‘Doctor Who’ season 8, episode 5 review: Clones and Peter Capaldi in-jokes in ‘Time Heist’
Sometimes, watching a “Doctor Who” episode is relatively akin to going to a restaurant, where every week they have a tiny menu of all-new specials. Sometimes, you love the soup of the day, and other times you’re going to opt for the solid.
Last week’s “Listen” was almost akin to a delicate portion of fish, served with a subtle sauce that you very much enjoyed. It may not have been the heartiest of meals, but you would pay almost any price of it. This week, you had “Time Heist.” This was almost a slab of steak that you wanted to keep you full, and then as you were eating it you discovered a couple new flavors here and there. You aren’t sure that you love every single one of them, but you didn’t want to stop eating until it was over.
This was a very good episode of the show, packed with action and a few twists to begin with. The problem with the name, though, was that it basically gave away one of the biggest twists: The “heists” that the Doctor and Clara were involved with were so intricate that they involved time travel. It was all manipulation to get the bank when it was the most vulnerable.
The best part of this episode for us was the usage of humor. We love the references to Peter Capaldi’s eyebrows, and even, right in the middle of an intense scene, we had a joke about how Twelve’s outfit makes him look somewhat like a magician. (The press has hit him hard when it comes to this.)
This episode brought to us big moments, new characters, and probably more action as a whole than we had all season long. There were also clones! The most touching part was learning that this entire “heist” was really just a mission to protect and save a race that was being used solely for bank manipulation. We starting to feel like most of this episode was funny, but also somewhat hollow; this lifted the end to a level where, while it was not “Listen,” still made this a very solid entry in season 8. Grade: B+.
What was your take on “Time Heist” as an episode? Share your thoughts right now with a comment, and click here if you do want to preview the next episode.
Photo: BBC
EJ Jackson
September 21, 2014 @ 8:13 am
Another very enjoyable episode – a fantastic new ‘monster’, and some great character moments from all the cast. Intriguing new characters, too – liking the hint that the cyborg and the shapeshifter who doesn’t anymore might actually return…it’s been a long time since the Doctor has had more than one companion on board and it was nice to see the Tardis so busy! Also lovely to see the excellent Keeley Hawes in the show too – I wonder if we might ever see her husband, Matthew McFadyen, in a guest role? Now that would be amazing…
All in all, I thought it was a well-written and thoughtful story – it seemed rather like a slightly shallow ‘romp’ at the start, but the reason for the ‘memory wipe’ soon became clear, bringing in darker tones – and even though the title might have given the twist away, when is ‘Doctor Who’ NOT about time-travel in some form or other?! I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I have every episode so far. I am really liking the continuing theme (remember the Tenth Doctor? Who can forget him…) of the Doctor’s dislike of the military – I have a feeling those pigeons will come home to roost in a very interesting way at some point…And next week, the Doctor seems about to fulfil his own prophecy by becoming a ‘Caretaker’…. looking forward to it!