“Everyone wants to meet a monster” said the Doctor to the Professor of Mythology. The children in my household tune in without fail in the expectation and indeed hope that a monster, new or old, but undeniably a monster, will scare the living daylights out of them. This series has certainly not been short of scares, though many of them have not come from a monster as such. If there is a parable to learn from Mummy On The Orient Express it is that we ought to fear technology more than we fear an unknown creature. John Session’s voice was not dark or fearsome, quite the reverse, but his well spoken computer is the real villain of the episode.
One of Doctor Who’s most enduring story types has been that of the base under siege. The idea of a self contained threat in which the victims are trapped in a confined space and picked off one by one is the stuff of nightmares and from The Edge of Destruction to The God Complex it has provided the show with some of its better scripts (The Moonbase, Horror of Fang Rock to name but two). Unfortunately, the tried and tested formula doesn’t always come up trumps and it can result in a cliché filled, self referential, derivative horror fest. Arguably the worst candidates include Cold War, Warriors of the Deep and 42. But just occasionally, the old friend can surprise us by going over and above what is expected, gracing us with an extraordinary piece of drama. For long term Doctor Who fans, the Tom Baker story Robots of Death has genuinely been regarded as the cream of the crop. But make way you super vocs and dums – there is a new challenger to the throne.
After the events of Kill The Moon viewers were left wondering how on earth Clara could continue any meaningful relationship with the Doctor. There was even a rumour that she would not feature in Mummy On The Orient Express. So intense was her negative reaction towards the Doctor it looked like she had jumped ship. However, the preceding episode ended with Danny Pink adopting the role of a counsellor, advising her that she had too much anger to be finishing with the Doctor just yet. Mummy on the Orient Express quickly addresses this when Clara tells the Doctor that she had been taught that hatred is too strong an emotion to waste on someone you do not like. She has clearly taken on board Danny’s observations and spent a period of time working out that anger she had felt towards the Doctor. The opposite of love is not rage but apathy and Clara far from being distant to the Doctor, continues to empathise with him, imagining what it might be like to be in the shoes of a man constantly faced with making impossible choices.
After the events of Kill The Moon viewers were left wondering how on earth Clara could continue any meaningful relationship with the Doctor.
Now we are confronted with a more considered Clara who believes she is emotionally ready to make the break. And so in many ways this is like one of those grown up dates where there is no pressure about the follow up, a last hurrah for good times sake, with no strings attached – like lovers parting on best friend terms. The series has tended to be better in dealing with companions who leave in tragic or unhappy circumstances (Sarah Jane, Tegan, Rose, Donna, Amy), with the happy endings rushed and at times incredulous (Susan, Leela, Peri, Christina). It is therefore refreshing that a companion might be allowed to leave on good terms, with a proper closure. But then once again, Danny Pink intervenes, and inadvertently the ride with the Doctor is back on. Ominously and somewhat unsatisfyingly unless there is a hidden twist to be revealed, Clara allows him to think he is determining her choices for her. The sassy and head strong Clara is strangely meek when it comes to her new boyfriend; it’s as if she feels she ought to need his approval to have a life outside of their relationship. Here’s hoping that there is a double meaning in Clara’s “Mission accomplished” and that Danny is leading her on a merry dance for nefarious purposes, otherwise it is an unenlightened relationship.
The depiction of the Doctor is so much more sympathetic and yet he is still unwilling to trust himself and he continues to undermine Clara’s and by extension our faith in him. One of most chilling scenes of the episode does not even feature the Mummy, it is that of Clara apparently leading Maisie to her death. Jenna Coleman plays a blinder with that sickening feeling of guilt so clear in her expressions and even the manner of her walk. We breath a sigh of relief with Clara when we discover that the Doctor’s hidden plan is to take Maisie’s place. And yet he still cannot bring himself to unequivocally tell Clara that he is a good man, and he accepts a degree of unknowing and even trial and error. “You were pretending to be heartless” “would you like to think that about me?…..I would have moved on to the next (victim) until I beat it.” More and more it is becoming clear that the Doctor lacks the emotional engagement that tends to motivate our choices, so that whilst his aims are honourable, his reasoning is more one of justice than a concern for the other’s welfare. This aloofness is quite different from a personality trait that we see for instance in characters like Sherlock. It is instead an alien thing, one born out of his unique understanding of suffering. It is a detachment carved out of the ability to cheat death through regeneration and the power to travel in the fourth dimension. This alienness is mistaken for arrogance by others around him “I can’t tell if you are a genius of incredibly arrogant”. The Doctor takes on the role of a great detective (ala Robots of Death and The Unicorn And The Wasp) but unlike Sherlock he resorts to guess work and misdiagnoses the Captain.
One of most chilling scenes of the episode does not even feature the Mummy, it is that of Clara apparently leading Maisie to her death
The big bad in this story turns out to be not the Mummy but the computer GUS who expertly voiced by John Sessions, is eerily reminiscent of BOSS from The Green Death with a hint of Tuddenham’s Zen thrown into the mix. But interestingly GUS’s modus operandum is not that far removed from the Doctor’s, explaining why the Doctor so quickly gets his enemy. It could be argued that GUS represents the worst traits of the Doctor insofar as he uses others to prove a point or to find a solution to a problem in the universe. Isn’t that what the Doctor has been doing from day one, and pretty excessively so this series (especially Into The Dalek, The Caretaker, Time Heist)?
