Doctor Who: Kill The Moon – Spoiler-Free Preview

Right from the pre-titles sequence, the danger levels are set. Clara’s plea gets the message across straight away that there is going to be serious trouble and makes us anticipate what could possibly be so bad.

Doctor Who has always been about doing good. The Doctor travels to help people and battle against evil. But when it comes to big decisions, he often needs some help. In a similar fashion to Cold Blood and The Waters of Mars, the Doctor is faced with a decision that could change the course of history. Will he make the decision himself or leave it to the humans like he has done in the past?

By now, the Doctor has established himself, so he feels like the same Doctor we know and love. He proves that he can still be silly while being serious. He has faith in his companions and can’t be doing with those that annoy him. Peter Capaldi puts in a great performance, creating a Doctor that I’m loving more and more each week.

Although we don’t see much of Danny in this episode, we do get a return from Coal Hill student Courtney Woods, who gets another go at a trip in the TARDIS (now she’s gotten over her travel sickness). Although I was not keen on Courtney from the last episode, Kill the Moon really improves her character. She shows that she has morals and underneath all the cockiness, she is actually a nice person that could make a half-decent companion. This is what the Doctor and travelling in the TARDIS does to people, and we clearly see her change over the course of this episode. Hermione Norris’s Captain Lundvik however is less likeable, with a sad look at how humans react in these situations. Although Norris plays her well, there’s nothing particularly memorable about her character.

Clara also proves how well her character has developed, with Jenna Coleman’s brilliant performance once again showing us what it’s really like to be friends with the Doctor. This episode shows us what it’s like when a companion gets fed up of the Doctor’s arrogance and cleverness, which is a nice twist from the usual companion story.

This episode is also pretty scary. If you thought Listen was scary, you haven’t seen anything yet. I have only once been actually scared by a Doctor Who episode (2005’s The Empty Child gave me nightmares), but there were points in this where I was suitably shocked and cowered behind an imaginary pillow. In some episodes, you can sort of guess what is about to happen, but this episode is full of shocks and surprises, where just when something bad has happened, another bad thing happens.

This is also the first time this series that I’ve really taken notice of the music, with Murray Gold’s haunting scores perfectly complimenting Wilmshurst’s stunning direction and Harness’s superb writing. Every aspect of this episode has been done to perfection, making it a real treat to watch.