The Doctor, Clara and a couple of children go to a far-future amusement park, where they discover that the Cybermen threaten to take over the universe ... by assimilating the Doctor. It also considers the season's theme of identity and lets us know that it is a far more obscure issue than it appears at first sight.
I have said in my review of "The Doctor's Wife" that Neil Gaiman, who also wrote this episode, is probably the best writer of fantasy now working. Although this episode appears to be far more usual an episode, its subtext is that no one is who they appear to be. We all show a particular face to the world, especially when we don't really like who we are. That, this episode tells us, is why the Doctor has regenerated ten times and can assume a new identity by waving his psychic paper; that is why the platoon on the planet turns out to be a punishment unit; that is why Clara is so interesting: after looking at her for almost a full season, no one really knows who she is; and that is why the Cybermen are so compelling to Gaiman and us: they have lost their identities completely. The only person who is what she appears to be is the platoon's captain and she dies. Apparently that's the punishment for identity.
It's not as compelling a story as Gaiman's last; it depends far more on the details of execution, but the Doctor Who production team is up to providing the fillips to keep it interesting and Matt Smith to the task of playing two characters almost simultaneously. In what has been a fairly rocky season, it is an excellent episode.
I have said in my review of "The Doctor's Wife" that Neil Gaiman, who also wrote this episode, is probably the best writer of fantasy now working. Although this episode appears to be far more usual an episode, its subtext is that no one is who they appear to be. We all show a particular face to the world, especially when we don't really like who we are. That, this episode tells us, is why the Doctor has regenerated ten times and can assume a new identity by waving his psychic paper; that is why the platoon on the planet turns out to be a punishment unit; that is why Clara is so interesting: after looking at her for almost a full season, no one really knows who she is; and that is why the Cybermen are so compelling to Gaiman and us: they have lost their identities completely. The only person who is what she appears to be is the platoon's captain and she dies. Apparently that's the punishment for identity.
It's not as compelling a story as Gaiman's last; it depends far more on the details of execution, but the Doctor Who production team is up to providing the fillips to keep it interesting and Matt Smith to the task of playing two characters almost simultaneously. In what has been a fairly rocky season, it is an excellent episode.