One of the many changes for the eleventh series of Doctor Who announced at this years’ Comic Con was that there wasn’t going to be much attempt at serialization, and that every episode would be more or less a standalone story. And it’s one of the few changes I wasn’t entirely on board for. Some stories can’t be resolved in a single episode, some plot threads deserve to be fleshed out over multiple episodes, and it’s a good way to heighten the drama and to keep viewers invested. However this series has worked pretty well without them and “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos”, the series finale, marks the first episode to be a direct follow-up to a previous one, the series opener “The Woman Who Fell to Earth”.
It’s purpose is to bookend the series with a familiar villain and a conflict arising out of the resolution of that earlier episode. It doesn’t set up anything particular for subsequent series or specials though. Because of this and the high stakes of its plot, I do feel that this if any episode of 2018, deserved to be a two-parter, if for no other reason than the potential its story has for compelling and challenging drama. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, and a perfectly decent ending for the series, but there were a few missed opportunities worth exploring.
Answering a series of distress calls all coming from a planet called Ranskoor Av Kolos, the TARDIS materializes on a crashed ship where the gang meet its captain Paltraki, amnesiac due to the planets’ mind-attacking magnetic waves. They soon discover that his crew has been captured after recovering a mysterious crystallized object and that their captor is a Stenza, possibly Tzim-Sha. As they make their way to the enemy fortress to rescue Paltraki’s crew, Graham confides to the Doctor his intentions to kill Tzim-Sha when they find him as a way of avenging Grace. But the Doctor is determined not to let that happen, taking it upon herself to seek the Stenza out.
The set-up for this episode is all really good, beginning with a prologue introducing two significant characters and their role for the show that ends with an ambiguous anomaly appearing we later learn was Tzim-Sha arriving after his defeat by the Doctor. It subsequently does a good job establishing the situation with both the planets’ atmosphere and the recent battle. It reorients us with Tzim-Sha, what he did in Sheffield, and the robots from “The Ghost Monument”, tools of the Stenza. Indeed, the Stenza being referenced a couple times since “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” is what had me suspecting they would make another appearance, and the episode does well to make use of how they broadened the character of this species. When it gets to the point where the Doctor meets Andinio though, the exposition on the extreme telekinetic power and dual population of the Ux can’t help but be rushed and unnatural in an effort to get on with the rest of the story and their important role in it.
Because the Ux, Andinio and her apprentice Delph, are being used by Tzim-Sha, who is impersonating their god and has for centuries been harnessing their power in conjunction with Stenza technology to create a super-weapon, the impetus for the ill-fated battle. Essentially what he’s created is a sort of Death Star that from Ranskoor Av Kolos can decimate multiple worlds at once, worlds which have opposed the Stenza including Earth. This we learn from a confrontation scene, one of the episodes’ best, between the Doctor and Tzim-Sha, who’s played as much less of a comic villain this time, though still not terribly interesting. What is interesting though are the themes that arise from his actions. Abusing telepaths to power a weapon or piece of technology is a sci-fi concept that’s been done in the likes of X-Men, Minority Report, and others, but the idea of vast mental power being controlled in this way still has a lot of promise to it. More-so perhaps, is the false god, and the implications of Tzim-Sha taking advantage of the committed faith of the Ux by asserting himself as their creator.
However these compelling elements exist mainly for the sake of the plot and to embody how evil Tzim-Sha is, and aren’t quite explored enough. Likewise is the wonderful point that Tzim-Sha makes about only being able to do this because of how the Doctor vanquished him centuries ago. There’s a brilliant moment when the Doctor tries to dissuade him through the sheer danger to the universe in what he’s attempting by saying “actions have consequences”, to which he replies with “and these are yours.” It’s a curious notion, that the Doctor in refusing to kill Tzim-Sha is in a small way responsible for what he’s set in motion since. Across twelve incarnations the Doctor has rarely had to face real ethical consequences for their actions -one of the few times he has we found out two regenerations later was just a lie. This episode doesn’t really grapple with that idea much though, which is a shame. Because it could have made for real moral dilemma for the Doctor and made her reconsider her views on killing. Maybe it could’ve made her realize that sometimes that is the only answer. She already expressed a bit of hypocrisy by giving the team guns which Ryan rightfully called her out on (it was in bad form and unfortunately diminishes her feelings towards guns in previous episodes). Graham certainly shouldn’t have killed Tzim-Sha, but maybe the Doctor should have.
