The Lie of the Land

"The Monks are our friends."

Writer: Toby Whithouse
Format: TV
Broadcast: 3rd June 2017
Series: 10.08

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole

Synopsis

The Monks have ruled the world since humanity took its very first baby steps towards the Sun. One problem... they haven't always been there. Only Bill Potts sees the truth. But even then she isn't sure that she once travelled with the Doctor. Where is he? How can Bill make the rest of the world see the facts?

Verdict

The Lie of the Land was a very good conclusion to the Monk trilogy of stories that has taken up the middle of this tenth series. It moved things in a noticeably different direction from the two previous episodes in which they appeared and now they already ruled the planet. This was thanks to Bill's consent and she seemed to be fully aware that she was responsible. However, she was questioning whether what she knew as the truth was actually real. Could it be possible for the Monks to have always been on Earth? She knew it wasn't true but she still had doubts. The imagery of the Monks alongside the likes of Einstein, Churchill and being there for the Moon-landing was quite spectacular and the fact that it was the Doctor who was orating the propaganda made things even more extraordinary. He must have had a plan though, right? Bill was convinced that he was just biding his time and I liked her confidence in him. The reunion of her and Nardole following six months apart was wonderful and I really do like the pair's relationship. Bill's meeting with the Doctor was good and I liked that the Doctor was testing that she wasn't under the Monks' control. However, I have to say that I wasn't happy with Bill shooting the Doctor. Obviously, the bullets were blank and the Doctor was never in danger but she was not to believe that. She seemed a little too easily convinced that the Doctor had joined the Monks but even so, I don't think it's quite rational for her first instinct to solve the problem being to shoot him. That didn't resonate well with me. Anyway, the rest of the episode was excellent and I thought the statues were terrific. The fact that they were used as a way to boost the power from Bill's psychic link was good and I really liked that the Doctor had to go for Missy for help in defeating them. She provided the answer following some humorous hot and cold iterations and it was simple. Kill Bill. The prospect of Missy having battled the Monks before was very intriguing to me though and I'm fascinated to see her development in trying to become good. She was remembering her victims which was quite extraordinary but she was learning. The way the Monks were defeated through Bill's pure and untouched memory of her mum was decent and I liked how it seemed that she was going to die. Gemma thought she actually might which was terrific but she's still taking some warming to the series! She wants more fun. Instead, we got emotion here and the Monks simply ran away once their hold on power was let go. Overall, a very good episode but not quite as good as I remembered on broadcast!

Rating: 8/10