Arachnids in the UK

"Something's happening with the spiders... they're out of control."

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Format: TV
Broadcast: 28th October 2018
Series: 11.04

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

The Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan find their way back to Yorkshire - and Yaz's family - only to find that something is stirring amidst the eight-legged arachnid population of Sheffield. What links Yaz's mum and the hotel she works out? Spiders really shouldn't be this big...

Verdict

Arachnids in the UK was a very good episode to continue the strong start to the Thirteenth Doctor's era. I really liked that things returned to the present day and the setting being just half an hour after the team departed in The Woman Who Fell to Earth was terrific. I thought the portrayal of the Time Vortex, with the different entry points to numerous tunnels, was really interesting and a nice addition to the story. I was very glad that we got to meet Yaz's family as she was the character that needed some more depth and the timing came perfectly. We know all about Ryan and Graham and their troubled relationship following the loss of Grace and now we got to meet some of Yaz's loved ones. Her mum, Najia, was terrific and I just loved how highly the Doctor thought of her. She congratulated her for creating a great human being and was just perfectly socially awkward. Jodie Whittaker really was wonderful once again and I think she's becoming a truly fantastic Doctor. I loved how she didn't want to say goodbye to her new friends and jumped at the chance to have a cuppa at Yaz's. Graham was lovely in this episode and it was quite sad seeing him try to come to terms with the loss of Grace now he was back home. Grief was catching up with him, but his mind was soon sidetracked by the discovery of a giant spider carcass. The use of spiders as a threat has been done before in Doctor Who, most notably Planet of the Spiders, but there was no alien menace here. These were just spiders that had gotten out of control. They were capturing humans because they were confused. They had grown beyond normality and they didn't quite know what to do. But they were scary and I thought the atmosphere of this episode was brilliant. Robertson was a very good character and I liked how pompous he was being the big American businessman who was running for President of the USA in 2020. The Doctor wasn't having that though, not if he fired Yaz's mum! The comical scene where the Doctor thought he was Ed Sheeran was absolutely hilarious and a real shining moment of the episode. Jodie was marvellous. The threat of the spiders was good and I liked seeing just how scared Graham and Ryan were of them. Their size was obviously the crucial element of the fear factor. The hotel serving as the main setting and site of the problem was good and the use of a landfill mixed with old coal mines underneath a paradise hotel was terrific. Jade McIntyre was a strong character and her knowledge on arachnids really aided the Doctor which was wonderful. She deduced that the chemicals and spider carcasses had led to a change in pheromones and the toxicity had a deadly effect on the spider population of Sheffield. They were lured into the panic room through some horrific music of Ryan's but I thought there just needed to be a bit more clarity as to how that meant they were dealt with. It was left a little ambiguous and unanswered which was a shame because I thought this could have had an even higher rating. The politics in the episode was a surprise and I thought the comments about guns wouldn't have gone down well with some American fans. The killing of the Spider Mother was really emotional, especially once it was known she'd gotten too big to breath effectively and she was dying anyway. The scene I haven't mentioned yet that also made me laugh rather a lot was where the Doctor wasn't sure if she and Yaz were 'seeing' each other. She had no idea what it meant and I thought that was magnificent. The ending with Yaz, Ryan and Graham wanting to continue their travels with the Doctor was terrific and I really can't wait for more episodes with Team TARDIS. I really like them. Overall, a great episode!

Rating: 8/10