How on earth (or elsewhere) is the 'Doctor Who' crew going to maintain this level of excitement? It was only his second full-length outing, and Peter Capaldi was already face to face with the Doctor's ultimate enemy, a certain Dalek.
Except, this particular Nemesis didn't seem to be on-message, and instead on a mission to destroy his kin. Which meant Clara - naturally - had to head inside HIS head, on a journey with more than a few knowing grins at 'Fantastic Voyage'. The in-depth military advice given to her by The Doctor for such a mission, "Don't be lasagne."
A meeting of two old friends
It all went a bit wrong, as the Doctor and Co succeeded in helping the Dalek right itself, or wrong itself, depending on your perspective. Clara was furious, the Doctor pensive, and the whole thing culminated in a battle of good versus evil, and a window into the Doctor's… well, I'm going to say 'soul', in which he found himself wanting.
If it all seemed a little frenetic after the far more earthy, touchy-feely sentiment of last week's debut, it served as a reminder that, with Peter Capaldi's arrival, the whole franchise has taken a big ol' leap from the Shoreditch quirkiness of Matt Smith and co, to somewhere far more redolent of the wide-eyed Tom Baker days.
No more questions of 'will they or won't they?', more like 'can they or can't they keep this kind of pace for the rest of the series?'
