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andrasteSince the new series came back, it's made an art of the big, bombastic finale - fourteen of them in all, if we count The End of the World and The Time of the Doctor, and they certainly fit the bill. While there's several I truly enjoy, only one of them is my favourite story of the entire season it concludes.
There's just so many things I love in this two-parter. One more timey-wimey plot! Properly scary Cybermen! Moffatt indulging himself to establish that all of their spin-off media origin stories are true at once! (I may have punched the air when the Doctor mentioned Planet 14 and the Voord. Take that, people who don't think the comic strip counts!)
The part I do not love is - look, there is a reason the planned Twitter rewatch of this got cancelled, because it would have been spectacularly poorly-timed to talk about this story while Black Lives Matter protests were going on everywhere. I know Moffatt didn't mean what happens to Bill to come across That Way. Any more than he meant it That Way when the other major black character who appeared during his era was also killed and turned into a Cyberman. Any more than RTD meant it That Way when the Master forced Martha's family to dress up as maids just a few episodes after she'd been forced to dress up as a maid. Any more than Chibnall meant it That Way when Grace was killed off in the first episode of his run so other people could be sad about it. But, you know, that doesn't actually change the fact that Doctor Who has a long history of treating the bodies and lives of its black characters in racist and unpleasant ways and I really hope it's actually stopped now. It would be nice if Ryan did not die and/or get turned into a Cyberman in his last appearance, is what I'm saying. (Also I guess he should not dress up as a maid, but somehow I don't think it would come across the same way if he did.)
At least the whole thing is ameliorated a bit by Bill using her Cyber-powers to save the day and by joining Clara in travelling the universe with her immortal girlfriend by the end. (Please, Big Finish, get Clara and Me and Bill and Heather in the same story. Maybe Clara and Me have also broken up by now and Clara and Bill can kiss???)
After a wonderful first half in which Moffatt indulges his love of glorious timey-wimey nonsense one more time while the Doctor spends ten minutes doing nothing and Bill spends ten years doing nothing only much more slowly, there's surprisingly little actual plot in the second half. But who needs things to happen when the run time gets filled up with character stuff this good and Cybermen this explodey instead?
The Doctor Falls isn't just an ending for the season, but effectively for the entire Moffatt era. Oh, sure, there's a nice bit of Christmas fluff that comes after this, but everything that actually needs to be wrapped up is wrapped up here, from Bill and Missy's arcs to the Twelth Doctor's final statement on what sort of man he is. I mean, the pre-regeneration speech at the end of Twice Upon A Time is fine. But the scene in this episode where he chases after the Master and Missy to explain why he does what he does is the best Big Doctor Speech that Moffat ever wrote or Capaldi ever delivered:
“Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me. And you’re going to die too! Some day. And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?”
I would love to know who it was (Moffatt? Rachel Talalay? Capaldi?) who came up with the brilliant idea that the Doctor delivers the whole thing to the Master, who is not listening at all, while barely glancing at Missy, who he's been trying to reform for decades at this point. Because he doesn't need to make a speech to her - a couple of sentences where he admits that all he's ever wanted is for them to stand together is what he tries with her, because if that doesn't work a monologue certainly won't.
... and the heartbreaking thing is it does work. Just too late. In the end, Missy does stand with him, without hope or witness or reward.
I'm sure that someone will sort out the Master's regeneration order at some point, even if Chibnall apparently can't be bothered, but until then I will remain fond of the idea that Missy really is the end of the road - that the Dhawan Master and whoever else we see in future actually slot in between Simm and Missy and she really does die her final death at her own hands because for once when the chips were down she admitted her friend was right all along - that no matter how much she'd loved being the Master, she couldn't be that person any more.
I think this is probably my favourite story about the Master ever. Not my favourite story with the Master in it (we'll get to that eventually as this countdown goes on) but my favourite one about them as a person. Watching the Master and Missy interact is a complete delight throughout, from the bit where she knocks him over the head to the Master practising with Missy's eyeliner to that wonderful double death scene. And the wall pushing. (Trust Moffatt to go out on a joke that establishes quite, um, firmly that Time Lord genitals and human ones do work the same way.)
The companions also get a grand showing - whatever my feelings about the way Bill's story plays out, Pearl Mackie delivers an absolutely mesmerising performance throughout, and I'll always chuckle at Nardole being forced to play the hero and promising to take his revenge by naming a 'really rubbish town' Doctor.
In the end, though, this is Capaldi's show after all, as three seasons of character development end in a frantic race to save a handful of humans from an army of Cybermen. It's easy to see why he doesn't want to regenerate after all this - how exhausted he is with losing people, including himself, over and over again. With no-one left to save, he's finally run out of steam.
