VOY – Collective

Plot – Whilst cliched, it looks like we are onto a winner with Collective since it starts with an attack by the Borg and a dream sequence that makes it look as though the crew of the Delta Flyer have been assimilated.

The Borg were a perennial element of TNG that made the show finally click into place and fire on all cylinders. It was the threat that the audience needed to really take the show seriously and to completely distinguish itself from TOS. The Best of Both Worlds is peak TNG, I think they were on a wind down after that two-parter because the show was never quite that bold or suspenseful ever again. Voyager took up the mantle of the Borg at around the same point (towards the end of season three) of their run and for once mimicking TNG made perfect sense because Voyager takes place in a region of space that we don’t know anything about. Why shouldn’t they Borg have their area of space here? It was a real chance to explore the species and make them a force to be reckoned with again (TNG threw away their menace with I,Borg and Descent). Unity looked to be doing just that but then Scorpion (again this is probably the zenith of Voyager in terms of quality television) introduced a species they were at war with and losing. Thus, diminishing their threat. Then we had a two-year long examination of a drone turning back into a human being. Showing how the Borg threat can be turned around with a little time and patience (and plenty of angst). And then the Borg children were introduced in this episode, which further watered down the effect of the species. Finally, we hit Unimatrix Zero, which took the assimilation element that made The Best of Both Worlds so frightening and turns it into a plot device that can be utilised and reversed without any apparent side effects. By the end of the show it is the Borg that essentially gives the ship the nudge home it needed to get back to the Alpha Quadrant (unwillingly, admittedly). I’m not saying that none of this was interesting – Seven’s journey is particularly noteworthy – but it does chart the deconstruction of the Borg and the fading of everything that made them scary in the first place. Come Endgame they are just robots with big ships that provide space battle eye candy. And that is a shame for a race that made Trek franchise sit up and pay attention in such an influential way. It took Enterprise (of all shows) to re-introduce that element of fear into the Borg by having them turn up between First Contact and Q Who? and feature the creatures stalking the ship when nobody has any clue what they are. With the audience in the know and the crew of Enterprise at a loss to what these evil SOBs want, they genuinely manage to make them a formidable force again.

Character – There’s a nice moment where Seven considers her own development since severing from the Hive Mind and what these children will have to go through. It’s the most thoughtful thing on offer here, but it is also the sort of material that has been explored ad nauseum in the past three seasons. The most promising thing to come from Collective is the idea of Seven exploring her maternal side, which is flirted with in the final scene.

Best moment – The Borg baby in the cubicle. Genuinely unsettling. There should have been more of that. The baby that Seven actually holds is clearly a doll. Watch as it wriggles up and down in the same pattern over and over. I might have kept it as the CGI version.

Worst moment – I can’t be the only person who first saw the Borg brood and immediately thought ‘oh no…’ What you have is one drone who behaves like a sullen teen from any adolescent drama, one drone who is the reasonable geek of the group (that’s the one we’re lumbered with) and three kids who like to sulk and cry a lot. Yes, this is compelling viewing.

I don’t understand the point of the scenes of Harry on the Borg ship that are trying their damndest to be sinister when they are rubbing shoulders with the teen angst drama that is taking place alongside. At one point one of the kids invades his investigation and starts playing cards as if to say why are you bothering to try and create any tension?

I wish they hadn’t done that – If there was ever an argument that Voyager was a watered-down version of the TNG then you only have to watch the first five minutes of Collective that begin with the regulars playing poker (a TNG staple) and the Borg appearing (ditto). How embarrassing that one TNG cliché prevented the guys from spotting another one sneaking up on them. This is the opportunity they have to get rid of the four most troublesome (in terms of characterisation and development) characters. Imagine if Chakotay, Paris, Harry Kim and Neelix were all assimilated and we were left with a show fronted by Janeway, Seven, the Doctor and Torres?

The climax is particularly gutless and painful to watch because it all comes down to a bunch of kids dressed up as Borg having a barney over the fact that one of them has taken charge of the others and they are all individuals capable of making their own choices. Is this really from the pen of the same man who gave us The Visitor and In the Pale Moonlight?

What the hell happened to the Borg baby? Brannon Braga has gone on record saying that it was returned to its people off screen and never mentioned because they wanted to focus on the dramatic potential of the older children. The dramatic possibilities with the baby are endless, so this is a craven explanation.

A reason to watch this episode again – Praise first, because the idea of bringing in new characters onto Voyager who have a real impact on the lives of the crew is a worthy one and one that should have been taking place throughout the shows entire run. Icheb and his brood stay with the ship for a while and Icheb himself is with the show until the end of the show, developing a relationship with both Seven and Janeway. That’s all good. And so is the opening ten minutes which features action, atmosphere and a sense of dread. Even the idea of the Borg children is a bold one, had they pushed down a more uncomfortable route than they ultimately do. What transpires is a teen drama, full of angst and implants, and the performances of the children in question are well, questionable. This isn’t And the Children Shall Lead, it isn’t even Innocence, but it is another in a developing line of children-based episodes that doesn’t work. Collective is more unsatisfying than all the others because it had more potential than the lot of them. If Ron Moore hadn’t jumped ship early in season six I swear he could have done something spectacular with this premise and with Brannon Braga still on the series at this point (he wrote Genesis, you know) I’m surprised that there wasn’t more body horror on show. Seasons four and five were uplifted by Jeri Ryan’s presence amongst the regulars and the tension between Seven and Janeway. That’s no longer the case, the episodes have to try harder to make an impact. Collective isn’t trying anywhere near hard enough.

*1/2 out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode:

DS9 – The Nagus

Plot – The Ferengi episodes. They are such an acquired taste and I think I might have developed a theory as to why they seem to be much more palatable in the UK than they are in the US. Don’t mistake me, I’m sure there are US fans who love them and UK fans who hate them but generally speaking I hear a lot of positive stuff about this sub-genre in this corner of the world and I think it is worth figuring out why. British comedy is a very unique thing, certainly the sitcoms of the 70s and 80s (which are some of the more famous comedies in the UK); they feature larger than life performances, they tend to stick to stereotypes and deconstruct them by having them written and played so broadly, they feature tons of repeated slogans and phrases and they push physical comedy and witty wordplay to the fore. Sound familiar? The Ferengi comedy episodes are very mid-70s Brit-coms and I think they work for the same reason. They are focussed and intelligent, and sometimes they are embarrassing farces. The performances are so far over the top you either have to go with them or fight them. Usually in every Ferengi episode there is a straight man that the comedy derives from and that is often Quark, played brilliantly by Armin Shimmerman. He often holds them together (as he does here) with his perfectly judged performance. What’s fascinating is when the Ferengi episodes try and tackle something serious (Bar Association, Body Parts and Business As Usual tackle unions, suicide and mass murder respectively) with all the surrounding comedy, it makes the whole thing a much more discomforting experience. The Nagus is the first experimental step in this whole sub-genre and it brings an incredible amount of wit and humour (‘And the Andorian says…I thought it was your wife…’) to DS9 that was a little lacking in its first year. It stands out because it lets its hair down and it does so without falling flat on its face (move over Move Along Home).

The Nagus is one of those unique episodes of Star Trek (less so with DS9) that doesn’t give a damn about the politics of Starfleet and instead focuses squarely on an alien society and how they look at things. I find them very refreshing. To some this might not be at all what they watch Star Trek for, basking in the madness of a profit hungry race but as an alternative to the usual technobabble and red tape it is a luxurious ride. The scene where Rom is berated for sending his son to a human school run by a female whilst they are all ripping the heads off beetles for dinner is delightful – this is a society that is so different from our own with its own unique set of values. To a race of people who pride profit over all can you imagine a more lustful prospect than another quadrant of space rich with worlds to exploit? The only opportunity that rivals this is potentially conquering the market in the alternative universe, which the Nagus attempts to do in the final season of this show. The idea of people of important stature dying and being vacuum desiccated and sold as a prize collectable makes perfect sense to a society that priorities money. What use is a corpse in the ground? The idea is probably repugnant to them.

As early as series one, episode 10 we get our first mention of the Bajoran fire caves. Let it be noted because later down the line those caves become a very important feature of this show.

