Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robots of Sherwood 8.5/10
Listen 9.5/10
My favourite so far in what has been IMO a very strong series. An absolutely beautiful episode, and for me it improved on rewatch.
Other DW fourth episodes (post 2005):
Aliens of London 7/10
The Girl in the Fireplace 9/10
Daleks Take Manhatten 7/10
The Sontaran Strategem 7/10
The Time of Angels 6.5/10
The Doctor's Wife 9/10
The Power of Three 7/10
Deep Breath - 7/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10 Listen - 8/10
Well, it certainly feels refreshing to give something other than seven for this series at last, although it was a tough one - I ultimately only edged up to an eight for a single reason, which I'll get to.
This was quite different to anything Doctor Who has done in a long time, if ever. It was a largely conceptual episode, one that did something a little different and looked at it from a different angle. It was quite rewarding in that it didn't really require much in the way of foreknowledge, but was a hell of a lot more rewarding for someone who knows their Doctor Who.
First and foremost, it was great to get a character-driven story that focused largely on The Doctor. Admittedly it's nice to be getting character-driven stories again at all(after the largely hollow spectacles that were Series 6 and Series 7) but to spend so much time on The Doctor felt special. Listen actually managed to convincingly tell a story about what happens when The Doctor isn't travelling around alien planets and whizzing amongst the stars. Clara was brilliant once again and really came into her own, and what made it work so well here was the fact that her significance wasn't at detriment to The Doctor. The writers, actors and everyone else involved has pulled off an effective balance of the two here, whilst there is also a much refreshed, in-depth dynamic between The Doctor and Clara, a sense that there is more to the characters than the formulaic monster-of-the-week approach would have you believe. It gave a sense of meaning and purpose to the travelling through time, it didn't make it all so trivial as it felt with Eleven and Clara...where it was all a bit too much of a whimsy romp.
Perhaps the weak link then is Danny Pink. Whilst there's nothing explicity wrong with him, he's not in on this new complex dynamic between The Doctor and Clara and the simple, awkward and clunky writing of his adult character is glaringly blunt and obvious. When it comes to meeting his descendent Orson Pink, we've learnt so little about adult Danny that it's at first a bit puzzling because aside from the hair do and spacesuit it is nigh on impossible to determine the two. Whether that's poor writing or poor acting is unclear, but neither is a factor that the show needs.
I took it that each "threat" posed in the episode had both a 'monster' explanation and a 'rational' explanation. The bedsheet one was hard to rationalise, but then that puts faith in the idea of the monster being real. The airlock one was easy to rationalise but open to just as much interpretation. The bookending chalk board, and the question of who wrote on it is pretty much representative of the episode as a whole - did the Doctor write on the board subconciously (after Clara had planted the word 'listen' in his head as a child) or did the supposed monster do it? Either answer works and it's nice to not have a defining answer to an episode so rooted in ideas.
It was great to see the hark back to the barn again - it adds a bit more depth to The Day of the Doctor, which is an episode I wasn't fond of. It's nice to know that those events have reverberated both forward and backward through the Doctor's timeline..as it is such an important story. Of course it poses question about the ability to visit Gallifrey - did the TARDIS only get there by mistake because it was travelling to places it shouldn't end up, has the non-use of the Moment meant that the Time Lock was never used, or perhaps The Doctor can visit Gallifrey in its past before it was lost in another universe? It's a question for another time really, but one I'm happy to forgive not being answered when Moffat actually delivered a conclusion where head and heart both met for once, rather than just one or the other.
The episode wasn't perfect. I felt Orson Pink was poorly implemented and jarred with the tone of the episode, Danny is proving hard to warm to so far, and generally speaking there wasn't anything massively groundbreaking going on for much of the time. It was essentially consistent with the quality of other episodes so far in this series in that it was generally very good, but there are a noticeable number of elements that could have been handled much better. What gives it that extra mark though is its pure innovation. It was a wonderful and new concept, with some bold choices in plot and some creepy scenes to boot. It wasn't perhaps as clever as it could have been, mainly as it did over-complicate some things in places but as a whole it's an episode that is worth a rewatch very soon...and that warrants it a sense of value slightly higher than the episodes that have come before it.
PROS AND CONS
+ Innovative, and brilliant concept episode.
+ The hark back to the War Doctor was inspired and gives TDotD added depth.
