New Who Review # 118

The Magician's Apprentice

This story was pretty dull. It's another dalek story and this time we are on skaro. The doctor gave Missy his confession dial which is the big thing this series because he thinks he's dying soon. I like that we have Davros back for the first time since Series 4, and the doctor actually saw him as a child. It's very cool to be on Skaro for the first time in the revival. This is one of those rare series where there is no sonic at all instead we have the sonic Sunglasses which are genuinely so cool but I will grow to miss the sonic. Having Missy back was cool and she is beginning to turn good but that won't fully happen till next series. I don't really like series 9 there are a few stories that I do like but there will be a big decrease in love for these stories compared to the huge amount of love I gave last series. Overall an okay story that takes us to skaro for the first time in the revival and brings back davros. 5/10

I was not expecting the Skaro reveal!  The way I screamed!! 

Missy adds some much needed humour to this episode. I love her. And the way the Doctor has softened towards Clara is just lovely to watch.

This episode’s shock and awe worked on me. Davros as a child! Missy stopping planes! The Doctor on a tank! Every Dalek ever! There’s nothing subtle about it, but these big bold ideas enable effective storytelling. The hand mines are a very clever conceit. And being a loose sequel to Genesis of the Daleks, gives The Doctor the motivation to kill Davros as a helpless youngster.

Perhaps the best thing about the episode is the way in which Missy is used as a protagonist and Davros as an antagonist. I prefer this more cerebral , reflective, talkative Davros. He is far more compelling than the megalomaniacal shouting dictator from 2008. I like to think about him as a duplicitous, creeping villain.

Missy goes to lengths to show that she is still evil, she hasn’t gotten cosy, despite teaming up with The Doctor in a way not seen on screen for decades. Michelle Gomez is bags of fun and lights up the screen. A fantastic contrast to The Doctor, Clara and Davros.

The softening of The Doctor was much needed and I am feeling a sense of relief having a bit more fun back at the centre of the show. It doesn’t mean that he is not dangerous, he clearly a complex character in this, but it finally feels like the right balance.

If I had to find fault, it would be that Missy and Clara’s deaths do not feel permanent or emotionally real. I would have preferred they saved this for the finale, or later in the series, where a viewer could possibly believe it could happen!

This episode definitely has its moments.  It's full of neat ideas for the Daleks and feels sufficiently zeroed in on the Doctor and Davros' characters for a return to Skaro.  The Missy stuff might not work with everyone, but I found her very fun and enjoyed the stuff with her, UNIT, and Clara at the top chunk of this episode.  It all felt very true to this world - that UNIT would be keeping track of important Doctor-adjacent people for scenarios like these, and that Missy would be able to easily manipulate the situation to her liking.  I don't know if all the ideas of Davros' past and the Doctor's relationship to him were really paid off in this or the next episode, but it's entertaining and memorable enough this story works a lot more than it doesn't, in my opinion.  It's certainly pretty memorable.

I wish Missy actually did hunt and eat Clara.