Character – One of the enduring friendships (amongst many) on this show is the unlikely pairing of a human (Jake) and a Ferengi (Nog). What’s wonderful about these early episodes is how well established that friendship becomes and how much it pays off later (in episodes like The Visitor, In the Cards, Valiant and It’s Only a Paper Moon). At this point Nog, who will later become the first Ferengi in Starfleet, cannot even read and Jake helps him to overcome that difficulty in a beautifully judged subplot. Watch the moment when they spot a Vulcan woman in a tight fitted catsuit walk the Promenade – they are transfixed as any boy reaching puberty would be. The only thing I ever saw Wesley Crusher get a hard on for was a warp coil.

At this stage Rom is still trying to behave like a normal Ferengi and is a bit of a bastard at times. Obviously, the writers haven’t decided to make him a real nice guy yet but that actually works in his favour because we learn over time that no matter how hard he tries he really isn’t an effective Ferengi, despite the fact that he tries so hard. Just before escorting him to his intended death, Rom asks Quark about the bar again and Quark pretty much signs his own death warrant by suggesting that he deserves so much and Rom deserves so little. The irony being he only had to display a moment of kindness and generosity here to prevent what is about to happen. The delight in this attempt on his life is that Quark isn’t angry at all, he promotes Rom to reward him for such brilliant deviousness.

Performance – Wallace Shawn gives one of the most distinctive performances of all time as The Grand Nagus. Effectively a character that has skipped straight out of The Simpsons, he is big, bold and broad. With a crazy infectious laugh, a squeaky voice and a penchant for booze, women and profit, the Nagus sticks with the show until the penultimate episode and provides some unforgettable laughs along the way. His ‘death’ scene has to be seen to believed.

This is the quiet, understated Sisko of season one. You know the one who doesn’t have the fate of the entire Alpha Quadrant on his shoulders. Avery Brooks gets to play up to the strengths of his early characterisation here; the family man navigating single parenthood with a son who knows his own mind.

Production – The make up for the Nagus is so outrageously overdone you can only admire the audacity of it. A wizened Ferengi with crazy ear hair sprouting out, he’s such a caricature of an old man that I howl every time he appears.

It’s another one of those rare Doctor Who/Star Trek crossovers. The music for this episode was scored by John Debney, who also provided the soundtrack for the Doctor Who TV Movie. Both scores are very effective and quite unusual for their respective shows. I particularly like the music at the climax here where Quark is being led to his death, it has a heavy piano influence that is very unusual in Star Trek.

Best moment – It’s one of the rarest kinds of twists in a Star Trek episode – the comic surprise. The Nagus is alive and this has all been a test for his son, rather than an opportunity for Quark. Again, if you have been paying attention to the culture this makes perfect sense of everything that has played out and the Nagus’ reveal proves to be a brilliant moment. ‘It’s like talking to a Klingon!’

I wish they hadn’t done that – I don’t know if I should applaud this episode for making such an obvious homage to The Godfather in the scene where Quark is handing out profitable assignments or not.

A reason to watch this episode again – The first venture into Ferengi culture on DS9 is an enormous success and was enough to convince the producers that this sub-genre of episodes was worth pursuing. Armin Shimmerman is such a positive presence on the show that he deserved this vehicle and with plenty of laughs and debauchery thrown in this is unlike anything we have seen in Trek before this. DS9 always did like to shine a light on the darker corners of life in the future and how ironic that the first out and out comedy episode should be the one to feature financial exploitation, masturbatory holodeck programmes, alcoholism, assassination attempts and fratricide. It’s a sleazy place at times, DS9, and that’s usually down to Quark.

****1/2 out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode: 

The Thirteenth Doctor

The Woman Who Fell to Earth - 8/10
The Ghost Monument - 6/10 
Rosa - 9/10
Arachnids in the UK - 6/10
The Tsuranga Conundrum - 7/10
Demons of the Punjab - 9/10
Kerblam! - 8/10
The Witchfinders - 8/10
It Takes You Away - 9/10
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos - 6/10
Resolution - 9/10
Spyfall Part One - 9/10
Spyfall Part Two - 9/10
Orphan 55 - 7/10
Nikolai Tesla's Night  of Terror - 8/10
Fugitive of the Judoon - 10/10
Praxeus - 8/10
Can You Hear Me? - 9/10 
The Haunting of Villa Diodati - 10/10
Ascension of the Cybermen - 8/10 
          

TNG - Genesis

Plot – Genesis feels like any number of Voyager whacky science episodes (Threshold is a great example) and you have to wonder if Brannon Braga thought this episode was enough of a success to use as a template on the next Trek show he was going to have a huge influence on. Its rationale is simplistic in the extreme and is waved aside by a few lines of medical babble so the writer can get on with the freaky stuff like Barclay the Spider and Troi the Newt. What Data and Picard are talking about is pure nonsense but it just goes to show that if you get decent actors to deliver dialogue in an appropriately grave and realistic way you can convince an audience of anything. Almost. What this essentially boils down to is Picard and Data exploring a darkened Enterprise from 30 minutes with the occasion flash of a decent make up making an appearance. It feels like one of the longest episodes I have ever watched.

Character – I realise Reg is a total hypochondriac but I have to question Dr Bev’s bedside manner when she fails to comfort a patient who is clearly perturbed in favour of purring over a cat that’s due to drop a litter of kittens. The idea is to show us a busy day in Sickbay with Command Officers playing the fool in their day to day lives with their lives, worry worts checking up on medical databases and self-diagnosing, dealing with feline pregnancy and learning that a member of the team is pregnant. It does have a certain hustle and bustle to it.

Performance – Only Dwight Schultz is going for it when it comes to really suggesting an alien instinct is controlling his mind. He’s gabbling dialogue and twitchy movements do suggest that something on a fundamental level is wrong. However, it is so hilariously over the top I can barely watch through my fingers.

Patrick Stewart does everything that Genesis asks of him but I can’t help but detect a heaviness to his performance here. It’s as though he has looked around at the madness going on and thought ‘what on earth am I doing here?’

Production – There are a few shock moments that genuinely live up to that title. Dr Bev being sprayed with Worf’s venom is done in such a flash that the result made my heart skip faster. The sight of the bloodied crewman sitting at Ops alone on the darkened Bridge is memorable.

A huge round of applause to the makeup team who are the only people that walk away from this episode with their reputation intact (not even the show manages that). Those gill flaps on Troi’s neck are extraordinarily convincing.

Best moment – Reg and Data discussing the father of Spot’s babies is exactly the sort of sweet nonsense that this show pulled off so well. Data sounds like every anxious parent when he says he is going scan the kittens when they are born and find just which of the make cats on board are the father.

Worst moment – This is pure b-movie Trek of the lowest kind of intelligence. What an episode like Genesis needs is a seasoned Trek director at the helm and one who has an intimate knowledge of the actors and the ability to tell them to tone it down a little bit. Scenes of Worf tearing about a carcass at dinner and dashing about his quarters turning into a ruddy great monster couldn’t ever be filmed in a subtle way but Gates McFadden (in her one and only assignment) chooses to get the camera right down his throat which makes for hilarious and humiliating viewing. It’s never a good thing when you feel sorry for the actors in what they are being asked to do.

‘I need a bath. You have the bridge’ – is it that inessential that a command officer is on the Bridge that a crewmember can just pop off an get in a bath?

I wish they hadn’t done that – What is it about the ship bound Trek shows that refuse to portray characters in relationships but then take the plunge at the eleventh-hour. I’ll leave you to decide whether Troi and Worf or Seven and Chakotay is the least convincing of these but the former is on display here and exposes everything that was wrong with the idea; from conception to execution. Troi and Worf are two characters that simply are not supposed to have a romance, they are hideously mismatched, have zero in common and the chemistry between the actors is non-existent. You compare this to the razor-sharp wit and sexual chemistry between Dax and Worf and it is even more apparent.

A reason to watch this episode again – Genesis is so uncomfortable to watch it feels as though I have skipped back to the first season again. Ridiculous, out of control performances, a goofy premise (possibly the goofiest on TNG), a poor production and a reliance on cheap shocks to keep the audience interested. I love a good b-movie when it is done particularly badly but this has just about the right level of TNG competence to keep it in the vanilla zone. The moment when Troi starts bathing with her clothes and Worf invades her quarters and bites her in the face I think might be the scene where season seven of TNG officially jumped the shark. The moment when Picard and Data investigate Reg Barclay, Spider-Man and Troi the Amphibian I thought I had taken a dose of mind-altering drugs that I could never make a return from. When Spot the Cat turned into a Newt with a pink collar I was certain of it. I can’t even enjoy this as a guilty pleasure. It’s like that moment after you’ve had a wank and sit there looking at your hand thinking ‘what the fuck am I doing?’ It’s 45 minutes of that. The cheapest, trashiest Trek ever.

