This week’s episode was written by a first timer to Doctor Who, Mike Bartlett. It wasn’t a bad first try, but I was less impressed by this one than the first three episodes this year. The big reveal that the old man was actually the son, not the father, of the wooden woman, felt a little bit inorganic to me. I found it odd she was able to forget that he was her son. It just didn’t quite feel likely to me.
I also felt like restoring all of Bill’s friends at the end was a bit of cheat. I’m not sure why that worked. I would have been more OK with it if there had been any explanation of why it worked. It felt too much like ‘the magic of love’ saving the day without any science (fiction) explanation.
All that said, it was not a bad episode. It was a right creepy episode with the whole alien bugs that can consume you thing. It was well timed on that front, using noises for about half the episode before we even got the bug reveal.
It was fun seeing the Doctor annoy Bill at home though, like an un-cool uncle who insists on hanging around. I also enjoyed Bill’s use of the TARDIS as a moving truck. That was a first to my knowledge for the TARDIS.
At any rate, I am very much looking forward to the return of writer Jamie Mathieson next week.
6.5/10