Before the Flood

"We all have to face death eventually."

Writer: Toby Whithouse
Format: TV
Broadcast: 10th October 2015
Series: 9.04

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

A twisted survival plan is pieced together by an alien warlord called the Fisher King. The universe will feel the consequences. Can these events be stopped? Can the Doctor ensure the future's coming and do the impossible?

Verdict

Before the Flood was a very good conclusion to the story already started in Under the Lake. It had a first in that the Doctor broke the fourth wall to explain to the viewer the concept of the bootstrap paradox and I must admit that even watching it for the second time now, I'm still not sure if I am a fan of that happening. I mean it's good that we're getting something (relatively) new but it didn't really seem absolutely necessary. I also thought it was a bit silly to mess about with the rock version of the theme music they included but that doesn't have any bearing on the episode so that didn't come into any of my thinking when deciding my rating for this story as a whole. The cliffhanger of the previous episode was excellent and I liked how we were taken back to 1980 in Scotland with a Cold War base of attack. Everything was in Russian which was terrific and then we had O'Donnell throw up a number of references which were wonderful. She'd already mentioned a number of the Doctor's recent companions and then mentioned Harold Saxon which was a nice throwback and then referenced the events of Kill the Moon which was brilliant. Quite a lot had happened but I do wish they threw in a Classic reference but it's not exactly the end of the world. We got to see Prentis before he became a ghost as we'd seen him previously and there was a nice reference to The God Complex with the Doctor explaining his previous meeting with a Tivoli. Prentis was so keen on being enslaved and I just find that whole concept quite hilarious but he served his purpose in the episode so that was all okay. The Fisher King was quite the powerful monster and although the costume seemed a little awkward, he still looked pretty impressive. The scene where his full appearance was revealed was very good and I did like how the Doctor stood up to him and proudly declared that the planet was defended. I was a little surprised that the Fisher King knew about the Time War and the Time Lords though and I did hope that would be a little further explored but it wasn't really important for the story. O'Donnell's death was a shock to me and I really am surprised that she died so early on in the episode. She was simply wonderful in the first part and her reaction to the TARDIS being bigger on the inside was superb. Clara telling the Doctor about his ghost was intriguing and it was interesting to see how little she cared about time and the rules that come with changing it. She just wanted the Doctor to be alive, come back and save them no matter the consequences. Cass and Bennett's relationship was terrific to see and I loved that the former stood up to Clara and questioned why she was so willing to risk the lives of others. She was becoming more and more like the Doctor and I did think she was almost becoming too big for her boots, so to speak. But she was doing all she could to fix things and the way she worked out that Bennett wouldn't be affected by the ghosts was very good. The scene of the Drum getting flooded and wiping out the Fisher King was fantastic but I must admit that I thought the ending was a bit rushed, which in a two-parter isn't really a good thing. It was just accepted that the bootstrap paradox occurred and that came with a great realisation from Clara in the TARDIS. Bennett finally declared his love for Cass and the pair embraced with a kiss and the ghost of the Doctor was revealed to have just been a hologram which seemed a little bit like cheating. I wasn't overly struck on the ghosts being trapped in the faraday cage and being told that UNIT would be on their way to sort it but despite that, the episode was still a very good and served as an excellent conclusion to a very good story! Overall, pretty decent indeed.

Rating: 8/10