C+Q - The Eaters of Light (2017)

Fun fact: the main Roman character is played by Bala-Tik from Star Wars. It's good to see he's continuing his noble quest for better Scottish representation in sci-fi.

It's surprising that it took this long but finally we have a modern Doctor Who episode written by a Classic series writer. Rona Munro's script has a very distinct energy to it that sets it apart from the other filler we've had this year, particularly in the way the conflict is resolved. Although we eventually get to the moral conundrum of who's going to sacrifice themselves to keep the monster from escaping the portal, the actual fight with the monster where it's driven back into the dimension it came from is a physical fight using 'weapons' rather than the sort of clever 'talking his way out of a tricky situation' resolution we're used to. It was kinda refreshing to have a monster who was defeated with something physical like weaponised sunlight rather than the Doctor reasoning with it. Not that I'm saying I want Doctor Who to become action-oriented and loose its optimism, but it was nice to have an actual fight against a monster in this show about fighting monsters.

Bill's side story was very Classic Who in the way it was used to flesh out the setting and the supporting cast. I'm a little disappointed overall with the lack of variety in the locations this year, particularly after the opening three episodes. If there's one benefit to reusing a tired old companion introduction formula from 2005, it's that 'modern day Earth', 'exotic alien future', 'drab British history' makes for a varied set of locations that decentralise the show's universe. Unfortunately Series 10 constantly pulls us back to modern Earth when the Vault could have easily been kept on board the TARDIS (which is where I assume it was during The Return of Doctor Mysterio). And even when we're not on modern day Earth, modern day Earth is still used as a framing device. The little girl at the start is only on screen for about 20 seconds but manages to turn in a memorable performance due to how shockingly bad she is. Why is she even given a line? Why is she in this episode? Why couldn't we just start in our main setting? Same goes for Empress of Mars; why was a modern day pre-title sequence necessary?

At least Empress of Mars has a distinct alien setting. The Eaters of Light takes place in a few fields and some forests. I get what they're going for but the old Scottish #aesthetic isn't nearly strong or memorable enough. Not only is it not strong or memorable, but it's also diluted by the modern day moments, meaning what we basically have is the main body of a Doctor Who series taking place in conventional Earth locations that lack impact or imagination. Visually, what Series 10 really needed was another Smile right in the middle.

The highlights of the episode for me include the crow thing, which was wonderful, and the Missy stuff at the end. Series 10 has been a pretty messy series, and I feel like the lack of focus given to Missy's redemption arc is the reason why. The Doctor and Missy's relationship is, in theory, the emotional core of Series 10 but it exists mainly as something we're told about rather than something we're shown. At the very least, the Missy scenes at the end were well acted by Capaldi and Gomez, by far my favourite Doctor/Master duo.

The Eaters of Light is similar to Thin Ice in that it feels like a pure historical (despite definitely not being one). There is a scary monster in this episode, but defeating it is more of a formality and the real climax is more about deciding who's going to volunteer to keep it locked up. Making the emotions and actions of characters the main focus of your plot is obviously a good way to tell stories in general, and it does work here. Thing is, it just wasn't a particularly memorable ending and it's placement right before the finale made this episode feel even more like obligatory filler than the previous nine did. That being said, this was an okay bit of Doctor Who and it's good to have Rona Munro back.