½ out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode: 

Ascension of the Cybermen written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone

Oh Brilliant: Interesting to see that when she is facing an impossible situation and one of her oldest foes that Whittaker’s Doctor drops her smiles and becomes panicked, snappy, desperate and out of control. I love the contrast here with how she normally plays the part because it makes the situation seem far more tense and anxious than normal because the Doctor is reacting to it in such an extreme manner. When they land in the Cyber Wars, the Doctor is faced with having to try and keep her companions alive in a situation where her technology is useless and she cannot get them back to the TARDIS. It’s great that the Doctor is throwing herself into action at the deep end to try and salvage a mess that she has already made. Very often these penultimate episodes see the Doctor and co just showing up on their adventures and being swept up in events that have been tied into the season but this time they are a team on a mission. This is a Doctor who has always had time for people but facing an imminent Cyber-attack and she spits ‘I don’t need your life story!’ When the chips are down she orders her friends to safety with the caveat of ‘this isn’t a discussion.’ She’s the only one of the four of them who knows how nasty it gets with the Cybermen and she berates herself for bringing them along and risking their lives in such a deadly scenario. Can I draw your attention to scene where the Doctor hotwires a Cyberfighter. Not only is it a supremely cool idea but watch at how adept Whittaker is now at these kinds of monologues. It’s effortless now where this kind of scene felt laboured in her first year. It makes me salivate for what we might get from her in her third season. The scenes between the Doctor and Ashad parallel those of Resolution where she had scenes over hologram with the Dalek and what really stands out is how she has lost the smugness and a little of the sparkle from her eyes. The universe has given her a beating this year and there’s less of a sense that she is in control and more that she is desperately making it up. With series 12, both Chibnall and Whittaker have raised the bar of the series both in terms of the type of performance she can give and the sort of material that the 13th Doctor is getting. Whittaker has been exceptional all year but the stakes have been raised here and she raising her game even further with them. I think it is no exaggeration to say she has, through her talent, made this season one to remember.

Graham, Ryan and Yaz: Weirdly enough given the situations of peril that they have been in over the past two seasons, this was the first time I felt that the Fam was genuinely in danger and with no hope of survival. Chibnall lets them enter the story all piss and vinegar, with technology that looks like it might bring the Cybermen to their knees and within ten minutes all that bluster is swept aside and they are running for their lives. Suddenly the danger is very real and the Doctor is screaming at her friends to get away from the fight as swiftly as possible…or die. It’s a shame that this is the Fam’s second season rather than their first because in the latter half of this year (since Praxeus) suddenly the writing team have figured out how to give all three companions a slice of the action without anyone feeling short changed. Not only that they all feel essential and useful by this point, as exemplified by their individual chats with the human survivors and the weapons they have brought to bring down the Cybermen. It’s almost as though Chibnall has been listening to feedback from last year and how Graham and Yaz barely spent any time interacting because they are separated from the Doctor and Ryan here and prove to be quite the formidable force together. They have been paying attention on their travels and know enough to get Ravio’s ship into the Cyber Warship…although that is really taking them into the lion’s den.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘The Cybermen were defeated. The victors of a billion battles, broken. An empire of might and terror, fallen.’
‘This planet, this time period…we’re in the very far future. Immediately aftermath of the CyberWars. Cybermen have hunted down and wiped out the majority of the human race. Sorry, it was never a good time to break that news to you.’
‘You’re human. If they capture you, they’ll convert you.’
‘I didn’t expect you to take it that well. I’ll have to bill you for therapy at this rate.’
‘We’re carrying Cyberman that makes other Cybermen scream.’

The Good: The cold open is one of the best, a minefield of Cybermen parts floating through space at the end of the Cyber Wars finally resting on a soulless head that leers straight towards the camera. It is a crushing indication of how far the Cybermen have fallen at this point, nothing but spare parts hanging in space. It’s exactly what Revenge of the Cybermen was trying to depict, an army of automatons that has been brought to its knees and on the verge of extinction and with the desire to crush mankind and rise again. Ascension of the Cybermen manages to show what a terrifying force the Cybermen are when they are desperate, rather the Revenge’s effort which served to show a force that was easy to bring down and embarrassing to fight. These Cybermen are clever, nasty and brutal. They are determined to see their Empire back at its height and they have the tools to do so now. It’s the chilling premise that this entire episode is built on. Ashad continues to be their mouthpiece, a partially converted Cyberman who was a nasty character before he was converted and somebody who can butt heads with the Doctor in some gripping scenes. When the setting for your story is the last remaining settlement on this side of the galaxy and it consists of the last seven humans then I’d say the stakes are pretty high to try and keep them alive. You can’t have a resistance without anyone to resist. I still haven’t forgiven Julie Graham for what she put Sarah Jane through in the fourth series of SJA…and she proves to be just as adept at handling a very different character here. A tough refugee from the CyberWars, this part needed somebody who was convincing enough to be desperate and yet commanding enough to want to fight back. Graham does a lot with very little characterisation and I don’t think that that is necessarily a problem because (and this is just a hunch) I think the truth about this character is going to be a lot more exciting than is depicted here. I have a feeling that Ravio is going to be a major player in the last episode, and perhaps not as friendly as we have been led to believe. That ship of hers is very hexagonal, isn’t it? I’d like to take a step back from the plot and mention how stunning the production values have been this year and for this episode in particular. The direction of the show has been taken to a whole new level with series 12 and as this is a (mostly) action set piece let me say that the show looks more like a movie for television than it ever has before. The big set pieces are brilliantly staged with fire and brimstone and at points I was convinced that not everybody was going to make it out alive. The tone is pure panic and it takes some skill to successfully portray pandemonium on such a scale. The location work looks gritty and memorable, the Cyberman ship is a wonderfully gothic and epic environment and action in the various spaceships as they dash to the Boundary is well paced and claustrophobic. Jamie Magnus Stone is quite a find and I hope we see him back next year. Patrick O’Kane continues to be a formidable presence as Ashad, providing the Cybermen with a frightening mouthpiece with which to issue their threats. It’s what they often lack (and I guess what they were trying to go with in Rise of the Cybermen and John Lumic and failing), coming across as an entirely robotic (and not very interesting) force. This half-finished monstrosity manages to capture the horror of the Cybermen and give them an emotional advantage at the same time. Bravo. Graham and Ravio walking around the deserted Cybership and discovering the ranks of foot soldiers waiting to be activated gave me a chilling reminder of Earthshock, albeit with the shows powerful new cinematography. The new Cyberdesign, a hybrid of classic and modern designs, is a triumph because it pleases both crowds. I like the fact that we get to see the RTD Cybermen, Ashad and a brand-new design in one story. Like The Doctor Falls, there is a feeling that different Cybermen were created for different battles but they can all come together for a common cause. When you realise there are several thousand Cybermen on this ship it is a great ‘oh fuck’ moment. I said it out loud, which earned me a look from Ludo.

I’ve heard people commenting that the Brendan subplot has irritated some people and intrigued others and it stands out because it is entirely separate from the main storyline and yet eats up a fair amount of screen time. Obviously, this is hugely relevant to the finale but what I liked was how it was a fascinating little mini story in its own right. It shows how far Chibnall has come in a season because it is a subplot that is full of great character moments, warmth and shocking twists, a far cry from the dry and dusty action of Av Kolos. Who is Brendan? Why is he on earth? Why does he seem to have Captain Jack style regenerative powers? Why does his father turn at the climax to this narrative and abuse him at the end of his life? We don’t know where this is going and that is both unsatisfying and really exciting…so I guess that means that both camps are right. What really stands out is the terrific acting of all the guest actors in this narrative cul de sac, the gorgeous Irish themed music and how they manage to convincingly portray Brendan ageing across his entire life in the space of 45 minutes. It’s a story with pace and realism and yet still has room to breathe.

