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| Yaz recalls the worst (and best?) day of her life... |
THE PLOT:
The Doctor drops her companions off in present-day Sheffield to let them reconnect with friends and family, agreeing to pick them up the following day. Her companions' visits don't go smoothly. Graham plays cards with some old friends from his days as a bus driver, but soon has visions of a strange woman named Rakiya (Clare-Hope Ashitey) who is trapped and desperate for rescue. Ryan visits his friend Tibo (Buom Tihngang), who complains of nightmares that are starting to intrude on his reality. Yaz meets up with her sister, Sonya (Bhavnisha Parmar), for a peculiar type of anniversary celebration, only to see the mysterious Zellin (Ian Gelder) in her family's flat.
All three contact the Doctor, who has been drawn to a mental hospital in 14th century Aleppo - a hospital with only a single survivor, Tahira (Aruhan Galieva), who has somehow managed to avoid an attack by nightmare creatures. The Doctor realizes that she and her friends are being targeted, and uses the TARDIS' telepathic circuits to trace the incidents back to a space station orbiting two planets held at the edge of a collision - with a bizarre prison in the center of the suspended catastrophe.
The Doctor prepares to use the space station's technology to unlock the prison. But Zellin is waiting for them, ready to bring each member of the TARDIS team face-to-face with their deepest fears...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: When she is drawn to Aleppo, she starts to enthuse about a new adventure, filling her usual role of narrating interesting bits about the time period... only to deflate the instant she remembers that her companions aren't here, and that she is alone. When Zellin taunts her for her preoccupation with humanity, dubbing humans "endlessly pathetic," the Doctor is quick to respond with an impassioned speech about the human capacity for facing fear. But when Graham tries to confide his very real fears about his cancer returning, she has no idea what to say in response.
Yaz: Almost certainly the strongest episode for her thus far. In The Witchfinders, Yaz revealed that she had been bullied as a teen, and that she "took it" and endured "the year from hell." This episode's dream sequences and flashbacks reveal that Yaz was at the end of her rope, her grades dropping dramatically, feeling unable to confide in her family. A police officer (Nasreen Hussain) talked her out of desperate action, and it seems certain that this intervention led to Yaz's choice to join the police herself. Mandip Gill does well with this material, and Yaz feels instantly more complete as a character for this attention; it's just a shame it took so long to get to it.
Graham: His fears about his cancer returning are more than reasonable - as he says, cancer never really goes away - and so it is very fitting that his nightmare would combine his worry about that with his loss of Grace. In his vision, Grace becomes his doctor - a cold, uncaring doctor who blandly informs him that he is dying. Then she becomes the voice of Graham's guilt, coldly demanding to know why Graham didn't save her, leaving him only to beg for a chance to try again - which would almost certainly be his single greatest wish.
Ryan: His strained visit with Tibo reminds him that these travels come with consequences. The more time he and the others spend away from home, the more disconnected they become from the people in their lives. His nightmare is about exactly that, as he sees an old Tibo telling him accusingly that he waited for Ryan to return, and that Ryan never came back. At the end, he wonders to Yaz how much longer they can keep traveling with the Doctor. It seems apparent that he is seriously debating if he can continue.
THOUGHTS:
It seems as if every time Doctor Who airs a single-part story, there are people wishing it had been a two-parter. I rarely agree with that statement. Just looking at this season: the Tesla episode works very well as it is; Praxeus is perfectly solid filler; Fugitive of the Judoon's single biggest asset is that it's such a breathless, non-stop roller coaster ride; and the very last thing I would want from Doctor Who is more Orphan 55, thank you very much.
But in the case of Can You Hear Me?, I actually agree with the sentiment. I think it's a good episode as it stands; the character material for the regulars is extremely welcome, while the main plot gets a boost from some effectively moody imagery (director Emma Sullivan is a keeper). But the plot feels rushed, the conflict reduced to just a couple of conversations, while the resolution is far too easily achieved.
The reason for that is evident. The character material is what's most essential, so it is in those scenes that the pace slows down so that the moments can have impact. However, the plot suffers, effectively squeezed around those character moments. I would make the exact same choice, if forced to fit this story into 50 minutes. But if this had been a two-parter, with the Doctor falling into Zellin's trap acting as the cliffhanger, then the story would have room to breathe. There would be time for some complications - Maybe a less rushed, more difficult escape for the Doctor, perhaps a need to actually locate Zellin (I can see chasing him across various locations as a fun little set piece), and showcasing more damage done by Zellin when he begins absorbing nightmares.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed this episode, and it will definitely be one I rewatch. However, this is one case where a second part might have turned an already good installment into something truly special.
THE DOCTOR/GRAHAM MOMENT
The conversation between Graham and the Doctor is one that seems to have ignited a lot of debate, so it would be remiss of me to exclude it from this review.
For my part, I like the scene. It's a messy interaction, born out of a messy situation, in which one very open person (Graham) confides in a very closed-off person (the Doctor). The performances of Whittaker and Walsh are absolutely on-target, and they play well opposite each other; I strongly wish the show would provide more one-on-one interactions between these two.
Graham's fear of the cancer returning is entirely reasonable, and both of them know that. The Doctor has no words of comfort, has no idea what to say, and tries to let him know that without simply dismissing him. Whether he understands that or feels slighted is left up in the air, however - And I think it's significant that the Grace "Doctor" in his nightmare is an aloof figure, cold and detached. It raises the question of if that's how he ultimately views the Doctor.
In any case, the scene works for me... But as with many elements of this episode, I think it might have worked better if the story had been spread across two parts, to allow more groundwork to be laid.
Overall Rating: 7/10. Almost an "8." And if this had been a 2-parter, I'd have put it in with a chance of being a "9" or even a "10."
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