Doctor Who is back in Victorian times, 1893 to be precise. Only this time it’s Yorkshire and not London, and Tegan gets a reference.
In the clip below, which is sure to get fans of classic Doctor Who fist pumping the air, the Doctor and Clara are in Yorkshire rather than London where he apparently intended. While the Doctor and Clara banter back and forth, about his habitual inability to pilot the TARDIS to where and when he intends, the Doctor references his former companion, Tegan (photo below).
The Doctor doesn’t mention Tegan by name, but he references her accent, the fact that he disrupted her career as an air hostess, and a certain iconic line. As a fun fact, Tegan was one of John Barrowman’s favorite companions. He actually named one of his beloved dogs after her.
The episode has been called “Doctor-lite” by a number of sources likening it to episodes like “Blink” where the Doctor didn’t play a major role. Apparently this is something of a misnomer. In their spoiler free review, Den of Geek states that it’s not so much that the Doctor isn’t involved in the episode in a significant way, but rather he doesn’t show up for about half the episode.
According to Den of Geek, it’s Strax, Vastra, and Jenny who lead the early action:
Set in Yorkshire in the 1890s, it’s actually left to the returning trio of Strax, Madame Vastra and Jenny to do the early heavy lifting in the episode. As such, we get one or two references back to The Snowmen here (which was the last time we saw them), not least because the last time they met Clara she was suffering a little from being, well, dead. But this is primarily a standalone tale, a period mystery with horror under and overtones. Pretty much perfect for Mark Gatiss, then.
Dame Diana Rigg co-stars in the episode with her daughter Rachael Sterling. Rigg told the Radio Times, “We had great difficulty keeping a straight face in some scenes. I play a horrendous old bag who wants to take over the world. I love playing old bats…We’d never worked together before and this was the first offer we’d had. It’s such fun, really lovely…We’re only doing one – so far. Of course, there could be more.”