The Bad: The Cyberdrones continue a very famous Doctor Who tradition of having opponents that are both comical and terrifying. The way these Cyber-heads swoop into action made me want to stifle a giggle but at the same time I was impressed at the absolute carnage they managed to cause. The POV shots are awesomely realised and how they reduce the Doctor’s defences to nothing in a matter of seconds left me breathless. It’s a direct steal from the Toclafane, continuing Chibnall’s obsession with series three this season.

The Shallow Bit: 30 seconds of the Master and my tummy is butterflies. Damn him.

Result: ‘The death of everything is within me…’ Part Earthshock, part The Sound of Drums but with a grim and unrelenting tone unlike either of them, Ascension of the Cybermen is a gripping and lead into the finale and a fine piece of action drama in its own right. It’s a story that brings some real muscle and monstrousness back to the Cybermen in a way we haven’t seen since their Troughton heyday and their revival in Davison’s first season. I’ve found the way they have been treated during the new series to be largely disappointing, portrayed as stompy drones and easily defeated. By setting this at the fag end of their Empire, by bringing in Ashad as a mouthpiece (think Locutus of Borg but far more vicious) and by showing how their numbers could so easily swell and swarm again, Chibnall has managed to achieve the impossible for me – turning the Cybermen into a genuinely formidable force. We’re off Earth, which is a god damn miracle this season and there is a feeling of being lost in a really exciting outer space adventure, which we haven’t had since Moffat’s era. You can get lost in this kind of story and completely forget the world around you. Some of the imagery is unforgettable. In particular I love the slow pan back to reveal the bits of Cyberman floating through space and bashing against the hull of Ravio’s ship, the Cybermen that scream as they are upgraded and the Cyberdrones have to be seen to be believed. This isn’t paced like your usual penultimate episode. Normally they build in momentum and reach desperation point at the climax (think Army of Ghosts, The Sound of Drums, The Pandorica Opens and The World Enough and Time) whereas this is more like half of a story that plays out with a sudden cliff-hanger that leaps out of nowhere. More than all the others I’m sure the real effectiveness of this episode will ride on the conclusion. But Ascension of the Cybermen remains a superior slice of action Who with a palpable atmosphere and tense and stifling scenes throughout. If Chibnall wanted to show how far he has come since Av Kolos, then this episode shows that he is upping the stakes and then some and he’s throwing characters I have come to really care about in extreme peril. Almost relentlessly exciting, with a terrific reunion in the last 30 seconds: 8/10

ENT – First Flight

Plot – The only relevant thing I took from the teaser was that Archer, T’Pol and Trip are happily getting on with very Star Treky things like scanning nebulas without their very separate ideologies getting in the way. Indeed, there seems to be a gentle humour shivering away amongst them, highlighting their differences in an aimable way.

This episode provides some much-needed insight into both Archer and the first NX Class flight into the unknown. The former comes far too late in the shows run (this really should have been a season one episode) and the latter is a welcome surprise that I never thought I would get to see. This is offering some valuable insight into the testing of the first Starship that Starfleet sent out into space and the struggles they went through to get there. Inversely, this is prequel material to prequel material but I would say this is one of the most vital flashbacks we have ever had because it informs all of the shipboard Trek shows that follow. It’s not easy and the Vulcan’s are breathing down their necks and watching every move they make.

Character – It says a lot about T’Pol that she reminds the Captain that he cannot leave the ship unaccompanied and that it is unusual to head off on a science mission without the science Officer when what she is actually saying is that she doesn’t want him to be alone and she wants to help him through his tragic news. How she says this without saying it at all is wonderfully done, all in subtext.

In the flashbacks, I love the fact that Archer, who is clearly pissed that he wasn’t chosen for the first flight, squashes his ego because all that really matters to him is that they succeed. He even publicly shakes Robinson’s hand to show there are no hard feelings even though he is crushed inside. It’s probably the most likable thing I have seen Archer do. Archer learns a valuable lesson that sometimes you can try too hard at something and lose it because you are blinded to everything else in your life.

How nice to see the first meeting of Archer and Trip and how immediately Jonathan is by the engineer’s forthrightness. Their friendship is built on a beautiful moment when Trip sticks up for Archer’s father by suggesting that his life’s work cannot be sabotaged by the Vulcans and should be protected. You can completely understand Archer’s warmth towards him. It’s nice to see the moment where Trip is promised a place on Archer’s ship should be ever score a command.

Performance – Scott Bakula gives one of his most rounded performances here, running an entire gamut of emotions and getting a chance to portray Archer as both amiable and reasonable and stubborn and violent. I could have done with more of the former characterisation earlier in this shows’ run (I still think they got me off on entirely the wrong foot with Archer having recently re-watched Broken Bow) but I am grateful to see Bakula given the chance to rectify some of the mistakes made in the first season. He seizes the opportunity and whilst it is clear that he isn’t as young as the script suggests he is, Bakula gets away with it by injecting an energetic enthusiasm and earnestness into the role that helps sell the younger, greener Archer.

Best moment – Men being men it was bound to spill over into physical violence at some point and I could see the blood flying the second Archer and Robinson first meet. For all their amiable rivalry, it is still competition and when mistakes start happening it appear that either Archer’s father (who designed the engine) or Robinson (the pilot) at fault. It’s a pretty bloody scrap too, which feels very unlike the usual cartoon violence of Trek. ‘Humans can have funny ways of forming friendships…’ – never a truer word spoken, Archer.

The chewing out of Archer and Robinson is a vital scene to make the struggle of what they have done count. Typical Star Trek logic suggests that they are welcomed back as heroes for proving that the warp tests are feasible in practice. What actually happens is quite the reverse and it could be criminal charges for them both. It’s a terrifically acted sequence.

I wish they hadn’t done that – To me to make the Vulcan’s such a undesirable presence in this series was a mistake. TOS often drew the differences between humanity and Vulcan’s but it did so in a way that allowed both sides to come out of any argument with some dignity intact. Enterprise has decided that early relationships with the Vulcans was awkward and adversarial and there was a certain envy in how quickly humanity reaches the same scientific developments compared to them. This leads to scenes that border on the racist that feature Archer acting like a spoilt child being told no and acting out to his folks and the Vulcan representatives like inflexible parents refusing to budge on their own ideologies. The tension is uneasy because it isn’t particularly educational or explored in much depth beyond ‘we don’t like being told what to do.’ The only real worth to come out of this tension is T’Pol, who breaks out of the typical arrogant Vulcan mould that Enterprise has pumped for and makes Archer, who reacts differently to her as he gets to know her over time, move on his stance that all Vulcans are an uncompromising pain in his ass. That’s what makes the framing device here so worthwhile. To see how far he has come. It’s just a shame that the Vulcans, who I have always considered an ally to the Federation, albeit a cold, distant one, should be promoted in such a disagreeable way. They come across as pretty emotional, and so does Archer and those emotions aren’t altogether pretty.

A reason to watch this episode again – It comes a little late but First Flight is a most welcome sketching out of Jonathan Archer’s backstory, how he met Trip and the problems faced with the NX class ships first launching into space. I was impressed with a lot of what we learnt here and how it gave some substance to some of the things I objected to in the first few episodes of this show (namely Archer’s rivalry with the Vulcans). It plays out in flashback with some nice input from T’Pol and allows us to see the inner workings of Starfleet in a fresh and interesting way. I really like how Archer and Robinson are both characterised as flawed but also men with integrity, initially lashing out at each other and then seeing each other’s points. It’s a one-episode friendship that has legs and makes the loss keenly felt. That’s some effective writing and acting. The is a dramatically and emotionally satisfying story and my only hesitation in scoring it higher is that if it had been one of the other shows I have been reviewing (any of them) I would have been more immediately involved with the characters and this would have hit home even more forcefully.

**** out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode: 

TNG – Final Mission

Plot – I’m not sure there is much of a plot to Final Mission. It manipulates Wesley into a position where he has to stand up for himself and save the Captain but it does so in the most simplistic way you can imagine. Side by side with this is a shipboard ‘drama’ featuring some very dull aliens whose name I have already forgotten that seems to exist merely to give the regulars something to do alongside the Wesley plot and is an excuse to keep them out of the way from saving Wesley and allowing for the father/son time. In plot terms, this is about as anaemic as TNG comes.

