13.9: It Takes You Away

In which someone commits child abuse because of a magic frog.

Broadcast: December 2018

Watched: July 2022

“It’s her or the real world, you can’t have both.” Alternatively, “Er, why is there a frog in here?”

Mood piece, oddly reminiscent of one of those NAs [7th Doctor novels] from 1994 set in isolated country houses where everyone is hiding a terrible secret. (And the secret turns out to be, “In the greenhouse there is another dimension, populated by gods.”) It’s utterly incoherent but oddly compelling all the same.

It’s very creepy: the woods in winter, the music, the mirror world, the flesh moths. Kevin Eldon is having a great time as “Ribbons of the seven stomachs”. That said, all the cosmology – the antizones and solitract stuff – is meaningless nonsense, made up on the spot. (Also, how does Ribbons know what the antizone is if he’s always been inside it?)

But it gets by on the vibes and on the character stuff. The Doctor writing “Assume her dad is dead. Take care of her” on the wall is a genuinely great moment. Even better is Erik seeing that and realising what he’s done. (Yes, what he’s done is abusive, but come on, stop expecting social realism in Doctor Who.)

Ditto, Ryan thoughtlessly asking how Hanne knows her dad didn’t just leave her is a nice character note about how he sees the world. (Is this season meant to be about parenting? It’s a theme running through a lot of episodes.) Ditto the fact that Graham’s first reaction on seeing Grace is “Don’t do this to me”, or the way her lack of concern for Ryan is the giveaway it’s not really her.

I know [REDACTED] argues that “Yaz said you saw nan in there” is a crime against drama. [A writer friend who finds this an infuriating example of “show not tell”.] I sort of think it works, though? Because it means the focus is on the conversation about the leads’ relationship, not on replaying an episode we literally just watched. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Which is sort of the theme of the episode, so.

Other things

• Love this style of title: since I don’t like A Good Man Goes To War it can't be the fact it’s a sentence, I think it must be the use of the second person.

• Can't wait for the Big Finish box set about the woolly rebellion of 2211. (“In 193 years, there’s a total renegotiation of the sheep-human relationship. Utter bloodbath.”)

• Graham now carries a sandwich because Doctor Who stories don't tend to include meal breaks. Feels very Chibnall that *this* bit of characterisation and arc storytelling he nails.

• “Erik! You got mirror married!”

• The idea that the Doctor had seven grannies is a bit Lungbarrow. [Last 7th Doctor New Adventure novel, in which we visit the Doctor’s childhood home and meet his weird family.]

• The moment where she blows a kiss to a frog on a chair is one of Jodie's best moments.