#25 (13.4): Village of the Angels.

Professor Jericho (Kevin McNally) is attacked by an Angel in his television!

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 56 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall, Maxine Alderton. Directed by: Jamie Magnus Stone. Produced by: Nikki Wilson.


THE PLOT:

"The Angel has the TARDIS!"

A Weeping Angel has taken control of the TARDIS. Thinking fast, the Doctor manages to expel it - but not before she and her friends are re-routed to 1967, to the quiet English village of Medderton. Strange things are happening in Medderton. The cemetery has too many gravestones. A young girl, Peggy (Poppy Polivnicki), has vanished without a trace. And Professor Jericho (Kevin McNally) is conducting psychic experiments on a young woman - Claire Brown (Annabel Scholey), the same woman the Doctor met in 21st century Liverpool.

While Yaz and Dan join the search for Peggy, the Doctor tries to learn more about Claire. But she's barely entered the Professor's house before it becomes besieged by Angels. All the Doctor can do is barricade them in first the house, then the cellar, buying time to learn exactly why Claire was targeted by the Angel in the future and what the Angels are after in the past.

But even when the Doctor gets answers, they only lead to more questions. And not everything about this situation is as it appears...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: As in co-writer Maxine Alderton's previous episode, there's an emphasis on the Doctor's lighter, more flippant side early on... all the better to contrast with the rest of the story, which puts her in an increasingly desperate situation. "I'm pretty good at stopping the unstoppable," she brags. But as she sets up barricades, then improvises a closed-circuit TV system to allow continuous observation of the Angels, it becomes clear that all she's doing is buying time.  She's keeping herself and her charges alive long enough to find answers - but an answer is not necessarily the same things as a solution...

Yaz/Dan: Her police training shows as she focuses on the search for the lost child even as the situation surrounding her and Dan becomes ever stranger. She insists that the Doctor will be able to "sort this, save us. She always does" in what sounds less like a prediction than a statement of faith. Dan is more or less along for the ride this time, but he remains an engaging presence even when given little to do.

Professor Jericho: Kevin McNally gives the standout performance as Jericho. Initially seeming to be a befuddled and somewhat blustery middle-aged nonentity, he emerges as a man of courage and strong will. A World War II veteran who saw the Nazi concentration camps first-hand, he is not intimidated by the Angels, even when they taunt him in his own voice. "I am not blinking!" he declares as he fixes his gaze on them, and his voice and stance convey that he not only means it, but he's somehow capable of following through.

Bel: Her search for Vinder leads her to Puzano, a world that was once the intergalactic equivalent of Venice, complete with canals. Now the canals are gone, as Flux survivor Namaca (Blake Harrison) explains, along with most of the people. When Namaca promises a potential means of escape, Bel investigates and makes a startling discovery which propels her to the next stop on her journey...

Azure: No Swarm this week, but we do get an appearance from his sister, Azure (Rochena Sandall). Azure is gathering survivors, presenting herself as someone offering salvation. She's even framed standing on a mountaintop like a prophet as she addresses the desperate remnants of humanity. We don't learn why she's collecting people, but I can't imagine it's for anything pleasant.

The Weeping Angels: That which contains the image of an Angel, is an Angel." That statement, introduced in 2010's The Time of Angels, proves central to this story.  Director Jamie Magnus Stone handles them well. There's a haunting beauty in a single Angel we see when the Doctor converses with it on a beach. Another moment, that seems taken straight from a horror movie, sees Angels' hands and faces coming out of the walls of a tunnel. Then there's the Doctor's confrontation with the full force of Angels, who remain stationary even when she turns away from them because, as Claire explains, they're cruel. They want to savor the Doctor's helplessness.


THOUGHTS:

One area in which Chris Chibnall's era has consistently done well is in its use of returning monsters. Resolution made the Daleks feel threatening again after years of being little more than the butt of jokes; War of the Sontarans fused the comical New Series treatment of them with their more formidable Classic Series origins; and Village of the Angels continues the trend by reintroducing the stone horrors in a tale that advances the season arc while also succeeding as a good, old-fashioned, atmospheric monster story.

