TV Review - Dr Who - World Enough And Time

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Spoiler alerts Dr Who Got to this Andrew Marvell quotation for a title before James Bond could. I really liked the mood of general creepiness and shock here. That John Simm’s Master was returning was rather over-splashed in the media and though it was no surprise that he was the rather likeable rogue Razor, it was a great performance and a shame that persona had to go so soon. His comments about the state of the Tea were hilarious. I don’t think Bill got to taste it to find out. The shock was Bill’s early death (becomes her) apparent demise in the episode – normally that would be a cliff-hanger. The tease of the Doctor regenerating was intriguing as it may not happen before the Xmas special but Moffat, like Davies is good at containing such surprises. Much now hinges on how Missy reacts to her former self turning up. After her barn-storming word-play on Doctor Who, she was pretty well silenced until Simm revealed himself to her. Nardole might as well have not turned up. The medical patients trapped in pain was superbly ominous and gave this a very Gothic overtone. The Doctor seems to have rather over-played the listening for distress calls card lately – the TARDIS has turned into Thunderbird 5 with the Doctor playing the other 4 Tracy Brothers. Bill seemed rather too easily talked into her floor mopping duties. More likely she would have tipped the mop bucket over someone and tried to run. Usually Time Lords instantly recognize one another so why was Missy unaware of her former self or at least of him being a Time Lord? How did Simm’s Master survive being consumed in the collapse of Galifrey when he sacrificed himself to stop Rassilon? We know the planet survived but where did Simm go? He was already desperately short of regenerations much as the Doctor was at the close of Matt Smith’s time. The Master being desperate to regenerate has been a plot since The Deadly Assassin. The Mondassian Cybermen seem like credible cyber surgeons as the newer versions have just been butchers hacking limbs off and generally reducing their patients to shards before reassembling them. I hope the finale is not going to be another human inside the cyber(wo)man having such strong feelings she infects the others and spoils their fun finale – time will tell. Arthur