Building on an exhilarating Christmas special, the new series is shaping up to be one of the best over the show’s entire 48 year run.
And that’s a very good thing!
Doctor Who is one of those shows you don’t criticise lightly – whenever you voice even the teeniest bit of doubt about the quality of the show online you immediately get jumped on by those who seemingly prefer blind brand loyalty over any form of honest criticism.
Personally, as a long time fan of the show I don’t feel need to pretend any run of episodes or better or worse than I actually perceive them to be and that’s why I’ve never been shy of labelling last year’s uninspiring and disappointing outing for what it was.
It was a shame because I’d expected – and hoped for – something so much better.
But the good news is that what I was hoping for last year is exactly what we’re getting treated to this series – excellent stories, mind-blowing performances, emotional engagement and a sense of direction.
As I’ve done over the past few series, I’ve done my best to avoid spoilers so Saturday’s cliffhanger came as a genuine surprise to me.
(In case you’ve not yet seen the episode I’ll avoid revealing it…)
What’s even more exciting is the expectation of something even bigger and thrilling to come – if the penultimate episode ends on such a shocker just what do the production team have in store for this week’s final episode?
If you’ve not yet tired of seeing it, here’s the trailer for the next instalment
While I’m in ‘praise mode’ let’s note the BBC’s acceptance that Doctor Who doesn’t deserve to be squeezed to the edges of peak time simply to allow yet another ‘talent show’ to dominate the main evening viewing slot.
Over the past few weeks the Timelord’s adventures have crept ever later in the schedules after debuting at the far too early 6pm.
I’m sure those involved in So You Think You Can Dance are all having a lovely time swirling and bopping on TV but the show never deserved to be the highlight of the Saturday night schedule.
As with so much of the BBC’s decision making, we’ll probably never know the reason for the gradual schedule change.
Personally I like to imagine that as BBC bosses suits watched their ‘British Drama’ showreel (see below) they realised the message was a lot stronger if they stopped bigging up yet another talent format over an own in-house drama success story.
