Doctor Who: Series 9, Episode 1 – “The Magician’s Apprentice” (2015)

(Note:  while I’ll avoid major spoilers in terms of plot, I can’t even start discussing this episode without spoiling the return of two characters, so be warned.  Even the most basic description of the story feels really spoilery.) 

It’s strange – even though Who has been increasingly frustrating for me the past few years, I still get so excited and hopeful every time new episodes finally start up.  I suppose it’s because despite everything that aggravates me, the parts I love are wonderful enough to keep me going (at present, the wonderful is chiefly in the form of the Twelfth Doctor.)  The first half of the two-part season premiere is pretty messy, and very little actually happens, but my fannish heart was on pins and needles just the same. 

Here’s what I can tell you.  The Doctor’s presence is cordially requested by one Davros; the creator of the Daleks is dying, and he says he wants to see the Doctor before he goes.  There’s an important intersection in their pasts that needs to be dealt with.  Only hitch?  The Doctor’s nowhere to be found.  No one, in fact, knows where he is.  It takes Clara, Missy (who’s not dead Because Reasons,) and UNIT to figure it out.  Although it seems that the Doctor knows Davros will kill him, he ultimately acquiesces, and Clara and Missy join him despite his protests.

There’s a lot going on here – big villains, big meetings, big reveals – but not much really happening.  (The Doctor himself is absent for a long chunk of the episode.  I found myself saying, “This can’t be the Doctor-lite episode, can it?  No, it can’t be; it’s the premiere,” which is crazy.)  The whole episode has a definite part-one feel to it.  On the plus side, I’m curious to know the answers to my (many) questions.  But on the flipside, it feels… unaccomplished?  Like the story has barely started, even though it’s now half over.  There’s also a scene with the Doctor that feels really out-of-character to me, so much so that I’m wondering if it was all an act.  Is this going to be another “The Wedding of River Song” situation, where it turns out the Doctor knows exactly what’s going on and has the upper hand the whole time, and every emotion/reaction he appears to have is purely for show?  I hope not, because then what’s the point?

But on to the positives.  The episode opens with a super-creepy addition to Moffat’s Hall of Nightmare Fuel, and I love how one of the big end-of-episode reveals is handled.  Missy is used extremely well.  Given Davros’s presence, she’s less of the villain and more of a bizarro companion – an evil one, to be sure, but she contributes to the adventure and displays her cleverness.  Plus, she has a terrific scene with Clara in which she describes her relationship with the Doctor.  Aside from not getting nearly enough of him and the previously-mentioned jarring scene, the Doctor is excellent.  I wouldn’t say he’s in good form – the longer his history with an enemy, the more off his game he tends to be – but it looks like there may be an interesting emotional story to be had, and Capaldi plays it beautifully.  And best of all, the Doctor and Clara.  Oh, the Doctor and Clara.  They still appear to be spending a huge amount of time not traveling together, which continues to bug me, but their relationship is soooo much better here.  They act like friends who both care about each other.  The Doctor is clearly in trouble, and Clara a) realizes that, b) seems to actually get him, and c) is determined to help.  Thank so much goodness!  Don’t get me wrong – I want the show to be wonderful in all respects – but I can put up with a lot of nonsensical plotting if the Doctor and his companion are at least in a good place.