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After poking its nostrils above the waterline to sniff the air of inspiration, The Driver slithers back into the mire of predictability, intent only on reaching a conclusion with little concern as to what the conclusion should be or how it gets there. It’s a shame. Given the quality of the cast and the potential … >
This is more like it. In spite of all the good things we’ve seen since Peter Capaldi took control of the TARDIS, we’ve been waiting for something that is unmistakeably Doctor Who, something as comfortable as a sparkly black sweater and as inventive as exterminating a giant alien spider with disinfectant spray, as familiar as … >
After a steady start in last week’s opener – enjoyable but pedestrian in its predictableness – the second episode zooms out of the 30mph zone with its foot down, bringing some much needed excitement to a journey that might otherwise have become tedious. Having already been party to some dodgy deals since becoming driver for … >
One thing that has eluded Doctor Who in recent years is consistency. Matt Smith’s final season was let down by clunkers like ‘The Rings of Akhaten’ and ‘Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS’, but the gilt edges of the previous season were certainly rubbed off by ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ – and … >
Having recently narrated the audiobook of his namesake Steven Patrick’s Autobiography, it seems appropriate that David Morrissey’s latest television role takes him back to Manchester. This is not the cultured, steel-and-glass megalopolis that the city’s tourist board are keen to publicise, however, but the parts that haven’t changed since the days of the Smiths: the … >
She’s the malign Mary Poppins played by Michelle Gomez that first popped up at the end of ‘Deep Breath’ for a spot of brolly-brandishing bonkersness. But who the hell is she? Publicity for Season 8 has described Missy as ‘the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere’ – the Nethersphere presumably being the sought-after ‘Promised Land’ – but what … >
The first thing you notice about this episode are the balls. Not Rusty the Dalek’s antibodies, which whizz around its ailing innards like Toclafanes disguised as Magic 8s, but the cojones: the swaggering, look-at-the-size-of-this braggadocio of a blockbusting space adventure. The fact that it’s a combination of several other blockbusting space adventures – not to … >
Sometimes, a change is better than a rest. The closing triptych of Matt Smith’s tenure in the TARDIS promised a great deal but delivered only sporadically (‘The Name of the Doctor’ was mostly good, ‘The Day of the Doctor’ was mostly patchy, ‘The Time of the Doctor’ was mostly tedious) and while there’s always a … >
After last week’s instalment, in which Hugo Blick ramped up the sex and death to Doorsian levels, one might be forgiven for thinking the final episode was more a coda than anything else: when the music’s over, turn out the lights. Yet while ‘The Paring Knife’ is less incendiary than its predecessor, it matches – … >
‘Have you been watching the TV?’ Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle (Stephen Rea) asks with mock good cheer as the penultimate part of The Honourable Woman builds to a crescendo. ‘It’s really very exciting.’ Not half. The last six weeks have been enthralling, plotted tighter than an Edwardian corset and as tense as a gazelle at a … >