+ The barn scene at the end was well handled.
+ Suitably creepy in places.
+ Nice full-circle with the chalkboard.
- Orson Pink was poorly implemented and hard to differentiate from Danny.
- Danny is proving to be hard to invest in, and has some poor dialogue.
- Although not generally complicated, the episode over-complicated some things more than it needed to.
LISTEN COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODE 4's
Aliens of London - 7/10
The Girl in the Fireplace - 8/10
Daleks in Manhattan - 6/10
The Sontaran Stratagem - 8/10
The Time of Angels - 8/10
The Doctor's Wife - 9/10
The Power of Three - 6/10
Listen - 8/10
LISTEN COMPARED TO THE MOST RECENT MOFFAT EPISODES...
The Angels Take Manhattan - 8/10
The Snowmen - 8/10
The Bells of Saint John - 6/10
The Name of the Doctor - 7/10
The Day of the Doctor - 7/10
The Time of the Doctor - 8/10
Deep Breath - 7/10
Listen - 8/10
Deep Breath - 7/10
Into the Dalek - 5/10
Robot of Sherwood - 2/10
Listen - 9/10
Thank Moffat for that! Finally a great episode this series - it's been a while coming! But this was a stunning 45 minutes of wonderful human drama and character-driven story, great dialogue, interesting concept and a flawless acting performance from Jenna. I still don't fully like Capaldi's Doctor, and I have a few minor quibbles with all the Clara driving the TARDIS stuff and unresolved loose ends, but they're only worth a point off. The rest was fabulous
Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 6/10
Listen 9/10 Time Heist 10/10
Best of the series so far. Exactly what I imagined the lost River Song season to look like. Some recurring themes (don't think, like don't breathe, don't blink) and the last of the species (The Doctor, the creatures from Hide) but they are to be expected from a 50-year-old show. Great guest cast, especially Keeley Hawes. Could one of the Karabraxos clones have turned into Madame Kovarian?
Deep Breath: 7/10
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8/10
Listen: 10/10 Time Heist: 7/10
Bit of a mixed bag. The Teller was a great monster and there were some nice moments. Music was great too.
However the episode felt a bit jumpy and disjointed. I actually felt quite confused for a lot of it, but maybe that's because I'm feeling rather tired at the moment. Perhaps, It'll be more clear on a re-watch.
The revelation about the Teller did feel a bit like Hide, though I would say that it was handled far better than it was in Hide; you could sort of tell that the Teller was there against its will whereas there was absolutely no indication that the monster in Hide had benevolent intentions. That said, I think it would be nice to have a monster who was just that once in a while.
Still, it was good solid Doctor Who. Probably my least favourite of Series 8 so far, but nevertheless thoroughly watchable.
Deep Breath: 8/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8.5/10
Listen: 10/10 Time Heist: 7/10
Pretty much what TheSilentFez said, basically Some of the cuts were a bit "okay, so now we're here." But an enjoyable outing, all the same. I actually thought The Architect would be in the vault and they were going to break him out, or something. So I'm glad I didn't predict the ending!
Shutity, shut up!
Easily Thompson's best, for me. But I know some people love Curse of the Black Spot and Journey ( I rate the latter much less now than I did at the time )
Deep Breath 8/10
Into The dalek 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 8/10 Time Heist 9/10
Really enjoying this series, for the first time since series one I am sitting down with no expectations and just looking forward to the story. I felt engaged in the mystery of the robbery and the identity of the architect, and it was good to see some lighter, nicer aspects of capaldi's doctor begin to emerge as he told the mutant that he wouldnt kill the architect. The teller was.a great design and the alien planet at the end was a nice touch. The first Steven thompson episode I've enjoyed, looking forward to next weeks. Definite series one vibes here and that is most definitely a good thing 9/10
Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 8/10
Another strong, solid showing. Plenty of fairly predictable twists and turns, there was very little surprising about Time Heist and it felt a bit contrived at points but then when you consider the whole thing was planned in advance then it shouldn't feel that way.
Tons of emotional depth, a great raft of secondary characters and let down only by a slightly limp, if still clever ending.
Deep Breath 3/10
Into the Dalek 5/10
Robot of Sherwood 4/10
Listen 4/10
Time Heist 7/10
Well I enjoyed that at least! I've enjoyed something in S8 at last!