Graham’s arc in the episode is fascinating too. I guess I was wrong in presuming that his mourning was complete last week. At the very least he’s still carrying some bitterness over how Grace died. It’s a little unusual, and I won’t deny I wouldn’t have thought Graham would be the type to what vengeance -Ryan seems more susceptible to that impulse. But Bradley Walsh is a good enough actor and clearly the writers and directors like playing to his abilities, that Graham’s feelings and vendetta feel genuine. The private talk he has with the Doctor revealing this is an excellently played scene from both Walsh and Jodie Whittaker, the latter vehemently scolding and warning Graham he won’t be welcome in the TARDIS if he does. Forget the fact there seems no way in hell Graham alone is capable of killing Tzim-Sha, this is an angry man confronting the figure responsible for his greatest loss.
Yet when that confrontation happens he has the courage and resolve not to try and kill him, thanks to Ryan catching on and persuading him otherwise (and saying “I love you” helps). It’s kind of a nice parallel to “It Takes You Away” where Graham abandons the copy of Grace and promise of a continued life together to save Ryan, and now Ryan is saving Graham from both succumbing to revenge and literally preventing Tzim-Sha from killing him. They overcome him, though Graham does somewhat accidentally shoot him in the foot, before putting him in his own stasis prison. The storyline emphasizes the growth of both characters and their renewed relationship. And while Graham’s is satisfying, Ryan’s is indicative of his series-long evolution from the confused and impulse-driven young man to showing others the right path. The guy who perhaps needed to travel with the Doctor most is reaping its benefits.
Sadly, this once again leaves Yaz in mostly the role of conventional assistant to the Doctor. She gets some good banter when she’s split up with Paltraki, with whom she also discovers the true nature of the crystal objects as containers of planets. And Mandip Gill is really giving a good performance with what is required of her. But Mark Addy of course steals their scenes with his grizzled, confused commander, who might otherwise be a cliché, dull and only marginally significant presence of the show. Through him the episode gravely touches on war, and the solemnity of the deceased as he leads the crew across the battlefield of Ranskoor Av Kolos, littered with fallen ships. Special attention should also be given to Percelle Ascott and his character Delph -particularly with regard to how he’s treated by Andinio and Tzim-Sha, both of whom seem to abuse him. Unlike Andinio he doesn’t wholeheartedly buy into what the “Creator” wants of them, but she forces him to abide by it anyway, risking their lives against his will. But like the other provocative texts of the episode, nothing’s delved into beneath the surface.
Jodie Whittaker remains the rock of this series for a reason though. Her dialogue with Tzim-Sha is absolutely terrific, once more displaying that contesting attitude with her enemies at first, lightly mocking him before turning to anger at learning what he’s done. She has that air of power to her but also vulnerability in the scope of what she needs to stop. And the way she goes about doing that, in which through a lot of incomprehensible technobabble she’s essentially forced to use the Ux (or at least Delph) the same way that Tzim-Sha did, only for good and with their consent, weighs heavy on her. She really shows her adamant discomfort in this, the way this solution clashes with her moral code -the same code which prompted her to respond to a distress call other ships have avoided.
Ultimately the resolution is very clean though, and again the more challenging material is left unfulfilled. I want to reiterate I don’t dislike the episode, and some minor pacing issues aside, it’s about as good as it could have been as just a single show. But there was certainly enough here to make up two. The issues that appear in the episode of faith, manipulation, abuse, and the morality of killing deserve further examination than the episode can provide, and in directions that the episode doesn’t want to go in. Which is disappointing, but understandable.
This was the first series of a new Doctor, with a new showrunner, a completely new cast, and to top it all, the show had the audacity to enter the twenty-first century by casting a woman in the title role. All of these things (though especially the last) receiving intense scrutiny, I don’t blame Chris Chibnall for ending series eleven relatively safely and conventionally. “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos” isn’t as strong as its ideas, but it does end the series well enough, a series coloured and improved significantly by its fantastic cast, who’ve made even the least episodes of this series worth it. Yaz may be the least-developed character, but even she’s already a more well-rounded companion in one year than Clara Oswald was in three. This series, in having only ten episodes, really put a lot into those episodes. The directors have all been good, and the look of this series, the scenery, the lighting, the composition has been the most cinematic in the history of the show.
The upcoming New Years’ special seems to suggest that with this first series done and Chibnall’s promise not to feature any classic monsters technically fulfilled, we’ll be seeing something familiar that’s been buried under the Earth for centuries (the Silurians perhaps? Though probably the Daleks). And I can’t wait to pick up with these characters again. Making this series an ensemble show with a wide range of stories to tell was a great decision, and it’s going to prove an even greater one in the coming years.
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