Live Review: S10.E6 - Extremis

Never one to shy away from time bending and mind bending stories, Steven Moffat delivers just that in his second episode for the series. It opens with a voice over about a planet of executioners happy to carry out such sentences for others. A caption tells us this is a long time ago and we see that the Doctor is on the receiving end of the exposition and is told it will be an honour to kill a Time Lord, or at least be host to it as the actual sentence must be carried out by one of the convicted's own people. A door opens and out steps Missy... We cut away from this to see the present day Doctor sat outside the vault talking to Missy within, then back to the execution as she calmly pleads with him to let her live. Back to the present and the Doctor receives an e-mail on his sonic sunglasses with the title of the episode as its subject "Extremis". The titles roll with no real clue as to what on Earth is going on!

Live Review: S10.E5 - Oxygen

"Space,the final frontier" the Doctor says in a cheeky opening voice-over. He goes on to explain that it is final because it wants to kill us. This will be Bill's first space adventure in a classic 'isolated base under siege' scenario. Where immediately introduced to the setting as two bodies tumble through the blackness of space in spacesuits but not helmets. We see a space station where two figures are working outside, the female is telling the male ahead of her that she wants them to have a baby but her communication system is faulty and she realises she'll have to tell him later but they are both low on oxygen and it becomes clear that tey are desperately trying to get back inside calmly when the two tumbling bodies land behind them and attack like zombies. The woman is killed and joins them in their relentless trudge towards her partner... This is going to be a dark episode, let the titles roll.

Live Review: S10.E4 - Knock Knock

Knock knock. Who's there? Doctor, Doctor Who, and it's a scary one! Never before has an episode started so on the nose with its title - literally a knock-knock on Bill's door. She's leaving home to move into shared accommodation with some fellow students, whom she barely knows. In fact, apart from one, she's meeting them for the first time as they go hunting for a place to live. A short montage shows the various pitfalls (slightly exaggerated) that such a search presents, until out of the blue a softly spoken old gent offers to help. He has a very large house to rent very cheaply. So cheap in fact that Bill is a little cautious, but it's draughty and creaky so it kind of makes sense. There's wooden panelling throughout, a tower that is out of bounds for safety reasons and they later discover that there is no central heating and the electrics are woefully out of date. In reality, there are so many failings that the property would fall way below legal requirements, but we won't let that get in the way of a good story. Besides, rogue landlords do get away with some shocking standards sometimes! Only on this occasion it leads to the one of the students screaming, never to be seen again...

Live Review: S10.E3 - Thin Ice

As expected, this episode picks up exactly where the last left off. Bill and the Doctor are stood outside the TARDIS on a frozen Thames and there's an elephant. Oddly, there are also now other people about, but we'll gloss over that just as we would in the classic years. Back then the absence of people in a teaser ending would have been to avoid having to pay those actors for appearing in an extra episode, but now I think it's more about not giving too much away. Bill thinks they are on a parallel world but the Doctor points out that they are in fact at the last great Frost Fair in 1814 (February 4th, to be precise) Bill is worried about standing out so the Doctor directs her to the wardrobe. There is pause for sullen acknowledgement that slavery was still prevalent at this time so Bill has an extra concern there... and she's not done with the consequential questions...

Live Review: S10.E2 - Smile

We last saw Bill jumping at the chance to travel with the Doctor and entering the TARDIS as a full blown companion for the first time. Surprisingly for the 21st century series (especially Moffat era), that's pretty much where we pick up from with this episode. Bill is still getting to grips with the TARDIS interior, asking where about seatbelts and steering wheel and why the seats are so far from the controls. The Doctor explains that he stands and you don't steer the TARDIS, you negotiate with it - "A still place between where you want to go and where you need to be is where she'll take you" he says. The traditional back-story exposition continues as Bill asks how much it cost and the Doctor, of course, explains that he stole it because he felt like it, but has to admit that he didn't know how to fly it!

A knock at the door kills the Doctor's mood like a child who's mother has come to take him home. I use that analogy because the Doctor mutters under his breath that the person knocking is 'Mum', though in reality it is Nardole playing the maternal role. He is concerned that the TARDIS is downstairs (having presumably found it outside the University where we last saw it) and reminds the Doctor of his oath to not go off world. The Doctor reassures him that he'll be back in the office presently, the reassures Bill that between where they are and his office is a whole world of adventure waiting to be explored. Given the choice, Bill chooses to visit the future to see if it's happy...

Live Review: S10.E1 - The Pilot

The new series is upon us and with the tag line "A Time For Heroes" it is being promoted as a good, if not perfect jumping on point for any new viewers. It sounds a little cynical especially when Steven Moffat points out that the first episode (originally to be titled "The Girl With The Star In Her Eye") was cheekily named The Pilot to give an extra sense of it being the first episode (though the story does present a genuine reason for that title). We are to meet a new companion and go through all the usual exposition and learning that goes along with that. We are promised a fresh look at all the regular questions so they have a more genuine twenty-first century feel to them, from the perspective of someone who lives n the real world and has seen science fiction movies and isn't phased by technology. But she will be a genuine down-to-earth girl with real attitude and emotion... it's time to meet Bill Potts...

Paying the Bill with a Pearl

Trying to be clever with blog post titles can be tricky so I apologise now for this one... But I couldn't let this moment pass without posting it. On Thursday, it was announced that the new companion would be revealed during half-time in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final match. Well there's an odd thing to do! The tabloid and gossip press were already ahead of the game as it turns out, which is why I hate them. If something is supposed to be a surprise when it's announced then keep it to yourself until then. But I digress. There seemed to be no connection between football and Doctor Who so why had they chosen this moment to make the announcement? It would be approximately 6pm and possibly the biggest audience of the evening but apart from that it risked being missed by those who don't care about football (I'm sorry, but that includes me) and being overshadowed by the football. It would be an odd juxtaposition when the pundits wanted to talk about the match and it could easily have been missed by viewers taking a toilet break or putting the kettle on! The only connection I could come up with, other than a former footballer taking the role, was that Doctor Who traditionally followed the Final Score so they were kind of broadcast neighbours.