It actually felt like an episode of Doctor Who even though in the strictest terms it wasn't as such. There was plenty of music too throughout which was a nice thing and a good change from the blank misery that's been there mostly for the last month.
Peter was okay, but still not great. There's still something about him that doesn't work for me at all. Jenna was iffy too, but Saibre and Psi were okay, but not well developed (45 mins is an ask for that though I will admit)
Keeley Hawes was the star of this though. She may have camped it up but it was great, subtle villainy. The look of Delphox was great. I just sort of wish Keeley could have been held back for a recurring big villain role, something really juicy and evil. She was good though!
The directing was good in parts but a bit iffy for me but overall it was a good episode. Steve Thompson is a good writer, I always enjoy his Sherlock episodes, and this is probably his best ep of DW now - Curse of the Black Spot and then Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS in that order in terms of favourites from him for me.
Overall it was just a fun episode that was made by Keeley Hawes...if only she could be there every week....I'd never ever complain about the show ever again if that was the case!
Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robots of Sherwood 8.5/10
Listen 9.5/10
Time Heist 7.5/10
Not *quite* as good as the previous four IMO, but still very enjoyable.
Other fifth episodes since 2005:
World War Three 7/10
Rise of the Cybermen 8/10
Evolution of the Daleks 7/10
The Poison Sky 7.5/10
Flesh and Stone 6.5/10
The Rebel Flesh 6.5/10
The Angels Take Manhatten 7/10
Time Heist 7.5/10
Done a tiny bit of point reshuffling and taken a point off of Deep Breath...
Series 8
Deep Breath - 6/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robin of Sherwood - 7/10
Listen - 8/10 Time Heist - 8/10
When I think about it, Time Heist is the kind of episode I think I was looking for back in Series 7. Whilst it suffered some of the same issues - it felt slightly rushed for one thing - it also brought a quality and uniqueness to it that reminded me of why watching Doctor Who can be so enjoyable.
The idea of a bank heist fits in so well with the whole movie-of-the-week theme that the seventh series embraced. However it is much more successful at doing so, perhaps in part because unlike those episodes in Series 7 it didn't feel like it was trying to constantly go one-up on whatever episode had come before. Series 8, whilst delivering solid episodes that are all very unique, is also playing things in a very understated fashion. Nowhere is that more evident than in Time Heist, and it's to the episodes benefit.
The Teller is one of the most crucial components of the episode, and is wonderfully realised. Admittedly it was a bit of a cross between the monster in Series 7's Hide and the Minotaur in Series 6's The God Complex but that's no bad thing. The design of The Teller was superb, the simpleness of its power made it an effective (and intimidating) foe and it probably stands out as the strongest monster in Series 8 to date.
On the subject of villainy, Keeley Hawes was just as brilliant as the mysterious Miss Delphox. On the one hand it feels as if she wasn't given enough time to shine in the episode, but on the other hand it all contributes to that understated tone that Series 8 seems to have been going for. She didn't turn out to be a massive sun, or a sinsiter warrior, or harbouring an endless army of villains. She was a person with motives and plans, and that is what made her an effective villain. It was somewhat reminiscient of some Series 1 episodes in that regard, with much more identifiable villains...with schemes and humanity and, of course, guilt. On the surface there wasn't much to go on in the brief 45 minutes but it definitely feels as if a lot has been worked into fleshing out these characters beneath the surface.
Other characters in the episode don't compare quite so positively. The two additional bank robbers are lovely enough and endearing enough to care about, but were not substantially fleshed out or developed to lift the episode to a higher quality. Similarly, The Doctor and Clara felt much more on auto-pilot this time, particularly Clara whose Danny plot line is really not interesting, nor yet believable. On the plus side though, it genuinely felt like this was more a constraint of time than limited script writing skills, and here Steve Thompson delivers his first 'very good' episode.
That pacing aside, which really made the difference between being a great episode and best in a long time, Time Heist was a beautiful episode with decent enough characters, the most identifiable music yet this year (although still sorely lacking anything very good), a decent if sometimes predicatable plot and usually more than enough going on to help it feel fleshed out. Without it's Paternosters, Daleks, and historical figures, it felt like the first time in a significant while where something wholly shiny and new was added to the Doctor Who universe, and that made it feel just a little special.
PROS AND CONS
+ Understated but well developed story and villains, particularly Miss Delphox.
