Settling In

Sunday 21 October 2018

Three episodes in, it's time to reflect on the new series and team.

Firstly, broadcasting on a Sunday is inspired.  I went to see Troilus and Cressida (with Martha's Mum  Adjoa Andoh playing Ulysses brilliantly) last night without having to catch up on Doctor Who on iPlayer.

The series has followed the Russell T Davies template of a trip to the future in episode 2 and a celebrity historical for episode 3 and is eschewing the more complicated timey-wimey plotting of the Moffat era.

The Ghost Monument had a refreshingly straightforward plot: essentially Doctor Who meets a Top Gear Special as the crew gatecrash the final stage of a rally.  No prizes for guessing what the 'Ghost Monument' at the finishing line turns out to be. All they have to do to find the TARDIS is cross an inhospitable planet that is trying to kill them, whilst allowing time for some character development along the way.

Rosa had something of the feel of one of the Hartnell episodes, but was none the worse for that.  The subject was handled sensitively. As last week, the plot was straightforward - all the team had to do was foil the attempts of the villain (a meddling monk equivalent) to change history.  Not quite as easy as you might think, and the question of whether or not there would be enough people on the bus provided a surprising amount of tension.   There was also a nice nod to more recent Who with a reference to the Storm Cage detention facility.

I like this new simplicity.