Holistic Review: Though it isn't yet clear how (or if) the Sontaran thread ties into the season arc, and the Flux is already being relegated offscreen, it's an entertaining (though plot-hole-y) reintroduction of the warmongering Sontarans, which does a pretty good job of balancing their menace against their potential for comic relief; meanwhile, Yaz helms an intriguing side-plot that feels like a throwback to the classic era in all the best ways.
War of the Sontarans dodges my expectations in almost every possible way. For starters, and I must say to my enormous disappointment, there's not a single Rutan to be found. Instead, the Sontarans are fighting... the Crimean War?!? Rutans aside, this is a great twist, which suggests that maybe the Flux isn't devouring planets so much as shifting them randomly onto different planes of the multiverse. (As it turns out, that's not what's going on, but we'll get back to that.)
Doctor Who is good at parallel universes and rewritten timelines, so of course it has a whale of a time exploring how differently the Crimean War might have played out if the Russians were replaced with Sontarans. The conclusion, of course, is: humanity would be utterly unprepared, and the Sontarans would wipe us all out. Wisely, therefore, the episode doesn't spend a great deal of time on the conflict itself, aside from one dramatic battle sequence in which the Sontaran forces absolutely massacre the human soldiers in no time flat.
Instead, War of the Sontarans devotes its Crimean thread to a twofold purpose. First — and somewhat unoriginally, I must admit, though it always bears repeating — it criticizes 'the rigid military mind' and, more broadly, disdain of experts. (The first is a retread of the Pertwee area, but that last one is a very potent message for our times.) Lieutenant General Logan of the Light Division (Gerald Kyd) is your stereotypical Doctor Who military commander, myopically focused on wiping out the enemy and utterly convinced that his way is the only right way. The Doctor, to him, is not only a newcomer and a civilian but a woman, and as such he instantly disregards her claims of superior knowledge about the Sontarans, even when she backs up those claims with facts. The story uses General Logan as its moral lesson: ignore the experts at your own peril, it reminds us, as Logan bullheadedly proceeds with his traditional "old-fashioned warfare" plan of attack, only to survive the battle and realize that, just as the Doctor foretold, he obstinately sent all of his troops to certain death.
At that point, you'd expect Logan to do some hard soul-searching and realize his mistake, and initially he seems to do exactly that when he admits to the Doctor that he needs her help (after his entire platoon has been massacred, of course). But the moment he's able to rationalize away his feelings of helplessness and guilt behind a wall of anger, his old habits reassert themselves too, and he takes advantage of the Doctor's plan (to disable the Sontaran ships and force them to retreat) with a vengeful plan of his own (to, you know, blow them up real good), even after the war has been won. The Doctor, of course, is very cross.
Thanks to Logan's slimy and untrustworthy characterization, he became my #1 Rutan Suspect. I got my hopes up when he held a gun on the Doctor, and my suspicions only seemed to be confirmed when he failed to die on the battlefield, and then when he declared that the Doctor wasn't going to get her casualty-free ending after all. But I could never quite square up his behaviour in between those moments, when he did not dissect or electrocute anyone, so in the end I wasn't that shocked (only disappointed) when he lit the gunpowder and turned out to be an ordinary battle-obsessed human villain. (So how did he survive whatever Sontaran blast knocked him out, hmm?) Still, I approve that the Doctor uses his example to make a moral point: "Soldiers pay the price for their commanders' mistakes." Kyd brings Logan to life perfectly; love his delivery of "Are you expecting a response to your musings?", and the way he self-consciously pivots the hands-on-heads pose into a hair-brushing manoeuvre.
Though their totalitarian inclinations aren't exactly used to make a comparable moral point, the Sontarans also illustrate the inflexible military mindset. Following their cameo appearance last week, War of the Sontarans provides our titular adversaries with a headlining episode. As promised, the villainous warmongering Sontarans are back, eager as always to establish a bridgehead on Earth, and that historical precedent immediately justifies their decision to attempt an invasion. (Having said that, I'm not sure it justifies their decision to attempt an invasion as the Flux is destroying everything; you'd think they'd have slightly more on their plate. Plus, see Major Plot Oversight #5 below.) With this story, I feel like Doctor Who has settled into a good middle-ground for the Sontarans, emphasizing their battlefield bloodlust and drive to conquer while still mining the humorous side of such rigid characters. (An excellent example is Svild's parting shot to Logan: "Human scum! You will be stamped beneath the boot of Sontar... at a future point, to be determined.") Still, in this episode, they do feel a bit 'Sontaran-lite'. Even though it emphasizes their trigger-happy instincts, War of the Sontarans just barely avoids scripting them as incompetent — in particular, I have a hard time imagining Linx or Styre falling for the Doctor's trick and leading them straight to the base camp — so in future appearances, I'd enjoy seeing their sadistic, strategic side brought more to the forefront.
