Party On Dudes
The new season of Doctor Who brings excitement, anticipation, and that magic feeling that only the Doctor can bring. The Magicians Apprentice did all of these things and more. When last we left the Doctor, Last Christmas, he and Clara were off to face more adventures while the hint that more Christmas Magic was in the air than anyone realized. The Doctor is adventuring alone and finds a very anachronistic planet. Biplanes that shoot lasers are pretty cool. A young boy runs away as a soldier follows to keep him safe, yet both end up in a hand mine field. That is NOT a typo. Hand mines. The soldier falls victim to a mine and the boy is left surrounded by not so helping hands. The Doctor shows up and tell the boy he has 1 chance in a 1,00 but 1 is all you need. Tossing his Sonic Screwdriver to the boy so they can communicate the Doctor calms the boy and asks him his name. The boy replies “Davros”, the boy who wil grow to create the Daleks,  and I audibly gasped because there is only one thing the Doctor could possibly do next… the Doctor Ran
The Doctor Left a child to possibly dieNext we got to Clara and planes being frozen in time in the sky. Clara gets herself to U.N.I.T. to learn that they can not reach the Doctor. U.N.I.T. even has a special channel the Doctor never uses which makes the incoming message on that channel even more interesting. The missive informs us Missy is indeed alive, and is not dead. She is behind the planes freezing in air as it was the only way to reach Cara, as calling is unheard of I guess, in an attempt to find the Doctor. Missy is in possession of confession dial which contains the last will and testament of the Doctor. Delivery of this item means the Doctor has but a day left to live. Reluctantly Clara goes with Missy to find the missing Timelord.
The Doctor is in Essex during the middle age and standing out like never before. He makes his entrance atop a tank while playing an electric guitar. After some witty banter, Sariff arrives to inform the Doctor Davrs is dying and wants to see him as he remembers. Sariff throws the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver to the ground, which must mean Capaldi is going Davison and leaving it behind. Then Sariff reveals his true form of many snakes and the Doctor agrees to go along. Missy and Clara are demand to go as well and they do despite the Doctor’s objections. After they leave it is revealed one person in the audience was a secret agent and the Doctor’s TARDIS is taken.
Our Group arrives at a space station and the Doctor is escorted away to meet with Davros. As they discuss that fateful day clips of the previous incarnations dealing with Davros are shown, including the very appropriate Tom Baker  clip from Genesis of the Daleks asking if you could kill a child who would become a mass murderer. Meanwhile Missy realizes the gravity on the “space station” is not artificial. She and Clara go through an airlock and are walking in space which turns out to be an invisible planet. The planet Skaro
Missy and Clara are brought before the Supreme Dalek with a group of Daleks aiming a big gun at the TARDIS. Missy ,seizing the opportunity, tells the Daleks that the TARDIS is a powerful weapon and they need her to show them how to control it. The Daleks respond by vaporizing her then turning their guns to Clara. The Doctor gets down on his knees and begs Davros to make the stop. Davros says he does not control the Daleks and that they will not kill her until she runs. Clara does try to run and is vaporized. The Daleks then focus their firepower on the TARDIS which explodes. Davros then explains to the Doctor that compassion is a weakness and bu letting him live the Doctor has caused this series of events.
Next we are back with the boy in the Hand Mine Field. He is surprised to find the Doctor is now behind him. He looks at the boy and tells him that he has come from the future to save his friends as the boy will grow to kill them. The Doctor then points a gunstick at the boy and says…..” Exterminate”
This episode, at it’s core, reveals that the Doctor’s compassion may be dwarfed by his hatred for the Daleks. The question of what if? is huge in this episode. What if the Doctor saved Davros and made him a companion? What if the Doctor does kill him? What if the Time War and every life lost to the Dalkes could be prevented by going back in time and killing a child. It is a question the Doctor has asked and looks like he is about to answer.
Capaldi is in fine form as the Doctor who again is in a massive funk and expecting the end of his life. His entrance on the tank and introducing the word ‘Dude’ a few hundred years early shows how far gone he believes himself to be. Missy is back form the dead with no explanation but that should come as no surprise to classic Who fans as it has happened a number of times. This episode marks the first time a Supreme Dalek is heard speaking. A fine episode for old and new fans of Who
The big questions remain: Is Clara really dead? Is Missy? Is the TARDS gone? How did the Doctor get back to the Hand Mine Field if it is? Is the Sonic Screwdriver being written out again? “If someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?
Next Week We Shall See……
—Flynn
