'The Magician's Apprentice': Doctor Who Review

And so we got a new episode of Doctor Who yesterday. Was it a yay or a nay? To 'cut the chase' (as Missy would say); it was yay - but did have its fair share of nay-ness. If that makes any sense. Probably doesn't. So let's have a closer look.

Nowadays I've become one of those people who don't look out for spoilers. I don't actively avoid them either, but let's say the Doctor Who Twitter account posts a video of the upcoming series - will I watch it? Most likely not. Cons of doing this is that I may seem like a massive idiot and an ignorant fool when talking to my fellow nerds. But the significant pro is to get the satisfaction of 'Oh'.

The Magician's Apprentice started with a big 'Oh', when the little boy in the battlefield is surrounded by hand mines (literally hands - loved it) and the Doctor is reaching out to help him. He throws the little boy his sonic screwdriver and tells him he has one chance in a thousand for survival. Better concentrate on that one instead of the thousand. But then.

'Tell me the name of the boy who isn't going to die today.'
'Davros.'

Oh. Oh. 'If someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that child grew up totally evil... to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives... could you then kill that child?'


The Magician's Apprentice is definitely more of an episode for those Doctor Who fans, who have some knowledge of the series beyond the reboot. Naturally, it also works, if all you know about Davros is that he appeared in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, but you'll definitely get more out of this episode with some more detailed background knowledge. References to Genesis of the Daleks are heavy, and if you've seen that episode you understand more of the world Davros and Daleks come from. I personally recommend reading the book version of the episode, if you still haven't seen it - it's great and leaves space for imagination.

After the title sequence we see a shady person wander around the galaxies looking for the Doctor muttering that 'Davros knows, Davros remembers'. The shady person is actually a big snake formed of lots of little snakes, and he calls Davros the Dark Lord of Skaro, which, to be frank, sounds absolutely ridiculous in a way that's far from good. The association with Voldemort just doesn't work. Nope. Makes me cringe. Anyway, the shady snake person returns to Davros, who has survived of the destruction of the Crucible - but seems to be feeling pretty poorly. The Snakey (his name is actually Sarff, but Snakey fits better, doesn't it?) hasn't found the Doctor, but Davros isn't concerned - the Doctor has a weakness and will come to him. And dun-dun-dun we see the Doctor's screwdriver in Davros' hand.

But it's not only Davros who's back - Missy, too, is here, even though we left the Series 8th thinking she was dead. Didn't last long, did it? The mystery of her resurrection is shuddered off with a pretty cheap line: 'Cutting the chase. Not dead. Back. Big surprise. Never mind', and people who aren't too fond of Moffat's writing get a new thing to complain about. Yet, I don't really mind, to be honest, because Missy is such a superstar with superb lines! She catches Clara's and the whole Earth's attention by simply stopping all the aircraft in the sky, and then has a nice little chitty-chat with Clara about an object delivered to the Doctor's closest friend on the eve of his death: the Doctor's confession dial - a Time Lord's final testament and will. Now delivered to Missy. So, the Doctor is going to die! Again! It's probably safe to assume that the contains of the Doctor's confession dial is a start of a series-long story (or longer, who knows about Moffat).
But I do have some problems with the whole Missy and the Doctor being best friends. I mean, obviously they were best friends, but it's a bit difficult to swallow it from the Doctor's end after all the things the Master/Missy has done. They're more like the only family they have left - which is why the Doctor's always had a soft spot for her. But bezzy mates? Though, when I started thinking about it, would have the 11th Doctor delivered his confession dial to Missy, if he had never regenerated? Or would have maybe Amy or River been the Doctor's closest friend in that case?

So, the Doctor is dying tomorrow and is no where to be found. Missy and Clara joint their effort to find him, and they locate the Doctor having sort of a party in the medieval Essex - classic, dude. The party is cut off pretty quickly, because Snakey has also found the Doctor by following Clara and Missy. We get yet another Harry Potter reference, but it's pretty amusing, actually (go, Neville, go!). Snakey reveals that he's possessing the Doctor's screwdriver - and oh now, it's heavily implied that the Doctor did not help poor little Davros back in Skaro. How naughty. The ashamed Doctor is pretty docile after seeing his old screwdriver and goes willingly with Snakey. And so do Clara and Missy!

(Now we see one of the Doctor's medieval friends, Bors, turn into a Dalek. Dammit, Bors, I had faith in you. Bors-Dalek goes and locates the TARDIS.) Snakey takes the Doctor, Clara and Missy to a floating building in space that looks more like a fancy jar - and that's where Davros is hiding. The lot gets dumped into a prison cell for a bit, before Snakey comes back to fetch the Doctor - who then, has a slightly awkward conversation with Clara about the teeny-tiny fact that the Doctor sent his confession dial to Missy - even though she was supposed to be dead (the Doctor also seems to pick up Clara's underlying feeling of betrayal, since he tries to explain why he sent the dial to Missy and not her). Now off you go Doctor! We're gonna see Missy in action for a bit. These tiny moments ('but this (gravity) feels real, maaaaaan') make me sincerely hope we'll get to see Missy A LOT in the future. While the Doctor is catching up with Davros, Missy and Clara have discovered that they're not in a floating building in space or a space station, but in fact, they've been brought onto an invisible planet. Why would a planet be invisible?

Shit.

Well, if the planet was a new Skaro, then it's pretty obvious why to try and hide it.

Well, now that the truth is discovered, Clara and Missy are in a trouble. Thanks to Bors, the TARDIS has been brought to Skaro as well, and the Daleks have plans to destroy it. Missy, however, suggests they make a deal - let her and the TARDIS live and she, as a Time Lady, can show them how the TARDIS works. Whether the suggestion was a genuine one or just an attempt to save the Doctor's skin as well, we'll not know, because the Daleks decide to exterminate her immediately. The same fate comes to Clara, even though the Doctor begs Davros (who claims he doesn't control his children) to save her. And the TARDIS. Wow. Bye bye.

The Doctor is pretty pissed off. The whole episode ends back in the old Skaro where the child Davros has just been abandoned by the Doctor... However, the Doctor is back - but this time to kill him. What a powerful and great way to end the episode.

Overall, the episode reminded me strongly of The Impossible Astronaut. It's clearly a start of a bigger story-arc, lots of things happen in many different places - and the fate of Clara, Missy and the TARDIS seem as bad as the Doctor's after he got shot by the astronaut. For me this episode needed a rewatch before I warmed up for it properly (unlike The Impossible Astronaut which I loved immediately). Also if you didn't manage to miss the spoilers or don't know Genesis of the Daleks, you probably miss out on some of the episode's charm.

Pros:

There he is! My favourite Dalek model!

+ Davros.
+ Genesis of the Daleks 2.0.
+ The Shadow Proclamation, The Maldovarium, Karn!
+ Missy. She's charming! Michelle Gomez is a wonderful actress. Beautiful job.
+ Retro Daleks.
+ The ending.

Cons:

- The Dark Lord Davros... seriously
- I didn't warm up to the literacy references. I might have to pick up a copy of The Magican's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar to completely understand the link. If someone's read the books, please enlighten me.
- Quite shallow explanation of the Doctor's and Missy's relationship
- Pacing. Too much things happening way too fast - a trademark of Steven Moffat. I needed a rewatch to totally catch-up with everything and without the rewatch, I would have probably rated this episode down.
- While Missy was great, Clara lacked all life. Well, I guess there's always one star that shines brighter.
- The Doctor dying is losing its charm. Sorry.

 Overall:

7/10