Still, we do learn a bit more about them: they now seem to possess far more reliable time-travel technology than they ever did before (which confused me at first, I must admit), and the episode goes into greater detail about their rest cycles and the purpose of their armor (about which, more later). We're also informed that they have a "psychic command", which took me by surprise; Sontarans don't really seem like the sort to put any stock in clairvoyance.
As our new lead Sontaran, Jonathan Watson is fantastic in the dual role of Skaak and Riskaw. He has the gruff Sontaran delivery down pat; I especially enjoyed his delivery of "This is good sport!" Likewise, as I mentioned last week, it's so nice to see Dan Starkey again, and in a non-Strax role, though Svild is nearly as humorous a character as Strax (especially in his over-the-top lines, like "I shall massacre you for revealing privileged military information!") Loved his delivery of "There is no such thing as pain! ...A little", "You call this luck?!", and he gives a great death scene, especially his sad "Sontar-ho." (And he pronounces "Doc-tor!" correctly.) At this point, Starkey feels like the Nick Courtney of the revival; he's become so interwoven with Doctor Who — not just on TV, but with Big Finish as well, where he's played the Sontarans opposite a plethora of classic Doctors and companions; plus he's "one of us", having been a fan since childhood — and he's a totally loveable ambassador for the series, so it's always a delight to welcome him back.
The Sontarans' plan is a bit odd, though. If you start in the 1800s and then jump further back in time, your subsequent alterations to the timeline are likely to overwrite everything you just did in the 1800s. To put it another way: why do a trial run in the Crimea when you could do a trial run in the Neanderthal era, and change all of human history in one fell swoop?
However, I think the answer to that question can be found in the second purpose of the Crimea thread: I suspect the story was explicitly set outside Sevastopol in 1855 specifically to introduce us to Jamaican doctoress Mary Seacole (Sara Powell). I'd never even heard the name of Mary Seacole before, and — as with Noor Khan before her, and for that matter Joseph Williamson — it gives me newfound appreciation for Doctor Who that even in adulthood it's still teaching me about historical figures. It's all the more important given the pushback I now know her legacy has experienced in the UK. War of the Sontarans teaches us that Seacole paid her own way to Crimea and had the British Hotel built herself, that she was willing to heal Russian soldiers as well as those on her side, and that she was excellent at observation and note-taking. It also makes her out to be quite open-minded and a rather excellent ally for the Doctor, which I found delightful to watch, thanks in no small part to Powell's lively performance. Loved her delivery of "I work for myself", "I thought the same! I heard it before... in the past", "Rice pudding and hard liquor build morale. ...They also pay for medicines. But my time and my skills, those I give for free, to all comers.", "The rest of the time, he yells", and the way she smiles proudly in the direction of her notebook as the Doctor praises her observational skills. She's delightful to watch every second that she's onscreen.
And speaking of "delightful", that's Jodie Whittaker's middle name! I appreciate that War of the Sontarans gives the Doctor another opportunity to handle the pushback that she so rarely experiences on account of her gender presentation. She handles Logan's outdated attitudes with just the right amount of insouciance (and confidence), which of course enrages men who aren't used to not being listened to. I also love how the Doctor plays on her own reputation to get answers out of Svild. The story leverages Whittaker's enthusiastic performance well, particularly as she and Dan hatch their plot, and as she relays her eviction scheme to her merry band of troops, during which the Doctor seems to be nearly jumping out of her skin with excitement. Loved Whittaker's delivery of "Well, it's nice to meet you too! Hurry along!", the look of excitement on her face when Dan appears on the communications screen, "Could it... could it have been temporal command? Temporal as in time?", and my favorite moment: the cute scene in which the Doctor, spying a Sontaran ahead of them, drags Seacole back out of the room they've started to enter.
