Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Jamie Childs
The Doctor (to Graham/Yasmin/Ryan): "None of us for sure know what's out there. That's why we keep looking. Keep your faith. Travel hopefully. The universe will surprise you, constantly."
Sadly this final episode to an overall good but lacking first run for Jodie Whittaker's Doctor wasn't surprising in the way that it could've been if we're being candid here. I really wanted to like this episode and there were parts that did make an impression but overall, it was so underwhelming.
Now maybe it's that we're used to familiar foes or companion departures or regenerations in other finales but even with weaker series enders in the past such as The Wedding Of River Song or Hell Bent, there was a sense of momentum. This episode felt somewhat devoid of any of that.
I think we all knew that from the moment he made it out of The Woman Who Fell To Earth alive, Tim Shaw/Tzim-Sha would be an ongoing problem, so having him take over the title planet of this episode with the help of the powerful and faith drive Ux lot - Andinio (Phyllis Logan) and Delph (Percelle Ascott) wasn't too big a shocker to be honest.
I wasn't really that impressed with Tzim-Sha in the opening episode and despite some of his huffing and puffing and Chibnall shamelessly stealing a plot from one of RTD's great finales on the show, he still didn't make a great second impression here. I mean we got the obligatory face off scene with the Doctor that really didn't go anywhere along with his gloating and yet this episode still didn't put him out of his misery.
Nope, in spite of Graham taking something of a vengeful turn and getting close to actually avenging Grace's death, the worst that happened to Tzim-Sha was getting shot in the foot and being put into stasis thanks to Graham and Ryan showing leniency on the alien. It's like Chibnall wanted to hint at some potentially juicy drama before reverting everything back to safety.
Speaking of drama free, Yasmin might have largely interacted with Mark Addy's Paltraki and helped the Doctor with the stolen planets/getting the Ux to see reason but she still felt like something of a spare part in this episode. Given that all of the main cast are coming back for next series (which I have mixed feelings on tbh), I really do hope Yasmin is afforded a bit more character development.
As for the Doctor - she had some moments discussing the ever changing rules with her companions, there was a threat of her and Graham falling out and she met with an old enemy but all of that lacked a certain punch. I've really enjoyed Jodie's take on the Doctor but it feels like Chibnall really needs to challenge her Doctor at this point and put her against a certain threat. After this episode, I have no desire to see Tzim-Sha ever again and yet, I get the feeling he'll appear once again before Chibnall and Whittaker exit the series.
- Series 12 won't air until early 2020 but we do have the New Year's Day special, titled Resolution to somewhat tide us over until then.
- Nice references to Boom Town and The Stolen Earth/Journey's End in this episode.
- Not to sound old and grumpy but can we please stop having the Doctor refer to her companions as "fam"? It doesn't work at all.
- We also got the Sniper Bots from The Ghost Monument in this one as well, not that they were of much consequence.
- I did like seeing Ryan admit how much he actually cares for Graham. I do think their scenes were some of the strongest in this episode.
- Chronology: It's been 3407 years since Tzim-Sha last encountered the Doctor. Not that he's been counting or anything.
This didn't feel like a finale. I mean we did have a returning baddie and a threat to the Earth, but even with all of that, The Battle Of Ranskoor Av Kolos felt very much like an average mid-series episode and ultimately felt like an underwhelming way to end Jodie Whittaker's first year as the Doctor. With the gaps between this series and the next one, I really do hope Chibnall steps out of his comfort zone and ups the ante next time because he's going to need to.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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