So the Zygons are back and the adventure is taking a darker, more grown up route than normal. The pre-titles recap reminds viewers that Osgood has been captured, Kate Stewart met her fate with a Zygon and Clara is dead and replaced by a Zygon firing a rocket at an aeroplane. It falls of reminding us that the Doctor and Osgood are on that plane or that Kate's fate was to be killed along with the rest of the UNIT troops and replaced. It also stops short of the rocket impact that was apparently heard (but not seen) in the last episode. New action begins with a close up of Clara's pod then suddenly cuts to her waking up in bed with panic. She looks at her clock which shows the time as 9:29, only the numbers are all back to front. She's confused, then we see the clock again and it now says 6:26, so the numbers were in fact mirrored vertically. She gets up and goes to the bathroom, has a brief flicker as she sees herself in the mirror then takes out the toothpaste... a plain white tube with "This is toothpaste" printed on it! She squeezes some out and it's a dark oily brown. She hears the Doctor calling from the living room but it's the TV with a snowy picture and the sound of her last conversation with him. Only it's not her conversation it's her Zygon replacement Bonnie's. Her front door is blocked up, the windows are just walls and she realises this must be a dream... flickers back to her pod tell the viewer that she may well be right. Clara carries out some 'dream checks', the newspaper is written in gibberish apart from the phrases "It's your decision Doctor" and "Truth Or Consequences" spoken by Bonnie. The TV flickers back to life to show Bonnie's gun-sight targeting the plane and Clara jumps to action and shakes the TV as if it might help. But it does! The rocket misses and the Bonnie's second attempt, Clara finds that she can influence her aim by tilting the TV, but she's not strong enough to hold it off. She tries something smaller, holds her hand out as if holding the rocket launcher and tries to hold Bonnie's finger off the trigger but again is not strong enough. The rocket is launched and this time it hits its target, the plane is in pieces... Roll titles.
It's hard to right about this episode without spoilers. Where the first was slow and dramatically played out with mystery and menacing uncertainty, this one is the action and resolve. Far more enjoyable with some clever interplay between Clara and Bonnie while the Doctor is teamed up with some witty dialogue with Osgood, one of my favourite characters of the modern era, if not the whole of the Whoniverse. She knows that the Doctor is trying to distract her with his babble about his union jack parachute ("It's camouflage, we're in Britain") his Sonic Glasses which Osgood describes as being as meaningful as a visual hearing aid. He's in full on jocular mode and dubs Bonnie 'Zygella' using words like 'Puntastic' as if the only way to face the scary monsters is with light banter to deflect all the nastiness. He even goes into American game show host mode when the ultimate decision needs to be made by Kate and Bonnie; which button to press, one that will release a Zygon destroying gas or a nuclear warhead to destroy London, one that unmasks all the Zygons around the world or removes their ability to change from their current human form. As he puts it, "There are safeguards beyond safeguards. I did this on a very important day for me and the ceasefire will stand"
Jenna Coleman's dual role as Clara and Bonnie is impressively handled. Each has their own subtle accent to go with their different appearances (remember Bonnie has tied her hair back and continues to wear her suit while we see Clara in her pyjamas with her hair down) and the subtle differences of facial expression. One lovely moment come when Bonnie calls Clara out on her plan "You think you're calling my bluff", in her stern southern accent is rebuffed by Clara's "I am calling your bluff" in her soft Yorkshire accent with the word 'bluff' standing out for its difference of pronunciation.
And what of the Zygons? I haven't really talked about the creatures themselves yet. In the original 1975 episodes, they were one of the best designed costumes. They were clearly men in suits, but the silhouette was completely changed with a arching back and a head that arcs out to the shoulders with no sign of a neck. The face was cleverly sculpted to blend in with the actor's, using the trick of stopping at the top of the mouth allowing the actor's jaw to function normally with minor prosthetics to disguise the chin. Where they were let down, however, was in the boots and the join at the middle. In one particular scene near the end, a Zygon falls to the floor and the top half of his costume comes way revealing the legs to be trousers, but apart from that they were pretty impressive. The modern equivalent naturally made changes and were able to improve on features with modern materials and techniques, but unlike the Silurians, they are instantly recognisable as the very same creatures - in the same way the redesigned Daleks looked 'exactly the same' but better. The hands are now three fingered rather than the obviously human five, their feet look natural and unshod, but they are slightly let down higher up. There seems to be more of a shoulder presence, perhaps for agility and the face is far too human and blended into the neckless head too far out. The originals had a muzzle like nose that sloped down from he tip directly to the top lip with the nostrils essentially facing forwards but the modern version uses make-up for texturing and the nose returns to the top lip with a fully human overhang. I suppose this has been done to afford the actor more agility in his expressions as the fierce scowl would perhaps not be possible with a stiffer muzzled mouth. It is a minor point that has no distracting value within the episodes as they still look amazing with their more muscular and sculpted bodies, it's just a shame when you study them and appreciate how inhuman the originals looked in that area.
To finish off, of course the Doctor wins the day and everyone we thought was dead isn't. The Osgood that had been killed is replaced by another copy (Bonnie taking on a new form with her new found understanding of the peace treaty) and we still don't know which is Zygon and which is Human. Though at this stage it is of course possible that they are both Zygon! They continue to insist they are each both and that is the balance required to keep the peace. Will we ever see them again? Only time will tell, but something tells me it could be a while if we do, but one thing is certain... Clara is still alive to see another episode, she hasn't left the series yet!
"You must have thought I was dead for a while" muses Clara, back in the TARDIS
"The longest month of my life" reflects the Doctor.
"It could only have been five minutes"
"I'll be the judge of time!"
Roll Credits.
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