Doctor Who Series 11 Episode Review

Arachnids In The UK - Review

After at least 15 failed attempts, The Doctor finally got Ryan, Graham and Yaz back to Sheffield. A Sheffield infested with spiders, and tie-wearing politicians!

Major Spoiler Warning!

In many ways, "Arachnids in the UK" concludes the three-part, introductory story that runs through "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" and "The Ghost Monument." Not only are Yasmin, Graham, and Ryan finally returned to Sheffield, bringing the narrative full-circle, but the last of the reconceived aspects of this new era of Doctor Who are debuted; a splashy, kinetic time vortex is featured, and a new "Team TARDIS" is officially formed. However, despite sharing thematic ties and a scriptwriter with the first two episodes of Series 11, "Arachnids in the UK" delivers less excitement than one would expect from a story involving giant, mutant spiders running amok in modern-day England.

Why? For starters, the script is overly reliant on coincidences to further the plot. While it is easy to explain away an infestation of spiders occurring just as the Doctor and her friends return to Sheffield – – the mythology of the series has established that the TARDIS often takes the Doctor to where (and when) she is needed to help others – – it is more difficult to accept that both the Khan's apartment building and the O'Brien's house contain oversized arachnids, when the distinct lack of mass panic in the streets indicates the spider problem is not yet widespread. The story is a web of coincidences. The Doctor is trying to pick up a package from neighbor-cum-spider victim Anna at the same time that Anna is being visited by Jade, a scientist currently researching spiders! The spiders are invading a hotel, conveniently managed by Yaz's mother!

In the real world, a coincidence is a remarkable occurrence. However, "real" life doesn't usually make for good television; filmmakers only select extraordinary stories as documentary subjects, and "reality TV" is cast to include explosive personalities, ensuring confrontation. The seemingly magical nature of a coincidence can not only further the plot, but add excitement to a story. However, there is a sense of diminishing returns when it comes to this narrative cheat, and, to maintain a sense of identifiable reality within a story, the accepted rule is that no script should contain more than one coincidence. Yes, it is possible to deliberately counter this idea for effect – – "Partners in Crime" is memorable for a running joke where the Doctor and Donna Noble narrowly miss one another, repeatedly – – but "Arachnids in the UK" seems reliant on serendipitous events merely to quicken the plot in an otherwise overly stuffed episode.

Part of the reason Episode 4 feels so bloated is due to the ensemble cast, The Doctor and her three companions Ryan, Yaz and Graham. Having all the four on Earth and separated makes it difficult to flesh out supporting characters and it can all become a jumbled mess. The typical formula for Doctor Who was The Doctor with only a single companion, usually female, and once they're developed them they can bring along their mates. The only exception to this convention besides Series 11 is Martha Jones from RTD's era and Clara Oswald from Steven Moffat's era.

This happened before when Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor, was Time Lord at the time and he had three companions and to resolve this the producers killed off the fan favourite and whittled it down to two. Now, I'm not saying that Chris Chibnall will just axe off Ryan by making his trip off a ladder, but he'll need to do something to ensure this series and future ones don't get too complex with each companion.

Mandip Gill's character Yasmin Khan finally got her chance to shine and even her family got some recognition, which wasn't all junk, so I'm glad to see her finally get some development. Ryan doesn't get much to do besides play his Spotify playlist riddled with Stormzy, trap a spider in a pot and get embarrassed from Yaz's family about being in a romantic relationship with her.

But the black horse out of all four of them, even surpassing Jodie Whittaker, is Bradley Walsh. He's back at home in Sheffield, but he wonders if it'd be better to stick with Doc since his house is just plaguing him with grief. He hallucinated Grace, who died in Episode 1, multiple times and it's truly gut-wrenching. Walsh has proven himself both in Rosa, last week's endeavour, and this one.

Additionally, "Arachnids in the UK" adds to the ongoing character study of the companion role, started in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" and continued in "The Ghost Monument." Truly, the episode builds towards the final scene where Graham, Ryan, and Yasmin ask to remain with the Doctor as she continues her travels. "I want more. More of the universe. More time with you," Yaz emphatically states. "I can't promise you'll be safe," the Doctor counters – – a particularly poignant moment, once one considers that little more than a week has passed in her relative timeline since losing Bill and Nardole, and having the details of Clara's death returned to her memory – – "You're not going to come back as the same people that left here." This is not the first time that Doctor Who has examined closely the repercussions of traveling with the Doctor. What is notable here is the timing: Chibnall prefaces Yaz, Graham, and Ryan's tenures with this message. Former showrunner Steven Moffat demonstrated how the Ponds and Clara were changed by their experience, but only in the latter half of their tenures; Russell T Davies' best commentary on the issue came only after characters like Sarah Jane, Martha, and Donna had returned to their previous lives.

Despite its beauty, this final scene is not the episode's most outstanding feature. That would be the camerawork, which is so masterfully done, it actually enhances the narrative. Like a musical score, the composition of a shot should remain unnoticed, only subtly enhancing the emotional tone of an episode. Where a composer may return to a familiar leitmotif for particular effect, a director may utilize a unique camera angle to focus the audience's attention on a particular aspect of a scene. For example, "Arachnids in the UK" begins with establishing shots that are traveling and filmed at ground level, as if from a spider's POV, foreshadowing the week's mutant menace. A better example occurs in the final scene when, as Yaz begins to see herself through her experiences with the Doctor, the shot cuts directly to her image reflected in one of the TARDIS' roundels.

The best examples of the episode's exemplary camerawork occur in scenes shot in the O'Brien home, as a grieving Graham seemingly encounters his late wife, Grace. That she remains out of focus – – hinting to the audience that she is neither specter nor shapeshifting imposter, but, rather, Graham's memories returning to haunt him – – lends an ethereal air to the dimly-lit scenes. Later, as Graham inhales her scent from a sweater, the camera pans to the left to reveal her form in the background. Grace is not clearly glimpsed until the episode's resolution where, as Graham reflects on his life without Grace, she appears first in a mirror, and then facing Graham, as Graham faces the decision to follow Ryan and the Doctor to the stars. "Arachnids in the UK" clearly demonstrates that there is an artistry to camerawork, one that can affect a viewer's appreciation of a story as much as a complex, layered script, flashy special effects, or an epic score.

Forced to follow the three companions as they separate, the script is overly reliant on coincidences to further the plot and reunite the characters, and leaves little room for development of the guest cast. Jack Robertson is a thinly-veiled surrogate for U.S. President Donald Trump, a joke that lacks originality or style in its execution, and Chris Noth is particularly terrible in the role. Still, the episode stands out for the final scene where the Doctor warns her new companions that life aboard the TARDIS will change them, and for what may be the most masterful use of camerawork in the show's history.

Come back next week for Episode 5, The Tsuranga Conundrum!

Bye!