Villordsutch reviews Doctor Who – ‘The Ghost Monument’…
Directed by – Mark Tonderai
Written by – Chris Chibnall
Doctor – “Oh! You’ve redecorated…”
With last week’s whirlwind introductions completed, we witnessed the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) gathering up her new companions (or is that new best friends?) then rather unceremoniously depositing them in space, sans TARDIS or any sort of starship – their journey seemingly coming to a rather cold and brutal close.
Picking up exactly from the moment where we left off and with a slight touch of Hitchhikers Guide, our team find themselves split amongst the remaining two contenders in an intergalactic race, one ship piloted by Angstrom (Susan Lynch) and the other Epzo (Shaun Dooley). Both are heading for the final stretch on the barren planet named Desolation, where they’ll meet Ilin (Art Malik), the man behind the race and the hefty prize purse.
With the finish line designated (it being the Ghost Monument), both Angstrom and Epzo make haste with the instruction to not travel at night, that the water isn’t safe, and they cannot harm or interfere with the other contender. The winner leaves the planet, the loser stays. The Doctor however has a personal interest in this planet’s ‘Ghost Monument’ so she, Graham (Bradley Walsh), Yasmin (Mandip Gill) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) follow on rapidly behind.
Last week’s Doctor Who premiere, for me, was a bit on the frantic side. Compressed, manic and a bit too hyper. I actually preferred the episode once “Tim Shaw” had left the scene and the episode had calmed down to introduce the characters on a more mellow pace. So now with The Ghost Monument I’m rather happy to see that director Mark Tonderai has brought the speed down a fair bit, allowing our characters to develop in between the Who mystery. Here in this episode the spotlight turns to both Graham and Ryan on a number of occasions, showing their bond – even after their loss – still isn’t at its strongest.
It has to be said that Chris Chibnall does seem to know his Doctor Who too. The feel of this episode was spot on for a classic Who fan. The burning itch of wanting to know what has happened here on Desolation, just as the Doctor does too, is quite brilliant. And watching the Doctor pulling out a pair of sunglasses from her pocket (that really shouldn’t have been there) and delivering a story for their origin was on the nose Who.
The Ghost Monument is a rather grand second episode. Chris Chibnall is already teasing us with what we can expect within this series of Doctor Who and we may also be hearing the rumblings of this series’ ‘Big Bad’ too. Episode two is something you must really pay close attention to, ears and eyes open all the way… miss nothing!
It also has to be said that Jodie Whittaker and company are already getting the thumbs up come the close of episode two.
