Ok Ok!! Geeking out… Must calm down to write this. Along with meeting Jenna Coleman at the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo, dressing up as Dexter from Dexters Laboratory for the Expo. Cary Elwes and everything else going on this weekend it’s a pleasant change to be able to sit down and relax with some tea and write a review.
I’m sure you guys want me to get right to the point. I will try to give a good synopsis and review without too many Whovian geek biases but I cannot guarantee no spoilers. So just so that you are aware and I have to say this before we start: “Spoiler Alert“.
Peter Capaldi in “The Witch’s Familiar” (image Via: hypable.com)
When “The Witch’s Familiar” starts we are greeted on the screen by Missy and Clara in the desert outside of the Dalek city on Skaro. Which answers the dreaded question of the last episode: “Did the Daleks actually kill Missy and Clara.” This sets us up for an awesome plot ahead as we now know something The Doctor does not yet know. That Clara and Missy are indeed alive and well.
The Doctor, for pretty much the whole episode, is in the Chamber of Davros. Meanwhile Clara and Missy are sneaking in to the city via the sewers. This is wonderfully done as the sewers look gross, just as you would expect for a race of genetically modified “tanks.” Question: Since they are genetically modified, and their exoskeletal devices probably have waste processing built in, then why would they need a sewer?
Clara back in Season 7 “Asylum of the Daleks” (Via: kasterborous.com)
Clara and Missy end up ambushing a Dalek in the “sewer” and Clara ends up inside the Dalek in order for them to infiltrate the base. I loved this as I was harkened back to when we were first introduced to the lovely miss Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. Trapped inside a Dalek and making soufflé. Which told us a lot about the character right away as she is very smart and loves adventure but also wants to be a little domestic but can’t quite manage as her soufflés always fall (Now I want to go make a soufflé as I am making myself hungry lol).
Missy with the Daleks (Via: Cultbox.co.uk)
This also gives us the reason the title for this episode “The Witch’s Familiar” Missy being the witch of course and her own personal Dalek. If I were to speculate I think it may also be foreshadowing future episodes. She was able to “team up” with the Cybermen what would stop her from doing the same with the Daleks? I guess we shall see how correct my hunch is going forward.
The long and short of it is that I really liked this episode because it is definitely classic Doctor Who story telling as we are led in many directions and want the doctor to win and just as we think we are about to be disappointed he makes his move and wins the day.
Daleks from this episode. There are a couple special ones… (image via: The Wallstreet Journal)
As an extra added bonus I found this video spotlight about Nicholas Briggs on Facebook and totally geeked out when I watched the episode as I noticed everything that he was talking about. It’s always nice when you notice all the little things, it makes it a whole lot more gratifying. Especially when you think of all the work and how many people go into making an episode.
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/J76zHmmc1so” width=”400″ height=”260″ responsive=”no”]
I absolutely love behind the scenes stuff.. (Video via: Doctor Who Extra)
Scott will be reviewing the next episode, so I will see you the week after next.
Stay Awesome!
Overall
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- 7.5/10
7.5/10
Summary
I liked this episode because it gave us enough to keep us interested to hook us then gave us a bit of a twist with the Doctor seemingly being caught off guard but still managing to emerge the victor as per usual. It wasn’t a nail biter or a tear jerker or one of my favorites but it was good none the less.