Doctor Who - "The Magician's Apprentice" Review (Series 9, Episode 1)

Doctor Who is back after a nearly 9 month hiatus and Moffat seemingly acknowledges this by giving us one of the show's most bombastic, fast-paced, revelation-laden episodes in a while.

So if you haven't seen the episode yet, I forbid you to read on, because there be SPOILERS ahead. That may sound ironic coming from someone who just started a blog and wants anyone he can get to read it, but this episode's thrills come from not knowing much about it. 

So be warned, once you scroll past this still from the hilarious Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, the spoilers soar...

D'awww

The episode opens with a small battle taking place on a marshy, desolate unidentified world and a small boy surrounded by handmines. Think regular mines, but instead they're hands with eyes on the palms and if they grab you,they pull you into the ground.  

The good news: The Doctor arrives and promises to save the boy. Yay!

The bad news: The boy is named Davros and the planet is Skaro. Whoops!

Want some context? Davros is the guy who created the Daleks in order to both stop the seemingly endless civil war that had engulfed Skaro, and to have them become the superior beings of the universe by wiping out all others. The motive behind his machines is seen in more detail in the excellent 1975 Tom Baker story Genesis of the Daleks, which this episode draws inspiration from. 

The moral dilemma the Doctor faces in the opening of this episode is the payoff of a line from Genesis and is highlighted later in the episode...

The Doctor is deciding whether or not to commit an act that would prevent the Daleks from ever existing when he asks this question:
"Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?"

Seeing Davros again, and being played by Julian Bleach (who played him in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, the previous story the character appeared in) was great, as was his conversation with the Twelfth Doctor and the tip of the hat to the previous confrontations the two have had ("UNLIMITED POWER!! UNLIMITED RICE PUDDING!!!"). 

Another rewarding aspect of the episode was the return to various locations from past stories. We visit the Maldovarium and see some Ood, Hath, and Sycorax. The Shadow Proclamation returns, and we take another trip to Karn. But perhaps the planet that has the most fanfare for its reentry is Skaro, which the Daleks have somehow rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Seventh Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks. If there's one thing this episode definitely wasn't in short supply of, it was references to Doctor Who's past.

Now let's talk about the Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi, who once again nailed it. You can clearly tell he's an experienced actor playing the role he's always dreamed of playing. From his grand, guitar-shredding, tank-riding entrance to his reunion with Davros, everything he did was done with both eccentricity and subtlety, which just screams "The Doctor." 

Jenna Coleman's once again on fine form as Clara, though I felt that she wasn't given much to do for the back half of the episode other than ask questions about what was going on. Oh yeah, and get death stared by a bunch of Daleks and be seemingly exterminated. Also, I found her scenes with UNIT at the start a bit unbelievable. Some of what should be the smartest people on the planet looking for advice from a school teacher? *pulls pessimistic face*

And then there's Michelle Gomez as Missy/The Master, whose madcap performance and dynamic with both the Doctor and Clara are a hoot to watch. The relationship between the Doctor and the Master is briefly put under the microscope, showing that the two have an actually deep friendship that just has hit a couple rough patches in the past.

The first cliffhanger the episode ends with are Clara and Missy being exterminated by a room full of Daleks, old and new, and the TARDIS is obliterated. It's obvious that none of them are actually gone for good, but the next few days are going to be filled with speculation as to how they survive.

The second cliffhanger is a revisit to the opening scene. The Doctor reappears behind the young Davros, raises a Dalek weapon and yells "Exterminate!"

DUN DUN DUUUUN

This episode left me so pumped for this week's episode and for the rest of Series 9 in general, which is great thing for a season opener to do.

Welcome back, Doctor Who. 

Noah