Doctor Who’s season premiere last night was nothing short of spectacular. Here are our five favorite moments.
1. The Master’s conference
How brilliant was it that in order to capture U.N.I.T. and Clara’s attention, Missy stopped all plane traffic? Even better was her estimation that the only way that Clara would feel safe at the meeting was Clara being surrounded by nine snipers. Missy then proved that no matter what they do, she’ll still be in control because collateral damage means nothing to her.
Possibly the best thing though is the fact that Clara is forced to work with Missy in an enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend kind of way. Missy is a homicidal sociopath with a vortex manipulator, and holds the knowledge of all of time and space coupled with regeneration. It doesn’t get any more dangerous. The thing is, you just know they aren’t dead. She and Clara, as we speculated in our recap, likely planned an escape via Missy’s vortex manipulator.
At some point Davros will be thwarted. At that point, the partnership is over. Can Clara outwit Missy? Clara has something that Missy desperately wants: the Doctor’s undivided attention.
2. Colony Sarff
We’ve come a long way from the days of recycling aliens. For a minute there we were concerned that we’d have a rehash of the headless monks, but Colony Sarff was a breath of fresh air. For starters, having him glide around on the hoverboard was sheer genius. It’s about time the aliens moved in a new way.
The best part for us was that we didn’t see the snakes coming. The facial features didn’t immediately seem reptilian to us, but once it all went into motion it was brilliant. We are calling Colony Sarff the best new alien since The Silence.
3. Plot, pace, and characterization
Last year was very up and down. The first six episodes of season 8 were brought down by inconsistent writing, characterization, and pacing. In the acting department, it took a while for the Doctor and Clara to find consistent chemistry. It wasn’t just transitioning to a new Doctor, there were some real issues.
Last season there were times where we wanted to scream, “Who are you and what have you done with Clara? Since when is she a control freak other than you just announced it?” There were also moments last year when the Doctor was completely unlikeable and unrecognizable, such as when he told a child she didn’t matter. It was hard to reconcile that with the man who told Donna Noble that she was the most important woman in the universe. Grumpy was fine, but arrogant, unfeeling, and nasty weren’t. Thank goodness everything finally clicked during the latter half of season 8 and the Christmas episode. With the season 9 opener things are stronger than ever. We want to root for the Doctor and Clara because we care about them.
4. Blasts from the past
The Shadow Proclamation was back, along with the Sisters of Karn. The last time we saw the Shadow Proclamation was during David Tennant’s reign as the Doctor in “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End.” It was also the episode where Davros stole the planets and was battled by all the Doctor’s friends teaming up. It made us a little teary. We miss Sarah Jane (R.I.P. Lis Sladen), and we’re hopeful that we might see Captain Jack again along with the Doctor’s other companions.
5. The Doctor is in the house
Talk about an entrance. Peter Capaldi (bit of trivia: he used to actually play in a band with Craig Ferguson way back when) entered playing electric guitar aboard a tank. How do you top that for showmanship? It was a bit reminiscent of David Tennant’s entrance with sunglasses, tropical drink and lei in “Journey’s End.”
Capaldi was at his best this episode. He was equally funny, enigmatic, compelling, heartbreaking, and menacing. In short, he was the Doctor. Oh Doctor, my Doctor you are back!
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