An Hour of Who a Day: July 18: "The Witch's Familiar"

July 18: "The Witch's Familiar"

Stuart Manning's poster for "The Witch's
Familiar" (from Doctor Who: exclusive The
Witch's Familiar Poster revealed)

Gosh, I made it all the way through the last episode's discussion without mentioning all the gorgeous old-school Daleks on display here, finally making good on the promise that "Asylum of the Daleks" largely relegated to the background in 2012. And it's absolutely wonderful to see the original Daleks so prominently here (although, while I know the blue bumps are correct, is the pale blue midsection?), and another chance to see my personal favorite, the Special Weapons Dalek from Remembrance of the Daleks. We also get a bunch of the bronze versions and the Supreme Dalek from "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End". (That's the third "Stolen Earth" callback -- is there a theme here?) And look, an 80s-style Dalek in the background, and even an Emperor's Guard Dalek from The Evil of the Daleks. (Although -- nitpicking here -- it should have the "solar panel" slats around its midsection. Doctor Who fans: never satisfied, huh?) Although -- curious omission, this -- there's not a single New Paradigm Dalek (the fat iPhone Daleks) to be seen.

And while "kisses to the past" like the old Daleks or the look of the Dalek city (both inside and out) are thrilling bits, this is nevertheless a story that's looking forward as it looks back. There're some marvellous moments involving Missy and Clara, as Missy explains how she saved them thanks to the vortex manipulators and power conversion (complete with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it callback to Missy's "death" in "Death in Heaven" -- guess that did get explained after all) and then takes her into the Dalek sewers, all combined with moments that make it crystal clear that, despite the fact that she and Clara are temporarily on the same side, the current Master is completely insane and casually callous -- she has no qualms, for instance, in pushing Clara down a hole to see how deep it is. Plus there's the moment where Missy empties a Dalek shell and then forces Clara inside, with an interesting discussion of how Clara's thoughts are translated into Dalek, as expressed emotions are translated into "EX-TER-MI-NATE!" "Cybermen suppress emotion," Missy tells Clara, "Daleks channel it through a gun. That's why they keep yelling 'exterminate' -- it's how they reload."

But the meat of this episode is the conversation between the Doctor and Davros -- yes, there's the moment where the Doctor pulls Davros out of his chair and threatens all the other Daleks unless they bring Clara Oswald back (bit tricky, that, as they think they've killed her), but this once again comes down to two people in a room talking. What's impressive about this is watching Davros as he puts his plan in motion, to get the Doctor trapped in all the cables by Colony Sarff while Davros drains his regenerative energy. It starts out simple, with Davros just trying to get the Doctor to touch the cables, allegedly to kill all the Daleks, but then Davros works out that the Doctor's weakness is compassion, and so he changes tactics, trying to make the Doctor feel sorry for a dying old man. This includes the moment where Davros decides to open his real eyes instead of just using the electronic one in his forehead; there's something endearingly cheeky about the idea that Davros hasn't lost his real eyes but simply hasn't opened them in all this time, and Julian Bleach gives a great performance of an old man who just wants to see a sunrise -- which is doubly impressive when you see how this is just Davros being manipulative, trying to get the Doctor to give up that sweet sweet regenerative energy. "I thought I would have to tear you apart to take it from you," Davros says, "but, as always, your compassion is your downfall."

It's worth noting how different the Doctor is here with Davros compared with how he was with the Half-Face Man a year ago in "Deep Breath". That Doctor seemed much sterner, much less inclined toward mercy and compassion -- but here it's an innate part of his character, as he's willing to listen to Davros, to sympathize with him a bit, and to show him mercy. This, combined with the party scenes in the previous episode, suggests a Doctor who seems much more comfortable with himself; it's as if his moment of revelation in "Death in Heaven" ("I. Am. An idiot!") helped him reconcile whatever personal demons he was wrestling with through series 8, and now we see the after-effects. It's an interesting contrast.

Ultimately, the way the situation is resolved (all the Daleks are regenerating, including the dying and discarded ones) is somewhat clever, in that they've at least set it up properly ahead of time, and the way Missy tries to get the Doctor to kill the Dalek with Clara inside is interesting as well, but this story ultimately comes down to the discussion between two old enemies, and at that it's a great success. And the resolution, where the Doctor ultimately rescues the young Davros and helps ensure not only Clara's survival but also Davros's views on compassion and mercy, is a nice moment. And I don't even mind the sonic sunglasses the way a lot of others seemed to. This is a strong two-parter, hitting all the right notes but not being too showy about it.