World Enough and Time was an incredible episode. Right of the bat, it's entertaining, starting off silly and taking a harrowing turn 10 minutes in. Moffat's script deftly interweaves between present, past, and different plot lines to ramp up the tension and emotional impact of the episode, Rachel Talalay's direction is once again superb (with great lighting and framing), and Murray Gold's score is both unsettling and beautiful, contributing to the spooky feel of the episode. It's a shame that Capaldi didn't get a big part in the episode, but he's fantastic in the parts he's in. Still, Mackie carries the episode well, Michelle Gomez is fantastic, as always, and Matt Lucas is a wonderful presence on the show.
My main criticism, aside from the fact that the Doctor doesn't seem to be very affected by Bill's death (though that could be explained by saying that he was shocked or believed that she would be fine) isn't for the episode, but for the BBC.
The return of the Mondasian Cybermen and the planet Mondas was a huge event in itself, the return of John Simm as the Master was absolutely massive (his last appearance was 7 years ago), and Missy turning bad played out very well, but because of the BBC's promotional material, none of this came as a shock. To add to that, they included the fact that a major character was going to die in the synopsis of the episode! The BBC even included a clip of John Simm's return in the Next Time trailer after The Pilot- the first episode of series 10. Trailers are supposed to get you excited for the upcoming episodes- they're NOT supposed to spoil major character and monster returns in an attempt to get new viewers. If they hadn't done any of that I and many other viewers wouldn't have seen it coming at all.
Even so, the episode is so good that I can't give it anything but a 10.
*Note to the BBC: If you want to attract viewers, make sure your show is consistently great to keep people watching instead of ruining one of the largest cliffhangers in the show's history.*
As a side note, thank God that Nardole's still alive. He has been the highlight of a disappointingly average series of Doctor Who so far, and I really hope that Matt Lucas stays on for series 11.
My main criticism, aside from the fact that the Doctor doesn't seem to be very affected by Bill's death (though that could be explained by saying that he was shocked or believed that she would be fine) isn't for the episode, but for the BBC.
The return of the Mondasian Cybermen and the planet Mondas was a huge event in itself, the return of John Simm as the Master was absolutely massive (his last appearance was 7 years ago), and Missy turning bad played out very well, but because of the BBC's promotional material, none of this came as a shock. To add to that, they included the fact that a major character was going to die in the synopsis of the episode! The BBC even included a clip of John Simm's return in the Next Time trailer after The Pilot- the first episode of series 10. Trailers are supposed to get you excited for the upcoming episodes- they're NOT supposed to spoil major character and monster returns in an attempt to get new viewers. If they hadn't done any of that I and many other viewers wouldn't have seen it coming at all.
Even so, the episode is so good that I can't give it anything but a 10.
*Note to the BBC: If you want to attract viewers, make sure your show is consistently great to keep people watching instead of ruining one of the largest cliffhangers in the show's history.*
As a side note, thank God that Nardole's still alive. He has been the highlight of a disappointingly average series of Doctor Who so far, and I really hope that Matt Lucas stays on for series 11.