After four decidedly off-the-wall episodes, including two in which Ncuti Gatwa hardly appeared and one where he was immobile on a landmine, it was enjoyable to get a relatively straightforward Doctor Who episode. This was a good old sci-fi costume drama, complete with a murderous, shape-shifting, body-draining alien menace seeking thrills while trying to destroy the world.
The explicit references to fandom, cosplay and a season finale only added to the feeling that much of this series has been incredibly meta, with frequent fourth-wall breaks and callbacks to its own earlier episodes. Indeed, the sparring between Rogue (Jonathan Groff) and the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) felt like a turbo-charged version of when the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) met Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) in 2005’s The Doctor Dances, including having a joke about the sonic screwdriver putting up furniture.