Character – Has anyone ever stopped to ask Wesley if he wanted to join Starfleet Academy? I think it’s always been kind of assumed because he is such a brainbox that that would be the natural direction for him. It’s very sweet that he has finally made after all these years but I would have thought that all the exposure he has had on the Enterprise would have guaranteed him a position and probably the reprieve of skipping the first two years. Bless Wesley – imagine him being the person who failed to save Captain Picard? What a burden that would be on his career. Ultimately he comes to the conclusion that he doesn’t want to be another Starfleet drone and had somebody thought to let him have his say and consider his future perhaps he might have reached that conclusion a lot sooner.

Captain Picard has always been a father substitute for Wesley, albeit an awkward one at times and here he delivers the delightful news (or at least he seems to think so) that he will be enjoying his final mission on the Enterprise with him. He isn’t just a pretty face; his survival techniques are what keep the alien initially on this overheated planet.

Dirgo is such a rogue that I’m not sure we’re ever supposed to think anything but hatred for him. I prefer a little more ambiguity in my guest characters, an uncertainty as to whether I should trust them or not. Nick Tate plays another villain later in DS9’s run and it is a much more sophisticated character, one who we come to get close to personally whilst he is doing some pretty obscene things at the same time. Dirgo in comparison is a plot staller, he’s there to get in the way and to shout at. Admittedly the episode wouldn’t be half the length without him but I’m not sure that would be such a bad thing. When he dies the episode doesn’t even falter, which shows you how essential he was to how things play out.

The scene where Dr Bev, spotting Troi ducking in her door, chooses to ignore the fact that she is there rather than listen to her empathise about the loss of her son. I’m not the greatest fan of this character but I was right there with her in that moment.

Production – Does anybody think about the practicalities of these alien species who are designed with their mouth’s half sown up? What a very odd way to go about things. They must have to live their lives sucking in nutrients through a straw.

Without an incredible amount of surprise, the bucket of bolts that Picard and Wesley embark in is careening out of control and crashing within about five minutes.

The astonishing shot of Picard leaping from the shuttle in the desert and walking around the ship as it smokes in the burnt orange sunlight. Trek really was finding its feet visually in the early 90s here.

Best moment – Fortunately the one moment where Final Mission hits and wins is the moment Wesley opens out to Picard and admits that he worked as hard as he did to make him proud of him. I’ve always said that Wil Wheaton seems to up his game when he acts alongside Patrick Stewart and this is probably his strongest scene to date in the series. The moment when Picard admits that he envies Wesley because he is just at the beginning of the adventure sneaked up on me and really broke my heart. Patrick Stewart is absolutely heart-breaking here.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Trekking through the desert isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I approached a Star Trek episode and it does get pretty tedious fairly quickly, no matter how well filmed it is. There isn’t a narrative to this journey, it’s just endless scenes of these characters looking hot and sweaty and trudging on in the sun. I was grateful when they reached the cave because some semblance of a plot exists there.

A reason to watch this episode again – There’s not enough incident here to fill 45 minutes, which is a shame because the basic premise of this episode (Wesley on a final rollicking adventure with Picard) is sound. Instead of going for the Indiana Jones style adventure that this story perhaps should have been it plays out like your typical Trek morality play, deathly serious and about as enjoyable as that sounds. There’s desert, there’s water and there’s a forcefield and Wesley has try to figure out the puzzle before Captain Picard dies. Seasons three and four (and six for some of its run) are my personal favourites of TNG but episodes like Final Mission show that for all the leaps and bounds it had made from its humble beginnings, there were still lessons to be learnt. The very sweet performance from Wil Wheaton and his relationship with Patrick Stewart that bleeds onto the screen is what keeps this afloat.

**1/2 out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode:

VOY – Deadlock

Plot – The teaser leads the viewer right down the garden path into thinking that this going to be a twee Voyager episode about one of the crew giving birth. Elogium wasn’t that long ago to remind people of how badly fudged maternal themes can be on this show. Cut to the birth of the baby. Cut to the Vidiians attacking Voyager. Cut to the death of the baby. Wow. I never saw that coming for a moment. Voyager is going to bear down on the tricky subject of infant death at birth? This is one of those rare times when the happy go lucky existence on Voyager is intruded upon by the horror of the Delta Quadrant and it really hits home (especially since the entire crew are on tenterhooks waiting for the arrival of the first baby born on Voyager). For a show like Voyager I could imagine them not wanting to deal with the consequences of having a baby on board the show so it is perfectly feasible, in dramatic terms, that they would go down this route. That’s what makes what ultimately happens so clever and satisfying.

I love the idea that you can beam a baby out of the womb and into the tiny infant bio bed if the pregnancy is traumatic enough. What a wonderfully simple and yet creative use of Star Trek technology. I’m sure there are plenty of women watching who are envious of the simplicity of such a procedure.

The duplicate Voyager’s that are inextricably linked so that one directly effects the other is such a brilliant piece of techno-madness that I’m surprised it has taken this long for somebody to come up with it. As one Voyager sets off proton bursts to help their situation it is literally sucking the life out of the other one.

At one-point Tom Paris is literally on the run for his life from the Vidiians and Tuvok is having his organs harvested. Deadlock takes the show as far as it can go down the ‘end of the line’ route because it has two Voyagers to play with and so one set of regulars can be disposed of.

Character – I love the moment where Janeway sets the self-destruct and everybody on the Bridge starts looking at each other. That’s right folks, you’re really not going to get out of this one.

Performance – Janeway, her face cut and bloody, having the result of the damage spilled out to her (including the death of the child) is one of those rare Voyager moments where the Quadrant pushes down hard on her. Mulgrew captures the futility perfectly. She has the difficult job of bringing two separate Janeway’s to life who are basically the same character but one who has just undergone severe trauma and another who hasn’t. it is often the case that the more bizarre concepts on this show fall on Mulgrew’s shoulders to convince us that they are really happening. If Captain Janeway is buying into what is happening, then I believe it is really happening. Mulgrew has a way of making the most extreme technobabble sound entirely plausible. She really was quite a find. ‘Mr Kim, we’re Starfleet Officers…weird is part of the job’ might just sum up every other episode of Voyager and Mulgrew nails the line.

Production – One of the better Voyager action episodes because it feels like the entire situation has shot to hell and that things have gotten out of control in a way that cannot be salvaged. David Livingston brings a real pace and seriousness to the opening half which is effectively one long action set piece. The proton bursts are a brilliant Brannon Braga concept and how they are delivered, silence and then a slow build up of noise before complete destruction, is full of uncertainty because we know that further devastation is imminent. Sets are blown up and left in debris, coolant leaks spit gas in the corridors, proton bursts explode in peoples faces and best of all Harry Kim gets sucked into the vacuum of space when the hull bursts open. There is literally no bad here. When it comes to the point where the Bridge is in flames, explosions are still raining and they are having to evacuate I even wondered if they were going get out of this one. That’s a rare but enjoyable feeling on this show. It’s even more satisfying that the Voyager that we end up staying with it’s the damaged one (as opposed to the one littered with corpses).

Best moment – Just when you think things can’t get any worse than two crewmembers dead and one of the two Voyager’s damaged beyond repair along comes the Vidiians to harvest the organs of the crew of the undamaged Voyager. Some days you just don’t get a break. Gasp at the nasty medical vampires working their way through the ship, scanning people and preparing them for organ harvesting.

Worst moment – ‘Ensign Kim is dead. Kes just disappeared’ ‘Disappeared?’ Yes, nobody takes even a moment to mourn the death of Harry Kim. Admittedly there is a lot happening at the time. Nowadays it would be greeted with a round of tears and slow-motion flashbacks.

The one moment that I was unconvinced by the production was the awkward green screen when the two Janeway’s interact. There was nothing wrong with the performances but the angle of their heads and the way they are talking to each just doesn’t quite ring true.

I wish they hadn’t done that – The lack of consequences bothers me, as it always does on this show. It’s very neat as a package to take away several elements of the show in a shocking piece of action carnage (Harry Kim and Naomi Wildman) and then to find a science fiction twist that allows them to both be returned by the end. Talk about having your cake and eating it. Thinking about it carefully I’m not sure which of the two I would want to lose because they are both equally as frustrating later down the line. I’d probably sacrifice Harry, just because I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in the show. With Naomi gone, some of Seven’s development later would feel more forced.

