You know, i've really been needing to go back and rewatch all of Doctor Who because one: i need to see if it still holds up and two: i don't remember a damn thing that happened in the last few series. Nevertheless, here we are with series 9, and what a way to kick off the show. In this episode we find out that The Doctor is potentially going to die soon, causing Missy and Clara to team up to find him, once they do, they discover that Davros, the creator of the Daleks is still alive and seeks an audience with The Doctor.So before I get to talking about the actual episode, i want to talk about my opinion on the characters, mainly The Doctor. Peter Capaldi's portrayal i have found enjoyable but lacking a presence the same way that the other Doctors did, the most noticeable way being that he never got a badass entrance like the others...well this episode rectifies that by having The Doctor ride into a medieval battle arena while shredding the electric guitar while riding a tank. That. Is. A. Fucking. ENTRANCE!!! Then there is Clara, a character who i initially wasn't fond of because she had no grounded personality or family, was too perfect and was far too similar to Matt Smith to be interesting. However, ever since she's been working opposite Capaldi, i found her to be much more enjoyable, they solved by biggest problems by giving her a lifestyle outside of The Doctor, making the two polar opposites to make the relationship more interesting and giving her a purpose to be in the Tardis. Finally Missy, who is so damn enjoyable in how sadistic and cartoonish she is, she's like a mixture between Lex Luthor and Harley Quinn (Oh god that image is terrifying). She doesn't really consider herself The Doctor's enemy, in fact, she's his best friend, she knows more about him than anyone else, the two have known each other since childhood and are frankly obsessed with one another. Of course she puts even more dysfunctionality (I know that's not a word) into it by stating that they've been friends longer than humanity have even existed, so of course that would add a little...complexity to their friendship. So the idea of The Doctor and The Master travelling together, i dig it, it's a new twist, it makes sense with this new context and it's damn enjoyable to watch the two play off each other.
But enough of that, let's get to the actual plot of the episode...or atleast we would if i knew what the hell was going on. Yeah that's one of my biggest problems with modern day Doctor Who, the episodes are way too confusing, in this episodes' case, they jump about from planet to planet as if they've already been established before and are well known locations and constant changing times and even then the story isn't told in chronological order of events, then there's the idea that The Doctor might be dying, where did that come from and haven't we already done that a million times before? And the fact that it's all a two parter doesn't help in the slightest. But from what I could gather is that The Doctor ended up on Skaro years ago and helped save a little boys life, as it would turn out that little boy would grow up to be Davros, the Doctor's arch-Nemesis (Missy has a great line about this). Then in present day, Davros is dying and seeks an audience with The Doctor, but it's all a trap and Davros kills Missy and Clara, i think, The Doctor certainly seemed distressed by this and then it all ends with the Doctor going back to child Davros and getting ready to kill him--hang on a minute, how did he end up their? He was just Davros' prisoner in the last scene, or is this The Doctor at a different point? Timey-Wimey!
Half the time in this episode I had no idea what was going on, especially with Davros, don't get be wrong, it's an ingenious set-up, The Doctor accidentally saving the life of his greatest enemy as a child, especially when they played that clip of the 4th Doctor hypothesising this very scenario, that is insanely clever. But I have too many questions and i'm very confused about what's going on, what is Davros' big plan here, how did The Doctor get back to child Davros, why is The Doctor dying, what the hell is all this leading up to? This is the first episode of a new series and I have so many questions, not because the show is setting up clever mysteries but because I have no idea what the hell is going on.
Overall, I liked this episode, mostly for the character interactions which were interesting, memorable and above all else, hilarious, and again, that tank scene is instantly my new favourite 12th Doctor moment ever, but goddamn I am so confused by everything going on. 7/10. It's a high 7 but i just couldn't get it to an 8.
-Danny
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