+ The episode looked stunning both in terms of CG and the Teller prosthetics.
+ A sense of something new being added to the Whoniverse.
- Poorly paced, particularly near the end with some awkward transitions.
- Guest characters were suffiicient but poorly developed.
- The Doctor and Clara felt like they were both on auto-pilot.
TIME HEIST COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODE 5's
World War Three - 6/10
Rise of the Cybermen - 7/10
Evolution of the Daleks - 7/10
The Poison Sky - 8/10
Flesh and Stone - 7/10
The Rebel Flesh - 7/10
The Angels Take Manhattan - 7/10 Time Heist - 8/10 (1st)
Time Heist is the first episode of Series 8 to secure a 1st position in an episode ranking.
TIME HEIST COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODES BY STEPHEN THOMPSON
The Curse of the Black Spot - 7/10
Journey to the Centre of the Tardis - 7/10 Time Heist - 8/10
Deep Breath: 6/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
Listen: 9/10
Time Heist: 6/10
Will definitely Rewatch this one as the ending kind of changed the episode in many ways, I mean it was exciting for the most part and. I felt as if Si's(Or Sy, don't know how to spell it) death was one of the best handled death scenes I have seen for a long time. I had a feeling that they would come alive again, and that the Doctor would be the Architect but the ending was the biggest problem with this story as it made a lot of the moments before it pretty redundant for future watches.
Deep Breath: 9/10
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 5/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
There was a lot to like about this episode, but I can't bring myself to give it any higher rating. It just seemed rather shallow in terms of character development and themes compared to the rest of this season (even the otherwise nonsensical Robot of Sherwood offered some exploration of the Doctor's character). Also, I didn't like the ending. Not the resolution, that was actually good, but the very last scene. The Doctor trying to outdo Clara's date and then doing a weird backwards kick at the end was far too much like 11, and felt forced and unnatural.
Comments
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robots of Sherwood 8.5/10
Listen 9.5/10
My favourite so far in what has been IMO a very strong series. An absolutely beautiful episode, and for me it improved on rewatch.
Other DW fourth episodes (post 2005):
Aliens of London 7/10
The Girl in the Fireplace 9/10
Daleks Take Manhatten 7/10
The Sontaran Strategem 7/10
The Time of Angels 6.5/10
The Doctor's Wife 9/10
The Power of Three 7/10
Deep Breath - 7/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Listen - 8/10
Well, it certainly feels refreshing to give something other than seven for this series at last, although it was a tough one - I ultimately only edged up to an eight for a single reason, which I'll get to.
This was quite different to anything Doctor Who has done in a long time, if ever. It was a largely conceptual episode, one that did something a little different and looked at it from a different angle. It was quite rewarding in that it didn't really require much in the way of foreknowledge, but was a hell of a lot more rewarding for someone who knows their Doctor Who.
First and foremost, it was great to get a character-driven story that focused largely on The Doctor. Admittedly it's nice to be getting character-driven stories again at all(after the largely hollow spectacles that were Series 6 and Series 7) but to spend so much time on The Doctor felt special. Listen actually managed to convincingly tell a story about what happens when The Doctor isn't travelling around alien planets and whizzing amongst the stars.
Clara was brilliant once again and really came into her own, and what made it work so well here was the fact that her significance wasn't at detriment to The Doctor. The writers, actors and everyone else involved has pulled off an effective balance of the two here, whilst there is also a much refreshed, in-depth dynamic between The Doctor and Clara, a sense that there is more to the characters than the formulaic monster-of-the-week approach would have you believe. It gave a sense of meaning and purpose to the travelling through time, it didn't make it all so trivial as it felt with Eleven and Clara...where it was all a bit too much of a whimsy romp.
Perhaps the weak link then is Danny Pink. Whilst there's nothing explicity wrong with him, he's not in on this new complex dynamic between The Doctor and Clara and the simple, awkward and clunky writing of his adult character is glaringly blunt and obvious. When it comes to meeting his descendent Orson Pink, we've learnt so little about adult Danny that it's at first a bit puzzling because aside from the hair do and spacesuit it is nigh on impossible to determine the two. Whether that's poor writing or poor acting is unclear, but neither is a factor that the show needs.
