The Pyramid at the End of the World

[daibhidc]

Well, that was interesting.

Another President of Earth storyline, which honestly, is a concept I hope gets retired by the incoming regime -- the Doctor shouldn't be in charge, he should be railing against the people in charge. And in practice, that's all he does when he's President of Earth, so what's the point? Also, despite a single mention of UNIT, these seemed to be regular UN Peacekeepers, which was unusual.

Poor Bill; her real first date with Penny and it goes much the same as the simulated version.

The jumping back and forth from the pyramid to the lab was a neat way of ratcheting up the tension; we know the lab must be where it's all going down, but we don't know how, and we know the Doctor and co don't know this.

I'm not sure the whole "consent" thing actually works, but it's an interesting idea -- I don't think it's the first time even in Doctor Who that alien invaders have wanted or needed to be invited, but I'm pretty sure they're the first ones who insist we have to mean it.

I'm not at all sure about the thing with the security cameras -- surely the whole point is that the Monks don't need to piggyback on security cameras, because they've got the simulation machine?

I'm not sure what the point is of Nardole dying, since the Next Time reveals it's just going to be undone. For a moment I thought we were going for some bitterly ironic thing where the Doctor saves the day, and then the TARDIS doors open and the bacteria gets released anyway.

Ultimately, there were a lot of moments in this I liked, and I don't think there was anything actually wrong with it, but it just didn't quite click for me.

Comments

[vatine]

I think the whole idea is that the simulation machine is good for projecting possible futures, but it needs to be fed with data which is done by tracking stuff. At least that's the somewhat odd explanation given in the episode.

[scarfman]

I dunno if Nardole is dead. The other guy who succumbed to the bacteria didn't just die, he disintegrated. Even if Nardole is dead, he's alive again in the alternate time line of the Episode 8 preview and teaser clips where Bill says the Monks have always been there. Unless Nardole was meant to be killed off in Episode 7 all along, even if the bacteria did away with him they will find a way to transport live Nardole into the true timeline from the Monks' timeline.