by Leah Stone
There always have been problems at Coal Hill School. It was the setting for the very first episode of Doctor Who, as the Doctor’s grandchild, Susan Foreman, was a student there. In Remembrance of the Daleks, the Daleks set up base at the school. Now, Clara is a teacher there, and in this week’s episode the school faces the threat of a Skovox Blitzer, one of the most dangerous creatures ever created, and one that had enough ammunition to destroy the entire planet.
There always have been problems at Coal Hill School. It was the setting for the very first episode of Doctor Who, as the Doctor’s grandchild, Susan Foreman, was a student there. In Remembrance of the Daleks, the Daleks set up base at the school. Now, Clara is a teacher there, and in this week’s episode the school faces the threat of a Skovox Blitzer, one of the most dangerous creatures ever created, and one that had enough ammunition to destroy the entire planet.
The alien that we see, however, doesn’t appear to be all that scary. In fact, it shares some similarities with the Empress of the Racnoss in The Runaway Bride, but not quite so scary, and robotic. Danny Pink isn’t all that great a character either, barely living up to either Mickey or Rory and at first doesn’t react very well to the realisation that the Doctor is a Time Lord. However he did have a very cool somersaulting-over-the-bad-guy-and-missing-the-lasers scene so perhaps there is still hope for him.
Considering that last week’s episode was rather fast-paced and kept you on your toes, this week’s was rather lacklustre, spending most of its time waiting around whilst they try to act out mini comedy sketches which never quite managed to hit the mark.
Considering that last week’s episode was rather fast-paced and kept you on your toes, this week’s was rather lacklustre, spending most of its time waiting around whilst they try to act out mini comedy sketches which never quite managed to hit the mark.
There was one major positive, and that was the first couple of minutes, in which we see how Clara copes with the pressure of running around with the Doctor whenever he shows up in her life, whilst trying to hide it from Danny and have a good relationship with him at the same time. Many of the other companions lacked such demanding circumstances and so could leave whenever they pleased, but the opening sequence showed how hard it would be fitting being a Time Lord’s companion around a normal life.
Other than that, it was a substandard episode. The alien and the threat it posed wasn’t very scary or dramatic, leaving the story reliant on humour to buoy it up. The Doctor's preformed opinion on soldiers does create a nice rift between him and Pink, which will hopefully lead to some delightful verbal sparring between the two in the future (or past, or present).
All in all, a very disappointing episode. Hopefully next week will bring a major improvement.
Other than that, it was a substandard episode. The alien and the threat it posed wasn’t very scary or dramatic, leaving the story reliant on humour to buoy it up. The Doctor's preformed opinion on soldiers does create a nice rift between him and Pink, which will hopefully lead to some delightful verbal sparring between the two in the future (or past, or present).
All in all, a very disappointing episode. Hopefully next week will bring a major improvement.
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