Demons of the Punjab

Jodie Whitaker and Chris Chibnall’s era of Doctor Who continues to come under an undue amount of criticism even now that a few years have passed and it didn’t, as the more hyperbolic critics would want you to believe, sound the death knell of the series.

I haven’t actually revisited a lot of modern Doctor Who in isolation and haven’t seen many of the episodes since broadcast but my History of the Universe marathon has hit this episode and I’m so glad it did.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chibnall and Whiaker’s time with the TARDIS and rate Whitaker highly as one of my favourite Doctors. I’m not blind to Chibnall’s faults as a writer but those that act like he’s the only writer or showrunner or producer of Doctor Who who ever made mistakes in their choices are being hugely selective in their memories. But even amongst all the noise about this era, there are episodes which seemed to draw a consensus of positive opinion. Demons of the Punjab was one of them.

I remember enjoying this episode on broadcast but this rewatch saw me appreciating it even more and coming away from it desperate that critics of this era watch it and explain to me how any part of it isn’t ‘Doctor Who’.

Demons of the Punjab is a story about faith, death, inevitability, politics, national identity, war, family and history. It has Doctor Who running through its veins. It’s The Massacre of the modern series. And it looks amazing.

I instantly fell in love with Yaz’s Nani. The opening scene at her birthday with her dropping casual insults like calling Yaz her favourite granddaughter, right in front of Yaz’s sister, Sonja is brilliant – made all the more so by her mum’s admonishment making it clear this is something Nanni makes a habit of doing. Vinay Patel paints a believable family dynamic deftly in a scene which works well to set up the rest of the adventure. What is that Nani won’t tell?

The first scene in the TARDIS is also lovely with the little gag about the Death Eye Turtle Army. Yes, it is another scene where two of the companions just stand around spouting lines while the other one has the actual interaction with the Doctor (I love the idea of having three companions just like the classic series, but they did need to work out a way of better utilising them all in scenes). I like how the Doctor is finally worn down and 13 is a Doctor who wants to please and her protestations are only ever surface level. This joy at exploring and discovering is one of my favourite characteristics of Whitaker’s Doctor.

And then we’re off to the past on the trail of Yaz’s family history and unwittingly find ourselves on not only the border between India and the newly-formed Pakistan but also on the border between two families about to be torn apart by the Partition. We are witnesses to tragedy – as are all the characters in this story both human and alien.

The mystery of the Thijarians and the twist that they are professional mourners is well paced through the episode with their threatening appearance (surely insired in part by Hellraiser’s Cenobite horrors) and their teleport technology pointing the audience in one direction with the truth being carefully revealed at just the right point in the story.

But the aliens are secondary to the true enemy of this story – human nature. Watching a loving relationship be slowly destroyed with utter inevitability is heartbreaking and this story did something no other Doctor Who story has ever done – it made me cry. The march of history makes the Doctor unable to do anything except try and make Umbreen and Prem’s final hours together as joyful as she can. The Doctor cannot save them as a couple but she can ensure Yaz’s personal history stays on track. But once Umbreen has run to safety with her mother and Prem is facing down his brother and his death, all the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan can do is walk away. It is hugely moving.

Every scene of this story looks gorgeous and there are so many lovely moments – the night before the wedding with the men and women spending time separately; Yaz realising who Prem is and that her Nani had a history she didn’t know about; the scenes in the Thijarian Hive; the wedding; the flashbacks to Prem’s war service; the men on horseback confronting Prem.

The guest cast are uniformly excellent but special mention has to go to Amita Suman as Umbreen and Shane Zaza as Prem. It may be argued there is a modernity to them which works against the historical setting but really all it does is serve to make the events feel more relevant both to the audience and to Yaz.

Demons of the Punjab is a story Doctor Who should tell – and has done in a handful of stories – but not one it should tell too often. The inevitable, impassive march of history, reflected in the impassive Thijarians, is something which was far more prominent in the Hartnell era in stories such as the The Aztecs, The Massacre and The Myth Makers’ final episode and shows how, contrary to far too many Doctor Who commentators, shows how well Chibnall understands Doctor Who and it’s underlying themes.

A modern classic.

Rewatched today. Such a great episode. Probably the best of Chibnail's era now that I think about it