The Witch's Familiar (Doctor Who 9.2)

[unfeathered]

Well, that was the first episode in well over a year that I really, really enjoyed. It kept me guessing - it had me worried for a while that Moffat really was going to REALLY rewrite history - but it had the required twist at the end. Well done, Moffat. You can tell a story after all, even if it still did rely on timey-wimey changing history in the end, but it was done graciously enough and for a minor enough point that I can forgive it, this once.

The scenes between the Doctor and Davros were fascinating, and those between Missy and Clara very enjoyable. Good to see Clara actually afraid for once; the cockiness does get a little tiring after a while. Loved Missy. So totally bonkers. And fascinating referbacks to Asylum of the Daleks and Dalek!Oswin. I wonder if there's more there than just a referback? Quite possibly, knowing Moffat! It was certainly quite spooky seeing Clara inside the Dalek.

Loved the Doctor stealing Davros' chair, though the cup of tea for me was a step too far.

Confused by this new prophecy about a Dalek/Time Lord hybrid. Is this something that's actually going to be followed up or is it just something Davros made up? I didn't really notice if the Doctor looked like he knew what Davros was talking about. Also, having just recently rewatched the First Doctor serial, The Daleks, I was reminded that he hadn't met the Daleks when he left Gallifrey, so... I did love the fact that New Skaro looks very reminiscent of Original Skaro in that serial, and that the interior scenes had almost exactly the same lopsided corridors and columns in the rooms. That was a nice touch. Even if I'm still confused by all the different kinds of Daleks we seem to have all together these days.

Also confused by the mercy thing because I distinctly remember River Song and a Dalek asking for mercy way back in the Big Bang. Though I guess, a) perhaps the Doctor didn't know about that and b) that was down to the same reason as this one too. Too timey-wimey for me.

Comments

[travels_in_time]

That's what I thought--the Daleks always knew the word "mercy", because the Doctor made it important for Davros way back in the beginning. They just very rarely ever used it (River being a notable exception), because the Doctor ALSO impressed upon Davros the necessity of being determined to survive at all costs.

[unfeathered]

Heh, yeah, that works as an explanation. :-)