Doctor Who Series 8 Episode 5 - Time Heist - Review
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Keeley Hawes, Jonathan Bailey & Pippa Bennett-Warner
Written By: Stephen Thompson & Steven Moffat
Directed By: Douglas Mackinnon
Despite
the trailers and promotional material promising a very interesting
concept, not to mention a very good-looking episode, there's one
frankly big thing that has really prevented me from getting invested
in it. It's simply the fact that Stephen Thompson and Steven Moffat
are this week's writers. Stephen Thompson has previously delivered
the poor effort that was The Curse Of The Black Spot,
as well as last year's hit-and-miss Journey To The
Centre Of The TARDIS.
Meanwhile, the quality of Steven Moffat's episodes becomes more and
more like a lucky dip with every passing year. So can these two
writers pull together and defy all odds by providing a good
forty-five minutes of entertainment?
The
Doctor and Clara awake on an alien planet, with no knowledge of how
they got there or why they're there. They are joined by a
cybernetically augmented human and hacker, Psi, and a mutant humanoid
with shapeshifting abilities, Saibra. The group are tasked by a
mysterious “architect” with robbing the Bank of Karabraxos, the
most secure bank in the universe. The bank has never successfully
been broken into before, and is under the guard of the Teller, a
telepathic alien with the ability to scan thoughts and detect guilt.
Together, the group have to avoid the Teller, but also figure out why
they are robbing the bank, and who for...
I
may have had my concerns about who was writing this episode, but I
have to admit that a part of me remained hopeful thanks to the great
and very original premise. A story about a bank heist isn't something
I've seen from Doctor Who before,
so I remained intrigued, and when you add time travel to
the mix, you've got something that's strikingly fresh. This is why I
was so thankful to find that while I had my reasons to be worried
about who was writing this episode, Stephen Thompson and Steven
Moffat were able to work together to deliver a solid and entertaining
mystery thriller, with plot twists and turns that actually held up
and made sense. Throughout Time Heist,
we find ourselves asking and being genuinely intrigued as to why the
Doctor and his team are having to rob the bank, who is the architect
that's tasked them with doing so, how the architect was able to leave
clues and guidance along the way, and much more. All the while we're
entertained by a script that moves at a strong pace, and the danger
that they may at any minute be discovered by Ms Delphox or the
Teller. The script also throws in plenty of plot twists and
revelations, that while I won't spoil them here, keep us on our toes
and provide the explanations we're after. You can tell that unlike a
lot of Doctor Who's
recent mystery stories, thought and care has gone into this one.
Although
with that being said, while the episode doesn't leave plot holes and
does give us our answers, it could have done with making them a bit
clearer. For once this may not be the fault of the writing, but more
to do with the editing. It isn't until the last five-ten minutes that
the Doctor is able to use the Teller to get answers as to why he's
here, but it took several watches before I understood how everything
fit together. (Spoiler Warning!) For
example, the mystery architect that tells the Doctor and his friends
to rob the bank is revealed to be the Doctor himself, and that it was
the Doctor who planted the items to help them, such as the bomb and
the short-range teleporters. But I ended up confused as to whether
the Doctor planted them before they came to Karabraxos and wiped
their memories, or if he was still yet to do it. I think I understand
now, but the way that scene was presented and explained did leave me
confused.
Back
on the bright side, I was pleased and even surprised to find that
Time Heist also
played host to a solid array of supporting characters. Each was
fleshed out by some impressive acting talent, and while none of them
were the most engaging or best characters that have ever been
written, I did care about them. Jonathan Bailey and Pippa
Bennett-Warner were both very likeable as Psi and Saibra
respectively, and both of their characters got a decent backstory and
the chance to use their individual abilities. The two worked well
with the Doctor and Clara, and speaking of the Doctor, it was great
to see Peter Capaldi actually be the Doctor again, similar to how he
was in Robot Of Sherwood.
It's clear now that the 12th Doctor functions best not when he's having to try and keep us
interested in the long series arc, but when the character is just let
loose and dealing with what's happening in a self-contained
forty-five minute episode. Meanwhile, Lara Croft herself, Keeley
Hawes, starred as Ms Delphox. While the character was pretty much
identical to Ms Foster from Partners In Crime,
and another of Steven Moffat's copied and pasted “Strong Women”,
here I'm willing to forgive this, as Keeley Hawes was amazing in the
role and fitted the confident and no-nonsense bank employee role
really well.
I
get the feeling that Time Heist will
in future years be remembered for one of its most accomplished
creations – the Teller. The Teller is a brilliant visual creation
and one of the most “alien” aliens we've seen on Doctor
Who in a while. The prosthetics
work is simply stunning and on par with the work done on the
Half-Face Man in Deep Breath.
He was also well-incorporated into the script and became more than
just another monster. The beginning of the episode made the
worthwhile decision of making us aware of just what the Teller could
do to our main characters if he caught them, by showing him reducing
a customer's brain to soup (shown through some chilling special
effects). (Spoiler Warning!)
However, the Teller is more than a deadly telepathic killer, and the
reason why he's an unwilling slave to Ms Delphox not only allowed us
to see him in a more sympathetic light, but it provided a clever
explanation as to why a heroic figure like the Doctor is
participating in a bank heist.
The
Teller wasn't the only impressive aspect of Time Heist's
production. I loved this episode's smooth, polished and futuristic
aesthetic. The Bank of Karabraxos itself looked very sleek, whilst
showing great range from the posh bank entrance, to the Teller's
foggy cage, to the more industrial lower floors. I also loved how
what is supposed to be the most secure bank in the universe had
human-sized ventilation shafts for our main characters to travel
through. Douglas Mackinnon's direction was just as smooth as this
episode looked, showing some great use of panning shots and
slow-motion, especially when we first enter the bank, and there were
times where it almost made me feel like I was watching an episode of
The Apprentice.
The futuristic feel could even be detected in Murray Gold's music
score, which felt sublime and appropriately used.
Even
if you weren't particularly keen on Time Heist,
I think we can all agree that it could have turned out a lot worse. I
never thought I'd be saying it, but this is the strongest entry to
Series 8 since Deep Breath,
and a unique, enjoyable one as well. With an interesting premise,
strong supporting cast and characters and the fact it exists as its
own self-contained mystery thriller, Time Heist is
a very good episode.
Time Heist
8/10