Overall, the plot of the Sontaran-war thread is fairly simple and straightforward: the Sontarans have changed history, so the Doctor sneaks onto their ship and figures out a way to force their retreat. We've seen these elements in plenty of Doctor Who stories before, so it's not groundbreaking, but it's traditional and comfortable. Plus, getting there involves a nice bit of scientific method (observation and deduction), learning about historical figures, battling misogyny, clever strategizing, and a healthy dollop of humor, so it's really more about the journey than the plot. I'd sum it up as "entertaining with a good moral message, but a bit light on characterization and originality".
To my enormous surprise, Dan and Yaz are almost immediately teleported away into two separate sub-plots. (This is a very smart way to continue juggling the various ongoing plot threads, so for now this trick gets a thumbs-up from me.) Dan is sent right back to Liverpool for, as it turns out, a catch-up with his parents. I really enjoyed Dan's jovial dad Neville (Paul Broughton) who bickers endlessly with his wife Eileen (Sue Jenkins). Even more, I love that Dan's assigned weapon, with which he will now forever be linked, is a rather impressive-looking wok.
Of course, the true purpose of his jaunt to Liverpool is not to enjoy a family reunion, but to combat a violent occupation by the Sontarans, who have established brutal martial law with curfews and executions. Thanks to the Liverpool thread, we discover that the Sontarans aren't in Crimea because of anything connected with the Flux; it's actually a time-travel paradox story. The Sontarans began their invasion of Earth in Liverpool before conquering the planet and then sending time-ships back to the Crimean War. Therefore, the solution to stopping them is to cause a temporal implosion which destroys their fleet. While this is certainly a neat solution, it concerns me a bit that Flux is already trotting out the reset button in episode 2, when I wasn't expecting that particular trope to rear its head until episode 6.
Still, I find I'm getting a better feel for Dan's personality after this week, and I'm really enjoying his cheesy sense of humor. (I love his default excuse whenever he's discovered by the Sontarans: "Alright, lads? I was just looking for the pierhead." Ha!) Bishop's comedic skills seem to equip him to deliver corny lines in a way that's cute rather than groan-inducing! I also love his quietly delighted delivery of "You made it back!" and the understated moment when Dan accepts the Doctor's offer to travel together. She hasn't quite offered him a permanent place aboard the TARDIS yet, but she seems perfectly happy for his company while they rescue Yaz, so she clearly thinks he's got potential, and she seems to sense that he's gonna want to see this Flux business through to the end, now that he's gotten involved.
Frustratingly, though Dan has some great scenes of bravery when he willingly infiltrates the Sontaran shipyard, (miraculously) makes contact with the Doctor, and manages to trick one Sontaran guard, that's about the extent of his contribution to the plot. He claims to have had an idea for how to save the day, but we never find out the details. (Whatever it was, it clearly didn't involve launching the Sontaran ship he's infiltrated!) Ultimately, he does nothing useful, and has to be rescued by... Karvanista.
Ahh, Karvanista, who is developing such a fun odd-couple bond with Dan, yet who didn't need to be in this episode at all, stealing screentime and agency away from our new companion. To be fair, after only a day in the Doctor's company, Dan almost certainly lacks the skills to effectively fight a fleet of Sontarans, but it still rankles that the opportunity for him to come up with something brilliant was snatched out of his hands. Worse, the Lupari continue to poke some of the biggest holes in the plot. Namely, Major Plot Oversight #1: if Karvanista shows up to save Dan from execution at the hands of the Sontarans, why are the other seven million Lupari letting their human charges get killed?! This should be an all-out Sontaran-Lupari war! Still, I can't hold too big a grudge against Karvanista, because I'm enjoying Els' performance. Especially now that Karvanista's characterization is more consistent, Els has settled into a charming "gruff misanthropy covering up for begrudging affection" style of delivery. Love the way he cocks his head in querulous-puppy fashion, when the communications room door opens to reveal a group of Sontarans ready to open fire.
Alas, despite officially appearing in not one but two Sontaran episodes, Yaz doesn't even get to glimpse one, much less meet them. (Here's hoping that state of affairs changes before the end of the season!) Instead, she finds herself in the ancient but high-tech Temple of Atropos, on a planet whose name, we eventually learn, is Time. Given that it's located at spatio-temporal coordinates of zero, it's not a stretch to assume that Time (the planet, as well as the elemental force) is literally and metaphorically at the center of everything.