I took it that each "threat" posed in the episode had both a 'monster' explanation and a 'rational' explanation. The bedsheet one was hard to rationalise, but then that puts faith in the idea of the monster being real. The airlock one was easy to rationalise but open to just as much interpretation. The bookending chalk board, and the question of who wrote on it is pretty much representative of the episode as a whole - did the Doctor write on the board subconciously (after Clara had planted the word 'listen' in his head as a child) or did the supposed monster do it? Either answer works and it's nice to not have a defining answer to an episode so rooted in ideas.
It was great to see the hark back to the barn again - it adds a bit more depth to The Day of the Doctor, which is an episode I wasn't fond of. It's nice to know that those events have reverberated both forward and backward through the Doctor's timeline..as it is such an important story. Of course it poses question about the ability to visit Gallifrey - did the TARDIS only get there by mistake because it was travelling to places it shouldn't end up, has the non-use of the Moment meant that the Time Lock was never used, or perhaps The Doctor can visit Gallifrey in its past before it was lost in another universe? It's a question for another time really, but one I'm happy to forgive not being answered when Moffat actually delivered a conclusion where head and heart both met for once, rather than just one or the other.
The episode wasn't perfect. I felt Orson Pink was poorly implemented and jarred with the tone of the episode, Danny is proving hard to warm to so far, and generally speaking there wasn't anything massively groundbreaking going on for much of the time. It was essentially consistent with the quality of other episodes so far in this series in that it was generally very good, but there are a noticeable number of elements that could have been handled much better. What gives it that extra mark though is its pure innovation. It was a wonderful and new concept, with some bold choices in plot and some creepy scenes to boot. It wasn't perhaps as clever as it could have been, mainly as it did over-complicate some things in places but as a whole it's an episode that is worth a rewatch very soon...and that warrants it a sense of value slightly higher than the episodes that have come before it.
PROS AND CONS
+ Innovative, and brilliant concept episode.
+ The hark back to the War Doctor was inspired and gives TDotD added depth.
+ The barn scene at the end was well handled.
+ Suitably creepy in places.
+ Nice full-circle with the chalkboard.
- Orson Pink was poorly implemented and hard to differentiate from Danny.
- Danny is proving to be hard to invest in, and has some poor dialogue.
- Although not generally complicated, the episode over-complicated some things more than it needed to.
LISTEN COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODE 4's
Aliens of London - 7/10
The Girl in the Fireplace - 8/10
Daleks in Manhattan - 6/10
The Sontaran Stratagem - 8/10
The Time of Angels - 8/10
The Doctor's Wife - 9/10
The Power of Three - 6/10
Listen - 8/10
LISTEN COMPARED TO THE MOST RECENT MOFFAT EPISODES...
The Angels Take Manhattan - 8/10
The Snowmen - 8/10
The Bells of Saint John - 6/10
The Name of the Doctor - 7/10
The Day of the Doctor - 7/10
The Time of the Doctor - 8/10
Deep Breath - 7/10
Listen - 8/10
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 3/10
Listen 9/10
Into the Dalek - 5/10
Robot of Sherwood - 2/10
Listen - 9/10
Thank Moffat for that! Finally a great episode this series - it's been a while coming! But this was a stunning 45 minutes of wonderful human drama and character-driven story, great dialogue, interesting concept and a flawless acting performance from Jenna. I still don't fully like Capaldi's Doctor, and I have a few minor quibbles with all the Clara driving the TARDIS stuff and unresolved loose ends, but they're only worth a point off. The rest was fabulous
Deep Breath 8/10.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 9/10
Listen 7/10
Listen 6/10
Let's be objective here, compared to what has been served up so far this year, it was a masterpiece. Compared to other seasons though...
Into The Dalek. 9/10
Robots of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 10/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 6/10
Listen 9/10
Time Heist 10/10
Best of the series so far. Exactly what I imagined the lost River Song season to look like. Some recurring themes (don't think, like don't breathe, don't blink) and the last of the species (The Doctor, the creatures from Hide) but they are to be expected from a 50-year-old show. Great guest cast, especially Keeley Hawes. Could one of the Karabraxos clones have turned into Madame Kovarian?
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
Bit of a mixed bag. The Teller was a great monster and there were some nice moments. Music was great too.
However the episode felt a bit jumpy and disjointed. I actually felt quite confused for a lot of it, but maybe that's because I'm feeling rather tired at the moment. Perhaps, It'll be more clear on a re-watch.
