(796) The Crimson Horror

Yorkshire 1893. Not somewhere that the show has visited often and the pre-title scene ends with an image of the Doctor appearing in someone’s eye. If I am being honest, I thought that this story didn’t quite fit into the range of stories that there have been in this half of the series. This is probably the weakest story of this half of the series and the weakest since A Town Called Mercy in terms of ratings.

This story sees the return of Jenn, Madame Vasta and Strax which in the past is something that wouldn’t have been a good thing just two years ago but since I have been watching these episodes a day at a time, I have grown to like this group. They start the episode and its 14 minutes before the Doctor makes an appearance and a further 3 minutes before Clara appears. The Doctor’s first appearance is rather strange because he is covered in some weird red make up.  Clara first appears via a flashback and a gobby Australian is mentioned and I thought that was a nice nod to Tegan if somewhat unexpected.

Dame Diana Rigg guest stars in this episode and her daughter is also in the episode and actually plays her daughter in the episode as Ada. Rachael Sterling plays Ada as a poor downtrodden young woman and Diana Rigg plays the character of Mrs Gillyflower as a rather unpleasant and at times vile old woman. Gillyflower’s secret has a bloodsucking leech attached to her. The actual leech thing is a bit silly looking and its one of those things that are better left to the imagination.

It’s a story that was ok but I don’t think that it is the best Mark Gatiss script. There are some good moments and I thought that the performances from Diana Rigg and Matt Smith were fun to watch but there was something that didn’t quite work for me. Another that I did like was the directing because it looked very grim and dark and helped added to the style of the episode.

I found the most interesting part when Clara returns home and sees a picture of her from 1974 (Hide) and 1983 (Cold War). It’s good that people who travel with the Doctor and there being physical evidence of their travels. What slightly ruins it is that those annoying kids are blackmailing her into travelling with the Doctor which leads into the penultimate episode of the series. The NEXT TIME trailer is one to get excited about because it features running Cybermen and what I think is the best Cyberman story of the new series.