Doctor Who: Season 8, Episode 8

Doctor Who

Episode: “Mummy on the Orient Express”

Channel: BBC

Director: Paul Wilmshurst

Writer: Jamie Mathieson

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Runtime: 45 min

Rated: TV-PG

Original Air Date: October 11, 2014

That's the way all one-off Who episodes should be. I'll be honest, the previews for this week's episode did not excite me, in fact I may have actually groaned during the TV spot. Just as last week's disappointing “Kill the Moon” showed that good previews can lead to bad episodes, “Mummy on the Orient Express” shows the audience that horrible previews do not a bad episode make.

It didn't start out on the highest of notes, but by the first commercial break I was actually invested in the episode. The twist it takes halfway through sold me completely, it's not just another monster of the week episode, there's some devious workings going on in the background that have been pushing the Doctor into this moment for quite some time. It's always fun when tidbits from the past are lined up and the audience gets to discover the implications along with our heroes. While connections are mentioned nothing is explicitly spelled out for us yet, meaning we get to look forward to at least a week of speculation. Since it's actually something I look forward to thinking more on I'd say the episode did it's job in a way that many of this season's have not.

In addition to hinting at some previous dots to connect this was a great episode for the Doctor and Clara. The Doctor states more clearly than he has in the past what it takes to make the decisions that he makes, and Clara seems to understand that his sometimes cold detachment is the only way he can make those decisions. It's something that they perhaps should have come to sooner, but at least it's out now and we can hopefully skip any more 'break-up' drama. They also meet an entertaining side character in Mr. Perkins, he had just the right amount of snark and intelligence to hang with the Doctor for a while, and I hope he'll be back.

Conclusion: “Mummy on the Orient Express” is one of my favorite episodes from the eighth season of Doctor Who. Between the understanding reached by the leads, a surprisingly solid story and some memorable co-stars it was a very enjoyable episode. For the first time in three or four episodes I was into the episode enough to forget all the nagging questions I've had about the mystery woman in 'heaven.'

Rating: 7.5/10