The revelation about the Teller did feel a bit like Hide, though I would say that it was handled far better than it was in Hide; you could sort of tell that the Teller was there against its will whereas there was absolutely no indication that the monster in Hide had benevolent intentions. That said, I think it would be nice to have a monster who was just that once in a while.
Still, it was good solid Doctor Who. Probably my least favourite of Series 8 so far, but nevertheless thoroughly watchable.
Into The Dalek: 8.5/10.0
Robot Of Sherwood: 8.5/10.0
Listen: 7.5/10.0
Time Heist: 8.5/10.0
I think if this had been a Matt Smith episode, River would have certainly been in it
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8.5/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
Pretty much what TheSilentFez said, basically
Shutity, shut up!
Easily Thompson's best, for me. But I know some people love Curse of the Black Spot and Journey ( I rate the latter much less now than I did at the time )
Into the Dalek - 8/10
Robot of Sherwood - 5/10
Listen - 9/10
Time Heist - 8/10
Into The dalek 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 8/10
Time Heist 9/10
Really enjoying this series, for the first time since series one I am sitting down with no expectations and just looking forward to the story. I felt engaged in the mystery of the robbery and the identity of the architect, and it was good to see some lighter, nicer aspects of capaldi's doctor begin to emerge as he told the mutant that he wouldnt kill the architect. The teller was.a great design and the alien planet at the end was a nice touch. The first Steven thompson episode I've enjoyed, looking forward to next weeks. Definite series one vibes here and that is most definitely a good thing 9/10
Into the Dalek - 4/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7.5/10
Listen - 9.5/10
Time Heist - 8.5/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 8/10
Another strong, solid showing. Plenty of fairly predictable twists and turns, there was very little surprising about Time Heist and it felt a bit contrived at points but then when you consider the whole thing was planned in advance then it shouldn't feel that way.
Tons of emotional depth, a great raft of secondary characters and let down only by a slightly limp, if still clever ending.
Into The Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 9/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 9/10
Another very strong episode - good direction, good cast, good story, good episode.
Into the Dalek 5/10
Robot of Sherwood 4/10
Listen 4/10
Time Heist 7/10
Well I enjoyed that at least!
It actually felt like an episode of Doctor Who even though in the strictest terms it wasn't as such. There was plenty of music too throughout which was a nice thing and a good change from the blank misery that's been there mostly for the last month.
Peter was okay, but still not great. There's still something about him that doesn't work for me at all. Jenna was iffy too, but Saibre and Psi were okay, but not well developed (45 mins is an ask for that though I will admit)
Keeley Hawes was the star of this though. She may have camped it up but it was great, subtle villainy. The look of Delphox was great. I just sort of wish Keeley could have been held back for a recurring big villain role, something really juicy and evil. She was good though!
The directing was good in parts but a bit iffy for me but overall it was a good episode. Steve Thompson is a good writer, I always enjoy his Sherlock episodes, and this is probably his best ep of DW now - Curse of the Black Spot and then Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS in that order in terms of favourites from him for me.
Overall it was just a fun episode that was made by Keeley Hawes...if only she could be there every week....I'd never ever complain about the show ever again if that was the case!
That's thanks to the 2005 sting that they have brought back for no apparent reason
Into the Dalek: 6/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8/10
Listen: 10/10.
Time Heist: 9/10.
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robots of Sherwood 8.5/10
Listen 9.5/10
Time Heist 7.5/10
Not *quite* as good as the previous four IMO, but still very enjoyable.
Other fifth episodes since 2005:
World War Three 7/10
Rise of the Cybermen 8/10
Evolution of the Daleks 7/10
The Poison Sky 7.5/10
Flesh and Stone 6.5/10
The Rebel Flesh 6.5/10
The Angels Take Manhatten 7/10
Time Heist 7.5/10
Series 8
Deep Breath - 6/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robin of Sherwood - 7/10
Listen - 8/10
Time Heist - 8/10
When I think about it, Time Heist is the kind of episode I think I was looking for back in Series 7. Whilst it suffered some of the same issues - it felt slightly rushed for one thing - it also brought a quality and uniqueness to it that reminded me of why watching Doctor Who can be so enjoyable.
