When Chris Chibnall said he was going to lean into Doctor Who mythology and lore, he meant it. We have not one, but two old friends (or foes) back on screen this week. (Next time your celebrity friends say they’re in town overseeing home renovations, best to give them a little side-eye.) And if that wasn’t enough . . . well, we’ve crossed the time streams, and it’s a big one.
Strap in fam, because this recap is going to be oozing with the spoilers.
1. What/Who Are the Judoon?
These rhino-like aliens who serve as space police force brute squad are a revival series creation, first appearing in 2007’s “Smith and Jones.” (Remember this, it will come into play a little bit later.) The Judoon are very logical, if not very bright, and very much sticklers for rules. This makes a later scene of the Doctor and Yaz doing a beautiful bureaucratic ballet with them to buy time and prevent destruction quite fun to watch.
What bring the rhino space police to Earth? They’re looking for a fugitive. And their fugitive happens to be . . . mild-mannered mid-40s city tour guide Ruth Jones? But we’ll get to that in a bit, for there’s one other friend who’s dropped in for a visit . . .
2. Captain Jack Will Get You By Tonight
He’s back, he’s got the sass and spunk we all know and love, he’s a bit disappointed his ship doesn’t have a bar, and he’s made out with Graham in his first 30 seconds on screen. (And for what it’s worth, Graham didn’t seem to flinch one bit.)
That’s right, your favorite time traveling con man and mine, Jack Harkness is back, if only for a small cameo to deliver a very important message: Beware The Lone Cyberman. We know the Cybermen will make an appearance sometime this season, and this suggests there’s going to be something deeper and more dangerous to this classic foe.
We can debate over the necessity of his cameo, given everything else taking place in this episode (and by extension, this season). But the few moments we had with them, while they didn’t do too much to advance this current story, was fun. How I wish and hope we could see more of him with Jodie Whittaker together. What a team-up. Even Ryan and Yaz love the Harkness cheese. Petition for a Torchwood revival, anyone?
3. I’m … the Doctor?
Ruth Clayton. 44 years old. Gloucester city tour guide. Loves the perfect piece of toast and her husband. Today is her birthday.
Also a Time Lord/Lady with a deliberately erased memory at her own hand. Not just any Time Lord/Lady, but The Doctor, a past that Jodie Whittaker doesn’t seem to remember. (One that seems to be a bit more friendly with the guns, which Whittaker also doesn’t like very much.)
This isn’t the first time we’ve crossed the streams with Doctor meeting Doctor, whether it’s 80s classic “The Five Doctors” special or the 50th anniversary “Day of the Doctor.” Now those were self-contained anniversary stories, that didn’t play too much into future series canon. This time, there’s going to be some ramifications felt past this one episode. Why did Ruth Doctor choose to erase her memory? What did Lee know about his wife’s Time Lord/Lady past? Why doesn’t the Doctor remember any of this?
4. Smith and Jones
Here is a small way this season pays tribute to series continuity. The first time we saw the Judoon was in 2007’s “Smith and Jones,” which also featured another debut: that of Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones, the first companion of color in the series. (Though there is some debate over where Rose’s boyfriend Mickey is an official companion.) Thirteen years later, the Judoon make their return in the debut of the first Doctor of color. It lines up so beautifully.
5. Meet Me Halfway
With five episodes down and five to go, it’s been nothing but riddles wrapped in enigmas wrapped in questions. Another incarnation of the Doctor. The return of the Master. Hints of the Timeless Child. Hints of Cybermen more destructive than ever before. And The Doctor (along with us) trying to figure out all of it. And what of our companions as well, who now have a year of TARDIS time under their belts. There’s been some character development with them, but it’s been in fits and starts, started but never finished.
Continued belowThis season has a tall order ahead of it at this point, to find closure to so many mysteries in five episodes. Will they do it? Possibly. Some of this has to be setting up a long game for future seasons, so I don’t anticipate every single mystery to be resolved. Will we agree with the mysteries that find closure in the back half, even if that ends up being none of them at all? Probably not. Is it making for compelling (even if confusing) television? Absolutely.
Afterthoughts:
– Never screw with a woman’s knitting, Judoon. That took her nine weeks!
– Whether it’s Alice in the comics, or Ruth on TV, seeing GenX women in their 40s embracing power and showing just how much life does not quit in middle age makes me smile.
– Ruth’s TARDIS design has some flavors of the First Doctor. Could her past even pre-date William Hartnell?
Line of the night:
Jack: “Seriously, three of you? I had a dream about this once.”