Peter Capaldi continues to delight in his execution of the complex Time Lord. If in his pre publicity appearance he channelled Jon Pertwee’s suave Third Doctor, it is unmistakably Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor that we are continually reminded of. Here he has his “even the sonic screwdriver won’t get me out of this one” moment (“stupid sonic screwdriver won’t work”) and on several occasions even sounds like Tom, most notably when talking to himself “A Mummy that only a victim can see”. But there are differences – the Twelfth Doctor is more of a cosplay fan than the Fourth (Talons of Weng Chaing and Terror of The Zygon excepted), happy to blend in as opposed to standing out from the crowd, even hiding his jelly babies inside an authentically period cigarette case. But like the Fourth Doctor he comes across as childlike, bordering childish. This is brilliantly brought out when he cuts off a serious conversation with Clara with “can I talk about the planets now” – every parent will know similar examples of children switching topics such as discipline or homework to what matters most to them, their toys for example. When it comes to human emotions the Twelfth Doctor is childlike in his simplicity. A smile cannot mean two things and when it does it must be a malfunction. This childlike quality of the Doctor softens the edges on an otherwise cold character and in the scene when he attempts to get Perkins to travel with him and in his unbridled joy at Clara changing her mind, we are presented with a boy who just wants someone to play with, a world apart from his manipulative alter-ego.
One of the features of the revived series has been the high number of self-referential third-wall-breaking moments (though these happen time to time in the Classic series too it should be said).Mummy on the Orient Express had one such delicious example when inside the sarcophagus is not Sutekh but bubble wrap. In the Doctor Who universe Clara should know that this odd material can be highly dangerous (The Ark In Space). Speaking of everyday objects thrown into fantastical settings, the period costumes, props and sets are the real strengths of the piece design wise. The BBC might not be able to complete with it’s US equivalents when it comes to special effects or animatronics, but whilst the Mummy is in no means a let down, in using the conceit of a lab disguised as a Victorian train the design team can show off what they do best. This is less Transit (Ben Aaronovitch’s New Adventures novel) and more Voyage of the Damned.
As it turned out the episode was not a Clara lite story, but it certainly was a children lite story. A feature of Steven Moffat’s time on the show has been the use of child characters and this series has followed that trend. But it is slightly strange that there are no child holograms to help preserve GUS’s illusion, or even a child genius who might have provided a useful brain for his experiment. As for the guest stars the build up focused on the celebrity and fan boy status of Frank Skinner who joins an increasingly long list of comedian guest stars (John Cleese, Ken Dodd, Hale and Pace, Mitchell and Webb, Bill Bailey to name but a few). Unlike Richard Briers (Torchwood) or even Nicolas Parsons (The Curse of Fenric) Skinner is unlikely to be entirely convincing in a serious role. He very much plays Perkins as Frank Skinner in a hat, but this is only detracting to the character for those familiar with his day job. That is, with the exception of the excruciatingly bad suffocation scene. Whilst he is clearly relishing the opportunity, it is the acting equivalent of his move into music with The Lightning Seeds and Football’s Coming Home. Skinner however, has reason to be proud for the most part here. Foxes appearance also heavily advertised is thankfully restricted to doing what she does best, with an apt cover of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. The performances of the other members of the supporting cast are excellent. David Bamber conveys well the ineffectualness of Quail’s leadership, Daisy Beaumont and Maisie is suitably transparent in her emotions and reactions to her Gran’s death and Christopher Villiers does his turn as the academic expert with an authoritative tone befitting his status.
The crux of the episode, the mystery of the 66 seconds killings and the identity of the Mummy, is wonderfully creative in its resolution and allows Capaldi to take charge, forcing him to resolve the problem within 66 seconds. As gambles go, this is one of the Doctor’s biggest risks, an act of sheer folly rather than arrogance, but he gets away with it and the production just about get away with the onscreen countdowns. The identity of the Mummy is cleverly tied in to the running theme of the military and cannot be coincidence that the Doctor takes on the role of an officer ordering the soldier to stand down, especially as the Mummy just like Danny previously, salutes the Doctor.
This is an impressive debut for Mathiesen and like all the best episodes he is able to cram so much into the space of 45 minutes. The use of the psychic paper as a short cut again proved beneficial and this time with a new twist. We learn here that the gadget works as a combination of the Doctor’s suggestion and the viewer’s perception, so that the captain chooses what he fears the most – the mystery shopper. It is slightly at odds with Listen where the paper failed to convince the security guard as to the truthfulness of its bearers identity at 2 in the morning Not only is the story fantastically self-contained, but it links in to the wider arc and adds to the mix some interesting dialogue around more generic themes such as the role of myth and the reason why were are attracted to those who are difficult and different. The old chestnut about whether the Doctor is pro or anti myth is forcibly crushed as a false dichotomy. The Doctor researches the myths “an awful lot because at times they can be true”.
In a throwback to the RTD era, Clara takes on a more traditional companion role, separated for a time from the Doctor and alone with Maisie the two women support each other (this happened several times to Rose for instance). Maisie utters the wisest words of the whole episode when she tells Clara “Life would be simpler if you liked the right people, people you were supposed to like. But then I guess there’d be no fairy tales.” We assume with Clara that this applies to her relationship with the Doctor, but what if in fact it is an even truer statement about her relationship with the puzzling Danny Pink? From refusing to acknowledge him the Doctor is now willing to call Danny by his first name (and gets it right), but the complex and clever Time Lord seemingly knows something that we don’t. Missy was noticeably missing from this episode, but the connections are becoming clearer as the series builds up to the finale. Only four episodes to go in this magical ride that so far has failed to disappoint.
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