The concept of a Doctor Who heist movie is undeniably smart. The opening scene, with the Doctor, Clara, and their newfound allies suddenly transported via memory worms, throws the audience headfirst into the story that promises all the enjoyable Hollywood tropes.

Unfortunately, the 45-minute runtime works against the episode, leaving it feeling rushed and underdeveloped. The hallmarks of the heist genre are often absent. The characters are thrust into the middle of the mission without the audience ever seeing the plan, which robs the story of one of the genre’s most enjoyable elements: watching the strategy unfold and anticipating how it might go wrong.

The episode relies on us caring about the guest characters’ fates, it’s difficult to muster much investment since there hasn’t been enough time to form a bond with them. The Doctor’s connection to the team feels thin.

Visually and structurally, the episode feels a bit disjointed. The constant scene changes and rapid cuts give the impression that chunks of the story are missing. There’s little sense of place within the bank, which detracts from the tension and atmosphere a heist story should have.

The twist—revealing that the monsters’ actions were motivated by a desire to reunite with their mate—feels  overly similar to the resolution of Hide from the previous series which creates an anticlimax.

This marks the first proper misfire in Peter Capaldi’s tenure so far. Despite his strong performance, Time Heist does not deliver on its premise.

As for Steven Thompson, this being his final contribution to Doctor Who is in my opinion a good thing. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Curse of the Black Spot and Time Heist all have interesting premises which are poorly delivered.