12.27: The Return of Doctor Mysterio
In which Doctor Who aims for superhero movie, but accidentally hits romcom instead.
Broadcast: December 2016
Watched: April 2022
“Are you alright? You’re kind of wet.” “I prefer mild-mannered.”
I love that someone goes, “Ooh movies based on comic books are huge, let’s do something about that” and Moffat accidentally writes a romantic comedy about 80s Superman as a male nanny, instead. (Though, to be fair, a big part of Harmony Shoal’s plan – the vaporising New York to spark panic part – is nicked from Watchmen.)
Absolutely loads to love. For example...
The Doctor discovering that Clark Kent is Superman, and the way he explains it as if he’s the first person ever to spot it.
The Doctor eating sushi on the job.
Teenage Grant being scared to look at anyone because of his x-ray vision, set to a soundtrack of Primal Scream.
Lucy using the annoying squeaky toy to interrogate the Doctor.
The scene where the screen literally splits, like the TV is a comic book, with one frame showing a gurgling baby and the Doctor bursting out of the frame.
It gets less good towards the end. Lucy suddenly discovering her feelings (“There aren’t too many guys like me.” “There aren’t too many guys like Grant either!”) is a bit too sharp a turn, and she seems weirdly unbothered by quite how much her nanny has been leaving her baby and then lying to her about it. Also, when the villains turn up Lucy just looks bored.
But after a run of episodes about THE MEANING OF DOCTOR WHO it’s nice to have something gentler, to reset things a bit. Also, it does a great job at rebuilding the character of Nardole, as it were, setting him up as a different sort of companion – rather than being our way into the story, he’s a combination of Greek chorus, plot function and comic relief, leaving the ground clear for the new girl.
Also, this week he briefly becomes Byzantine emperor as you do, which is very cool. (“I ruled firmly but wisely.”)
Other things:
The title was stolen from the one used in the Mexican redub. I’d always assumed it was meta, I’d forgotten it was actually bestowed by Grant in the text. I hope Mexican fans were pleased.
The music over the opening scene is the same as the stuff used in A Christmas Carol, six years before. Blimey, Moffat had been doing this a while by this point. Anyway, I like the neat shorthand of steam from the streets/fire escapes/pizza joints to immediately tell us we’re in New York.
There are sinister, silent doctors in this one. Moffat was spending a lot of time in hospitals around this time wasn’t he?
Adetomiwa Edun, the Nigerian actor who plays Mr Brock, is the great grandson of Sir Stafford Cripps. Did not see that coming.
Why does Grant call Lucy “Mrs Lombard” if he’s known her 24 years?
The fact Harmony Shoal infiltrate UNIT at the end is never mentioned again. Also, if they keep weapons and stuff in their heads where do the brains go? Come to that, it’s a bit weird we meet these guys twice in adjacent stories, with no connection between them, and then they are never mentioned again. Oh well.
At one point Nardole says, “Okay, one more, but text me a rickshaw.” Does this make sense to anybody else?
It was only the iPlayer picture for this that made me realise quite how bizarre Capaldi’s promotional photo shoot stance actually is.