Do you remember those dystopian sci-fi files of the 1970’s? You know the ones where there was never a happy ending. Well if you do you may have noticed that tonally ‘The Ghost Monument’ felt similar (minus the unhappy ending, well this is ‘Doctor Who’ after all).
It’s very hard to make something feel both fresh and familiar at the same time, but that’s exactly what show runner and the episodes writer Chris Chibnall achieved. The plot developed at a slower pace than last weeks ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’, but with its slightly more complex story it gave the narrative time to breathe.
Both the new ‘Doctor’ and her companions’ characters have been allowed to develop at the correct pace. All the companions are more than likeable, with Bradley Walsh’s ‘Graham O’Brien’ probably the surprise package. It was Tosin Cole’s ‘Ryan Sinclair’ who provided the highlight of the episode with his ‘Call of Duty’ style attack on the robots. Of course it’s the ‘Doctor’ most of us are interested in and hasn’t Jodie been wonderful. This episodes performance was a believable mix of humour, regret, and pathos; just what we expect from the ‘Doctor’. Also how great was the line ‘come to daddy, mummy’?
There should also be recognition given to Art Mallik for his sinister portrayal of ‘Ilin’. Such a shame his screen time was so short. I hope he’s a reoccurring character throughout the season.
The monsters also impressed. The robots looked fantastic and I really would like to see them in future episodes. It was the ‘Remnants’ that provided the chills, who’d of thought a piece of cloth could be so scary (I’m now afraid of bed sheets).
The new ‘TARDIS’ looked great and there were all the quirky features so many felt ‘Chibnall’ was going to not allow. Although the interior did look like the type of alien spacecraft you might wake up in whilst you’re being probed.
So two episodes in and we’re still going strong. There’s so much potential here and I’m looking forward to the development of both the series arc and characters. Anyone who still dislikes Jodie is either a liar who hasn’t watched the season so far.
Rated out of 10: 8
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