New Who Review: The Magician’s Apprentice
Posted By Kathleen David on September 21, 2015
OK since we have a new year of Doctor Who, here are the rules to NWR.
Behind the cut there will be spoilers for this episode and all previous episodes of Dr. Who going back to 1963 if warranted. You can speculate about what you think is going to happen but No Spoilers for future episodes. I have managed to keep myself out of the spoiler pit this year and want to keep it that way. So comments can have no future spoilers.
Now if you haven’t seen Dr. Who Series Nine Prologue and The Doctor’s Mediation I suggest that you find them if the links aren’t working and watch them since they do add to the episode and even answers a couple of questions I had during the episode.
Over all I liked it. It had a good energy and enough Holy *bleep* moments to keep me entertained. The writing and directing are solid.
The first five minutes is probably one of the best season openers to Doctor Who ever.
Capaldi has settled into the role and we have some idea what we might be dealing with but even with that, he surprises you. This is a Capaldi Doctor episode but with a slight twist which I will discuss in spoilers.
Over all solid Doctor Who episode that is worth watching more than once.
Next week the episode is entitled The Witch’s Familiar and basically picks up where this one left off.
Well this one is very hard to talk about without giving something away especially considering that we learn about Davros’ first encounter with the Doctor rather than the Doctor’s first encounter with Davros which is Genesis of the Daleks within the first five minutes.
The return of Missy was a glorious thing. I adore Michelle Gomez’s over the top, but not too over the top, take on the Master. She got some of the best lines in the show.
We also were given an understanding of how long the Doctor and the Master have known each other. I thought the scene in the streets of some nebulous city, I’m going to say somewhere in Italy, where she lays out her relationship with the Doctor for Clara to try to grasp was well done on everyone’s part.
And there is the Doctor grasping at straws trying to avoid the very thing he knows he is going to do. Once push comes to shove, he does do what he must and faces the mistake that he made or thinks he made oh so long ago for Davros but not that long ago for him. Just think about it. He has to deal with the fact that he probably created the Daleks by what he told and did to young Davros. It’s his fault or rather he feels that it is his fault.
And how can you go wrong with the Doctor, a tank, and an electric guitar? It was an axe fight just not the one everyone was expecting.
Clara was there too but more of a background character than most episodes. She had to deal with the fact that she is not the Doctor’s closest friend even though she has always been there for him.
I am fine with the Daleks when they are used for something like this which moves the mythos forward.
And no I don’t think we lost anyone this go around. Nor do I think this is the last of Darvos.
So loved it and looking forward to next week’s episode.
I don’t know if you’ve seen it already, but the conclusion was as good as the beginning. Best line : “20 feet”. But there were other great, funny, moving, and awesome moments as well. I hope that future episodes are as good as this two-parter (cross wood, touch fingers. Or is it the other way around ?)