Doctor Who season 9, episode 4 just aired, and as if there was every any doubt, the Doctor defeated the Fisher King.
Da da da dum, da da da dum
We start out with the Doctor doing a bit of pondering on a classic of, “What came first, the chicken of the egg?” Only, because he’s the Doctor and much cooler than that, his hypothetical is based on Beethoven and rock music. It’s called The Bootstrap Paradox (Yes, it’s real, and we Googled it just like the Doctor said.), and The Radio Times explains it better than we could because our brains are still spinning. This all makes sense in the end, because the greatest mystery of the episode is, when did the Doctor get the idea to fix his predicament?
When will I see you again?
Meanwhile back in 1980, the Doctor and company meet the undertaker who is not a ghost. He is very much alive, and they learn that his is actually from the planet of Tivoli. Tivoli is a planet that bizarrely loves to be conquered, and lives for servitude. They have a sign in their capitol city that says, “If you occupied us, you’d be home by now.” In case this all sounds vaguely familiar to you, David Walliams played a resident from Tivoli back in 2011 in “The God Complex.”
Apparently, Tivoli was recently conquered by a race called the Arcateenians, and in case you also think that sounds vaguely familiar, the last time they popped up was during an episode of Torchwoood where Tosh hooked up with one of that race. Little surprise we are dealing with the Arcateenians and the Tivolians again as Toby Whithouse wrote both those previously referenced episodes as well as this one.
On the off chance that anyone in power at the BBC is reading this, Toby Whithouse would be a hell of a showrunner, just throwing it out there…but we digress…back to the episode.
The leader of the Arcateenians is The Fisher King, and he’s not quite dead yet. In short order, the Doctor realizes that the he needs to speak to Clara because there is no writing on the wall of the spacecraft, and the undertaker doesn’t know what the Doctor is going on about.
Call me on the line, call me, call me any time
The Doctor gets in touch with Clara. She is still in the future and he is in the town circa 1980 before it gets sunk under water. For a split second there it would have been cool to have archival footage of the fourth Doctor, and companions from 1980 ( We think it may have been Tegan and Nyssa at this point.) pop up, but then again it would have been over kill.
Anyway, the Doctor gets in touch with Clara and she updates him about the fact that he is now a ghost in her timeline, and what his ghost is saying. The Doctor gives Clara instructions to escape to the Faraday Cage and to await further instructions. The one imperative item is that she is to stay in touch with him via her phone that has to remain outside the cage so it can get a signal.
Just around the river bend
Thanks to his conversation with Clara, the Doctor now knows he dies, and in fact, he now knows the order in which everyone dies. Can the Doctor monkey with time and change this, or will a change blow up the universe? How can he manipulate the circumstances?
Kudos to Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman who have a deep connection that is clearly evident. Life, death, and the love (fraternal) that they share is obvious. Clara doesn’t want to lose the Doctor the way she lost Danny, not when her life is again having meaning.
Oops I did it again
Bennet, O’Donnell, and the Doctor attempt to out run the Fisher King and O’Donnell is unfortunately his next victim. The Doctor plays a risky game, and he ends up in his own time stream, and now he has to avoid his own self or risk a huge earth-shattering paradox. Fortunately, the Doctor is available to quite literally stay one step ahead of himself, and sets up events to change the future. The Fisher King dies in the damn burst, Bennett goes back to the future when the TARDIS safety protocols kick in, and the Doctor mails himself back in the coffin. All of this is in the nick of time to save Clara, Cass and Lunn who have left the sanctuary of the Farady Cage to retrieve Clara’s phone.
Another side note, why does Clara still have an iPhone 4? Upgrade that thing already!
All you need is love
It’s not quite all’s well that ends well, but close enough. Bennett is mourning O’Donnell, and Clara gives him some first-hand advice on how to go on in the face of tragedy. Cass and Lunn admit their love with a little help from Bennett. The Doctor and Clara live to travel another day with the Bootstrap Paradox still giving us a headache.
