Doctor Who: Series 8, Episode 8 – “Mummy on the Orient Express” (2014)

 

I’m not familiar with Jamie Mathieson, a new writer to Who this season, but I hear he wrote next week’s episode in addition to this one, and I couldn’t be more relieved.  Undisputed best episode of the season so far – it feels like real, proper Doctor Who, something that can’t be said about enough of the episodes this year.  It just works for me on every level, and my overriding thought while watching it was, “Finally!”

 

The Doctor and Clara arrive on the Orient Express (in space,) a luxury rail of the future with a 1920s flair.  Mostly; these future humans aren’t entirely up on their 20^th-century history (keep an eye out for the sultry singer vamping on Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”)  Because this is Doctor Who, the fun romp turns deadly in a matter of seconds – 66 of them, to be precise – as passengers start dropping dead after screaming about an assailant only they can see.  Trapped on a moving train in space with a mythological murderer, the Doctor has to discover his unseen foe’s secrets before it takes every life onboard.

 

Where to start?  There’s the lavish set and costume design (Clara looks darling in a stylish ‘20s dress,) the genuine thrills and taut mystery, the humorous Who-ish touches (in addition to the anachronistic song choices mentioned above, there’s a fantastic gag with the psychic paper, and the Doctor makes unexpectedly whimsical use of a cigarette case,) and the fine well of supporting characters.  The episode touches on themes from elsewhere in the season, but whereas they’ve made me grit my teeth in earlier episodes, they’re explored far more thoughtfully here.

 

I don’t know where the show has been hiding this Doctor, but this is the one I want.  He’s brusque and arrogant, and he keeps people at a distance, but he’s also brilliant, funny, wonderfully competent, and not nearly as detached as he purports to be.  He’s the man in this episode, the Doctor I knew Peter Capaldi could be, and what’s more, we actually get a good chunk of story from his perspective.  This season has spent far too much time looking through Clara’s eyes – not that her viewpoint is a bad thing, but we need both, and it’s been frustrating to feel like the Doctor is the curmudgeonly alien sidekick on his own show.  This episodes lets us see him having fun, working hard, making tough decisions, being a hero, and hinting at the emotions he clearly still has, despite his pricklier new personality.

 

At first, I thought the episode was glossing over the interpersonal stuff from last week, but while it definitely seems we’ve moved from point A to C or D, the issues between Clara and the Doctor are addressed from both sides here.  The crack that’s grown through their friendship gets a lot of focus, there’s some good soul-searching, and the final scenes between them are just what I would’ve liked to see after my jumbled ranting at the end of last week’s review.

 

Really, my only gripe isn’t about the episode itself; it’s the fact that it’s episode 8, and there are only four left this season.  It’s fine to tell a story about the Doctor and his companion having trouble connecting after a regeneration, but it’s not a story you want to spend two-thirds of the season telling.  I should not feel like I’m finally seeing the Doctor the show wants me to see.  Why wasn’t I getting this weeks ago?  Also, if we go right back to the Doctor insulting Clara’s appearance, being ridiculously, distastefully prejudiced against soldiers, and making hardly any tangible contributions to the adventure, I might have to throw something.