The Temple is watched over by guardian priests in the form of flying twirling engraved-glass diamonds, known as Triangles. I'm a big fan of the Triangles; thanks to Nigel Richard Lambert's performance, they have a "prissy machine" affectation rather like the Megara, or Orac, or even K-9, which makes me rather love them. ("Can you repair? Respond!") I really hope Azure hasn't reduced them all to ash. The head priest Triangle informs Yaz that all time flows through the temple, and — in a very Sapphire & Steel twist, which is totally new to Doctor Who — that Time is an evil force:
Everything about the scenes set in the Temple of Atropos, from the set design to the effects to even the plot, gives me very strong vibes of the Davison era. I wonder why that is? I'm sure I haven't pinpointed all of the comparisons that my subconscious is making, but the decayed grandeur of the temple reminds me of both Castrovalva and Mawdryn's ship, the intangible Mouri bear some similarity to the Xeraphin (as the petal-shaped structure at the center of their dais vaguely resembles the Xeraphin sarcophagus), and Yaz' final plea to the Doctor echoes Adric in Time-Flight.
Interestingly, the Temple seems to have turned into Grand Central Station, as both Williamson (briefly) and Vinder (long-term) find themselves mysteriously transported there. Vinder has instant chemistry with Yaz, so watching the two of them team up in an attempt to repair the temple is really fun. I'm glad we're starting to get dribs and drabs about Vinder's background now: it's confirmed that he wasn't on the observation station by choice, but rather because he'd been disgraced, and it's interesting that his first reaction to Yaz' appearance — before he realizes she's not a threat — is to unholster his gun. I'm thrilled that Anderson gets a bigger part to play this week; he gives pretty much every single line an interesting twist beyond what's on the page. I'm looking forward to a future episode giving him a really meaty role.
Unfortunately, yet again, a promising plot thread for Yaz yields no positive result, as the script once more presents Yaz with a problem beyond her skillset, which she stands no chance of solving: Vinder and Yaz barely get one line of investigating and actually attempting to fix the Mouri before they're interrupted. Which means, annoyingly, that after last week's joyful celebration of her character, this week Yaz is back to accomplishing absolutely nothing. I do, at least, appreciate that the scripts are emphasizing that she's trying to put herself in the Doctor's shoes, as the "WWTDD" scribbled on her palm attests:
Yaz may not accomplish much, but still she drives her subplot, chummily strategizing with Vinder, and generally being game to jump headfirst into whatever situation presents itself and hope for the best. I also really appreciated that the script actually remembers to incorporate Yaz' police training when she talks to an agitated Williamson, politely calling him 'sir' (which I initially mistook as her recognizing that he was temporally displaced, and deferring to the social mores of his home era) and then attempting to calm him with a reassuring line of standard questioning ("Why don't you take me through it from the start?"). Thanks in no small part to Gill's sunny performance, Yaz remains a breath of fresh air; I love the way she cheerily greets Vinder, as outgoing as Peri would be, and faces every challenge with an upbeat can-do attitude. I also loved Gill's subtle reaction when Swarm reveals that he knows what's written on Yaz' palm.
Before long, the Temple of Atropos also attracts our two villains, Swarm (Sam Spruell) and Azure (Rochenda Sandall), both of whom begin to come into their own as characters this week. Now that the groundwork has been laid, War of the Sontarans gives them an opportunity to show off their personalities, and so far, I'm really really liking what we see.
Unexpectedly, Azure is coming off as the most bloodthirsty one; she seems to be driven by a primal urge to kill, and her gleeful destruction of the Triangle illustrates how very deeply satisfying she finds the experience. It seems to me that Azure was 100% as evil and dangerous as Swarm, which again raises the question of how their imprisoners could think that it was perfectly fine to chameleon-arch her into a human being while Swarm was confined and immobilized in maximum security. There must be some details we haven't yet learned. I have to admit that last week, I wasn't entirely won over by Sandall's performance as Anna, but this week she's superb, breathing menace into every word, and sounding as arch as the very best Tom-Baker-era female villains. Her creepy, cruel laugh is especially spine-tingling. Azure and Swarm both have wonderful costumes, too; I especially love Azure's colorful fitted jacket encrusted with blue gemstones.
