Well, this was an interesting one - I'm not really 100% sure how I feel about it.
On the one hand, the idea of the Doctor being coerced into robbing a space bank is an interesting one. The "Ocean's 11" feel they were goign for was something new to try. Certainly, it wasn't quite like any other Doctor Who story that I can recall off the top of my head.
On the other hand, it all felt a little rushed for me - like this one might've been better served as a two-parter. There wasn't enough room for the kinds of ups and downs I would expect from this kind of a story. They also could've used a little more time to introduce the new characters in order give us more of a reason to care about them. In some ways, I could see this done as an old-school four-parter.
The Architect turning out to be the Doctor himself was one of those plot twists that seems obvious in retrospect. I expect that people somewhat less dense than myself probably picked up on this right away.
Overall, it was an OK episode, but perhaps not a great one.
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On the other hand, it all felt a little rushed for me - like this one might've been better served as a two-parter. There wasn't enough room for the kinds of ups and downs I would expect from this kind of a story. They also could've used a little more time to introduce the new characters in order give us more of a reason to care about them. In some ways, I could see this done as an old-school four-parter.
Agreed. I liked it (and I liked it more the second time thru*), but almost everything about it felt like it could have benefited from more time and breathing space.
I'm not an Ocean's Eleven type, but what it reminded me strongly of -- especially the slo-mo entrance to the bank -- was Hustle. (Cons and capers are first cousins.)
"Mostly, it's the eyebrows."
"Shutitty up up up!"
"I hate him."
"Old, and full of regret for things you can't change."
*I'm not obsessive. I watch once for myself and once with Action Lad.
Doctor Hmmm? said:
Dude, that's nowhere near "obsessive".
I thought this was one of the best Doctor Who episodes ever, once I got my head around it. For once, they thought things through, on the ethical level.
What could coerce the Doctor to risk people's lives on a mad scheme? Answer: Rescuing the last mating pair of an unusual species.
Then those he picked for the break-in all benefitted from what was in the vaults. This was the only way they could be helped, seemingly. So helping others all around.
And then the thing with the Architect was well thought through. It was a good enough comicbooky reason why the Doctor himself had no idea who was manipulating them. I think I started to realise when they described the architect as something like manipulative and superior, and the Doctor had a flash of self-recognition.
Finally (or to start with), I thought that was a brilliant cut between "it's only a phone, what could go wrong?" and then jumping to sitting aorund the table.
More like this please!
(I also suspect that they filmed some of this at the British Museum in Bloomsbury. The big open spaces and the grey bricks of the Great Court. See here?)