 |
| "I'm sorry, I steal scenes, I can't help it!" |
The Eaters of Light has
an unusual distinction among the new Doctor Who series,
in that it is one of the few modern episodes to have been written by
a screenwriter from the original show. And not just any screenwriter:
Rona Munro happened to write what turned out to be the series finale
of the original Doctor Who,
the three-part 1989 story arc Survival.
It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that The Eaters of Light
feels very much like a vintage
Doctor Who adventure,
with a focus on an ensemble of guest characters rather than the
monster of the week, and with a more deliberately-paced,
dialogue-and-not-action sensibility. The result is, much like last
week's Empress of Mars,
a pleasantly nostalgic episode which is quite a lot of fun for
long-time fans of the series. However, it is hard to deny that
Empress of Mars did it
a bit better, while this episode is a little uneven in spots. It is
still a solid enough entry in the series, with very strong moments
throughout; but this season has so far been so good that a merely-pretty-good episode is relatively one of the weaker of the
year.
 |
| "Hey, this makes that crack in the wall in series 5 feel like no big deal!" |
The
episode finds The Doctor, Bill and Nardole traveling back to ancient
Scotland to settle a bet between The Doctor and Bill regarding the
fate of a Roman legion who mysteriously disappeared in the region.
Naturally the mystery behind their disappearance turns out to be
otherworldly in nature – a somewhat Lovecraftian tentacled beast –
and soon The Doctor is trying to unite the survivors of the Roman
army and their Scottish enemies to the common cause of defeating the
monster. In classic Doctor Who fashion,
in keeping with Munro's original series roots, the focus is not on
the monster itself, but on the human characters: their reasons for
fighting each other, the animosities that exist between them, and how
they ultimately unite to face the greater evil. This arc echoes the
familiar themes of Doctor Who's
humanism, and the optimistic belief in humanity to put aside their
toxic disagreements in order to do the right thing when really
required. This is when The Eaters of Light
is at its best: in the character moments that address the soldiers'
anxieties about both the fight and each other, when The Doctor tries
to make them see reason with his usual acerbic philosophy. Bill
likewise gets a few excellent character moments with the Romans, both
dramatic and comedic. One of the finest moments in the episode is a
comic one when Bill references being a lesbian, and braces herself
for the shock of old-fashioned heteronormative intolerance... only to
instead get a reminder that in Roman society bisexuality was the
norm, and it is actually they who think she is old-fashioned because
of how uptight about the topic she seems. It's a fun moment that
turns the tables on the sorts of culture-shock typically portrayed in
time-travel stories (not to mention a useful reminder that
heteronormativity is a modern social construct!).
 |
| "Rambo: The Ancient Roman Years." |
Unfortunately,
the parts of the episode actually involving the creature are a bit
weaker. While Munro came up with a very cool Lovecraftian concept for
what it is and how it kills, she could not come up with many really
interesting things for it to do, and its unique abilities ultimately
come off a tad underutilized. Despite the great potential for a very
different type of monster, it is used in a disappointingly generic
way. The design for the creature is also a good deal more ambitious
(and again, Lovecraftian) than the budget can comfortably allow, and
there certainly are times when the quality of the CGI looks below par
for what we are used to on the series. Still, it does provide a
couple suspenseful moments, and at least the interesting concept is
there. It is just too bad that the execution does not match it.
Ultimately,
The Eaters of Light is
a pretty good story that is just a little bit short of being very
good. The characterization and philosophy are when the episode is at
its best, and when it channels classic Doctor Who very
effectively. It is just a shame that the great concept of the
creature is not met with equally effective execution. Still, it is
far from a bad episode, just not a tremendously memorable one. It is
perhaps a tribute to the quality of this season that being just a
pretty good episode puts it in the bottom several for this year.
Still, it is certainly worth a look – especially for fans of the
original series who want to see an episode that recaptures a similar
feel.
Score:
-
Christopher S. Jordan
Please share this review!