The idea of a bank heist fits in so well with the whole movie-of-the-week theme that the seventh series embraced. However it is much more successful at doing so, perhaps in part because unlike those episodes in Series 7 it didn't feel like it was trying to constantly go one-up on whatever episode had come before. Series 8, whilst delivering solid episodes that are all very unique, is also playing things in a very understated fashion. Nowhere is that more evident than in Time Heist, and it's to the episodes benefit.
The Teller is one of the most crucial components of the episode, and is wonderfully realised. Admittedly it was a bit of a cross between the monster in Series 7's Hide and the Minotaur in Series 6's The God Complex but that's no bad thing. The design of The Teller was superb, the simpleness of its power made it an effective (and intimidating) foe and it probably stands out as the strongest monster in Series 8 to date.
On the subject of villainy, Keeley Hawes was just as brilliant as the mysterious Miss Delphox. On the one hand it feels as if she wasn't given enough time to shine in the episode, but on the other hand it all contributes to that understated tone that Series 8 seems to have been going for. She didn't turn out to be a massive sun, or a sinsiter warrior, or harbouring an endless army of villains. She was a person with motives and plans, and that is what made her an effective villain. It was somewhat reminiscient of some Series 1 episodes in that regard, with much more identifiable villains...with schemes and humanity and, of course, guilt. On the surface there wasn't much to go on in the brief 45 minutes but it definitely feels as if a lot has been worked into fleshing out these characters beneath the surface.
Other characters in the episode don't compare quite so positively. The two additional bank robbers are lovely enough and endearing enough to care about, but were not substantially fleshed out or developed to lift the episode to a higher quality. Similarly, The Doctor and Clara felt much more on auto-pilot this time, particularly Clara whose Danny plot line is really not interesting, nor yet believable. On the plus side though, it genuinely felt like this was more a constraint of time than limited script writing skills, and here Steve Thompson delivers his first 'very good' episode.
That pacing aside, which really made the difference between being a great episode and best in a long time, Time Heist was a beautiful episode with decent enough characters, the most identifiable music yet this year (although still sorely lacking anything very good), a decent if sometimes predicatable plot and usually more than enough going on to help it feel fleshed out. Without it's Paternosters, Daleks, and historical figures, it felt like the first time in a significant while where something wholly shiny and new was added to the Doctor Who universe, and that made it feel just a little special.
PROS AND CONS
+ Understated but well developed story and villains, particularly Miss Delphox.
+ The episode looked stunning both in terms of CG and the Teller prosthetics.
+ A sense of something new being added to the Whoniverse.
- Poorly paced, particularly near the end with some awkward transitions.
- Guest characters were suffiicient but poorly developed.
- The Doctor and Clara felt like they were both on auto-pilot.
TIME HEIST COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODE 5's
World War Three - 6/10
Rise of the Cybermen - 7/10
Evolution of the Daleks - 7/10
The Poison Sky - 8/10
Flesh and Stone - 7/10
The Rebel Flesh - 7/10
The Angels Take Manhattan - 7/10
Time Heist - 8/10 (1st)
Time Heist is the first episode of Series 8 to secure a 1st position in an episode ranking.
TIME HEIST COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODES BY STEPHEN THOMPSON
The Curse of the Black Spot - 7/10
Journey to the Centre of the Tardis - 7/10
Time Heist - 8/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
Listen: 9/10
Time Heist: 6/10
Will definitely Rewatch this one as the ending kind of changed the episode in many ways, I mean it was exciting for the most part and. I felt as if Si's(Or Sy, don't know how to spell it) death was one of the best handled death scenes I have seen for a long time. I had a feeling that they would come alive again, and that the Doctor would be the Architect but the ending was the biggest problem with this story as it made a lot of the moments before it pretty redundant for future watches.
Into the Dalek 7.5/10 [Good]
Robots of Sherwood 8.5/10 [Excellent]
Listen 7/10 [Good]
Time Heist: 8.5/10 [Excellent]
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 5/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
There was a lot to like about this episode, but I can't bring myself to give it any higher rating. It just seemed rather shallow in terms of character development and themes compared to the rest of this season (even the otherwise nonsensical Robot of Sherwood offered some exploration of the Doctor's character). Also, I didn't like the ending. Not the resolution, that was actually good, but the very last scene. The Doctor trying to outdo Clara's date and then doing a weird backwards kick at the end was far too much like 11, and felt forced and unnatural.