The script tightens a vice around the Doctor while also tying the current plot to the larger arc. We learn more about The Division, and what we learn makes them seem far more dangerous than just some rogue Time Lord section. "The Division uses everything and everyone. Every species, every world, every moment. They are everywhere, present and unseen." The previous episode told us that the Flux was not an accident. Was the Division somehow behind it? Or someone trying to strike against them?

I've come to expect strong visual moments this season, and this episode does not disappoint. The quiet village is creepy both in night and day, particularly when it becomes a little too empty. An Angel emerges from a paper drawing, only to be set aflame in a genuinely disturbing image when the Doctor burns the original paper. Another Angel jumps out of a television screen. Then there's the surprising reveal of exactly what lies beyond the town's sign - a sign that we are told keeps moving closer and closer to the village itself. Finally, there's the last image before the credits roll, which is both beautiful and terrifying as we are delivered yet another excellent cliffhanger.

I didn't much care for the bickering old comedy couple, ill-tempered Gerald (Vincent Brimble) and his wife, good-hearted but ineffectual Jean (Jemma Churchill). Outside of quickly getting Yaz and Dan into the subplot searching for the lost little girl, they add nothing to the story. In an episode that otherwise features well-written and well-acted guest characters, I found these two to be teeth-grindingly unbearable.

That quibble aside, Village of the Angels is another good episode in what is shaping up to be the best season in a long time. With only two episodes left, I'm looking forward to seeing where everything leads... while at the same time, feeling a bit of nervousness as to whether the arc will be able to stick the landing.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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#24 (13.3): Once, Upon Time.

The Doctor's companions become unstuck in time...

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 49 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Azhur Saleem. Produced by: Pete Levy.


THE PLOT:

"You don't mess with time. You don't put yourself and your friends in the midst of a time storm... Unless there's no alternative."

In the Temple of Atropos, Swarm and Azure have placed Yaz and the astronaut Vinder (Jacob Anderson) directly in the path of a time storm, prepared to unleash the full force of time through their frail bodies. To rescue them, the Doctor does the unthinkable. She grabs Dan to keep him out of the way of her new/old enemies and hops into the storm, taking the burden on herself while hiding her friends within their own time streams.

It's not called a "storm" for nothing, however, and none of them are able to remain at any fixed point. Dan finds himself in Liverpool, reliving his not-quite relationship with Diane (Nadia Albina), in a city that feels not quite right. Yaz experiences moments from her past, but details are not quite right - and she's somehow being stalked by a Weeping Angel.

The Doctor is also thrown into her past. Specifically, her past with the Division, on the day that the Division Doctor (Jo Martin) confronted Swarm and Azure at the Temple - the beginning of the current conflict tucked within a memory that's been hidden from her...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Earnest in her concern for her friends, but at the same time desperate to learn more about her past. Once she realizes that she is reliving the actions of the Division Doctor, she stops resisting. Jodie Whittaker gets to vary her usual performance, adopting the cold swagger of Jo Martin's variant while threatening her enemies with "execution... erasure of identity... (or) isolation prison terms for the infinite duration of the universe." Once the crisis has passed, her secretiveness reasserts itself, and she snaps at Yaz twice in short order for pressing her for information.

Yaz: Really needs to get the Doctor alone for a full, uninterrupted conversation. Not just about the secrets, but about the frankly shabby and disrespectful way she's been treated. The Doctor has been either dismissive or hostile on almost every occasion that Yaz has attempted to get information from her. In this episode, she yells at Yaz: "You don't understand anything!" Well, how can she, when you refuse to tell her anything? At this point, the friendship/relationship between Thirteen and Yaz feels exponentially more toxic than the one between Twelve and Clara ever did; at least with Clara, I felt the mutual affection, whereas here everything seems to be flowing exactly one way.

Dan: Mostly sidelined this time, though I did enjoy the scene in which he gradually realized things were "off" while reliving conversations with Diane. Dan remains positive and enthusiastic. Of all the people gathered in the Temple, he's the one who comprehends the least. But when Swarm gloats, Dan is the first to insist that they will stop him.

