Stories Television Doctor Who Series 11 Doctor Who S11 Episode: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Witchfinders 2 images Overview Characters How to Watch Reviews 2 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 3 Transcript + Script Overview First aired Sunday, November 25, 2018 Written by Joy Wilkinson Directed by Sallie Aprahamian Runtime 46 minutes Time Travel Past Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) By Royal Command, Celebrity Historical, LGBTQA+ Location (Potential Spoilers!) Earth UK Viewers 7.21 million Appreciation Index 81 Synopsis Team TARDIS lands in early 17th century England in the midst of a witch trial, and despite her own non-interference policy, the Thirteenth Doctor cannot help but try and stop the killings. However, with King James growing suspicious of the Doctor and her ways, it is up to her friends to play Witchfinders and uncover the hidden mysteries behind the trials. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save Characters Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker Graham O'Brien Bradley Walsh Yasmin Khan Mandip Gill Ryan Sinclair Tosin Cole King James The Morax First Appearance Show All Characters (6) How to watch The Witchfinders: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Complete Eleventh Series [Steelbook] Blu-Ray The Complete Eleventh Series DVD The Complete Eleventh Series Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 2 reviews 21 February 2025 · 262 words Review by jiffleball Spoilers 3 This review contains spoilers! Like most episodes of this era, it's a mixed bag. I wish it delivered on the themes it establishes in the first act. Here we have the first female Doctor running headfirst into what is perhaps the ultimate sexism. She is actively discriminated against and is facing a (female) villain who is specifically weaponizing misogyny to hurt other women. There's a lot of meat in that premise and I just don't see what we get out of it other than Jodie remarking that she'd be taken more seriously if she was "still a bloke." I'm not saying the episode has to be a YouTube essay on historical sexism, but this really could have been an all-time classic if it WENT THERE. We get tantalizingly close, too. Comments like "oh, you won't get pockets for a few hundred years" are genuinely funny, but they'd be excellent little asides keeping our focus on the episode's central theme without hitting us over the head if the episode was going to GO THERE. Instead the resolution is like any other. They figure out the sci-fi bullshit and save the day by touching a tree or something. I can't help but feel there's a more powerful resolution we're missing, a more powerful resolution that dares to explore what it means for the Doctor to have this face. Basically Jodie never got her Dot and Bubble and it's a bummer. (I'm leaving this review in February 2025 so here's hoping the audios starting this summer GO THERE.) Cinematography and music are excellent, as they often are in this era. jiffleball View profile Like Liked 3 21 December 2024 · 12 words Review by RubyWeekends Spoilers This review contains spoilers! Compare Ryan's reaction here towards discrimination with that in Rosa, quite ironical. RubyWeekends View profile Like Liked 0 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating633 members 3.20 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating1,393 votes 3.61 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 1342 Favourited 58 Reviewed 2 Saved 3 Skipped 1 Owned 16 Related Stories Yaz’s Case Files (Minisode) Case File Eight: Morax Rating: 2.17 Story Skipped Webcast More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Yaz’s Case Files Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who: The Witchfinders Rating: 4.00 Story Skipped Book Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DOCTOR: We want certainty, security, to believe that people are evil or heroic. But that's not how people are. You want to know the secrets of existence? Start with the mysteries of the heart. I can show you everything if you stop being afraid of what you don't understand. — Thirteenth Doctor, The Witchfinders Show All Quotes (3) Open in new window Transcript + Script Needs checking [Village] (The village is played by Little Woodham living village, Hampshire. The people are dressed in early 17th Century rustic clothing.) DOCTOR: I'm sure it's somewhere around here.GRAHAM: Come on, Doc, admit it.DOCTOR: I dunno what you mean.GRAHAM: Well, look at it! This ain't the coronation of Elizabeth the First, is it?RYAN: It's like a street party. Ye olde hipster pop-up happening.DOCTOR: The TARDIS is being a bit stubborn at exact readings. (A woman hands Graham a tankard, and nobody is taking a bit of notice of their strange clothing.) YASMIN: So where are we?DOCTOR: Apple bobbing! I love apple bobbing. Show Full Transcript Open in new window View Script (PDF)
