The Crimson Horror

"Horse, you have failed in your mission. We are lost, with no sign of Sweetville!"

Writer: Mark Gatiss

Format: TV

Broadcast: 4th May 2013

Series: 7.11

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Clara, Paternoster Gang

Synopsis

In 1893, the Doctor's old friends; Vastra, Jenny and Strax find an optogram of the Doctor on a victim of the mysterious 'crimson horror'. They head for Yorkshire, where Jenny infiltrates Mrs Winifred Gillyflower's community of Sweetville to find out what her plan is and what business the Doctor had with it.

Verdict 

The Crimson Horror was an outstanding episode! A wonderful setting, brilliant play on things and the possible basis or preview for an eagerly hoped for spinoff featuring the Paternoster Gang (Vastra, Jenny and Strax). I was intrigued how for roughly the first fifteen minutes of the story the Doctor nor Clara did not appear. Instead we had the returning Paternoster Gang trio stealing the spotlight. I love the dynamic of the trio with Vastra leading, Jenny getting her knees dirty (figuratively) and Strax providing the wonderful humour. I was nearly in tears when Vastra was talking of getting somebody in Sweetville who was the fittest and most beautiful and Strax responded thinking he matched the criteria. Superb humour. Before this episode, Jenny was probably the member of the trio we knew least about just because she was human. We've seen numerous Silurian and Sontaran stories in the past so even though we don't know the individuals of Vastra and Strax all that well, they're more familiar and we know what they're capable of. Jenny's exploring and deviousness when inside the hunting ground of Mrs Gillyflower's factory was great with her gaining trust to cause a distraction to get her closer to the Doctor. I loved the character of Ada and felt so sorry for the way she was treated by her own mother. The fact she was blind was a good aspect with the way she saved the Doctor and kept him as a pet monster. The use of the superstition that the eye retains its last image upon death was really fascinating especially when the Doctor appeared on one man's image. Once Jenny found and helped cure the Doctor I loved how he rather passionately kissed her, and then welcomed the slap he received. The moments where Jenny acted as companion briefly were terrific and I think she would make a great companion for an episode in the future! But we've already got an absolute gem in that position at the moment with Clara. I liked the movie reel theme that depicted the earlier events that led to the start of the story with the arrival of the Doctor and Clara in Victorian Yorkshire and how they'd gotten involved with Mrs Gillyflower and her plan of brightness and beauty. Clara obviously fitted the bill. The lovely reference to Tegan was a wonderful addition to the story! I love how the Doctor thinks of Tegan as a "gobby Australian"! "Brave heart Clara". Some great stuff there. Once the Doctor and Clara were reunited and joined forces with Vastra, Jenny and Strax, the unravelling of the plot was tremendous with the threat of Mrs Gillyflower advancing her plans to poison the air and convert the population into her stiffs as they were dubbed with the weird red liquid. The enigma of Mr Sweet was intriguing throughout and once all was revealed it wasn't quite what I hoped for. The idea of him being symbiotic was brilliant and accounted well for the absence to that point, but the design I thought was poor sadly. Ada's reaction to Mr Sweet was a bit of a shock and I liked how Strax came and saved the day sending Gillyflower to her death. A superb climax to a brilliant story! I really enjoyed how the Paternoster Gang were confused how Clara was travelling with the Doctor. The numerous The Snowmen references were excellent and I loved how the Doctor only said it was complicated how she came to be travelling with him. Will it be long before all is revealed? I adored Clara when she continued to subtly challenge the Doctor when he jokingly said she was the boss. Women power was prevailing in the TARDIS it seemed. The lead into the next episode was very intriguing with the very children Clara babysat for had delved deep into archives and found some pictures of Clara from the '70s and '80s! I liked how she was also seen from The Snowmen but claimed it was wrong. She hadn't gone to Victorian London, at least not this version of her. The mystery just keeps getting better! 

Rating: 9/10