical stories of this season, this story is made much weaker by the inclusion of sci-fi elements. The aliens behind the events, a race called the Morax, are awkwardly fitted into the narrative, and represent easily the least interesting element of the story. The story of the witch hunt is absorbing, and potentially compelling... But every time I start to become invested in that plotline, the episode cuts to the dead wandering around the countryside (and for most of the episode, doing not much more than that). The Doctor/King James scenes are superb, the Doctor's witch trial genuinely gripping... And then the Morax arrive, and we're suddenly in an entirely different and vastly weaker episode.
The Thijarians were a thematic fit with the historical plot of Demons of the Punjab; Krasko's interference puts the Doctor in the position of History's Guardian in Rosa; but the Morax are essentially escaped alien prisoners, making neither a thematic nor narrative fit with the witch trials in this episode. They aren't even the direct reason the Doctor involves herself - She just isn't able to make herself stand by and watch innocent people be murdered. Making the episode about that historical injustice, perhaps with the time travelers ultimately unable to stop the carnage and being lucky to escape to the TARDIS with their lives, would likely have been compelling viewing.
The Morax plot, however, throws it badly off-kilter. Save for admonishing King James to do "no more witch hunts," the historical story vanishes in the last ten minutes, replaced by an alien invasion plot that's as rushed as it is generic. The Morax aren't interesting in the slightest, in part because there's no time to learn anything about them. Finally, they are defeated with ludicrous ease, evaporating some of the genuine tension the episode had managed to build.
It's frustrating to rate this one so low, simply because so many of the individual pieces here are so good. But when the pieces aren't allowed to come together into a satisfying whole, the good scenes ultimately just amount to that: Good individual scenes... Which isn't enough for me to rate this as a good episode.
Rating: 3/10.
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Next Episode: It Takes You Away
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