After a season of high concept stories tying directly into social and cultural issues, it’s time for a break with some good ol’ fashioned historical drama Whovian style as the fam heads to Regency Europe to meet with some of literature’s greatest minds. But this isn’t this season’s take on, say, “The Unicorn and the Wasp” – – it turns out to set up some of what we’ve been waiting for all season.
Let’s dig out the waistcoasts and empire waists and head to Lake Geneva for “The Haunting of Villa Diodati.” Naturally, spoilers within.
0.5 Two Bits of Who News
Before we get into it, there are two bits of Who News I thought worth your time and attention.
The first, from Radio Times in the UK, confirms that Series 13 will start filming later this year, putting an air date sometime in early 2021 at the absolute earliest, and confirming a special episode for later this year after the season concludes, presumably during the holidays. I’m hopeful for another New Year’s special for I’ve very much enjoyed starting my year off with the Doctor. We also get confirmation that Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall will be back for Series 13, with the status of the rest of the cast still unclear.
The second (also from Radio Times in the UK) relates to some backlash from last week’s “Can You Hear Me.” While the episode did well in addressing openness around mental health, a scene at the end between the Doctor and Graham that used the Doctor’s social awkwardness as a way to get out of a difficult conversation left many viewers upset and angry enough to leave complaints with the BBC. The network released a statement indicating that was not their intention and apologizing for upsetting any viewers. I didn’t read the scene that way upon initial viewing, but in retrospect, I can see where it’s out of step and a rare black mark for an otherwise well-handled topic.
1. The Villa Diodati
Since this is another one of those history lesson episodes, we should probably look at the actual history.
Villa Diodati, aka the Villa Belle Rive, was the home of Lord Byron for the summer of 1816, with the Shelley family (Percy and Mary, engaged but not married yet) nearby. Also joining them was Claire Clairmont, Mary’s stepsister who had a bit of a thing with Lord Byron back in London, and friend and fellow writer John Polidori.
The Doctor referred to this time as “the year without a summer,” and in that she is correct. June 1816 proved unseasonably cold and wet, keeping the friends inside for three days in June. It was in this time that they took to reading fantastical stories and devising their own. It was in this time that the idea for not only Shelley’s Frankenstein, but Polidori’s “The Vampyre,” which gave birth to the Romantic vampire genre of literature. (So here’s the dude to thank for Twilight, I guess?)
The villa later became a tourist attraction of sorts for Byron and Romantic literature fans, and other artists and journalists stayed there as well, such as the painter Balthus. It’s remained in private ownership for its entire existence, and in 2011 was converted to luxury apartments.
2. The Corsair
This may be the closest we get to a TV and comic crossover this season with the appearance of Lord Byron. His fictional Corsair (published two years before the events of this episode) was the star of the final arc of the first season of Titan’s “Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor.” And both had some time for some flirtation with the Doctor, though Lord Byron here is very much . . . not subtle in his affections. I’ve heard better pickup lines from drunk finance bros at Marriott bars, Lord Byron.
(Which makes him getting shot down by Claire at the end after all his attention went to “Mrs. Doctor” quite fun to watch, more so when you realize in real life, Claire was pregnant with Lord Byron’s child when they were all at the Villa.)
3. Beware the Lone Cyberman
So here we are, historical stuff moving along, Doctor and fam and everyone else trying to figure out what’s haunting this villa . . . and oh hey, there’s a Cyberman. And he’s by himself.
Continued belowWasn’t there a warning or something about this earlier this season?
This Cyberman is sort of half man, half Cyberman in both appearance and demeanor, named Ashad. His mask is ripped off half of his face a la Phantom of the Opera, and while he doesn’t hesitate a whit in knocking off the Villa Diodati butler, he pauses at taking the life of Mary and Percy’s young son William. It’s that humanity that Mary appeals to, though unsuccessfully, and sets her on the course to write her classic and famous tale.
Of course, we have no idea how he got to this state, which weakens the impact of his appearance. (Maybe we’ll find that out next week?) Overall, it feels shoehorned in as if someone in the writer’s room said, hey, we got three episodes left, best we do something about this Lone Cyberman thing we teased a while back.
4. Save the Poet, Save the Universe
(This was an actual line from the Doctor. Someone been watching Heroes on their lunch breaks in their trailer, maybe?)
What our Lone Cyberman is after is Cyberium, somehow itself in the body of Percy Shelley, which proves to be the source of the haunting of the villa. (How did the Cyberium get to 1816 Switzerland? Another plot hole that would have had more impact had it now been thrown in haphazardly.) This puts the Doctor in a tough spot: kill Percy Shelley to prevent this Lone Cyberman from getting their hands on Cyberium (thus ensuring that they do not marry and Mary Shelley never writes her novel), or let Shelley live and let that Cyberman get what they want. She opts for the latter, somehow managing to get the Cyberium out of Shelley but not without a vision of his future death.
The Doctor then pitches it far into the future, and Ashad is not far behind, thereby setting up our two part finale in what is both a pretty neat and a pretty messy twist. Neat in how you didn’t see the Lone Cyberman appearance coming, messy in that it took away from what was proving to be a pretty decent historical romp, as well as missing context that could have had that appearance really stick the landing. I love how the series has gone high concept this season, but the way these high concepts are being used are proving not to make much sense, and show up for appearance’s sake. That’s not a good look.
5. I Can Do It All By Myself
Boyfriend noted to me that this was another one of those episodes where the fam really didn’t have much to do except babysit people. This was the Doctor taking charge and striking out on her own in everything from the start of our mystery in her attempts to get the Villa crew to sit down and tell ghost stories to her final decision regarding Shelley and the Cyberium. This Doctor is starting to push her companions away, but why? On the surface, she already lost one companion (Bill Potts) to the Cybermen, so she wants to avoid that history repeating itself. Could there be another reason? What does she know about the Master’s statement from the start of this season, that “everything you ever knew is a lie?”
I feel like there’s something deeper in here, but with so much high concept going on, it’s going to be lost in execution, if it’s even executed at all.
Afterthoughts:
– This is not Doctor Who‘s first trip to Villa Diodati. The Eighth Doctor met up with Mary Shelley and company at the Villa in the audio drama “The Silver Turk,” which also has Mary meeting a malformed Cyberman.
– While the costume department took great care to give Shelley and company proper Regency era outfits . . . the same cannot be said for the fam, who look like they were only told at the last minute that they were off to the time of Austen and rummaged for something in the TARDIS closets.
Line of the night:
Lord Byron: “May I just say, you are quite lovely in a crisis.”
The Doctor: “No you may not.”
