Last week's episode ended on a cliffhanger... The Doctor had rigged up a contraption to transport herself to her TARDIS and with her new friends around her she tried not to say goodbye or feel sentimental, then with a flash and a crackle she vanished, only her new friends somehow got caught up in it and vanished with her! The final shot of the episode saw them all floating in space, which couldn't be good!
So how would this second episode begin? Steven Moffat stated that he hated cliffhangers being resolved by the next episode picking up exactly where the last left off because he felt it wrong to suggest that the Doctor had remained in the same position all week, but Chris Chibnall is in charge now, how will he handle it? In the classic series we would get a reprise of the last few moments (like I gave above) in the revived series it wouldn't be unusual to get a "Previously..." montage followed by either a slight resolve and twist before the titles or titles straight after the montage. I sat down with my dinner eager to find out what Chibbers had lined up...
Straight out of the BBC One Search And Rescue Ident we were presented with the new titles, swirly, pulsing clouds and star-fields and that gorgeous new rendition of the theme. It all feels very right, very modern yet with more than a nod to the 1963 original with flavours from the intervening years thrown in here and there. We've waited a whole week for this and it did not disappoint. The titles give way to a new star-field, but this one is reflected in someone's eye, then we see everyone as we left them last week, floating in space surely just moments from death... Suddenly a spaceship appears, dropping out of hyperspace and scooping them up with a big claw. No reprise, no pre-title sequence, but direct follow on after the titles nonetheless.
We see Ryan and Graham inside the ship as Ryan comes around. Graham has already acquainted himself with their female pilot but there is no sign of Jaz and The Doctor... Then we see Jaz waking up inside some kind of medi-pod or stasis bay and hear the Doctor already, er, 'negotiating' with their pilot. Our team are split up and both ships are in a bit of a state.
Interestingly, or through obvious contrivance, the boys have been picked up by a female pilot and the girls by a male pilot, although put another way, Ryan and his granddad have been kept together whereas Graham and Yaz would have made for a more awkward pairing. Either way, the Doctor is on the one that needs the most help (which is lucky) and they are soon all reunited on the planet Desolation. They have found themselves caught up in an interplanetary race and their rescuers (though they thought they were picking up a bonus rather than rescuing innocent bystanders) are the last two survivors and Desolation is the final planet.
Around 15 minutes into the episode we finally get our first glimpse of the new TARDIS. Or at least a holographic representation of it. It turns out that it has caught itself in a loop passing through time, seeming to appear and disappear atop a hill, it has been named the Ghost Monument and is the final destination of the race. And that is the key thread that the rest of the episode hangs from; a quest, an adventure and a warning to not travel by night. Plot wise, this is fairly simple and basic but the action is there whilst also allowing the characters to breathe. There are some lovely interactions, including Graham talking to Ryan about the death of Grace last episode.
For me, there was an air of "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" with just a very slight dash of "Pitch Black" and "The Hunger Games" but lets be clear, this is very much Doctor Who. The two competing racers have to work together to survive and make it to their goal and everyone relies on the Doctor's instincts and knowledge. Graham must overcome his disbelieve in everything alien and channel his late wife's enthusiasm and drive to do what's needed, while Ryan must overcome his fear and dyspraxia. Graham is reassured that they are indeed on an alien world by the three suns in the sky and when he wonders how they can understand what their rescuers are saying, the Doctor points out that the medi-pods have implanted universal translators but that they wouldn't need them if she had her TARDIS.
In a nod to the past, the Doctor very briefly uses Venusian Aikido, referring to herself as a grandmaster pacifist. She reinforces this stance by strongly objecting to Ryan wanting to use a gun he has picked up and uses his ineptitude with it to strengthen her argument. It's interesting to note, however, that Ryan is convinced of his ability due to the hours he has spent playing the computer game "Call Of Duty" and to start with his conviction seems well founded, but the reality of a real life battle soon has him running for cover. A game is just a game.
The deadly monsters of this episode need a mention. Very simple but effective, they appear at first to be mere rags left laying about on the abandoned planet, dry and limp in the baking sunlight. They are, however more deadly in the cool dark of night when they come to life and float around to suffocate or strangle their victims. Very creepy and unexpected. It is rather convenient how all the right ingredients to defeat them just happen to coincidentally come together but it was a puzzle that needed solving and while the Doctor had worked it out, she let Ryan and the others work it out for themselves just in the knick of time... but not before the Remnants (for that is what these rag creatures are called) tease us and the Doctor by referring to the Timeless Child... Somehow digging into her memories "We see what's hidden - even from yourself. The outcast, abandoned and unknown" they could be describing the Doctor either in the past or present or perhaps they refer to someone else. The deeper mystery though is how the Remnants even speak when they are just rags!
When the travellers finally reach the site of the Ghost Monument with 10 minutes of the episode to go, they discover that it isn't there and even the Doctor thinks she's failed, which suggests that she's forgotten that the TARDIS is phasing in and out so there was actually a good chance that it wouldn't be there when they arrived! With just 5 minutes to spare, however, Yaz hears a weak a wobbly wheezing groaning noise as the TARDIS finally makes her appearance, all fresh and new looking. Or as the Doctor puts it running her fingers over the letters on the door "Aaw, you've done yourself up!" but in a quiet, intimate one-way conversation she adds "Sorry I lost my key," at which point the doors just open for her, a lovely little vignette of a scene... We see, from the inside, as the Doctor walks through the doors into the empty shell of a police box and a surprised look makes its way onto her face. It appears that all is not right, but as the camera pulls back we see that this is in fact just the new entrance and the main console room is there beyond the depth of the police box, even the "Police Public Call Box" sign can be seen on the inside as if we have come through the back wall and are looking back on it. The the Doctor utters those immortal words "You've redecorated..." and we get to see the new design in full, fractured and dark, interwoven and separate, strangely cavernous yet claustrophobic in appearance. Then the Doctor completes her sentence "I really like it!" contrary to every other time she's said it, but then on previous occasions she's been referring to someone else's place (be it a later Doctor's TARDIS or UNIT HQ) The central column is rather crystal like, echoing her new Sonic Screwdriver and the controls include an hourglass, a small spinning Police Box (which is presumably there as an indication of the chameleon circuit's current state) and as a treat a 'custard cream' biscuit dispenser (which just happens, by design, to be Jodie Whittaker's favourite biscuit!)
Graham asks for reassurance "It's a space ship?" after they've all got over the bigger-on-the-inside aspect rather quietly "And a time ship!" replies the Doctor using a phrase that generally belongs in the 1960s episodes rather than 'time machine' and with that, the Doctor reassures everyone that she can take them all home... We'll see how that works out over the coming weeks!
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