A reason to watch this episode again – It’s like the producers looked at the first two seasons of Voyager and decided that there simply was not enough action and tasked Brannon Braga with the job of redressing the balance. That is definitely in Deadlock’s favour; it is a terrific hour of action Trek with lots of impressive technical skill on display but a clever science fiction story in play too and there is even some room for human interest. Had every episode of Voyager had as many beats of suspense, terror and tragedy as this in its early years people would have been hailing it as the renaissance of shipboard Trek. It’s one of the few episodes of Trek where the lashings of technobabble are bearable for me because the end result is such a smart, dynamic episode. David Livingston deserves every bit of praise that he gets – he was truly trying to push Star Trek in a far more energetic direction. Janeway’s ‘Welcome to the Bridge’ before the ship detonates and takes the Vidiians with them might just be the best moment in Voyager’s seven-year run.

****1/2 out of *****

Cue for tomorrow's episode:

DS9 – Broken Link

Plot – The teaser is one of DS9’s best because it veers in mood so dramatically from one genre to another with absolute confidence and shows that DS9 is not a show that is afraid to pull the rug out from beneath its audience. Who is the last person in the world that you would ever expect to set Odo up on a date? That’s right – Garak! How the teaser twists from gentle romantic comedy to the horror of a medical emergency is shockingly done and it left me with dramatic whiplash. Rene Auberjonois really goes for it too and you’re convinced that this is the most painful trial that Odo could go through.

Ultimately the war with the Klingons proves to be something of a dramatic cul de sac. It’s something that is brought in to this show to spice things up and show how insidious the Dominion can be and once it has outlived its usefulness it is quietly tucked away so we can get on with the real threat that DS9 has been brewing. However, at the time of Way of the Warrior it was the most exciting thing ever, it gave the show a brand-new focus, a more stylish sense of action and brought in Worf that had the effect of stirring up the characters into even more conflict. As a re-tooling of the show it worked a treat. As a sustained arc, it kind of bombed (especially compared to the Dominion War arc which showed you exactly how this sort of thing should be done).

Picking up the threads from last season’s arc spectacular The Die is Cast, Garak is keen to head into the Gamma Quadrant with Sisko to see if there are any survivors from the fleet that Cardassia assembled. At least that is what he is saying. We know – thanks to developments later down the line – that his father was amongst those caught in the crossfire and I’m sure there is a personal interest in what he is doing, rather than simply a patriotic one.

We’re also picking up from developments in The Adversary where Odo murdered one of his own people, the first of his race to do so. This whole plot has been an elaborate method of getting him back to the Great Link to force him to stand trial for his crime.

Character – Odo has always been one of the more fascinating characters on DS9 simply because he was such a mystery in the pilot and there has been so much to learn about this brand-new species. And what we do learn doesn’t disappoint. He’s such a swot that the best present anybody could bring him when he is laid up in bed is some work. He’s always been extremely proud of his role as chief of security so that makes perfect sense. So does trying to prevent a crime when he is physically incapable of doing so. I adore the fact that he refuses to be molly coddled and decides to walk the length of the Promenade to the Defiant no matter how difficult it is. How everybody stands back in deference to him just goes to show how much he is respected on the station. Proving what an honourable man he is, Odo is willing to face the judgement of his people and doesn’t want his friends to interfere. As a man of the law he has to respect their system of justice and he will not duck out of punishment when he has broken the rules. The punishment he suffers is both extremely cruel and perfectly in tune with the changeling’s sense of superior distinctiveness – he has his identity stolen and is forced to live the rest of his life (well, half a season) as a solid. It definitely has possibilities and you can’t ask for more than that. Imagine living as a shell of a human and finally being able to embrace eating and drinking and sleeping and shagging. On the other hand, imagine having the ability to turn into and experience life from the point of view of anything and having that snatched away from you. In the back of his head he always thought he would return home one day but now that possibility has been taken from him. Oh Odo.

Watch how our crew go from talking to solemnly about the inevitability of War with the Klingons to counting how many pregnant sneezes that Kira explodes with. This is a smartly characterised bunch at this point and can slip from drama to comedy in a heartbeat.

Sisko needs a reason to bring Garak along and spells out clearly that he doesn’t need a tailor or a spy but he can keep Odo company for the journey and fill his head with enough obfuscations and bald-faced lies to keep him distracted through his pain. ‘If there’s one thing that Cardassians excel at, it’s conversation!’

People blame Dax for being the gossip of the station but listen to O’Brien on the Bridge. He can’t wait until they are underway and he can start having a natter. Sisko, like most men, likes to pretend he’s better than all this, but gets involved despite himself.

Performance – In a sneaky moment of behind the scenes chicanery, Sisko points out that Kira cannot come along on the mission because of her pregnancy and she throws Dr Bashir (Alexander Siddig, the father of Nana Visitor’s child) a look. Next season they would be even more overt.

Salome Jens is one of the unspoken performance heroines of Deep Space Nine. She appears in fourteen episodes and material she is given covers a wide range of challenges. Here she is playing the concerned mother to Odo, until she is confronted by Garak and then the sadistic warlord breaks free and she blast him down with a poisonous condemnation of his people. It might not happen the way she suggests, but it does happen. She cannot say she did not live up to her promise.

Production – Over time CGI has become so sophisticated that pretty much anything from the mid-90s looks dated in the extreme. Odo’s morph effect (for me) is the exception because he is an alien creature and so frankly it isn’t down to me to decide precisely what that should look like. Perhaps it just looks like a naff mid-90s CGI effect. I really liked the subtle use of the morph effect in Broken Link; Odo’s hand tragically reaching out from the puddle of goo for help when he completely destabilises and how his body can’t hold it together as he walks along the Promenade.

There is something wonderful surrealist and dreamlike about the Great Link. It looks kind of fake but in a really creative way. It’s certainly vivid enough to have stuck in my head over all these years. When I think of the Link that burnt orange sky and rock amongst the sea of changelings comes to mind.

Best moment – I love Bashir suggesting this could be a normal biological process for Odo, the changeling equivalent of puberty of the menopause. Odo’s reaction to that is a scream.

‘They’re dead. You’re dead. Cardassia is dead. Your people were doomed the moment they attacked us.’ This leads to the glorious scene where Garak attempts to bombard the Link with quantum torpedoes with absolutely no issue with the fact that Odo, Bashir and Sisko are down there. He comes to blows with Worf in an explosive way (there was no way he was going to win this fight) and it leads to their unexpectedly rich relationship in the coming seasons of DS9, particularly in the two parter at the heart of season five. This scene in isolation is probably the best of the episode, a true moment of desperation from a man whose people have been threatened with genocide. Honestly, had Garak been successful in what he was trying to do here it might have cost a lot less lives than the long, bloody Dominion War. Or maybe the reprisals would have been worse. It’s enticing to think about. ‘You fight well, for a tailor’ says Worf. Always with the consequences…Garak suffers a stint in prison for his actions here.

A reason to watch this episode again – Is this season finale material? Some scenes, certainly. But Broken Link is far more an intense character drama that offers some enticing possibilities in its final few scenes. Any episode that gives Odo the focus is buoyed by the extraordinary talents of Rene Auberjonois and Broken Link gives him some very powerful material to play. It’s quiet in the plot department and that does feel strange for a season finale but if the climax to a season is to lure you back with future developments then Odo living his life as a human, Garak heading to prison, the death sentence of the Cardassian race and the promise that Gowron is a changeling in disguise might just do it. And this is a quiet episode!