Swarm, meanwhile, is developing some fantastic shades of grey underneath all that stereotypical villain bluster. It's great to have a villain whose menacing lines are written like naturalistic dialogue rather than scripted speeches. Spruell's nonchalant manner, as if he's just having a casual breezy chat, fits the dialogue perfectly. ("Does the Doctor know you're out this late by yourself?") In that sense, he's beginning to remind me a bit of Spike, which is a very positive comparison:
In terms of their powers, it's confirmed that both Swarm and Azure have teleportation abilities, and can deploy them instantaneously, which is pretty impressive. Swarm also implies that he's not constrained by the linear nature of time, which seems to be confirmed when he pulls Yaz' name (and other random factoids that he couldn't possibly have known) out of thin air.
This time, their party has a third member, Passenger (Jonny Mathers), who — for now, anyway — says nothing and does nothing, just looms menacingly in the background. Given that we have no idea where he came from or why he's there, he presents a complete mystery. But his costume is imposing, intimidating, and creepy, which is all the more awesome because some of it is off the rack: you can apparently buy his paintball mask online for as little to $17 to $35; it's even available on Amazon for $24. (This is an excellent example of using something inexpensive to create an outsized effect — and they didn't even doctor it up much — plus it makes costumes more accessible for cosplayers. Bravo!)
However, I find myself a little bit concerned that War of the Sontarans not only fails to answer, but doesn't even address, a single one of our dangling questions from last week. Instead, it only adds to the list:
Can we please not leave all the answers until part six...?
It is a bit odd though that the Sontaran thread seems, thus far, to be completely unconnected to the overarching Flux narrative. The Flux itself doesn't even make an appearance, so we're left to assume that it got angry and went home when it couldn't eat the Earth. If not for the Atropos thread, War of the Sontarans wouldn't seem to advance the arc story at all. I can only assume that perhaps the Sontarans will become relevant again later...?
I do really like Akinola's score this week. Highlights include the face-off between Riskaw and Logan, the scene of Swarm disintegrating one of the Mouri, the Doctor and Dan's confrontation with Swarm and Azure, and especially when Yaz and Vinder are learning about the Mouri. That last scene even reminds me a bit of a Mark Ayres score (for at least that one scene, anyway), which is the highest praise I can give, though I think what it's mainly evoking is TNG! Either way, it's great.
The British Hotel is a nice set, impressively sturdy-looking for a presumably-ramshackle building that Mrs Seacole built herself; if I'd been in charge of that project, the building would've been falling apart at the seams. Even more impressive are the Imperial Sontaran time carriers, which not only retain their memorable insectoid design from The Sontaran Stratagem, but also show off some neat interior features: I love the complex-looking viewscreen-mounted consoles, the shimmering red poles in the background, and especially the the regularly-spaced rings of blue light in the waste tube which make Dan and Karvanista's escape plan look so striking.
No complaints at all about the effects this week; they're great, most especially that stunning panning shot of Dan and Karvanista shooting out of the Sontaran ship before it plows into the dockyard. Other great effects include: the Doctor reaching through the camouflage shield, the Sontarans raising banners all over Liverpool with their insignia, the epic scale of the shipyard at the docks, the flaming blasthole when a soldier is shot at close range, Swarm instantly teleporting around the inner temple (especially when he leaves Yaz clutching her own neck), and the TARDIS plaque and door handle reappearing. I'll also give a shout-out to the TARDIS' new webbed console-room accessories, even though my reaction in my notes was "eww, this spider-webby look of the TARDIS' is not my favorite." Do not want to learn that the giant spiders of Metebelis 3 have returned and made homes in the console room, please. But to end on a positive note, I absolutely must applaud the idea to fully exploit, for once, the 'sonic' function of the sonic screwdriver.
After I complained about the Sontaran masks last week, I'm happy to say that one mask this week feels like a real triumph: Skaak, whose prosthetic has exactly the right balance of realistic creasing (rather than the furrows being too deep), naturalistic scarring (rather than last week's skeletal look), and — hooray — hair on his chin and above his brows! It's shown off to especially resplendent effect in the lighting of the battlefield parley sequence. Given that Watson's mask as Riskaw drew my ire last week, I'm both perplexed and pleasantly surprised by this turnaround, but maybe they worked extra-hard on Skaak to make sure it looked good in extreme close-ups. However, weirdly, Svild's prosthetic has not experienced the same upgrade; in particular, the lower lip of the mask is about half an inch below Starkey's lip. Hrm.
