Thin Ice

You have to feel for poor Bill Potts, she's not been gifted the greatest plots. Doby Mick under the Thames, and parasite fish with glowing stems. Nanobots with a thirst for flesh, and water girls that don't refresh. Whatever next, a haunted house, possessed by Abzorbaloff parasitic space louse!

The Doctor and Bill have landed in Regency London during the last great frost fair on the Thames.

Bill enquires about the ramifications of treading in the past but when a little street urchin falls inside the icy river and devoured by an underwater chained up beast which excretes some kind of explosive poo, the Doctor only cares about retrieving his sonic screwdriver from the child's hand before the lad plunges completely into the water.

An appalled Bill asks how many people has the Doctor seen being killed. We know the it is in the millions. The Doctor answers 'I don't know,' 'I care but I move on.'

Bill then asks the Doctor if he has ever killed someone. Again we know the answer, millions. The Doctor is still reluctant to answer, we know why he always moves on so he does not have to look back.

Lord Sutcliffe was the hissable villain of the week, he had no empathy for his fellow man and his racism led to a punch in the face from the Doctor.

Sutcliffe also controls the beast for his own ends, although the story was simple, the early part of the episode was just a bit slow to get going. The production values and photography though were top notch. Mist was craftily used to cover up the limitations of the sets, for interiors, canvas and tents were deployed and the underwater sequence with CGI were rather niftily done.

This is one of those episodes that leaves me feeling happy and anticipating the next story of the series. I haven't felt that about Doctor Who in a very long time (probably around Series 5 or 6). Bill (Mackie) has a more emotional journey this time around, yet it still manages to be a lighthearted feel-good episode. Capaldi gives a nice little speech, that makes the relationship between The Doctor and Bill even stronger. This Series is truly off to a great start. (Also, the next episode looks fantastic).

Episode 3 "Thin Ice" - 8/10

The Doctor and Bill arrive in London 1814 and learn of a creature living in the frozen Thames

!!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!!

So far this year we've been treated to a rather low key show and this is by no means a complaint . In fact it tends to work in the show's favour because the writing , performances and all round drama have replaced an over-reliance on spectacle and noisy nonsense . Thin Ice continues this feel. But there's always a conjunction

But....

.... the downside is it feels like it was written by what's known in British popular culture as a "Guardianista" . Let's see now:

Racism is wrong ? - Check

Capitalism is cruel ? - Check

Men are even more cruel ? - Check

So the monster is the goodie and the baddie is a white male capitalist . One of the great things about classic Who is that it was able - like the very best of science fiction - to mix mind blowing entertainment with subtext. The Silurians from 1970 and Genesis Of The Daleks from 1975 are amongst the greatest pieces of television the show has come up. Continuing the theme here it just feels too obvious and a whole lot of nothing. On top of that an organisation like the BBC should be among the last people on Earth to lecture others on morality since their own track record has been so poor . In fact I was reading an old edition of the Radio Times the other day and took me a while before I realised it was the sex offenders register. Sad but true

The third episode of series 10 sees the Doctor and new companion Bill arriving at the last great frost fair on the River Thames, London in 1814. There are strange things lurking under the ice and a very unpleasant person manipulating events above the ice. The Doctor steps in to try to resolve matters.

There are many excellent features to this episode and overall it is very good and enjoyable. Following on from a superb first episode and an ok second episode, series 10 continues to satisfy overall in terms of varied story lines, good scripts, strong character development, quality acting and entertainment.

Capaldi as the Doctor is brilliant and executes everything perfectly in this episode including a powerful speech to the villain which is superb. Indeed there is a lot of powerful stuff in the script with Bill questioning the Doctor's morals, purpose, and way of life (as other companions have periodically since the very start in 1963 when Ian and Barbara challenge the Doctor's morals). The way it is dealt with here is very good indeed and reinforces the character of the Doctor as a man who has to make difficult choices and take difficult actions for the greater good. Steven Moffatt often overplays the darker side of the Doctor and hypes it up a bit in my opinion but writer Sarah Dollard here gets it just right. It questions him but shows that he definitely is making the tough choices for the right reasons.

Issues of racism and how black people were treated in the past are raised and again are dealt with very well. Bill is establishing herself as a fine companion. Well acted and very likable, doing all the things a companion should. She is strong and full of personality but is not overly dominant or over confident in an annoying way.

There are a couple of small negatives, I think:

There is a slight lapse in internal logic/continuity when the Doctor and Bill go under the ice into the Thames in old fashioned diving suits. In real life these suits were exceptionally heavy and required an oxygen line for someone to remain underwater. It seems a little bit odd that in this they are able to move in the suits with relative ease and the means of providing air for them to breathe is not clearly used properly. But the thing that drew my attention more was when they emerge from the water and the suits are dry. This is not a major issue in the story at all but it is a silly and unnecessary flawed moment which took me out of it for a minute.

Also, I feel the effects of the giant fish and of the attacks through the ice are not as good as they could have been.

The fish story is not exactly the most amazing or convincing idea. However, it is interesting to have an unknown earth creature rather than an alien so it has some value in adding variety.

This was a mostly really well written and performed episode.

The regency time period is interesting and the setting is very nice to look at in terms of costume and the iced over River Thames with an atmospheric situation that adds to the feel of the episode.

The villain is suitably horrible and the story is very solid with great moral aspects to the script adding intelligence to the relatively simple plot. That is the what we need from solid Doctor Who and Series 10 is nearly all solid Doctor Who.

My Rating: 8/10.

Series 10 Episode Ranking: 9th out of 14.