Doctor Perseus Reviews: Doctor Who S10E11 "World Enough and Time" · 4:11am Jun 28th, 2017
Can't believe we're already at the finale of Series 10. It's been quite a ride, this season. And what do I think of the finale thus far? If the next episode is as amazing as this episode was, this could manage to beat The Name of the Doctor for the title of my favorite finale.
First off, as expected, the performances were all great. But the one who really got to show her acting chops was Pearl Mackie. Bill went through hell in this episode. And where this episode leaves her, with her being turned into the first Mondasian Cyberman, I am very worried about her future on the show. Will Bill somehow survive and live on to see the 13th Doctor. Or will the story of Bill Potts end here? It would be a shame to say goodbye to Bill. I feel like the character at least had another season in her. But if Moffat wants Bill to be a one-season wonder, I guess there's no stopping it. But we'll have to see how that wraps up next week.
The other characters got to shine as well. Nardole got some good banter with the Doctor and Missy. The Doctor got to go through a wide range of emotions. Hope for Missy, fear for Bill, eagerness to explain the ship's time differences, sadness at Bill's transformation, and anger at the arrival of his greatest foe. Not to mention the gut-wrenching opening scene teasing the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration. A part of me wonders if we've been lied to and 12 might end up regenerating in the next episode instead of at Christmas. It would be quite a surprise. Though I hate the idea of saying goodbye to 12 a bit early.
And speaking of Missy, she was great in this episode as well. I really don't know what lies in store for her in the next episode. It's been confirmed that the next episode will be Missy's last. Will Missy return to her evil ways to help her past self. Or will she, for once, stand with the Doctor? And speaking of the Master, how great was that reveal? Honestly, I wish the return of the Master and the Mondasian Cybermen were kept under wraps. Could you imagine going into this episode without that knowledge? That ending would have blown everyone's minds! But, still, there were some other twists to be found. Such as the fact that the Master was in disguise for the entire episode. We knew he was coming back, but we didn't know how. It was quite a surprise that there were still some surprises to be found. Also, of course, there was Bill's transformation. I'm very interested in seeing how Simm's Master will interact with Capaldi's Doctor and Gomez's Mistress. Will next episode finally give us the Master's regeneration into Missy? There are many questions. Hopefully we get some answers.
Seeing the Mondasian Cybermen return to the show for the first time since 1966 was great. And this was actually a damn creepy episode. I personally find the Mondasian Cybermen to be far more creepier than the modern Cybermen. The modern Cybermen are Iron Man-like threats and can be excellent foes. But there's a creepy factor to seeing the odd combination of flesh and machine that is seen in the Mondasian Cybermen. Not to mention the fact that they're in constant pain...and just don't care about it.
The episode's setting was also incredibly interesting. A ship trapped in the event horizon of a black hole with both sides of the ship moving through time at different speeds. Some classic timey-wimey!
Overall, I loved this episode and I hope that the next half of this finale will be just as great.
What did the rest of you think of World Enough and Time?
just saw episodes 11 and 12 and oh my god the fangasm had never been so strong when watching an episode of everything. Even better since the final scenes actually renewed my brother's interest in the show.
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I'll try to get my review of The Doctor Falls up soon. Glad to hear that your brother's interest in the show has been renewed. It's a shame that so many people seem to have fallen out with the show throughout the Moffat era, and especially during 12's era. I guess I can understand given how divisive 12's era has been and how divisive Moffat has been as a whole. Obviously, I fall into the very positive side of things with both 12 and Moffat. Hopefully, the Chibnall era will prove to be less divisive and will work to bring the fandom back together again.
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With today's announcement, that already looks like a tall order. I will get my thoughts out on that. Just you wait.
I also liked the time dilation concept with time running differently at both ends of the ship because of the black hole. Though as I'm not overly familiar with Classic Who as I've said before, I did like how this episode is kind of a prequel to that in that this is the beginning of the old school Cyberman. I think The Master referring to this as the Genesis of the Cyberman is supposed to be a reference to the idiosyncratic titles of Classic Who right. I also liked how it was revealed that this Razor guy was The Master this whole time. Interestingly enough, this episode suggests The Master played a role in the creation of the old school Cyberman, and later on Missy would play a role in creating those Cyberman who could upgrade corpses. The Master/Missy is inextricably linked to the Cyberman. I also liked Missy suggesting that Doctor Who is The Doctor's actual name. That also something from Classic Who right.
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I look forward to hearing them.
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Cyberman history: Earth's twin planet, Mondas, which is identical to Earth except for being north-south upside down, was thrown out of its orbit ages ago (I think by Earth getting its moon?), and its inhabitants had to upgrade themselves into Cybermen to survive the harsh conditions of life without a star; planet Mondas came back in the Cyberman debut episode "The Tenth Planet" and threatened to throw Earth off its orbit, but blah-blah power absorption lingo and Mondas disintegrated instead.
These episodes, however, show the birth of Cybermen and their near immediate upgrades to unlabeled-Cybus and Nightmare in Silver models seen in other episodes, to me implying that this microcosm of Cybermen was a standalone lineage. The Doctor said three things: "people have gotten the Cybermen all wrong", "Cybermen appear wherever there are people", and "I've beaten the Cybermen everywhere they've shown up", approximately. I see this as saying that both this colony ship and mainland planet Mondas (and perhaps several other locations) independently gave rise to identical Cybermen, while also implying that all Cybermen everywhere of any origin are destined to follow the same upgrade paths by their very nature. I just can't see these Cybermen getting back to Mondas as their "classic" model without bringing any of the upgraded forms with them, which we know didn't show up on Mondas for The Tenth Planet else we would've seen them all way earlier. Perhaps the Master knew of the Mondas Cyberman design and molded these Cybermen to resemble them for nostalgia's sake or because it was the easiest working model to make with the available resources, or maybe "great minds think alike" and the same solution was reached by both Mondasian groups.