**** out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode:

The Haunting of Villa Diodati written by Maxine Alderton and directed by Emma Sullivan

Oh Brilliant: Hold the Phone! I have heard people saying that they are waiting for the episode where Whittaker truly gets to embrace the part and prove herself as the Doctor. Frankly, I think she has been more than successfully doing that for this entire season but if you still have any doubts that Diodati should allay any fears and cement Whittaker as a Doctor of some gravitas and standing. She’s electrifyingly good here, bouncing from one scene to the next in a manner that can only be described as pure Doctor. Whittaker has shown darker aspects of her character this year and this is the (so far) pinnacle of that; she’s no push over in the face of a new type of Cyberman and literally spits that she will not lose anybody else she cares about to them. Even better is the scene where she steps out of the shadows of her ‘fam’ and admits that she is ultimately the person who has to take responsibility for their adventures and make the tough choices because she knows the bigger picture and the consequences if she gets things wrong. This is a standout scene with her companions because they are all paralysed with fear when she demands they make the choice about Shelley and she is pretty angry in the face of their impotence. That doesn’t mean there is no space for humour or levity though and the early scenes where they are exploring the villa and she is interacting with Byron are some of finest lighter character moments she has had as well. In the face of the lone Cyberman she is quick-witted, intelligent and brave. In every way, Whittaker impresses. I remember saying to Ludo out loud ‘that was a terrific acting challenge and she aced every part’ towards the end. When the Doctor is banging on about having a quality historical experience (after all Mary Shelley had just screamed in their faces) I thought we were in for another fun but flighty episode of historical high jinks (think The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Robot of Sherwood) with the Doctor playing tour guide. This settles on something much darker and weightier (more The Fires of Pompeii or Rosa) where she has to step out of the shadows and take real accountability. Described as the most baffling creature that Byron has ever been acquainted with. Whittaker’s ‘what happened? They get bored halfway through or something?’ to the half formed Cybermen could only come from her Doctor. ‘Bit embarrassing’ made me laugh out loud. If the Doctor takes the Cyberium from Shelley and gives the Cyberman what it wants then armies will rise and billions will die…but she will save that one life. The Doctor is physically struck by Ryan suggesting that Shelley is only one life against all those others, but ultimately he doesn’t want to have to make that choice. Step forward the Doctor in a hell of a temper, railing against the madness of the universe that keeps making her go through these choices. ‘Words matter! One death, one ripple and history will change in a blink! The future will not be the world you know. The world you came from, the world you were created in won’t exist. So neither will you. It’s not just his life at stake, it’s yours. You want to sacrifice yourself for this? You want me to sacrifice you? You want to call it? Do it now. All of you.’ That happy go lucky wanderer from series 11 has gone. She’s pissed at the universe thanks to the developments this year and sometimes she has to strike at the heart of her friends who don’t understand what is at stake. Of course the Cyberium chose her, she is the ultimate guardian of the universe. Did she make a mistake by giving the Cyberman what it wants? For now, no. But I think there are huge consequences to come. Now she is going to fix the mess she has created – heading to the end of the Cyber War to try and stop the Cybermen from being reborn.

The Fam: So much fun to see them dressed up as romantic heroes of legend. Unlike series 11 which allowed the companions to walk around history in normal clothes there is a real effort this series to let them fit in. Yaz talks about someone enigmatic and different in her life without ever confirming that she is talking about the Doctor. I still have my doubts about this one and that look she gave the Master at the gambling tables in Spyfall. Ryan gets a moment to tell Mary Shelley to stick at what she is good at (against the Doctor’s express wishes) and then truly puts his foot in it when Dr Polidori challenges him to a duel. He once again proves to be a bit of a coward too, becoming something of a shrinking violet when things get creepy whilst Yaz tears ahead. Graham is so relatable; looking for the toilet and happy to stumble across food. He’s who you or I would be in one of these adventures.

The Fam (1816): Byron is one hell of a historical character to bring to life and Jacob Collins-Levy is more than up to the task. He’s utterly self-absorbed, self-centred and ready to woo men and women even when their lives are at stake. You can’t quite hate him because he is charming but he does have an irritating obsession with treating everybody as less than himself. I love how the Doctor has to tell everybody not to snog him and his hilarious insistence on calling her ‘Mrs Doctor.’ We’ve avoided the obvious trap of making the Doctor a sexual figure thus far into Whittaker’s run but if anybody was going to try and break that rule, it was going to be Byron. He takes the limelight away from Mary Shelley slightly because he is a more colourful character but I was still impressed with Lili Miller who is immediately enticing as the creative writer and mother who is look for a little more horror in her life. Trust me she is going to get it. A mention for Stefan Bednarcyzk, who ducks effortlessly in and out of scenes as the creepy butler. I was sad when he bought it because he was often the highlight of any scene he is in (his resigned sigh when Polidari chooses him as his second was hilarious).

The Lone Cyberman: All I have ever asked of the Cybermen is for them to truly capture the body horror that the premise suggests and not just lean on them as stock robots. Unfortunately, the latter has often been the approach taken by the different production teams over the years and we end up with bland automatons like those of The Wheel in Space, Revenge of the Cybermen, Silver Nemesis and Nightmare in Silver. The few times the body horror has been stressed – Tomb of the Cybermen, Attack of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel, The Pandorica Opens – they have been so much more interesting. As a twisted version of humanity that has become too reliant on technology and lost all of its emotions, that is an idea that is ripe for drama that Doctor Who (thanks to its family audience) often chooses to shy away from. Chibnall’s own Cyberwoman from Torchwood shows how comical the idea can be when taken to a childish extreme. Diodati takes its own approach; a partially converted Cyberman who still has half of his face showing and can still emote (mostly hate) and is a remnant of a species that has all but been wiped out. It’s here to find the Cyberium that has been hidden away in human history; all the knowledge of Cyber-technology and development to help them start again. That’s not only a great premise for the rest of series but it’s a brilliant character in its own right. Grisly and half formed, he’s a fine instigator of Frankenstein’s monster. A rusted suit and scarred face – what the hell has happened to turn the Cybermen into this? I can’t wait to find out. The scene where it picks up the baby is a direct steal, and gripping scene. For a moment I thought they were going to go through with it. And then in one of the darkest moments of NuWho the Cyberman admits that as a human he was a monster who killed his own children.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘One Cybermen, but then thousands. Humans like all of you changed into empty, soulless shells. No feeling. No control. No way back. I will not lose anyone else to that!’
‘Don’t be afraid, little one. You will be like us.’

The Good: A creepy pre-titles with a comic sting for a magnificent episode – hooray! I wish they would keep the pre-titles for every episode because they do give us the opportunity to find a cliffhanging moment in each episode. The establishing shot of the villa on the shores of Lake Geneva sets the scene beautifully, an isolated location being lashed by a storm. The dance serves as an amusing scene in itself but a very clever way of filling in the gaps about the large guest cast without it ever feeling like we are being info-dumped. It’s a gossip palooza and it feels right and proper that this would be happening at a social occasion. Creepy skeleton hands that roam about the house and attack, apparitions that seem very fond of Graham and a house which is folding in on itself…the first third of this story keeps throwing out the scares in very effective way. The haunted house story is so old fashioned by now that to pull it off this atmospherically is a huge feat. Certainly, Hide didn’t have this kind of atmosphere.

The Bad: This remind me an awful lot of The Banquo Legacy from the BBC Books range. What is promised as a pure historical with a supernatural twist becomes a prelude to a much bigger story that will have far reaching consequences for the Doctor. How it twists from something quite contained and claustrophobic to a much more epic tale is very similar.

The Shallow Bit: Percy Shelley. Phewie, he’s hot.

Result: Breathtakingly good, The Haunting of Villa Diodati is further proof that series 12 has been the best season of Doctor Who for many a year (I would say as far back as series 5). An atmospheric haunted house story, a riveting continuation of this seasons arc (and whetting the appetite for the next two episodes), a great character study of the Doctor, fine comic moments, real scares and a feeling that everything is coming together for this production team. In a series that is obsessed in having a large guest cast to make the swarm of regulars even more of a crowd this is easily the best set of guest characters we’ve had (although I would say that Spyfall and Praxeus come close) although they do have the advantage of being hand plucked from popular history. Actually, that might be more of a hindrance because it means they have a lot to live up to but Maxine Alderton (in a stunning debut script) ensures they are both faithful to history and great fun to watch. They are paired off very well with the companions who each get moments to shine as they are spooked the fuck out. I like how the story sets out to promise a haunted house mystery and early scenes of the Doctor and friends exploring allow the clichés to be done extremely well before the whole piece turns on its head as the Cyberman appears and becomes both an influence on Shelley’s Frankenstein and a kick start into the two part finale. There’s a real Ghost Light vibe about the direction (something to do with being trapped in a house in with secrets in Victorian times) which plummets into all out horror in the final act and we’re introduced to the best (no exaggeration) Cyberman I can ever remember seeing in the series. This is the equivalent of the Dalek from Dalek. Half formed, revelling in its own body horror and relentlessly on a mission to save his race, this is one scary brute and it’s out to complete its mission whatever the cost. I was certain we were in for one of those godawful Moffat ‘love conquers all’ endings at one point but in a moment of bone chilling horror it snatches away from that and makes the Cyberman somebody who was a monster long before he was converted. This and Fugitive of the Judoon were the cheapies of the season and it is further proof that Doctor Who does not need a globetrotting budget to tell a great story as they are the highlights in a brilliant season. Given that four of the six episodes this year are two parters it means that the season feels truncated but if that is the trade of for such exceptional quality in the individual episodes then sign me up for this each year. I rate these stories on how I react to them on first viewing because that is the only truly faithful reaction to a tale. If I’m feeling mild indifference, it will get a 5. If I was blown away but it had a few flaws then an 8 or a 9. The Haunting of Villa Diodati kept me on the edge of my seat throughout; thanks to the peerless direction, the twists and turns, the character interplay but mostly for Whittaker’s supreme performance. She owned this and then some: 10/10

