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Since the new series came back, it's made an art of the big, bombastic finale - fourteen of them in all, if we count The End of the World and The Time of the Doctor, and they certainly fit the bill. While there's several I truly enjoy, only one of them is my favourite story of the entire season it concludes.
There's just so many things I love in this two-parter. One more timey-wimey plot! Properly scary Cybermen! Moffatt indulging himself to establish that all of their spin-off media origin stories are true at once! (I may have punched the air when the Doctor mentioned Planet 14 and the Voord. Take that, people who don't think the comic strip counts!)
The part I do not love is - look, there is a reason the planned Twitter rewatch of this got cancelled, because it would have been spectacularly poorly-timed to talk about this story while Black Lives Matter protests were going on everywhere. I know Moffatt didn't mean what happens to Bill to come across That Way. Any more than he meant it That Way when the other major black character who appeared during his era was also killed and turned into a Cyberman. Any more than RTD meant it That Way when the Master forced Martha's family to dress up as maids just a few episodes after she'd been forced to dress up as a maid. Any more than Chibnall meant it That Way when Grace was killed off in the first episode of his run so other people could be sad about it. But, you know, that doesn't actually change the fact that Doctor Who has a long history of treating the bodies and lives of its black characters in racist and unpleasant ways and I really hope it's actually stopped now. It would be nice if Ryan did not die and/or get turned into a Cyberman in his last appearance, is what I'm saying. (Also I guess he should not dress up as a maid, but somehow I don't think it would come across the same way if he did.)
At least the whole thing is ameliorated a bit by Bill using her Cyber-powers to save the day and by joining Clara in travelling the universe with her immortal girlfriend by the end. (Please, Big Finish, get Clara and Me and Bill and Heather in the same story. Maybe Clara and Me have also broken up by now and Clara and Bill can kiss???)
( Now onto the glowing review of everything else about this episode. )
There's just so many things I love in this two-parter. One more timey-wimey plot! Properly scary Cybermen! Moffatt indulging himself to establish that all of their spin-off media origin stories are true at once! (I may have punched the air when the Doctor mentioned Planet 14 and the Voord. Take that, people who don't think the comic strip counts!)
The part I do not love is - look, there is a reason the planned Twitter rewatch of this got cancelled, because it would have been spectacularly poorly-timed to talk about this story while Black Lives Matter protests were going on everywhere. I know Moffatt didn't mean what happens to Bill to come across That Way. Any more than he meant it That Way when the other major black character who appeared during his era was also killed and turned into a Cyberman. Any more than RTD meant it That Way when the Master forced Martha's family to dress up as maids just a few episodes after she'd been forced to dress up as a maid. Any more than Chibnall meant it That Way when Grace was killed off in the first episode of his run so other people could be sad about it. But, you know, that doesn't actually change the fact that Doctor Who has a long history of treating the bodies and lives of its black characters in racist and unpleasant ways and I really hope it's actually stopped now. It would be nice if Ryan did not die and/or get turned into a Cyberman in his last appearance, is what I'm saying. (Also I guess he should not dress up as a maid, but somehow I don't think it would come across the same way if he did.)
At least the whole thing is ameliorated a bit by Bill using her Cyber-powers to save the day and by joining Clara in travelling the universe with her immortal girlfriend by the end. (Please, Big Finish, get Clara and Me and Bill and Heather in the same story. Maybe Clara and Me have also broken up by now and Clara and Bill can kiss???)
( Now onto the glowing review of everything else about this episode. )