Demons of the Punjab

"You're treading on your own history."

Writer: Vinay Patel
Format: TV
Broadcast: 11th November 2018
Series: 11.06

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

Yaz convinces the Doctor to take her back in time to visit her grandmother during her youth. Little does she know that they have arrived during the partition of India and everyone will soon be caught up in the tragic bloodshed that came with it.

Verdict

Demons of the Punjab was an excellent episode to continue my rewatching of Series 11! This one is another stellar historical adventure that teaches a lot to the viewer. This differs from Rosa in dealing with the partition of India in 1947 which is an event that may not have been as well known as the American civil rights struggles. In a way, that makes this potentially more important and it is just as powerful despite getting a slightly lower mark. This one is also slightly different as there is no hostile force trying to change history and instead we had the Thijarians who were former assassins but now a species who wanted to be there for those who were dying. They simply observed and then uploaded the person who died into their hive. It was good that they were assumed to be the enemies and the ones doing the killing as they provided an alien presence, but I'm not actually sure they were needed at all. I think Manish being the one to kill the holy man could have been done without the assumption of the supposed demons and might actually have been even more powerful as a pure historical. Sometimes, there really isn't anything wrong with just going into history and getting caught up in affairs! I liked that this was an opportunity for Yaz to break the rules a bit in wanting to get involved in her own family's history. The Doctor knew how dangerous this could be but she couldn't quite help herself. She was just too nice! Umbreen was a wonderful character across both time periods and the pride she seemed to have in being the first woman married in Pakistan was delightful. I loved the shock factor for Yaz in finding out that her grandad wasn't the man that married her grandmother in Pakistan. Prem was another terrific character and I liked that there was a religious conflict with a Hindu marrying a Muslim. Manish took objection to that and was racist in wanting the drawing lines of India and the new Pakistan being enacted immediately. Jodie Whittaker was once again just magnificent as the Thirteenth Doctor and I loved how she wanted to conduct the wedding of Umbreen and Prem. This must have been hard for her though knowing that Prem was due to die and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Even Yaz was devastated and wanted to stop it from happening, but if she did then she wouldn't even exist. It was a vicious reality to learn and it all stemmed from the watch that Umbreen gave her favourite granddaughter. I liked the relationship between Yaz and her grandma very much and they even garnered a great relationship in 1947. The pin sticking in Sheffield and that being where Umbreen would go to was a nice addition in how Yaz's family ended up in South Yorkshire. My favourite moment in the episode, if I can call it that, was the image at the end of the story with the Doctor and her companions walking off as Prem was shot dead. There was nothing they could do to change history and the anguish on the Doctor's face as the shot was fired was all that needed to be said. It was incredibly powerful and highlighted just how awful a time this period in history was. I'm glad it was used for educational purposes as I didn't learn about it until my second year of university, so I can't imagine it being a widely known topic. Overall, a fantastic episode!


Rating: 9/10