Villordsutch reviews Doctor Who Series 9 Episode 2, ‘The Witch’s Familiar’…
Clara: “So the Androids think he’s dead and Doctor escapes?”
Missy: “No he’s the Doctor. He fell into a nest of vampire monkeys.”
Vampire Monkeys: “Ook! Ook! Ook!”
After last week’s rather brutal ending of the The Sorcerer’s Apprentice [review here], those of us that were wise enough to recall the vortex manipulators adorned by both Clara and Missy were secure in knowledge that the Doctor’s Companion and the Time Lady were as safe as houses. Well as safe as a house could be on the planet Skaro, surrounded by Daleks!
Our episode this week continues to bring the flotsam of the Doctor’s past to the shore and he’s forced to face his supposed crimes as he’s judged by the dying Davros. Though it’s slower in pace, episode two – The Witch’s Familiar – is far more emotional.
As Clara comes around, finding herself bound in rope and hanging upside down from a large rock, Missy is whittling a pointy stick for future hunting. It’s here she relays a story of old about the Doctor escaping invisible assassins which culminates in how also Missy and Clara escaped the Daleks. Clara is rather unceremoniously cut down from the rock and they make their way back to rescue the Doctor.
The Doctor is unaware that Clara and Missy have survived; due to this he is in so much of a rage he rips Davros from his chair and climbs into it before addressing the Daleks, demanding they return Clara to him. He even gets to the point of physically threatening them if anyone mentions that she is actually dead, to which a Dalek responds quite tactfully, “Clara Oswald is not alive.” Davros then cuts in and his personal security – Colony Sarff – rapidly takes control of the chair by smothering the Doctor in snakes.
Below the city both Missy and Clara are in the Dalek sewers, which is also the Dalek Graveyard, where the biological aged Daleks are left to rot and go insane. Missy activates a security system using Clara as bait; using a piece of dark star alloy, she pierces the Dalek in a number of places, giving a rotting Dalek access to kill it. Once the Dalek is dead Missy sets to clearing it out and getting Clara in, and we then discover the limitations of the Dalek – they can’t verbally say their name nor speak their feelings without the Dalek program altering it. With this Missy and Clara set off up to the main city to find the Doctor.
After we discover that Davros has been connected to the Daleks and has been draining the life-force from them. The Doctor is offered the chance to instantly commit genocide, which Davros knew he wouldn’t do. After this ploy, Davros then shows the Doctor his Confession Dial and his Sunglasses. The Doctor grabs both and makes sure his glasses haven’t been scratched. Davros discusses losing billions of Daleks and the Doctor losing people, and it’s here the Doctor mentions he has managed to save Gallifrey and suddenly everything changes. Davros begins to cry, his single eye-piece stops glowing and he finally opens his real eyes wishing to actually see the Doctor. Davros seems to have changed with the knowledge that the Doctor has managed to rescue his people – even asking the Doctor if he “did right?” when it came to protecting his own Daleks.
Then as the Davros finally begins to die he makes one last wish – that he would have liked to see a final sunrise on Skaro. With the Doctor unable to generate enough power to Davros’s chair he offers a small amount of his regeneration energy and with this Davros springs his trap; Colony Sarff takes hold of him, forcing the Doctor to constantly feed the Daleks in the main city – plus Davros – with his own regeneration energy.
Missy and the Dalek-Clara have just been bargaining with the Daleks, when the Daleks come to a grinding halt, suddenly the regeneration glow emits from the Daleks and Missy – aware of what’s occurring – bolts to Davros’ control room where she shoots Colony Sarff dead. Davros – nonplussed by this interruption – begins to gloat about the power his master-race now has, while the Doctor begins to countdown from three. Arriving at one an explosion is heard. It appears the Doctor knew where Davros was going with his plan so he allowed the regeneration energy to travel every Dalek including to those in the sewers, and they have begun to erupt through the floors and attack the current active Daleks. The Doctor and Missy make their goodbyes and leave Davros to face the music.
As the Doctor and Missy make their way to the TARDIS they come across Dalek-Clara, Missy attempts to convince the Doctor that this was the Dalek that executed Clara and he should destroy it. As the Doctor begins to threaten the Dalek-Clara we discover one word in its vocabulary which alerts the Doctor that something isn’t right and that word was “Mercy”. With the Doctor telling Missy to run, both he and Clara return to the TARDIS which we discover used the Hostile Action Dispersal System, and using the Doctor’s new wearable technology – Sonic Sunglasses – it reconstitutes itself around them.
We finish upon a hill, overlooking the falling Dalek city where the Doctor ponders how the word “Mercy” arrived in the Dalek’s Lexicon. Running to the TARDIS – still with the Dalek weapon – he arrives back at the unknown war with the young Davros surrounded by the Handmines. Taking aim he fires, destroying all the mines around the boy and it’s here the boy is taught how important mercy is no matter what.
After last week’s episode again we’ve been given another brilliant slice of Doctor Who, and something equally as powerfully as our starting chapter if not more so. We believed at the beginning of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice that the Twelfth Doctor had left a child to perish. However, here we see the answer to the Fourth Doctor’s question: “No he couldn’t kill the child, but he could hopefully teach him about mercy.” An interesting point raised which could lead into the question of who Maisie Williams could be playing when Missy discussed the Doctor giving her the dark star alloy in relation to her daughter; however due to Clara cutting her off mid-conversation we will never know what happened to her daughter.
Our four main actors Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez and Julian Bleach shone in this opening two-parter and made this Series 9 instantly something to remember.
Next week’s episode Under the Lake looks extremely terrifying and with it being on at a later time this indicates that it may just be that too.
SEE ALSO: Check out the Series 9 episode title and descriptions here
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=gLdDY77KGgk