I didn't comment on the Sontarans' new uniforms last week, but now that we can appreciate their full glory, I can confirm that I love them! As nice as the velvety blue-and-grey was, this armor takes them a step back toward their original look, and I really like it. Delightfully, underneath the shoulder- and breastplates is a padded striped grey flight suit that directly echoes their costumes during the Pertwee and Tom Baker eras. My favorite design element, by far, are the pips on their collars, shaped like Sontaran scout ships.
The Mouri also look super cool; the makeup team did a fantastic job making them look eerie and mystical. I especially love the shot of Yaz in Mouri makeup.
I feel like War of the Sontarans is an even better showcase for Jamie Magnus Stone's directorial talents than last week was. My favorite shots: the Doctor racing around the TARDIS to find a door that doesn't exist, the dramatic reveal of Sontar on the map (love it!), the fantastic aerial shot of the battle, Seacole looking up from her notebook in front of a valley studded with imposing Sontaran ships, and Dan plummeting down the Sontaran waste tube. I also wanna give a nod to Mary Seacole's slow-zoom entrance shot, the impressive shot which crashes into the opening titles of a battlefield full of chanting Sontarans, the close-ups of the Mouri's sad eyes, and the gorgeous shots of Seacole and Logan silhouetted against the orange glow of the gunpowder fire. (A fraction of a point docked, however, for the mist-shrouded frame in which it takes five seconds for the Doctor to walk into focus.)
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the episode, I also want to give Chris Chibnall major kudos for the episode's end; I can't remember the last time we had a cliffhanger this good! I have no idea how Yaz is gonna survive this predicament — even though we had no idea what was about to happen to her until mere seconds beforehand — but I'm incredibly curious to find out.
Minor points:
Seacole: " 'Doctor' is a man's term."
Doctor: "It's fluid."
Seacole: "They're not fighting 'Russians'. They're fighting Sontarans!"
Yaz: "I need a universal GPS, then I'd know where I was whenever this happens. 'Cause it does keep happening."
Logan: "Madam, I am at work!"
Doctor: "I know. I can smell the rum."
Logan: "I have Queen and country on my side. That is all the help I need."
Doctor: "She here with you now then? The Queen?"
Logan: (through gritted teeth) "Obviously not."
Doctor: "Then her influence may be limited."
Seacole: "Who are you?!"
Doctor: "Me? I'm Mary Seacole's assistant."
Neville: "They've got this thing, at the back of their neck, like a hole."
Eileen: "Probic something."
Neville: "Yeah, all right Eileen, no need to get all medical."
Dan: "We've gotta get rid of them."
Neville: "That's what I said."
Eileen: "That's what I said! You said they'd be off after the weekend!"
Skaak: "This planet has defied us ever since the great Commander Linx first staked his claim on the ground of its feeble soil. We now assert that claim!"
Triangle: "Can you repair?"
Azure: "Yes. That's why we're here."
Doctor: "Dan! Dan! Dan, it's me!"
Dan: "Doctor!"
Doctor & Dan: "Where are ya?"
Dan: "I'm back in Liverpool!"
Doctor: (simultaneously) "Still in the Crimea."
Doctor & Dan: "Where's Yaz? I don't know! You speak first!"
Dan: "And they've got this obsession with Japanese food. Heard one of the chief potatoheads talking about 'tempura command', and 'tempura offensive'. What's that all about?"
Doctor: "Hold your phone close to the screens. I can access the Sontaran databanks, plus everything that's on your phone."
Dan: (suddenly skittish) "What... including me photos?"
Dan: "Hiya Mary!"
Seacole: "Oh, hello dear. I don't understand any of this."
Doctor: "So for precisely 7.5 minutes every 27 hours, the Sontarans top up their suits via the probic vents in the back of their necks, resting and refuelling like cars refilling their petrol tanks... oh no no wait wait, forget that one... like horses replenishing their nose bags!"
Doctor: "I warned you this planet was protected. Now, retreat."
Skaak: "That word shall never pass my lips." (he pauses) "We shall make... a strategic withdrawal."
Logan: "That was for the men I lost today!"
Doctor: "For your guilt, you mean."
Yaz: "Doctor! Don't come near. I've seen what he can do."
Yet again, plot holes (and underused companions) prevent the story from being great, but even if it's just an average tale, it's still a lot of fun — for Mary Seacole alone! not to mention the enjoyable dialogue — and the Atropos plot thread is moving the story in an intriguing direction.
| posted: | 10 November 2021 |