DW 8.08

So, we are all expecting a solo Doctor adventure, because of the brilliant character moment in which Clara stormed off... oh, that only lasted two minutes.

Let's count it off. The 'Clara mad at the Doctor' aspect - wasted. The 'Orient Express in Space' aspect - wasted. The 'Creepy Mummy' - wasted. None of those aspects were crucial to the story, they were just window dressing. The core idea of "strange thing causing death" is interested... and has been done before, but this really suggests it's going to hook into the greater arc (or, considering Moffat, next years arc?).

But we do come to a point about the Doctor being grumpy. This is his thing now, and people don't seem to like it. Certainly, it's not the person-centric Doctor we've seen before, but we could do with some pragmatism. On the other hand, does this make him not the Doctor? Even Eccleston gave some sense of interest in the little people. This Doctor just sees them as resources to use on the way to saving them. I can't really see this aspect continuing too much longer, or who will claim to be a fan of the Capaldi Doctor? It's going to turn people off.

On the other hand, can we have more John Sessions please? His voice is great, but we definitely want more. And hopefully Gus will return, so yay, look forward to that. And there are plenty of other people that people will recognise. (I was suspicious of Perkins because for a while no-one else interacted with him.)

The last scene in the TARDIS undermines the whole episode emotional arc, so thanks for killing that.

Next week: A filler episode, but this looks to have definite potential.

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