The Return of Doctor Mysterio

Doctor Who is a family show and ever since it began there have been stories which are fanciful and less serious than others. That type of episode can be good but tend to not be my favourite type of episode. I prefer deeper thinking, more serious, more powerful stories with elements of hard sci-fi or horror. This is one of those episodes designed to amuse and entertain a family audience and it certainly does that. However, it would have to be executed with superb finesse in order to get a really high rating from me. It isn't done badly but isn't done really brilliantly either in my opinion.

Bizarrely this is comic strip style superhero material. Visually this is interesting and the plot just about manages to work to a degree but it still feels rather like a parody episode. Much of the humour works well though and Capaldi shines as always. He is top class in his performance and the writing is funny and enjoyable but it does not have the cleverness or excellence of writing to lift it above the level of a solid 'filler' episode. It is, though, a reasonable quality romp.

Matt Lucas is an amusing comedy addition as Nardole and the guest cast are fine too. There are some nice thoughtful aspects but it does not all work as well as a lot of the better stories in the show's rich history.

The disappointing thing is that this was the only episode we got in the whole year so to do such a throw away 'bit of fluff' seems a waste really. Waiting so long between episodes you would think you might get something a bit more special and impressive to reward our patience. But to be fair it is good fun, amusing and entertaining without major issues.

My Rating: 7/10.

Series 10 Episode Ranking: 11th out of 14.