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| Original 1960s-style Cybermen... not sure if kitsch or actually creepy. Or both. |
At the
heart of this fascinating dynamic is the fact that this episode does
something that Doctor Who
has literally never done before: we have gotten several
multiple-Doctor stories over the years (The Three Doctors,
The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors, Day of the Doctor,
and a couple shorts and audio serials), but this is the first ever
multiple-Masters story. As the character arc of Missy and her
transformation from villain to antihero comes to a head, The
Doctor Falls brings her together
with The Master's previous incarnation, played by John Simm, and
seriously puts her possible-redemption to the test. It all comes
together as a fascinating exploration of the complexity of The
Master/Missy as a character, and the friend/enemy, yin/yang dynamic
they have with The Doctor. All that on top of a Cyberman origin story
(one of several that we have gotten over the years, with more than a
bit of influence from the Fifth Doctor audio serial Spare
Parts) which itself takes a few
pages from the zombie survival-horror playbook; Cyberman invasion as
Night of the Living Dead.
Yet somehow this is not too much for one episode; instead these
narrative layers build off of each other rather brilliantly,
providing the springboards for great character arcs all around, for
The Doctor, for Missy and The Master, for Nardole, and perhaps
especially for Bill.
 |
| "Who the f**k is John Simm?" - The Mighty Boosh |
A whole lot of character arcs pay off very well here, including at least one that I hadn't quite noticed happening: Nardole evolving from the comic-relief assistant to a very strong – if still rather goofy – hero in his own right. I was really not wild about Matt Lucas's character at the beginning of this season, thinking that he was just too silly to fit well with Capaldi's sardonic Doctor, but he has totally won me over. Pearl Mackie's Bill, on the other hand, proved almost immediately that she had the gravitas and dramatic chops to match the wonderfully awkward humor that she brought to the table, and her character and performance have just kept evolving ever since. She turned into a great, very multi-dimensional lead who now easily makes my short-list of favorite companions, and this episode may be her finest hour. It really puts her through the ringer, but in the process it gives her some fantastic material to work with, and concludes this season's arc for her character in the strongest way it possibly could. Michelle Gomez continues to prove that her antihero, rather than outright villain, portrayal of Missy is far more fascinating than the usual Master-as-Big-Bad that we've known for decades now, and the arc of whether or not redemption is possible for her is likewise handled in very effective, and very unexpected ways.
Perhaps
the biggest surprise, though, comes from John Simm, returning as The
Master as we knew him in series 3 and the series 4.5 specials. I had
liked his Master, but I also agreed with the common complaint that he
was way too over-the-top and manic for his own good; that he played
the character as more of a cartoon villain than the Moriarty to The
Doctor's Holmes which he should be at his best. Simm certainly had
moments of greatness as The Master during the David Tennant years,
but the wildly crazy direction of the character made him very uneven.
He has really changed a lot this time around. Gone is (most of) the
manic, over-the-top craziness, and instead Simm plays his Master as
an older, more controlled, and more calculating version of the
character which is far more in line with the original Master from the
classic series. He is much more effective in the role this time
around: creepy, menacing, and above all very intelligent and patient
in his cruelty. This
is The Master, in the classic Doctor Who
sense, and Simm plays him brilliantly. Even those who really hated
him in series 3 should be impressed this time around.
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| Peter Capaldi - quite possibly the last Doctor who will have been born before Doctor Who was on the air. |
There
really could not have been a better finale for Capaldi's final
season. It didn't really do what I expected, but it did what felt
right. It provided enough of the spectacle that we want from a Doctor
Who season finale, but far more
importantly it focused a lot of attention on its characters. As
Steven Moffat's time as showrunner likewise comes to an end, it is
not surprising that story arcs are finding their ends as the show
prepares to move on to a new chapter. But the elegance and emotional
sincerity with which The Doctor Falls
works with its characters and closes off certain of their key arcs is
rather brilliant. Perhaps most importantly, as his last season ends,
Peter Capaldi has gotten the opportunity to once more make the case
for why (after an admittedly polarizing start) he has become one of
the best and most fascinating Doctors of the new series. To echo the
emotions of David Tennant as his Tenth Doctor prepared to
regenerate... I don't want him to go.
Score:
-
Christopher S. Jordan
It will be a long wait until the Christmas special... so keep sharing this review in the mean time!