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| Poster (c) Stuart Manning |
This review will contain some spoilers.
As the Doctor adjusts to his blindness, with the aid of the telepathic circuits in his sonic sunglasses, he receives a message labelled 'Extremis'. Sometime later, he is visited by the Pope, who asks him to investigate a book called the Veritas, which drives those who read it insane. Dogged by mysterious monsters, Bill and Nardole stumble on a mysterious system of portals with a sinister implication. And long ago, the Doctor is called upon to act as executioner for the only other Time Lord in the known universe.
The Good
Three-parter! We like those.
The big reveal of the episode is slickly done, looking at first like a trick before the truth becomes clear.
Nardole got to be kind of awesome, not just with his badass speech, but by being one of the quickest to work out the trick. I also like that the people who realise the truth of the Veritas killed themselves to save the real world, rather than in pure despair.
The Bad
The Doctor telling the executioner to look him up under cause of death is again a bit reminiscent of Forest of the Dead, while his little fuck you to the enemy harked back to Babylon 5.
The Ugly
Nothing to report.
Theorising
Well, I've already seen the next episode, so I'll just admit I was trying to be too clever about the contents of the vault and leave the rest for below.
Top Quotes
"When I’m on a date, when a rare and special thing happens in my real life, do not, do not, under any circumstances, put the pope in my bedroom!" – Bill
"Particle physicists and priests. What could scare them both?" – The Doctor
"Okay, Bill. Miss Potts. [removes his glasses] I’m the only person you’ve ever met or will ever meet who is officially licensed to kick the Doctor’s arse. I will happily do the same to you in the event that you do not align yourself with any instructions that I have issued which I personally judge to be in the best interest of your safety and survival. [puts his glasses back on] Okay, Bill?"
Alien: What are you doing?
The Doctor: What everyone does when the world is in danger -- calling the Doctor!
The Verdict
'Extremis' is very good Who, channelling all of the series' strengths and falling back on very few of its weaknesses. In part this is because it is the lead-in to a three-parter, allowing it to spend proper time on set up without needing to rush in a conclusion, but it also benefits from limiting the action to a confined space and playing with ideas more than with special effects or set-pieces.
Score - 8/10
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| Poster (c) Stuart Manning |
This review will contain some spoilers.
The Extremis email has been received. The Doctor is preparing for the worst. Bill receives another unexpected visitor and the President of the World returns. The Monks have arrived in an incongruously ancient pyramid and promising to save the world from inevitable destruction. All they need is for someone in power to give their valid and unforced consent; someone with authority to represent the UN, or the bulk of the world's land armies… or the Doctor.
The Good
The Monks are a surprisingly interesting enemy; godlike beings with the power to simply conquer the world, but some pressing – nay, overriding – need to be accepted and loved instead of ruling through fear.
I liked the slow burn doom; that's the kind of thing that longer form Who excels at, cutting back to seemingly unrelated events as the episode unfolds.
Temp companion Erika was scrappy. I liked her.
The scene where Nardole and the TARDIS are overcome by the pathogen was heartbreaking.
The Bad
I'm not sure how I feel about Bill's decision to hand the world over for the Doctor. She's been travelling with him for half a season and we haven't had time for them to get really close; not 'give up the world' close. On the other hand, if she was playing a longer game, why was her consent valid? I don't think it makes her super-selfish, but I don't think it played as well as it could have done.
The Ugly
Was that the entire payoff of the Doctor's blindness? Conversely, especially after the Extremis email, how does the Doctor not have a reading mode in the sonic sunglasses?
Theorising
Okay, so apparently Bill's consent has allowed the Monks to create an AU in which they always ruled the world (unless this episode and the next turn out to be alternative Veritas scenarios, which I'm not ruling out but would border on 'it was all a dream' levels of narrative bullshittery,) which will only end if Bill – the one who made the deal – dies. We're back to the Doctor risking all for one then, apparently, but maybe it will be smarter than that. It does seem to be Bill after the Doctor, so there are a lot of twists possible (especially on guidelines set by Missy.)
My big prediction, however, is that Missy will save the day, knowing that no-one will ever remember it, thus fulfilling the quote from 'Extremis': "Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit, without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis.”
Top Quotes
The Doctor: How’d you get [the TARDIS] out of my office? The windows aren’t big enough!
UNIT Commander [awkwardly]: Oh… They are now.
Colonel Brabbit: You don’t look much like guardian angels.
Monk: We have chosen this form to look like you.
Colonel Brabbit: You look like corpses.
Monk: You are corpses to us.
The Verdict
Another really solid entry, with effective villains and an interesting thread, as well as plenty of disposable figures of temporal authority.
Score - 8/10
The Good
The Monks are a surprisingly interesting enemy; godlike beings with the power to simply conquer the world, but some pressing – nay, overriding – need to be accepted and loved instead of ruling through fear.
I liked the slow burn doom; that's the kind of thing that longer form Who excels at, cutting back to seemingly unrelated events as the episode unfolds.
Temp companion Erika was scrappy. I liked her.
The scene where Nardole and the TARDIS are overcome by the pathogen was heartbreaking.
The Bad
I'm not sure how I feel about Bill's decision to hand the world over for the Doctor. She's been travelling with him for half a season and we haven't had time for them to get really close; not 'give up the world' close. On the other hand, if she was playing a longer game, why was her consent valid? I don't think it makes her super-selfish, but I don't think it played as well as it could have done.
The Ugly
Was that the entire payoff of the Doctor's blindness? Conversely, especially after the Extremis email, how does the Doctor not have a reading mode in the sonic sunglasses?
Theorising
Okay, so apparently Bill's consent has allowed the Monks to create an AU in which they always ruled the world (unless this episode and the next turn out to be alternative Veritas scenarios, which I'm not ruling out but would border on 'it was all a dream' levels of narrative bullshittery,) which will only end if Bill – the one who made the deal – dies. We're back to the Doctor risking all for one then, apparently, but maybe it will be smarter than that. It does seem to be Bill after the Doctor, so there are a lot of twists possible (especially on guidelines set by Missy.)
My big prediction, however, is that Missy will save the day, knowing that no-one will ever remember it, thus fulfilling the quote from 'Extremis': "Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit, without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis.”
Top Quotes
The Doctor: How’d you get [the TARDIS] out of my office? The windows aren’t big enough!
UNIT Commander [awkwardly]: Oh… They are now.
Colonel Brabbit: You don’t look much like guardian angels.
Monk: We have chosen this form to look like you.
Colonel Brabbit: You look like corpses.
Monk: You are corpses to us.
The Verdict
Another really solid entry, with effective villains and an interesting thread, as well as plenty of disposable figures of temporal authority.
Score - 8/10
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