Mummy on the Orient Express

"I'm the Doctor and I will be your victim tonight. Are you my mummy?"

Writer: Jamie Mathieson 

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 11th October 2014

Series: 8.08

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

On board the Orient Express, in space, lies the Foretold - a mythical mummy who once is seen by its victim has only only 66 seconds to live. Can the Doctor and Clara, during their last hurrah, solve the century old mystery?

Verdict 

Mummy on the Orient Express is just an outstanding episode and reiterated exactly what I thought on broadcast - that this is the best Twelfth Doctor episode so far. He's already had some classics in Deep Breath and Listen but this surpassed both in my opinion. I loved every minute. I liked the loose continuity from The Big Bang with the Orient Express once before hoping to lure the Doctor on board. Or rather more specifically, Gus was hoping to solve a mystery. I absolutely loved the Foretold. A wonderful monster! The design was excellent and the concept itself was remarkable. This really did seem to have a Classic feel to it. The 66 seconds between seeing the Foretold and dying at the hands of it is a frightening concept! The fact that only the person about to die can see it is superb and adds a whole new level of fear to the story. People think you're acting stupid being petrified of thin air or referencing freak mummies but the bang, a minute and six seconds later you're dead. The culprit was hidden in view. The capabilities of the Foretold were quite frightening! It took the term silent killer to a mightily new level. It could teleport and its touch meant death! Not a bad enemy for a story set on a space train. Following Kill the Moon's conclusion with Clara storming out of the TARDIS, I was pleasantly surprised to see her exit the TARDIS with a smile on her face alongside the Doctor. She looked, yet again, absolutely dazzling in her 1920s dress and even the Doctor had dressed for the occasion. The design of the Orient Express interior was fabulously reminiscent of my knowledge of the famous train. The fact it was going through space was wonderful too! Foxes making a guest appearance performing a rendition of Queen's 'Don't Stop Men Now' was lovely and I really enjoyed her cover! The moment the Doctor and Clara were staring out of the window was probably my favourite of the entire series. Well, maybe excluding the revelation of who Missy really was. Clara was describing what I expected to hear at the top of the episode in how she really thought she hated the Doctor for taking the stabilisers off her bike and making the decision regarding the Moon. But all the Doctor was interested in was telling her all about the planets that once inhabited the space they were looking at. He seemed to just pass off Clara's hatred, or what she thought was hatred, towards him and just made remarks about her confusing doubly emotional smile which I thought was magnificent. Clara referencing the trip to be the pair's last hurrah was quite sad and it made me think that during this series alone there have been many references or hints towards Clara leaving. But here we are with Jenna Coleman currently filming series 9! Yay! The lies the Doctor told during the episode were great and I really am loving the Twelfth Doctor's awkwardness and lack of compassion for the deceased. Peter Capaldi is just brilliant. His remarks to Clara regarding Maisie were quite shocking though but I loved them! Never have we seen the Doctor say something like that before. Captain Quell and Professor Moorhouse were both very good characters and I really liked the latter's take on mythology. I adored the Doctor's comment about them generally being true, especially in space! Perkins was the shining star amongst the guest characters though! An absolutely wonderful character and you could almost swear that the role was written for Frank Skinner himself! His working with the Doctor on the mystery after they both found each other sneaking around at night was fantastic. You could tell how well they'd get on immediately! The Doctor's working out of the true nature of the train was magnificent and I liked how he once again took charge of the situation once the interior was transformed into a lab. It was worked out that the Foretold targeted the weak and ill and from that they could simulate who was next. Using the 66 seconds to tell those lucky enough not to be dying what they could about the Foretold was great. I loved how the myth continued with there being something that can be said to prevent your death. Once the Doctor took Maisie's proneness away and into himself, the Doctor had 66 seconds to work out what it was. He did so in staggering fashion and then a second before death, "we surrender" was muttered and the soldier was relieved of its duties. After the Doctor then saved everybody from the wrath of Gus and the Express blowing up, I loved the scene on the beach. The Doctor's little joke was so rubbish it was brilliant. Clara's change of heart after speaking to Danny was a punch the air moment, not quite when I actually did punch the air following her staying as companion in Last Christmas but still good. Overall, Capaldi's best episode and I think it'll take a lot for it to get beaten! I can't give much more praise than that.

Rating: 10/10