The Haunting of Villa Diodati

"Crops now grow where blood was split."

Writer: Maxine Alderton

Format: TV

Broadcast: 16 February 2020

Series: 12.08

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

The Doctor and her gang arrive at the Villa Diodati at Lake Geneva in 1816 on the night that inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The plan is to spend the evening soaking up the atmosphere in the presence of some literary greats, but the ghosts are all too real, and the Doctor is forced into a decision of earth-shattering proportions.

Verdict

The Haunting of Villa Diodati was an excellent episode to kick off the story arc for the Series 12 finale! I really loved the atmosphere of this one and everything just tied together really nicely. I'm a big fan of horror movies in general and the first half of this episode really did feel like a typical haunted movie. It was excellent stuff. The idea of a house being a maze and differing companions and the Doctor being separated and trapped in different parts of the house was terrific. The directing in this episode was by far the best of the series, and perhaps even the best of the entire Whittaker era yet. It really was outstanding and added so much to the episode in my opinion. The atmosphere of the story was magnificent and the very idea of the Doctor and the fam turning up at the Villa Diodati is just wonderful. It's so much fun to think of them being there on the night that inspired Frankenstein and I loved how the Doctor had set a rule of not mentioning Frankenstein and ensuring that there was no interference. And then what did she do? Break that rule almost immediately. The way everything tied up into the arrival of the Lone Cyberman was really impressive and his ability to manipulate the weather in order to recharge through electrical storms was magnificent. The guardian being Percy Shelley was really good stuff and the Doctor taking up his mind and seeing what he had seen with the Cyberium was interesting. The concept of the Cyberium containing the knowledge and future of the Cybermen was excellent and the potential that brings is fascinating because its ability to change the future was extremely dangerous as the Doctor recognised. Coupling that with a warning from Captain Jack about not giving the Lone Cyberman what it wanted was brilliantly done. The Doctor's explanation of what the Cybermen are was terrific and I also loved the interaction between her and Ashad. The Doctor challenging him about not being a complete Cyberman was fantastic and the concept and potential of a Cyberman that can actually feel emotion and get irritated was fascinating. It was such a contrast. Ashad looked incredible with his distorted and physically broken look. Seeing human features amongst that familiar metal was beyond creepy. It was such a powerful look that I was a huge fan of. The relationship between the Doctor and Byron was certainly an episode highlight and I love that the Doctor's female features were admired and sought after for the first time. She didn't seem to enjoy that much and it occurring in 1816 was even better. Jodie was marvellous again and I thought it was so much fun with her constantly correcting that she didn't need to be called Mrs Doctor. The guardian and Ashad coming face to face and their battle over the Cyberium seemed mental torment. The Doctor getting that out of Percy by using a Time Lord trick to show him his death was quite morbid, but it worked well and her then being left with the choice of Percy's life or countless billions in the future, she had to think long term. Her description of the hierarchy and how it was she alone at the stratosphere was incredible stuff. Mary was a lovely character and quite modern but you could definitely see her conjuring up Frankenstein. Ashad being the basis for that is fantastic stuff. Overall, this was a superb episode and I loved the final horror touch with the dead bodies Graham had seen being horror elements and ghosts. Overall, a great way to set up the finale!

Rating: 9/10