Chase the Night written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What’s it about: The TARDIS lands in an alien tropical rainforest at night where the Doctor, Adric and Romana discover a set of rails stretching through the undergrowth. These tracks carry a long-crashed spaceship that’s been converted to run along them like a train. The ship has to keep moving because only the night-side of the world is habitable. The sun on the day-side burns so hot that everything on the surface is turned to ash. But the stress and strain of the constant movement is beginning to take its toll on the ship. Parts are starting to break down, and the relentless heat gets ever closer - but the greatest danger may be on the inside...

Teeth and Curls: The Doctor teaches Adric that the universe is not only stranger than we can suppose but it is stranger than we can suppose, which is a take on Shakespeare. Do they have a moral responsibility to take them away from this planet as the Doctor thinks, or is it a mistake to take criminals on board the TARDIS as Romana thinks or was the strict military justice system that they have instigated the only way to survive the situation they have found themselves in as Adric thinks? Everyone has something to say, proving the effectiveness of this trio and the conflicting opinions they bring. The Doctor refuses to pick and choose who they save and who they don’t given what they have done. It’s all or nothing. It’s a brilliant moral debate. The Doctor’s life is pretty much saved because he is the only person (Romana excepted) that can get the Tantalus going again. I love the Doctor’s coldness at the climax. He can barely bring himself to try and convince the Pilot to save herself and when she stubbornly refuses he as good as screams ‘stuff you then’ and scarpers. He’s got no time for time wasters when the situation is desperate. When Romana says the Doctor is the most frivolous person she has ever met he thinks that is the nicest thing that anyone has ever said about him.

Aristocratic Adventurer: Romana firmly believes that no matter how extreme the situation, you always have a moral choice. Listen to how Romana screams ‘K.9! Stun Adric!’ I don’t think I’ve ever heard Lalla Ward exclaim a line quite so passionately. Just because they are Time Lords it doesn't give them the authority to impose their moral law on the universe. The don't have a right but they do have a responsibility to help out where they can on an ad hoc basis whilst aimlessly wandering the universe. She's been thinking of something a little more purposeful and less frivolous.

Boy Genius: Adric is trying to adjust to the idea of landing on alien worlds. He’s enthusiastic but cautious, as anybody would be in these circumstances. He’s rather more than ‘good’ at sums, as the Doctor remarks. He manages to convince the Pilot that keeping the Doctor and Romana would be a good thing to do…without joining forces with them! In season 19 he would be feigning (or otherwise) an allegiance. Here he just uses his intelligence to provide an argument in their favour. Cutting through all the pomp and discussion of the previous story when it comes to finding a way for the Doctor, Romana and Adric to work together, Jonny Morris includes a scene where it appears that Adric has died and we get to see their responses to that. Romana is quietly accepting but the Doctor is desperate and refuses to give in whilst K.9 sounds sorrowful. It really does suggest the strength of bond between them in a very profound way. It was nice for Adric to be part of the gestalt for a while, a collective where he felt he belonged.

Standout Performance: Jane Asher is such an underrated performer and she has delivered two extremely good roles in her brief time in Doctor Who. I will never forget her star turn in Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? It turned out to be one of the high spots of the entire series and for anybody who followed that show, the standard was high and that is firm praise indeed. Here she gets her teeth into an outwardly villainous role but instead of playing the lines in a pantomimic way, she trades emotion for hard logic. It means that when she is talking about murdering some of her crew to ensure that the rest survive, it is simply a matter of keeping a rational head and doing what is best for the majority. She doesn’t think she is insane, just obsessed with getting as many people safely off this planet as she can. It’s a single-minded fixation that happens to allow her to commit murder to fulfil it. By the end of the story she is beyond paranoid, spitting out threats and ready to kill everybody if they disobey her orders.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I’m just saying we should put ourselves in their shoes…would we have been able to do things differently? I’m not sure we would.’
‘You need to keep both of us alive so that you can threaten to kill one of us if the other one doesn’t do what you want!’
‘Everyone lives…after a fashion.’

Great Ideas: Since they have entered E-Space they have encountered vampires, convicts and all manner of space thuggery…how can they be sure that the source of the distress signal on this planet is benign? Because it is always dark, the flowers and the trees on this planet have found a way to create their own light. It’s very season 18 for the travellers to land on an alien world and explore its alien properties. With a stranded crew (Warriors’ Gate) and a planet of lush aggressive vegetation (Meglos), this feels very much of its era. I would love to see for real the concept of a spaceship that has been converted to run along on wheels. It is a matter of necessity because the parts of the planet where the suns touches the surface turns everything to ashes…if they don’t keep on the move then it means certain death for everybody. What a terrific premise. Much like the film Speed, movement is of the essence otherwise its curtains for everybody. The Dauntless has been crashed on this planet for 114 years and they have adapted to the dangers of the planet expertly. The species have evolved to endure an environment of extremes. The Tantalus is brought to a halt by Romana to save the Doctor, and throw it in reverse…which means they are heading back towards the Dawn. There’s a built-in suspense in this story that makes it irresistible. The Acklyss is the forest of the planet, a lifeform that defies classification. A gestalt, a pshycic network. The creatures, the trees, they are as one. The bioluminescence that the Doctor detected was proof of pshycic activity. A synergetic super-organism, perpetually self-renewing as the planet rotates. Ultimately they have a choice between joining the gestalt or being burnt alive, a choice between life in a different state of existence or no life at all.

Musical Cues: A fantastic score that feels very Paddy Kingsland and suggests a feeling of momentum throughout – the story would just be a bunch of people in a desperate situation if it wasn’t for Robertson’s music that really pulls the whole thing together.

Standout Scene: The first episode builds to a brilliant cliff-hanger where Romana discovers what happens to those who question Dena’s martial law…they are sedated and left to face the sunlight. Bodies hanging in the open, helpless, as the sun approaches…it’s unusually gruesome and in your face for Big Finish these days (since the series came back it has been a little neutered) and the cliff-hanger itself is grippingly realised. Lalla Ward’s reaction to the nightmare is bang on.

Result: ‘It is time for us to welcome the Dawn…’ A tightly constructed, dramatic tale with an awesome premise and a hell of a pace, Chase the Night is a top five 4DA and a very welcome knockout for this range. A story with four episodes worth of dynamic plot that flaunts a memorable setting and a reason for the narrative to race on. Monstrous antagonists are tenpenny in Doctor Who but Jane Asher’s Pilot is something twisted and different and Asher doesn’t disappoint in delivering the cold logic and homicidal tendencies of a woman who has sold her soul to save her life. You might think that the story that sees the TARDIS crew constantly on the move might trade intelligence conversation for action but there are a number of terrifically written debates between the Doctor, Romana and Adric. I can always tell when John Dorney is in the script editors chair because there is an insistence that the strengths of the regulars used are tied into the story. And Jonathan Morris is adept at bringing ALL Doctor and companion teams to life so bringing these two Big Finish legends together means we are getting the best of both worlds. It’s like when Steven Moffat would write a story under Russell T. Davies. Featuring a planet with unusual properties that propel the story, this screams season 18 too. Unusually, the third episode is the most gripping as the Tantalus is stranded and the Dawn spreads across the planet and gets ever closer. It’s a real race against time to get moving. In any other range this would be impressive for its ability to keep you rivetted for 2 hours but in the 4DA line this is what I call a miracle. I kept waiting for the ball to drop but it just didn’t happen. Very, very good: 10/10