This hebdomad ’s MD Who saw the Monk trilogy amount to its end , as team TARDIS found themselves battling through a dystopian Britain literally being brainwashed by fake news . It ’s a timely take on our modern world , but “ The Lie of the Land ” disappointingly threw out its most interesting premise by put the accurate same wickedness .
The first 15 minutes or so of “ The Lie of the Land ” are honestly quite amazing . Not since Martha ’s journey across the Master - rule Earth in “ The Sound of Drums / The Last of the Timelords ” has Doctor Who really thrust its associate into a miserable , busy Earth on their own for a trip through the emotional wringer . But Martha ’s journey was about hope , about act out a design to save the world herself ; Bill ’s journey is about having promise in the Doctor , only to have that Bob Hope brutally snuffed out .
The whole premise of the sequence is that the Monks have convince humanity that they ’ve been there helping and manoeuver Earth for millennium , a false “ truth ” that allows them to wipe out all protester and oppress the earth . Worst , the Doctor himself is spreading their propaganda . When Bill ( and Nardole , draw along for the drive ) finally gets the pause she involve to feel the Doctor and relieve him from the Monks ’ control only , she ’s gut - perforate by the reveal he is volitionally working with them , in one of the dark bit of Doctor Who this entire season .
It ’s a setting that , as ever , is sublimely perform by Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie — Capaldi ’s quiet fury as he lambasts Bill and humanity at large as fool that he can no longer stick out , ignoring their history as fascism is on the rise , and Mackie ’s incredible , refined bouncing between heartache , despair , anger , and determination should make the Doctor and Bill ’s encounter go down as one of the proficient moments of season 10 .
That is , until literally second gear after the alarmingly ballsy and shocking moment that a distraught Bill shoots the Doctor ( and even triggering a regeneration ! ) and it all devolves into a “ gotcha ! ” jest , played cruelly on Bill and slightly less cruelly on the consultation , who ’ve been tease about this climactic momentfor monthsat this point . But the fact that the Doctor get together force with the Monks was nothing more than a fake - out to make a dandy trailer cliffhanger is n’t actually what make water the instant so disappointing .
It ’s the fact that after the show pick itself back up now after to get on with the heart of actually defeating the Monks , it does so with a far less interesting take on the timely topics of resistor and fake news than the one it was setting up , climax in one of Doctor Who ’s most frustratingly favored cliffhanger gyration , done time and time again — a triumph with the mogul of love . The Doctor and Bill ’s opposition is a metaphor on the ira many people feel in the wake of the ascent of figures like Donald Trump or a movement like Brexit , the hopelessness people feel at the ignorance of what history has teach us about moments like this , and how we ’re seemingly doomed to repeat the sins of the past times .
The fact that even the Doctor can seemingly buckle under to such desperation , one of the most bright and optimistic heroes around , should have been immensely chilling . The fact that Bill , his “ normal ” human acquaintance , can not , and takes matters into her own hands rather than placing her fate in the promise of someone else come to rescue her , should have been an immensely herculean message on resistance . or else , it ’s all swept apart as signify nothing at all , in favour of what is a duff climax to an uneven - at - best trilogy with these rather useless distance zombi monks . The rest of “ The prevarication of the Land ” bears little deserving really discuss , outside of once again some shockingly stellar performances from Capaldi and Mackie again , simply because it ’s so thoroughly average in comparison — a vanilla Doctor Who story with sprinklings of references to current political science on top rather than one that really has something meaningful to say .
That “ The Lie of the Land ” top it all off with Bill saving the day by think back her love for her all in female parent — a well the modern era of Doctor Who has truly run dry at this point — to vote out the Monk ’s brainwashing say it all , really . When the shocking twist of the episode is that you ’re going to sail away the original , interesting poppycock to do something we ’ve seen fourth dimension and metre again on the show , then maybe the actual “ fake news ” was assuming this trilogy of stories was deserving our time in the first position .
Assorted Musings (in Time and Space):
So what was the deal with the Monks ? We never got an explanation of why they were so spell-bound with Earth in the first place . Or what they were actually doing , despite the fact they were meant to be the major villain of a three - part story . In the destruction , they buggered off in their place pyramid ( why was it shaped like that , anyway ? ) impart us none the wiser .
I will say at least that one thing that did matter in this trilogy , aside from its oecumenical bolstering of Bill and the Doctor ’s relationship , was all the mystical stuff and nonsense regarding Missy ’s renewal in the vault . Michelle Gomezrecently tell us notto trust anything out of Missy ’s mouth , but even with agnosticism , the idea of the Master being brought round to at least some colour of the Doctor ’s ideals of good and justice is a fascinating assumption that I ca n’t expect to see unfold .
physician Who is rarely insidious when it comes to its symbolism , but I kind of loved the sheer patency of have one of the last image of the substantial world we see in the Monk ’s brainwashing hub , surrounded by the infected memories of the Monks as Bill idea - fights their dominance is President Trump ’s facial expression :
‘ Fake News exchange ’ indeed .
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