Vinder: We learn exactly why he was stationed alone at the edge of nowhere. After receiving a commendation for heroism, he was granted a prestigious assignment at the side of the Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson), a high-ranking political figure. The Serpent proved to be as cold and untrustworthy as the title implies, and when Vinder attempted to do the right thing... Well, it didn't go well, hence both his isolation and bitterness in The Halloween Apocalypse. Given his best material so far, Jacob Anderon delivers his best performance in the season to date.

Bel: A separate thread follows the adventures of Bel (Thaddea Graham), a survivor of the Flux. She narrates her thoughts to "Tigme," a recording device, as she evades Daleks, Cybermen, and strange blue particles that devour everything in their path. Her goal is to be reunited with her lost love. That person's identity is no particular surprise, but it is withheld until the final moments - likely to create a sense of pieces of falling into place in an episode that otherwise resolves fairly little.

The Division Doctor: Jo Martin is only briefly glimpsed, just long enough to establish that the Doctor is reliving the events of this incarnation. In her short screen time, she manages to again project both intelligence and toughness. In both her moments and the scenes in which Jodie Whittaker re-enacts her confrontation with Swarm, I'm left with the same thought as in Fugitive of the Judoon: This may be the Doctor's past, but there is a coldness and ruthlessness here that doesn't really feel like our Doctor. I'm both suspecting and hoping that consistent thread is leading somewhere.

Swarm, Azure, and Passenger: "Ravagers." That's the designation given to them during the raid on Atropos, and it seems a fitting title. In the past, we again see the older form of Swarm (Matthew Needham). He and Azure gloat before their downfall, just as they do in the present, with the rejuvenated Swarm (Sam Spruell). We also learn what "Passenger" is: Basically, a plot device, but one used to good effect in two different scenes.


THOUGHTS:

Readers of my reviews likely know by now that I have a particular affinity for shows that nod at the surreal. Sudden jumps in time and space, rapid shifts from day to night, things that are askew and even confusing... For whatever reason, I tend to respond to these types of elements.

Which is to say: Once, Upon Time is a perfect fit for me. I also think it's largely well-constructed. There are three main threads: The Doctor reliving the raid on the Temple; Vinder's backstory that led to his assignment; and Bel's attempts to evade danger in a post-Flux universe while searching for her lover. Vinder's thread is purely focused on the past, on finally letting us know who he is. Bel's seems to be in the narrative's present, showing us the devastation caused by the Flux. The Doctor's links past and present; she's reliving events from long ago, but they are connected to the current conflict and experiencing them provides her with a solution. All three storylines are effectively paced, and the ending leaves them feeling all of the same piece.

On a less positive note, I've become impatient with the recurring appearances by Steve Oram's 19th century character. His scene at the start of The Halloween Apocalypse intrigued me. But his scenes since have done nothing to flesh out his role; he just seems to be popping up for a minute each week to make sure viewers don't forget about him. In a busy but otherwise well-controlled episode, his appearance here briefly throws the structure off-kilter for no good reason.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of this installment. For the most part, this was delivering exposition, but it did so vastly more enjoyably than The Timeless Children did, carrying the same sense of momentum that has been the highlight of the season thus far. Oh, and it ends with another good cliffhanger.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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#22 (13.1): The Halloween Apocalypse.

The Doctor has a mental link with the evil Swarm (Sam Spruell).

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 50 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Jamie Magnus Stone. Produced by: Nikki Wilson.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor's attempt to get information from Karvanista (Craige Els), of the dog-like Lupari species, goes predictably awry, leading to Karvanista escaping. The Doctor pursues, tracking him to present-day Liverpool... but arrives too late to stop him from kidnapping Dan Lewis (John Bishop), a seemingly ordinary human.

The Doctor and Yaz continue their pursuit, unaware that the universe itself is unraveling. Swarm (Sam Spruell), a being who has been imprisoned by The Division since the beginning of time, has escaped, and The Flux has begun...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Continues to be secretive about her motives. She refuses to tell Yaz exactly why she's so intent on confronting Karvanista. When they infiltrate his ship, she sends Yaz to rescue Dan... in part to rescue the kidnapped man, but I think primarily so that she can talk to her quarry alone. When Yaz calls her on her behavior, the Doctor becomes instantly defensive, and I suspect a part of her is almost relieved when a crisis stops their argument before she has to actually share her goals.

