Time Heist

"The Doctor robs a bank". The idea sells itself, really. But Time Heist was never going to be that straight forward. The result is an episode that remains action packed and fun throughout, but all feels a bit too familiar. Doctor Who is infamous for its use of running, especially down corridors; Time Heist is essentially a corridor running montage for its entire middle act. But the idea keeps it interesting. The episode is also boosted by, yet again, great performances from Capaldi and Coleman. Here, we were also taken away from all the story arcs and serious questions posed so far; a necessary break, which allowed the episode some breathing room. Without this, Time Heist could have been the biggest misfire of the series. But, thankfully, we were left with an episode that, whilst overstuffed and repetitive, was consistently fun and engaging enough to act as a solid piece of TV drama.

The 45 minute time restraint is sometimes Doctor Who's biggest burden, but never more so than here. Time Heist has so many ideas and so much to tell, it struggles to fit everything in, which results in the first half of the episode feeling cluttered and choppily edited. It wouldn't surprise me if the rough draft of this episode was well into an hour long. I actually think Time Heist would have worked as a two-parter. This first half could have acted as a set up (which is, inevitably, needed; they are robbing a bank, after all) and only just delved into the action towards the end, with the resolving part acting as an extended version of the episode's final half. By the time the episode ends, and with so much thrown at you in the final ten minutes, the previous 35 all felt so rushed that it doesn't really make sense. This might improve upon repeated viewings, but even then, the ending felt a bit familiar. Did the whole Alien Love Story thing remind anyone else of last year's Hide?

But, Time Heist probably winds up as the series' most overall enjoyable episode thus far. This was a perfect example of how to have fun without resorting to silliness, which is where Robot of Sherwood faulted. It was also nice to have some side characters that were a bit more fleshed out. Both Psi and Saibra were well developed and welcome additions to the cast; I only feel they could have been even stronger has this story been split over two episodes. This also applies to the episode's antagonist; Ms Delphox, played brilliantly by Keeley Hawes. Whilst she was certainly a creepy villain, she wound up too formulaic in the Female Villain role, and her motives weren't explored enough. Whilst there does seem to be a lot of criticism here, I still really enjoyed Time Heist. It was no match for last week's masterpiece, but it wasn't the show's weakest episode this series, either. Its ideas were too big for its runtime, and there were minor character issues, but it was entertaining, funny and action packed enough to remain interesting throughout. It just won't top any fan favourite lists.

I love a good time heist, and this episode delivered with that. This season keeps getting better. Wowza! I love this season.

Stand and deliver, your psyche and your life, if you cross stalks with The Teller and intend to pull a heist. Stand and deliver, show us what you've got, then once The Teller's probed you you'll be left with not a lot. Stand and deliver, there's nowhere you can get, but just to spice things up a bit we'll make sure you forget. Stand and deliver, says the banker not the thief, just who is the bank robber, with the ransom and the grief.

This episode is essentially a bank heist story on another planet. It has a mystery element and a time travel element. I find it rather quintessential Doctor Who in a number of ways. It has aspects of what makes the show what it is and what the Doctor stands for.

Time travel is used well in this plot without becoming totally illogical. Steven Moffatt's era far too often took time travel aspects too far so that they weren't logical or convincing for me whereas this plot basically makes sense. I love that it makes time travel central to the story because that is part of the essence of Doctor Who - it isn't just space travel it is time travel. The way the mystery is tied in with the time aspect is fun too.

The Doctor using his brains to solve a problem is a feature of this story and that is always a great thing, I think, as that is a key part of the essence of what makes the Doctor a special type of hero. Also the Doctor's compassion in trying to appreciate and help an alien 'monster' is a basic Doctor Who feature which is used well here.

The 'villain' being a banker is a great idea and should be used again in future as banking greed is something which makes perfect sense and relates to real life as well as making sense in alien or future worlds. Keeley Hawes is a very good actress and she plays her part as well as possible adding some class. The other guest acting is all of a good standard as well.

The only real flaw for me is that the supposedly impregnable bank is not all that convincingly portrayed. It hardly seems deserving of its immense reputation.

The adventure is not the most exciting or outstanding one ever but is good solid Doctor Who. The deeper themes of how people behave and how people are treated are thoughtfully presented making this a fairly strong episode overall.

My Rating: 8/10.

My Series 8 Episode Ranking: 6th out of 12.

Finally an episode which creates some interesting characters and where all the praise does not go to Capaldi's performance (which was also excellent, isn't he good!).

Time Heist has the feel of an episode of the classic era, i.e confusion about time and more running about similar looking corridors, which is excellent. The characters of Saibra and Psi were brilliantly written and preformed, I really did start to feel a connection to those two and it would be great if they were to appear again at some point. What the resent series have been lacking is the creation of interesting characters that connect with the audience instead of just focusing on the Doctor, Clara or any other recurring characters. The plot had a confusing edge which kept me concentrated at all times. The Teller was a very interesting new monster which was a nice to see and Keeley Hawes perfectly suited the role of a scary business woman and she had an Umbridge-like feel to the character.

Overall not the best episode ever, but certainly one that can be remembered as a benchmark for more futuristic, weird time episodes which D.Who should be aiming for. Could this be the second step towards a return to form.