Woo! Steven Moffat proving once again that he's a fantastic Doctor Who writer! I absolutely loved that this is a bottle episode in the open air. The tension grows and grows via events around the Doctor, causing him to decrease the amount of time left on the landmine. TV Who acknowledging that Time Lords are higher-dimensional beings is also a treat, and it's nice to see the Anglican Marines again.

Seriously, I love this episode... Aside from the flaws. Yes, this is another review on something I like in which I'll spend most of it talking about what prevented me from giving it a higher rating.

Firstly, the casting department screwed up. Splice is played and written as if she is a younger character than the child we see on screen, which is quite jarring. Someone half her age would have done perfectly.

There's also the commentary on religion and belief. Now, I have my beliefs, and I understand that not everyone has those same beliefs, or any. What I don't like is positions which are against religion. Atheism is fine, anti-theism is not. But I would have found it easier to understand, especially as the episode is in the context of a war, if Moffat and the Doctor's opinion on religion if the episode had stuck to it. If you're gonna do a 'religion bad' episode, don't end it with 'Well, religion is bad, but you need it'. Who is this episode for? Most of the world's religions do not say that other people need to follow the religion, and of those that do, most who follow those religions don't recognise this part of them, at least in my experience. And I know nobody who both believes that religion is bad and that people should still be religious.

The first time I saw this it flew by, sometimes on a rewatch episodes are not as good as you remember...

The Doctor and Ruby arrive on a war torn planet, hearing cries the Doctor runs to help, and find himself standing on a landmine. I will admit the Steven Moffat, who wote this story is a writer that I've always enjoyed and rarely does stuff that I don't. In fact I can't think of anything off hand and this is ticks all the boxes.

With the Doctor spending almost the entire time stuck in one place you would think that it would get a little boring but it manages to stay entertaining. Every few minutes another event ramps up the tension.A little girl looking for he Dad, Soliders, getting shot, each complication drawing the detonation the the mine ever closer.

Long time fans will remember the Anglican Marines from a few years ago, so its nice touch to make use of them here.

As with Moffat's previous work there are a one or two little twists heer and there.

So the Doctor cries tears, not for the first time this Doctor's run and I'm finding it a little overdone already.

After a not so great start to the series this is really rather good.

Steven Moffat's return to Doctor Who had left me very excited to watch this episode. He easily produced the best stories of the original Russell T Davies era, and his era as showrunner was also excellent. Boom is the first time in over a decade that Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have both collaborated within the same era, and the resulting episode really doesn't disappoint.

As the promotional material suggested, Boom really is an excellent Hithcockian tale. The Doctor spends the entire episode stuck on a landmine, and it makes for such a tense watch. The episode brilliantly builds up a sense that the landmine could go off at any moment, and Ncuti Gatwa's performance really elevates the sense of peril.

This is easily Ncuti Gatwa's best portrayal of the Doctor to date. His delivery of Moffat's poetic lines is sublime, as you really feel the sense of the Time Lord's power and authority as he rails against the militaristic system. This Doctor also feels incredibly vulnerable here too as in the previous episodes, reduced to tears whilst stuck on the landmine.

Varada Sethu's appearance is a nice bonus. She does a superb job as Mundy, seeming tough but also caring. It doesn't seem as though Mundy is who she will be playing when she's the companion, which is a shame, as Mundy would make for a great assistant to the Doctor. Speaking of companions, Ruby Sunday getting taken out in the episode was certainly a surprise. Having Ruby seemingly die coupled with the return of the snow was an extremely effective means of raising the tension, and again contributing to the looming sense of danger in Boom. If Ruby isn't safe, then what hope is there for anyone else?

I have a feeling Susan Twist as Ambulance will have put a spanner in the works for a few Susan Twist theories. It's hard to see how she can still be Susan or the Meddling Monk, when the Doctor sees her in this episode, and she's a rogue AI medical machine. Although I suppose it would be a little in character for AI to steal somebody else's likeness, and also for the Doctor not to recognize another Time Lord. I loved the reveal that there was no enemy, though, and that the computer was creating fatalities by killing the injured to make it look as though a war was being fought. An extremely clever Moffatism.

Overall, this episode would be a solid 9/10 for me. A typical Moffat masterpiece, with some shocking twists and scathing political commentary on militarisation and AI. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite land the conclusion, which feels a little too convenient, but despite the ending, this is a Steven Moffat episode that creates a big bang rather than a whimper.

harry im standing on a landmine

HOLY SHIT