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First and foremost, it is necessary to address
the Doctor’s assault of Jenny. It’s a poorly conceived idea, where the actors
and director completely misjudged what they were trying to do, and ended up
filming a scene that shouldn’t feature the Doctor. Everyone involved should be
held accountable.
·
With that uncomfortable element of the episode
acknowledged, let’s discuss the Paternoster Gang, who hold the episode together
in its early parts. It’s interesting to note that they have become a main part
of the show’s recurring cast at the moment appearing in four out of twleve episodes
between “The Snowmen” and “Deep Breath”. They have become part of the furniture
of the show in a good way, representing the furthest the show has departed from
21st Century companion and her family main/ guest cast model.
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Also great are Ada and Mrs Gillyflower, two of
the most compelling original characters Mark Gatiss has written. They round out
an episode that, unlike most of Gatiss’s scripts, is wonderfully female driven:
the Ada/ Doctor scenes are genuinely lovely, and showcase Smith’s Doctor at his
most likeable and kind.
·
Once again, this is a quieter episode for Clara,
but she gets some great moments, her noticing “a chimney that doesn’t blow
smoke” being a chance to show her cleverness, with the “miss me?”/ “loads”
exchange being a wonderfully warm Eleven and Clara moment, while “I’ve got a
chair” is laugh out loud hilarious. Her little “I’m the boss” while alone at
home is wonderful, giving more of a hint of her “Bossy control Freak” nature.
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The Doctor also seems more at peace with the
fact that he doesn’t understand Clara’s origins, as he says to Jenny “I know
who you think she is, but she isn’t”, and to the Paternosters “It’s
complicated” when asked about Clara, indicating that he has accepted Clara as
the person she seems to be, but is still confused and deeply curious about her
apparent link to Oswin and Victorian Clara.
·
Structurally, the only part of this episode that
doesn’t work is the lead in to “Nightmare in Silver”: “Clara’s kids find out
about her time travelling and strong arm her into taking them on an adventure”
could work, but doesn’t here, largely because the reason Clara agrees to go
with them – the kids threaten to tell their Dad about her adventures – is
incredibly unconvincing: she can just say they’re blatantly lying. It could be read as Clara being foolish due
to her desire to stay in control, but this reading doesn’t really work, as it
pits her desire for control against her basic sense of logic a little too far.
However, this desire to keep her TARDIS life and her home life separate is an
aspect of her character that will be explored in more detail, and with greater
success, from “Time of the Doctor” onwards.
·
Overall, this episode is up there with the best
of the season. It’s funny, well paced and clever: probably Gatiss’s best script
for the show.
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