Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express Review

[Chris Beveridge]

They had my attention at Murderous Mummy Mystery on an outer space train. What They Say: The clock is ticking and time is running out for The Doctor. Can he stop The Foretold in time? The Review: Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers) Maybe the thing I love most […]

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[One Vorlon]

Re: Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express Review

Did you get the impression that we're supposed to know "the voice" (a.k.a. the mastermind behind the plot) already? This episode struck me as part of a multi-episode arc . . . one that never really materialized. Someone who knows who the Doctor is, can get messages to him across space and time . . . it almost feels like he was supposed to be a recurring villain, who got cut, and then repurposed as a one-shot antagonist.

Also, I think I'd have preferred to stay closer to a historical/period adventure. The Orient Express is such an iconic piece of history . . . Did we really need to set everything in outer space, in order to have a cool adventure with a mummy?

[Betenoire]

Re: Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express Review

Did you get the impression that we're supposed to know "the voice" (a.k.a. the mastermind behind the plot) already? This episode struck me as part of a multi-episode arc . . . one that never really materialized. Someone who knows who the Doctor is, can get messages to him across space and time . . . it almost feels like he was supposed to be a recurring villain, who got cut, and then repurposed as a one-shot antagonist.

Note: A season 9 spoiler as I can't seem to remember how to tag the things anymore.

It honestly would not shock me to find out that the original script had Missy as the one who gave the number to Gus but that it was cut, on the other hand Gus is apparently very wealthy and there are others who have had the TARDIS number as well and which he might have obtained from some sort of record: That I can think of off hand who has had the number- Churchill (and probably other English Prime Ministers given how the Doctor asked Amy which one was calling when she just said Prime Minister), Vashtra, Karabraxos, Clara (after getting it) and whichever Majesty the Doctor talked to that sent him after an ancient goddess loose on the Orient Express in space at the end of season 5 (and perhaps a connection here?) addition to Missy so it isn't quite as secret as the Doctor's real name.

Aside: I have no idea if River Song ever knew it but she preferred much more dramatic ways of getting the Doctor's attention anyway, so perhaps she never needed it or bothered to remember it. And of course the Doctor has it but given Gus' history of damage in his wake I can't see even a terribly dark incarnation being Gus (like his role as the Architect) or aiding him in getting the number.

As for Gus I also would not be surprised to see him show up again in some form in the future as Moffat like to foreshadow pieces for either the next season or later in the season (as did Russel Davies when he was the show runner for Doctor Who), which given the talk about Season 9 could be used to help shape a narrative that pays off then. For whatever other problems I have at times with Moffat's style both as writer and show runner, he is remarkably good at slipping in plots and then paying them off when the audience least expects it. I think the only major mystery still left from the 11th Doctor era that I can think of is the one of -why- the TARDIS exploded which causing reality to tear, though why Amy's time was the focus wasn't expressly spelled out either I don't believe.

As to why the space train? It made some of the elements easier probably, such as the life chair and all the science stuff on the train as well as the experts who certainly couldn't have been there (not that they were used well anyway) if it were 1920's Earth. Plus if they were going to use the train using the one dropped at the end of season 5 ties that together a bit -though does make that one really dangerous train to take with both a mummy and a rampaging goddess having been on it at one point or another.