The Zygon Inversion

"We will die in the fire, instead of living in chains."

Writers: Peter Harness & Steven Moffat 

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 7th November 2015

Series: 9.08

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

Shapeshifting Zygons are everywhere in the UK, and there is no way of knowing who to trust. With UNIT neutralised, only the Doctor stands in their way. But how do you stop a war? And what can the Doctor so to save his friends?

Verdict 

The Zygon Inversion was a fantastic conclusion to the story already started in The Zygon Invasion! I'm not too keen on both episodes of a two-part story having such similar names, but that's not going to take anything away from the quality of the story. It really was superb and certainly had a defining moment for Peter Capaldi's Doctor but I'll get to that in a little bit. Following on from the shocking cliffhanger last week, the resolution that we got wasn't really a resolution but I loved it! The idea of Clara fighting back from inside her Zygon pod was incredibly audacious but it absolutely paid off. I'd never have even thought of it happening but when you have two great writers like Steven Moffat and Peter Harness co-writing the episode, the best is bound to occur. I thought Jenna Coleman gave an incredible performance and oh my word, she looked ridiculously stunning! She's the most beautiful companion ever by a long way in my opinion. She played the villainous Zygon commander Bonnie so well. From not appearing in The Woman Who Lived to playing the villain here, she really has been wonderful this season in what has been quite a topsy turvy one for her. I'm just glad she's been sole companion with no real going home which we had in abundance last year. This second episode had more of a feel of being a sequel to The Day of the Doctor than the first episode and the references were fantastic. I loved how the Doctor referred to the day the ceasefire started as being on an important day for him - a lovely subtle inclusion to the anniversary. The Doctor and Osgood getting extended time together was absolutely wonderful! I do love Osgood and she represents fandom personified as a character within the show wonderfully well. Although I love Missy and I probably mentioned in my on broadcast Death in Heaven blog that I thought it made her magnificently ruthless, I was genuinely disappointed that Osgood was dead after such a short time with her. Thankfully she's back and now there are two of her! I loved how Osgood seems to be quite prepared to take over the world! Don't let the Doctor talk, instead she'd plan on killing him twelve times if necessary! Kate stepped into her own here and I liked how she was standing up to Bonnie when the pair were back to a familiar standoff on what species should be the decider. The Osgood box was a superb concept and I loved the revelation that there were two of them. Truth or Consequences playing just as important a role as it did in the previous episode but in a more subtle manner was excellent. But the shining moment of the episode was absolutely Peter Capaldi's speech once both Bonnie and Kate had opened the Osgood box and were seemingly prepared to take a 50/50 chance on survival. The speech was just incredible and rivalled that of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor in The Rings of Akhaten, something I wasn't sure was possible. The references back to Terror of the Zygons and Harry Sullivan were fantastic. The resolution was very good and it seemed that the Doctor finally got what he wanted just by talking. I'm still not convinced that the ceasefire can be maintained but I do like how that leaves things open for a Zygon return, something I definitely would like to see. The Doctor clearly cares so much for Clara now and his reaction to thinking she was good may just be a foreshadowing of what's to come later in the series with her departure. Overall though, the two parter as a whole was brilliant and absolutely worthy of a return of probably the most famously underused enemies. More of the same please as we head into the final stretch of the series! 

Rating: 9/10