I seem to have fallen behind with my reviews again... I have just watched The Caretaker and come to write about it but found that I haven't written up Time Heist yet! Actually, getting ahead of myself like that is a bit like the opening to Time Heist because it starts with a couple of seconds of the title sequence but just as you think there won't be the now standard pre-title scene, the rotating spiral dissolves into a rotating picture of the Doctor and you soon realise the camera is inside a washing machine looking out at him watching the washing! Then it's a round fish bowl... The Doctor is at Clara's flat wanting to play but she's getting ready to go on a date... Until the TARDIS phone rings! The Doctor is naturally curious as to who has the number apart from Clara and the woman who gave it to her in the shop (as stated in Bells Of St John but Clara doesn't want him to answer it because "If you answer it, something will happen... a thing"... and so it does. Jump cut to the Doctor holding a memory worm in place of the receiver with audio playback of him and Clara, along with two strangers agreeing to a memory wipe, though each successive statement sounds a little less convinced. The two strangers are Psi, an augmented human (he's a hacker with computer implants) and Saibra, a mutant human (a gene mutation which makes her appearance change into any living creature that she touches) and they soon learn that they have also agreed to rob one of the most secure banks in the universe and the guards are already at the door saying they don't wish to hurt anyone before incineration!
One troublesome plot hole is addressed quickly and clearly (as if a throw away line was inserted at a late stage when it was spotted) How does Saibra change the appearance of her clothes if her shape-shifting is a genetic condition? The less than convincing answer is that she wears a holographic shell, as previously seen in The Time Of The Doctor. The next is pointed at directly and remains a mystery until late in the episode when it gets a full and satisfying explanation - why can't they just use the TARDIS to get in and out, and where is it anyway? There is a sense of contrivance about it, but the whole episode is a calculated plot like any good bank heist, planned deliberately in as much convoluted detail as necessary... they just don't know the plan, who sent them or why they agreed to it because they have had their memories wiped...
We are introduced to a great new scary monster known simply as the Teller, a cunning bank related name that also reflects the fact that he hunts guilt and tells on anyone planning wrong doing. He is a telepathic (or dare I say 'teller-pathic'?) creature that feasts on minds and leaves its victims with just enough brain to stay living but with a collapsed skull (a brilliant visual effect, and we have to assume that the bone is affected in the extraction process rather than just being left hollow)
What follows, is a very stylised heist story clearly inspired by Hustle but with plenty of mystery like "how did the cases get here for us to use? Who broke in to the bank before breaking into the bank?" and the rather inviting but cliché trampling signs above and below ridiculously large air vents saying "No entry under any circumstance"! But there is also plenty of clever lines that border on witty banter as well as some quite dark and almost scary moments. Both Psi and Saibra sacrifice themselves with the 'exit strategy' which the Doctor describes as 'atomic shredders' and it seems likely that they will in fact be saved by the mysterious Missie and reappear later in the series... There are plenty of traditional corridor scenes that were clearly filmed in the same set with different coloured lights (and why not, it makes sense that all the corridors would look the same!)
For most of the episode, the story falls just short of innovated, despite some nice new ideas, simply because it feels formulaic and contrived. However, the final reveal explains why it is like that, why the four of them can quite easily go from step to step and find what they need already waiting for them. The excitement is still there, it just feels too easy which doesn't make for great viewing. It's good but necessarily self simplifying. The absence of the TARDIS is finally explained by solar storms that would interfere with it's controls but which also affect the bank's systems allowing the final breach... Clara is slow to present a card she has picked up from the final case, but the Doctor is equally slow at realising what he already knew... that the only way to set up such a heist is in retrospect. Much like Marty McFly was able to power his DeLorean in Back To The Future because he knew precisely when lightning would strike the clock tower, the Architect could set everything up in advance knowing when the bank would be affected by the storm and the only way to get in to set things up was with a TARDIS! It's another 'Moffat loop' that enables itself to happen by already having happened!
There are some great details within the episode. The bank has the appearance of an Egyptian pyramid and the private vaults are very much like the tomb of Tutankhamen with various ancient pieces including some Egyptian. The first case contains a 'dimension bomb' which simply shifts atoms out of the way before returning them neatly where they belong. The 'atomic shredders' are in fact teleport devices, allowing both Psi and Saibra to return for the final push as well as the ultimate exit strategy. Psi uses a databank to draw the Teller away from Clara by filling his mind with the guilt of "every thief and villain... every famous burglar in history" and we see them flash up on the screen in front of him - a sequences that consists of thirteen images (followed by the first six repeated) and eight of them are from the Doctor's history: Sensorite, the Gunslinger from A Town Called Mercy, Ice Warrior, Slithean, Terileptal and a couple I couldn't identify. When the Doctor realises that he is the Architect he tells everyone to "Shut up! Shut up! Shutity up up up!" and describes the Architect as "Over bearing, manipulative, likes to think he's very clever" and that he hates him. Ms. Delphox (who is later revealed to be a clone of Madam Karabraxos) says that she has the disadvantage of knowing Karabraxos personally and when asked why she stays she simply says "My face fits", but she also makes various references to being fired which is ultimately revealed to mean incinerated.
Time Heist is a lush and clever episode but it's cleverness is it's downfall. The stylisation feels awkward and out of character, the twist that is revealed to have set the whole thing in motion also makes it too convenient and the paradox is very much left on the viewers mind as the episode closes. But it's a fun ride!
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