Writer: Peter Harness
Director: Paul Wilmshurst
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Hermione Norris, Ellis George
The Story: In the near future, the Doctor and Clara find themselves on a space shuttle making a suicide mission to the Moon. Crash-landing on the lunar surface, they find a mining base full of corpses, vicious spider-like creatures poised to attack, and a terrible dilemma. When Clara turns to the Doctor for help, she gets the shock of her life.
The Verdict:
Last week The Doctor made a welcome return to his old stomping ground with a short trip to Coal Hill School in The Caretaker. However, this week Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor descends to stars once again for a brilliantly terrifying and futuristic Science Fiction adventure…on the moon!
The episode opens with a foreboding earthbound message from Clara and Courtney declaring that the planet is doomed and the Doctor is nowhere to be found. Although this intense opening could have easily come across as lacklustre and formulaic when compared with the numerous amount 0f pre-credits sequences it resembles, Jenna Coleman flawlessly sets the episode up as a dark and pulse-pounding hour of television. This is the first of many instances in which Coleman effortlessly demonstrates her fantastic acting abilities once again, which should cement her as one of the shows finest and most versatile companions by the episodes end (if she hasn’t earned that title already).
Kill The Moon has a surprisingly simple premise (despite its likely long-standing ramifications), yet still manages to squeeze in more than its fair share of exciting action sequences and genius narrative devices. The episodes largest twist undeniably comes with the shocking reveal that mankind has been living underneath a giant, unborn alien Spider since the beginning of time. This is a remarkably original concept that takes humanities curious and long-standing fear of spiders to a frightening new level (which may shed a horrifying light on mankind’s fascination with the Moon). Following this egg-citing (yes you read that correctly) turn of events, the episodes narrative then revolves around the impossible choice between cold-blooded murder and the extinction of all life on earth.
If there was ever any doubt prior to Kill The Moon that Capaldi had fully settled into his role as the The Doctor, this episode will convince viewers that the silver-haired Scotsman is well on his way to becoming the greatest Doctor of all time. Echoing characteristics of Christopher Eccleston’s ninth Doctor once again (as he has done for the past couple of stories), Capaldi gives us further evidence that his Timelord isn’t as willing to spoon-feed his companions as some of his predecessors. In fact, this could be Moffat’s way of reminding audiences that, although the Doctor is our hero, he certainly isn’t our God. It is both interesting and refreshing to know that the Twelfth Doctor will not replicate the qualities of Tennant and Smith by occasionally over-indulging in the affairs of humanity, which therefore reminds us that he is an alien.
The episode also bears more than a few striking resemblances to another fantastic Who-story of the past, which is of course…The Waters of Mars (and not merely because that beautiful orange spacesuit makes a return). Kill The Moon almost acts as a spiritual sequel to the fantastic adventure, as it carries some of its strongest attributes, as well as it’s intriguing narrative turns that are already ripe for repeat viewings. Credit should also be given to Murray Gold, who gives us some of his most amazing work on Doctor Who since composing series five’s irritatingly over-used ‘I am the Doctor’. His absolutely phenomenal score perfectly compliments the epic, large-scale nature of the story, which certainly wouldn’t seem out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster such as PROMETHEUS or possibly even Nolan’s upcoming INTERSTELLAR.
Overall, it seems that Moffat and Co may have their first Capaldi-classic on their hands with one of the most terrific, tense and terrifying stand-alone episodes to hit our screens since The Waters of Mars (and maybe even Silence in the Libray). It will be intruiging to find out how Clara’s exit from the Tardis will affect our hero going forward in the coming episodes, and also if Mr Pink is who we believe him to be. On Another note, we are still no closer to discovering why we have seen Capaldi’s face before in Pompeii…something that I am growing ever more curious about.
Best Bit:
Out of an episode with so many brilliant moments it is a very difficult choice indeed, however it would have to be the Doctor’s epic speech on the beach. At the climax of the story, the Doctor concludes that ‘The mid twenty first century. Humankind starts creeping off into the stars and spreads its way through the galaxy, the very edges of the universe…and it endures till the end of time’.
Best Line(s):
The Doctor: Listen, we went to dinner in Berlin in 1937 right? We didn’t nip out after pudding and kill Hitler!
And:
The Doctor: How would you like to be the first woman on the moon? Is that special enough for you?
[usr=5] THN’s Doctor Who Series 8 Blog returns next Saturday.