Just as well his own self is on hand to rev him up just one more time and show him that change sometimes comes not a moment too soon ...
There's just so many things I love in this two-parter. One more timey-wimey plot! Properly scary Cybermen! Moffatt indulging himself to establish that all of their spin-off media origin stories are true at once! (I may have punched the air when the Doctor mentioned Planet 14 and the Voord. Take that, people who don't think the comic strip counts!)
The part I do not love is - look, there is a reason the planned Twitter rewatch of this got cancelled, because it would have been spectacularly poorly-timed to talk about this story while Black Lives Matter protests were going on everywhere. I know Moffatt didn't mean what happens to Bill to come across That Way. Any more than he meant it That Way when the other major black character who appeared during his era was also killed and turned into a Cyberman. Any more than RTD meant it That Way when the Master forced Martha's family to dress up as maids just a few episodes after she'd been forced to dress up as a maid. Any more than Chibnall meant it That Way when Grace was killed off in the first episode of his run so other people could be sad about it. But, you know, that doesn't actually change the fact that Doctor Who has a long history of treating the bodies and lives of its black characters in racist and unpleasant ways and I really hope it's actually stopped now. It would be nice if Ryan did not die and/or get turned into a Cyberman in his last appearance, is what I'm saying. (Also I guess he should not dress up as a maid, but somehow I don't think it would come across the same way if he did.)
At least the whole thing is ameliorated a bit by Bill using her Cyber-powers to save the day and by joining Clara in travelling the universe with her immortal girlfriend by the end. (Please, Big Finish, get Clara and Me and Bill and Heather in the same story. Maybe Clara and Me have also broken up by now and Clara and Bill can kiss???)
After a wonderful first half in which Moffatt indulges his love of glorious timey-wimey nonsense one more time while the Doctor spends ten minutes doing nothing and Bill spends ten years doing nothing only much more slowly, there's surprisingly little actual plot in the second half. But who needs things to happen when the run time gets filled up with character stuff this good and Cybermen this explodey instead?
The Doctor Falls isn't just an ending for the season, but effectively for the entire Moffatt era. Oh, sure, there's a nice bit of Christmas fluff that comes after this, but everything that actually needs to be wrapped up is wrapped up here, from Bill and Missy's arcs to the Twelth Doctor's final statement on what sort of man he is. I mean, the pre-regeneration speech at the end of Twice Upon A Time is fine. But the scene in this episode where he chases after the Master and Missy to explain why he does what he does is the best Big Doctor Speech that Moffat ever wrote or Capaldi ever delivered:
“Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me. And you’re going to die too! Some day. And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?”
I would love to know who it was (Moffatt? Rachel Talalay? Capaldi?) who came up with the brilliant idea that the Doctor delivers the whole thing to the Master, who is not listening at all, while barely glancing at Missy, who he's been trying to reform for decades at this point. Because he doesn't need to make a speech to her - a couple of sentences where he admits that all he's ever wanted is for them to stand together is what he tries with her, because if that doesn't work a monologue certainly won't.
... and the heartbreaking thing is it does work. Just too late. In the end, Missy does stand with him, without hope or witness or reward.
I'm sure that someone will sort out the Master's regeneration order at some point, even if Chibnall apparently can't be bothered, but until then I will remain fond of the idea that Missy really is the end of the road - that the Dhawan Master and whoever else we see in future actually slot in between Simm and Missy and she really does die her final death at her own hands because for once when the chips were down she admitted her friend was right all along - that no matter how much she'd loved being the Master, she couldn't be that person any more.
I think this is probably my favourite story about the Master ever. Not my favourite story with the Master in it (we'll get to that eventually as this countdown goes on) but my favourite one about them as a person. Watching the Master and Missy interact is a complete delight throughout, from the bit where she knocks him over the head to the Master practising with Missy's eyeliner to that wonderful double death scene. And the wall pushing. (Trust Moffatt to go out on a joke that establishes quite, um, firmly that Time Lord genitals and human ones do work the same way.)
The companions also get a grand showing - whatever my feelings about the way Bill's story plays out, Pearl Mackie delivers an absolutely mesmerising performance throughout, and I'll always chuckle at Nardole being forced to play the hero and promising to take his revenge by naming a 'really rubbish town' Doctor.
In the end, though, this is Capaldi's show after all, as three seasons of character development end in a frantic race to save a handful of humans from an army of Cybermen. It's easy to see why he doesn't want to regenerate after all this - how exhausted he is with losing people, including himself, over and over again. With no-one left to save, he's finally run out of steam.
Just as well his own self is on hand to rev him up just one more time and show him that change sometimes comes not a moment too soon ...