Yaz: When Yaz meets Dan, she introduces herself as former police. To invoke Amy and Rory, she has now made the choice between "real life" and "Doctor life" - and she chose the Doctor. Which likely makes it all the more frustrating that the Doctor is still keeping secrets, something Yaz already lost patience with back in Series 12. With the TARDIS newly un-crowded, the dynamic between her and the Doctor feels much fresher and livelier, and Mandip Gill's performance here is wonderfully energetic.

Dan: Comedian John Bishop makes a strong first impression as the newest member of the TARDIS team. Introductory scenes arguably oversell the character: He's a proud Scouser who gives impromptu tours at the Museum of Liverpool despite not actually working there, who has an endearing flirtation with museum worker Diane (Nadia Albina), and who volunteers in a soup kitchen. What, no rescuing a kitten from a tree? For all this, Bishop is authentic and likable, and the scene in which he mistakes Kavanista's alien appearance for a Halloween costume is quite funny (and unlike some comedy scenes, knows to drop the gag before it wears out its welcome).

Returning Enemies: This episode briefly features both The Weeping Angels and the Sontarans. Neither enemy interacts with the Doctor, and it's obvious that they are being established for future episodes. The Weeping Angel is the centerpiece of the episode's most effective scene, as a lone angel stalks the mysterious Claire (Annabel Scholey) as she tries to make it to safety before it can catch up with her. The Sontarans receive two scenes, principally comic in tone - as has been the New Series' general treatment of them - as they relish the thought of the destruction heading their way.

Swarm: Set up as the main enemy of the season. He is introduced as a Hannibal Lecter-like character, taunting and psychologically manipulating his jailers even as he is confined. He has a history with the Doctor, presumably from when she worked for the Division, and uses a thus-far unexplained psychic link to taunt her with a past that he remembers and she does not. "There is not a tiny corner of you that remembers," he exults. "I remember every battle - which gives me the advantage." Sam Spruell does wonders with his limited screen time, his voice and bearing exuding presence. It helps that the makeup job is terrific, with him just alien enough to be unsettling without tipping over into silliness.


THOUGHTS:

The Flux begins! ...And I have only the vaguest notion of what might be going on, but at least so far it's fun to watch.

The Halloween Apocalypse is light on explanation, succeeding largely through sheer momentum. This has not traditionally been a strength of writer/showrunner Chris Chibnall's. Too often in this era, the action has screeched to a grinding halt to deliver character or plot exposition, leaving the stories to have to restart the pace instead of letting it build.

Well, that doesn't happen here. There are still good character moments, but they arise naturally during the action rather than feeling crowbarred in. Yaz confronts the Doctor about her secretiveness while they work on their pursuit of Karvanista, and they talk only for a couple minutes before being interrupted by more plot. The action is near constant, with the episode offering up no less than five different set pieces across its brisk 50-minute running time.

I wonder if it shouldn't have been a little longer. The main thread of the Doctor and Yaz pursuing Karvanista and rescuing Dan is a bit thin, and it is sometimes overwhelmed by all the "stuff" happening around it. The Division! Sontarans! Claire, who meets the Doctor out of sequence before fleeing from a Weeping Angel! And at least two other threads I'm not mentioning simply because I have no clue what's actually going on in them. The Halloween Apocalypse is the "busiest" episode of the series since the departure of Steven Moffatt, and I think an extra ten minutes might have done wonders to help all these individual bits feel like they're genuinely connected.

That said, not since Fugitive of the Judoon has a new Doctor Who episode passed so quickly for me. When the episode ended, I was actively surprised that a full 50 minutes had already elapsed. I may currently be confused about how (or whether) the pieces will end up fitting... but I wasn't bored for a second, and I'm at least cautiously optimistic that Flux might manage to deliver on its potential.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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