Doctor Who series 8 - Mummy on the Orient Express (episode 8) [TV Review]

Again, a wonderful poster from The Radio Times.

This episode was not what I was expecting. Not at all. I was expecting an episode closer to Turn Left or Midnight from back in the David Tennant years. You know, the Doctor solo / Companion solo episodes.

If the Mummy was that well lit everyone could see it, easily.

I know the title is play on Murder on the Orient Express, an Agatha Christie novel. This of course draws a link back to the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, who actually met Agatha Christie.

4 out of 5 stars

Sexy and Dapper.

Or may I'm reaching. But they have made quite a bit of an effort this season to connect back to the original Doctor Who. The scene in this episode involving Capaldi offering someone a jelly baby was excellent. He however used a cigarillo case not a white wax-paper bag. Honestly, one of my favorite scenes from this episode. 

Well we now know what Foxes say, "Don't Stop Me Now."

That and the whole scene where the Doctor is wandering about with a phone that is quite literally connected to nothing. The cord just swings about as he wanders around talking to Clara. There was something surreal and grand about the whole sequence, up until GUS (voiced by John Sessions) gets all huffy. 

Of course this episode is once again filled with the Doctor's cutting lines. Capaldi's incarnation of the doctor is a lot more rude and straight forward than any previous incarnation. Perhaps it is to show his age, the fact that he has seen so much. It is interesting. He is both more glib and more serious at the same time. He is focused, that may be the best descriptor of the Doctor. He dislikes wavering from his perceived goals, and he does not suffer fools nor distractions well. 

This episode seemed like a step up from Kill the Moon, but in the end I once again have some issues with Clara. I liked her character at the start of the season and last season, but now, as time is going on, I am becoming less enamored with her. She is obviously struggling with the Doctor, but she is going about it in a very scatter-shot and unflattering way. I prefer when companions leave in a dignified way, and right now I am not feeling that from Clara's impending exit.  

I also am waiting patiently for Mr. Pink to travel on the TARDIS. Was that not implied all the way back in Listen? Am I daft?

And if you must know, my favorite line from the episode was the Doctor asking the Mummy, "Are you my Mummy?" Oh yes.  

Are you my Mummy? (By far the best of the Eccleston series).

Previous reviews:
Previous Doctor Who Series 8 reviews:
- Episodes 1 & 2: Deep Breath & Into The Dalek.
- Episode 3: The Robots of Sherwood.
- Episode 4: Listen.
- Episode 5: Time Heist.
- Episode 6: The Caretaker.
- Episode 7: Kill the Moon.