New Who Review: The Witch’s Familiar
Posted By Kathleen David on September 28, 2015
Usual rules apply. Any episode up to and including this one. Speculation is fine but it has to be YOUR speculation and I have been avoiding spoilers which can be difficult on Tumblr but I have learned how.
This is part two of the episode and that’s the way they are playing it all season. So far I don’t see an arc for the season and I am fine with that.
I am happy with the story. It has a good beginning, a moving middle and a fine end. The two ‘oh come on’ moments were commented on by the characters within the story and addressed by the end of the story. So points to Moffat for that.
I am hoping that Missy will be showing up down the road. Between the writing and the acting, she is fast becoming my favorite version of the character.
So the writing was slick. The actors did a fine job. Julian Bleach did an excellent job again as Davros. This has become my favorite performance of his in that role. More on that behind the cut.
Next week’s episode is entitled Under the Lake. Am I the only one seeing a King Arthur theme to the titles?
OK everyone repeat after me, “Don’t trust Davros”. Ya think the Doctor who have that tattooed somewhere on his body.
And that is where Julian Bleach earned his paycheck. For a short while, until he yet again screwed the Doctor over, I had sympathy for Davros. And that is a hard thing to do. And how did they do it? With Davros opening his eyes which amazingly made him so much more human(iod). It goes to show how much the eyes can convey.
Michelle Gomez was amazing demented as Missy but there were new things there. She showed that it was all an act and there is a cold calculating intelligence behind the quips and that intelligence is dangerous. So more Missy but not too much is my request.
And points of Moffat for using one word “Mercy” and it tracks through the series going back to River and the Dalek who said Mercy. I wasn’t sure how I felt about eh Doctor rescuing Davros but by the end of this episode I was because it makes sense.
The idea of the Doctor and the Master being two sides of the same coin has been explored before but I like the idea that they aren’t that different and they do have this very weird very screwed up relationship.
I enjoyed this episode greatly and am looking forward the rest of the season.
I am grateful for good entertainment that engages me.
I may have to go back and see it again, but two points I didn’t quite understand. One, was that the Doctor left Gallifrey after creating a Time Lord/Dalek hybrid? And, were the Doctor and the Master both involved in that process? I wish my Blu-Rays Amazon Prime player had closed captioning!
Oh, I think there’s a hint of an arc there … “why did the Doctor leave Gallifrey?” strikes me as the overarching question of the season.
Oh, the Doctor sent the confession disk to Missy because his leaving Gallifrey had something to do with stealing the newly mentioned Master’s Daughter away from her parent for her own safety…
And the daughter’s name was Susan Foreman.
Hey, if I come up with a crazy Susan theory for every set of Moffat clues, I have to be right eventually, don’t I?
It was my understanding that the Doctor left Gallifrey in an attempt to AVOID creating a super hybrid that was prophesied to happen. And just like a good Greek Tragedy, trying to avoid the prophecy is exactly what sets it inmotion.
But, but, but…the Doctor had never seen a Dalek until the story called “The Daleks”, right? I’m confused.