Last week we had the Pting, an alien which resembled stitch but could eat its way through a space ship in one sitting, this week however we are in 1947 visiting Yaz’s nan when she was a young woman.
So as ever, spoilers ahead.
1. Yaz’s family
As the episode opens we find ourselves with Yaz’s family. Something the season has been crying out for is some life into a Yaz and Ryan and we certainly get some life. It’s Yaz’s Nan, Umbreen’s birthday, where she is giving away sentimental items to her granddaughters. She gives to Yaz a broken watch, Yaz asking how she got this and should she get it fixed, Umbreen (Leena Dhingra) explains, it should never be fixed and this isn’t the right time to talk about it. Umbreen does say that she and her husband were the first people to get married in the region she grew up in, Yaz’s nan then shows her a picture of her and her husband, when they where young. Yaz then decides to ask the Doctor, like anyone who has a best friend with a time machine, to take her to 1940s British India, to which surprisingly, the Doctor agrees. Only on strict instructions not to meddle and only observe.
I liked how we were introduced to more of Yaz’s family, this really helps flesh out her character. This aspect of the episode did remind me of “Fathers Day” which featured Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper as the Ninth Doctor and Rose going back in time to see Rose’s father, stopping his death and causing a tear in time and space. This isn’t the case this time however as the Doctor is very strict with Yaz, making sure she is careful about what she does in Umbrine’s time. Plus there are a few more time traveling characters this time around.
2. 1947, a land divided.
After Ryan and Graham agree with Yaz, to travel back to see her nan, we are off to the 1940s. The scenery, which was filmed in Spain is breathtakingly amazing. Once our team has landed they bump into a local man going by the name of Prem (Shane Zaza), who turns out to be the man young Umbreen (Amita Suman) will wed, however this man isn’t the person older Umbreen showed to her in the photo. We also pump into a holy man who is going to officiate the wedding and explains that walking is better than riding on the back of a carriage, which will be his undoing as the aliens of the week look on from a hilltop.
Once arriving at young Umbreen’s family farm, with the help of Prem, we are introduced to the rest of the family which include, Umbreen’s, mother and her brother, Manish (Hamza Jeetooa). As we are introduced to the family, we also find out that our Time Team have landed at the beginning of a troubled time in this areas history. They have landed at the divide of British India, which was where India and Pakistan became two different independent nations. Umbreen’s family live right of the new border between the two countries. On discovering this the Doctor rushes to tell everyone only to find the dead holy man surrounded by two ‘demons.’
I really liked this setting, it’s a small cast but it felt very open, plus it did feel very personal. I have felt that Yaz has had more to offer the new time team then she has been able to show, and this story really does delve into her family’s history. Plus there is a great little scene between Yaz and Graham (two characters we have rarely seen together), where Graham gives Yaz advice on how to deal with life in the TARDIS, basically stating that everyone these days are living there lives inwards and not experiencing the wonders of what’s in front of them. This makes me think Graham might be a one season wonder.
3. The deadliest Assassins in the universe?
With the holy man dead we hear of demons, this particularly got me excited as I do love paranormal/supernatural stuff, but this is Doctor Who and of course the villains aren’t demons at all but aliens called the Vajarians, which are a mixture of bat/cow/many eyed aliens who the Doctor calls the greatest assassins in the universe.
Continued belowOn discovering the aliens the Doctor is straight to understanding why they are there, and after transporting into there hidden base with Ryan and Perm, and stealing some of their mysterious energy, she deciphers that there energy is made up of loads of materials. We then find out that these once deadly assassins who are called Kisar and Almak, have now turned a new leaf. After their planet was destroyed, they have become stewards of the dead, watching over people who are dying alone, we also find out that these aliens made an appearance to Perm on the battlefront, watching his older brother die, as he was shot at a battle during World War II.
Again I feel that these aliens are a let down just like the Pting last week, these had a lot of potential, and having an alien race going from the deadliest assassins in the universe to helping the dead, where’s the in-between? I for one want to see more of them, maybe some of their past? Because at the end they do redeem themselves, I just wanted more.
4. What will be, will be.
Once it has been revealed what the aliens are there for, the Doctor apologizes for stealing their technology in return, they show her the head of Prem, Umbreen’s soon to be husband, meaning he will die soon. This explains why when Yaz sees a picture of her granddad, and it isn’t Prem. The Doctor then is sent back to the farm where she tells our time team that Prem will die the next day.
So they spent the night with Yaz’s 1940s family, trying to support them all the while knowing what will happen to Prem the next day. As the next day dawns and so does the wedding, where the Doctor has been asked to officiate it as the holy man is no longer living. We have a very tender moment with Graham and Prem, as Prem is dressed up for his wedding, Graham hugs him while holding back tears, as he knows this is his last day. We also find out that Manish has been working with a gang in the village and he killed the holy man so that the wedding would not go through. As things unfold Perm sacrifices himself to confront the gang so the others can get free.
This was quite touching really as we saw our time team helpless with what was unfolding before them, this isn’t the first time they have had to do this, with what happened with Rosa Parks in episode three “Rosa” where they had to stand by and watch while history happened in front of them, in this episode, the Doctor and co had to let history happen, plus Yaz had to let the man her Nan loved, die.
5. Evil within…
As the Doctor and team let events unfold, Prem is shot while the Vajarians watch on and Umbreen and her mother escape. Towards the end of the episode, you finally to realize that the aliens aren’t the enemy but people are and people decisions can divesting. The Doctors speech to Yaz as she is explaining the this time in history to her, “It’s not just the country that gets divided. Tens of millions of people about to be displaced. More than a million about to die.”
This goes to show that it’s not just alien beings from another world that are considered evil because also humans can have devastating consequences to their actions too.
In conclusion, I feel like this was a better episode than last week, and made me look into a time that should be taught in schools and how decisions of the few can affect so many. The only thing I will say against the episode is I would like to see more sci-fi, but the small character moments, fleshing out Yaz’s character, seeing the Doctor use science without using her sonic screwdriver, and another great history lesson about a real pivotal time was definitely the great moments for me.
Next week, the Doctor is sent a mysterious package from a very interesting looking robot postal worker in “Kerblam!”
