An Hour of Who a Day: July 11: "Mummy on the Orient Express"

July 11: "Mummy on the Orient Express"

Stuart Manning's poster for "Mummy on the
Orient Express" (from Doctor Who: Exclusive
Mummy on the Orient Express poster revealed)

It initially seems like Clara and the Doctor have made up after the events of "Kill the Moon" -- after all, they're both dressed up and stepping aboard a swanky passenger train travelling through space, but it's quickly clear that this is a "last hurrah" for Clara, before the Doctor leaves and never comes back. And so it's time for a posh soiree through the stars, complete with a killer mummy only the victim can see that gives you exactly 66 seconds to make peace with yourself before it kills you. Y'know, your typical passenger train story.

But then that's one of the great things about Jamie Mathieson's debut Who script -- it takes two separate ideas and puts them together in a way that feels completely natural. There's not really any good reason for a mummy to be stalking people on a space Orient Express, but the two styles merge so well that you never mind. It means that we get a lush setting and a properly scary monster. And make no mistake, the mummy, aka the Foretold, is scary. Visually it's really good, inexorably stalking its victims, shuffling its feet, with old bandages hanging from its emaciated frame, and the conceit that once you see it, that's it, there's nothing you can do, is nicely scary as well. Adding into the mix the fact that only the victim can see it, and so therefore there's nothing anyone can do to help you, is also a good move.

And what's really wonderful about this environment is that the Doctor fits right in. Capaldi seems incredibly at ease moving through the train cars, talking with people (the gag where he opens a cigarette case and offers Professor Moorhouse a jelly baby is lovely) and trying to figure out what's going on. He also gets along really well with Chief Engineer Perkins, who acts as the Doctor's surrogate companion and has a nice line in dry wit. "Passenger manifest, plan of the train and a list of stops for the past six months," he says, presenting the Doctor with a number of documents. "Quick work, Perkins," the Doctor replies. "Maybe too quick." "Yes, sir. I'm obviously the mummy," Perkins says mildly. "Or perhaps I was already looking into this."

But the best moments are when the facade drops and the "computer", Gus, reveals that it's lured a number of experts on board the train to examine the Foretold, so that it can weaponize the technology. The lab scenes show the Doctor being callous and heartless, but because he needs to be in order to stop the Foretold from killing more people. "Tell us what you can see," he tells Moorhouse. "Even the smallest detail might help save the next one." "The next one?" Moorhouse replies. "You mean you can't save me?" "Well, that is implied, isn't it? Yes, this is probably the end for you. But make it count," the Doctor urges Moorhouse. "Details, please." We get a couple deaths like this, with the Doctor being as clinical as possible in order to save more lives, while the Foretold gets to be suitably terrifying as it advances on its victims. (Oh, and the ticking clock in the corner every time the Foretold appears is a nice touch.)

If there's a downside to this episode, it's that Clara ends up being sidelined for most of it -- but that means she gets to spend more time wrestling with her conflicted feelings about the Doctor, which at least confronts that particular story thread. Yes, she was mad at him (and that anger briefly resurfaces here, when she learns that the Doctor was invited aboard (rather than just arriving in the right place by chance) -- "You knew. You knew this was no relaxing break. You knew this was dangerous. ... You see, this. This is why I'm leaving you. This. Because you lied. You lied to me, again. And now you've made me lie. You've made me your accomplice"), but she's finding it increasingly difficult to actually give up travelling with the Doctor -- to the point where she's willing to lie to Danny about it. So it seems we're not done with Clara just yet.

And happily, Mathieson gives us something of a happy ending. "One minute with me and this thing, it would be over!" the Doctor had earlier boasted, and then he gets to make good on his boast, as he takes the next victim's mental worries and implants them in himself, in order to make himself the next victim so that he can stop the Foretold. It's a brave move that allows him to figure out the Foretold's motivation ("You are a soldier, wounded in a forgotten war thousands of years ago") and how to stop it ("We surrender!") before it kills everyone else, and it leads to him saving the lives of everyone still alive on the train (despite Gus's efforts to asphyxiate and then blow up everyone aboard). It's a powerful reminder that, despite the new persona and the lack of empathy on the surface, this is still the same Doctor as ever. (And the shots of the Doctor, framed against the pink sky, are really gorgeous -- kudos to director Paul Wilmshurst and his team.)

It's a properly scary monster placed against a gorgeous backdrop, and it gives us our best version of the twelfth Doctor yet. Not only that, but Mathieson's script is a great balance of serious intent matched with a light touch. All this and a whole score of great actors besides. "Mummy on the Orient Express" is a solid, highly entertaining episode; more like this, please.