Another
great Thirteenth Doctor historical! I loved this one, cool and creepy with nice
nods to literary history, more of our heroes in period dress, and a prelude for
things to come.
The
Doctor, Yaz, Graham, and Ryan have popped in on Lord Byron’s estate in 1816,
the night of the famous writing contest that led to the creation of Frankenstein. But as usual, something’s
wrong. Not only is no contest underway, there are also eerie goings-on
throughout the house – sightings of strange apparitions and halls/stairways
that seem to invert and twist in on one another. Team TARDIS sets out to solve
the mystery while keeping the famous writers in their charge alive.
I
like when Who plays with horror
conventions, and this is an enjoyable “ghost story.” Like the best of this
type, it mixes classic horror figures and notions with sci-fi ideas, which I
always enjoy. While the connections between the different elements of the plot
seemed a little strained to me initially, it ultimately comes together in a way
that makes sense.
This
is also a fine addition to the celebrity historicals collection. Mary Shelley,
Lord Byron, and co. are excellently brought to life. There’s a nice balance
between the expected (significant references to important works by all the
involved writers, Byron totally being into the Doctor) and the more fanciful
(the whole literary crew being absolutely gossipy bitches when they first meet
the Doctor and her companion,) and it’s all done well. It makes me laugh that
“no one snog Byron!” is one of the ground rules established when our heroes first
show up, and I appreciate that, for all that this is “the Frankenstein episode,” all the historical figures have a role to
play and aren’t ignored to only focus on Mary Shelley.
More
period dress from the companions, as I said, all of whom look fetching in their
Regency-era clothing. Even the Doctor gets in on the action, barely (hardly at
all, really, but she’s at least wearing something
different.) Like the Tesla episode, it’s one where all the companions have
something to contribute, both to the mystery and to the story as a whole. I
like Ryan amusing Mary Shelley with an incredibly-dubious rendition of
“Chopsticks,” and Yaz has a conversation with another character that points to
some interesting questions.
It’s
another good one for the Doctor. I think the show is still finding its footing
a little in terms of really balancing things out for all three companions, but
it’s pretty much hit its stride where the Doctor is concerned. Whereas, last
season, I had issues where lackluster writing sometimes made her seem less
impressive than she is, I think she’s been quite on point through much of this
season. Here, she dives headfirst into the creepy mystery, she toes the line
between relying on the brilliant minds of the writers around her while also
working to keep them safe from the alien threat, and she has a strong speech
near the end that addresses the Doctor’s perennial concern: being the one to
make the hard choices at the center of the catastrophes.
Some
of the stuff that happened in this episode while carry forward into the next.
With the two-part season finale kicking off next week, I’m very curious about
how the different arc elements introduced throughout the season might come
together.
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