Doctor Who Series 8 Episode 8 - Mummy On The Orient Express - Review

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Frank Skinner & David Bamber

Written By: Jamie Mathieson

Directed By: Paul Wilmshurst

 

When a list of episode titles for Series 8 was released, there were two that stood out. The first was last week’s Kill The Moon, and the other one was Mummy On The Orient Express. Can we take a moment to appreciate both these titles again? Putting a mummy on one of the most iconic trains in history, is a premise ripe for storytelling, not to mention the fact that it's a story that was alluded to at the end of Series 5's The Big Bang. But is Mummy On The Orient Express as brilliant as its title suggests, or is the concept too far-fetched to deliver?

 

After their huge argument last week, Clara agrees to one last trip with the Doctor before she departs from the TARDIS. As a last hurrah, the Doctor brings her to a trip on the Orient Express ... in space. What was supposed to be a relaxing trip soon turns into a murder mystery, with people all across the train being killed by an unseen assailant. It's up to the Doctor and Clara to discover who or what is killing people, and find out what's causing whisperings about a "mummy".

 

Before it was shown on TV, Mummy On The Orient Express was greatly hyped in the news, due to some special guest appearances - most notably, the appearance of the singer Foxes. While her appearance in this episode got a lot of hype, I'm not really sure why her appearance here received so much attention, as she barely appeared for about ten seconds in the episode. For what little time she was on screen, Foxes performed a very nice jazz cover of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". While we heard very little of this cover in the episode, I was glad to see a full music video released online and it's definitely worth a listen. Another guest star to receive a huge amount of attention in the news was Frank Skinner as Perkins. Frank Skinner certainly had a lot more to do and let’s be honest, who didn’t like Perkins? He has a large presence in this episode, and I’m glad of it, because Perkins was such a charming and likeable character. Frank Skinner nailed the humour and I really loved his character’s wit and how he was written. There have been some calls for Perkins to re-appear in future episodes, and while I have doubts as to whether his character would work on a regular basis, I'd be welcome to the odd appearance in the future.

 

Regardless of whether you liked Mummy On The Orient Express or not, you still can't deny that it looked brilliant. Returning again in the director's chair is Paul Wilmshurst and he does just as good a job here as he did with Kill The Moon. By now, I'm beginning to realize that every episode of Series 8 has looked great, and it's getting to be one of the most cinematic series of the show since it's return. The villains of this episode are also some of the best of the series, with the standout being the Foretold. As the episode explains, once you see the Foretold, you have just 66 seconds to live. It's quite a creepy idea and it was a nice touch to continually remind us of how long each victim had left, by placing a small clock in the corner of the screen. The Foretold itself was a terrific design, with the damaged bandages making it truly feel like an ancient being. The design also contrasted well with the elegant design of the Orient Express, and it's up there with the likes of The Teller as being one of the best designs of the series. Despite just being a voice, Gus had just as much screen presence as the Foretold. John Sessions managed to make Gus feel very intimidating, yet casual, and certain scenes, such as when he ejects the kitchen staff, make the character feel psychopathic. That being said, there were a few unanswered questions around his character, such as exactly why he was trying to harness the Foretold's power, so I hope he'll show up again in future so we can hopefully get some answers.

 

The Doctor was once again fantastic here, and Peter Capaldi is somehow getting even better and better in the role with each episode. For me, this is Peter Capaldi’s very best as the Doctor to date, and this was mainly because of how the Doctor had a bit more of a presence this week. Whilst both the Doctor and Clara had large roles in this episode, it was the Doctor interacting with the other characters and doing the majority of the work, giving Peter Capaldi his time to shine. One tiny little moment that I loved in this episode, was when Maisie sees the Foretold and begins to panic, before the Doctor steps in. I love how we see that this less user-friendly Doctor is still the actual Doctor, as we see him spring into action, and potentially sacrificing himself to save Maisie, all while he is accompanied by a great score from Murray Gold.

 

This episode also lets us see the result of the Doctor and Clara's argument from last week. Kill The Moon saw Clara unleash an outburst of anger towards the Doctor, before she told him to leave. This week, the Doctor and Clara are here on the Orient Express, for one last trip together. But from the moment the Doctor and Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, you could feel that things weren't quite right between them. The chemistry between Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman was really good here, and you could tell that Clara’s outburst wouldn't be forgotten anytime soon. As I mentioned earlier, Clara has a bit less to do in this episode than the Doctor, and she spends the vast majority of her time stuck in one carriage cart. However, this works for the better as it gives Clara's dilemma about deciding whether or not to leave the Doctor, more focus and time to develop, while the Doctor deals with Gus and the Foretold. Clara's final decision at the end of the episode is great to watch, and while it has me looking forward to next week's Flatline, I'll be interested to see how Clara deals with lying to Danny.

 

In conclusion, Mummy On The Orient Express is a wonderful episode of Doctor Who that is arguably the best of Series 8 so far. Every character was written and developed brilliantly and I was glad to see that the Doctor and Clara's argument wasn't just abandoned. Jamie Mathieson's Doctor Who writing debut is about as good as you could get, and has left me really looking forward to his follow-up episode Flatline. A fantastic entry to Series 8.

 

 

 

Mummy On The Orient Express



9/10