|
BBC The Haunting of Villa Diodati |
|
| Story No. | 318 | 
|
| Production Code | Series 12, Episode 8 | |
| Dates | February 16, 2020 |
|
With Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill
Written by Maxine Alderton Directed by Emma Sullivan Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens |
| Synopsis: Mary Shelley and her friends have taken up residence at the Villa Diodati. But something is coming. |
A Review by Matthew Soflaten 29/5/20
What a relief it is to see that Doctor Who can still be dark and scary under Chibnall's supervision. Horror is one of my favourite flavours of Doctor Who, but judging from what I've seen so far, I didn't think Chibnall felt the same. There have been dark moments over the course of his era (especially in the previous episode's Can You Hear Me?), but, on the whole, I'd gathered he favoured the sci-fi, action side of things. The only episode I'd truly loved since Chibnall took over had been Fugitive of the Judoon, but that was because it was exciting, action-packed and intriguing. I hadn't been expecting to be scared or disturbed by Doctor Who for the foreseeable future, and so this episode was a delightful surprise.
A historical horror story featuring Mary Shelley and the Cybermen sounds like a perfect recipe for a great Doctor Who episode, to the point I'm actually surprised it wasn't attempted in the classic series. I am aware that there is an audio story with that premise, but, forgive me, I'm not familiar with the Big Finish side of Doctor Who (yet), so this is the only ''attempt'' I've seen so far, and all I can say is that it was a resounding success, horrific and humorous in equal measure.
I must confess, whilst I'm very familiar with Frankenstein, I don't know too much about Mary Shelley or Lord Byron as people. However, as characters, I thought they were great here. I particularly enjoyed Lord Byron's character, who is, funnily enough, the first character to flirt with the newly female Doctor. As Jodie Whittaker is an attractive woman, I always thought it was a little unbelievable that none of the male characters have made romantic advances on her so far, but it was done here to great comedic effect, and I found her being called ''Mrs. Doctor'' particularly amusing. Jacob Collins-Levy did a great job portraying him as an arrogant, self-centred womaniser and successfully portrayed him as both contemptible and strangely likable.
I thought the story had a great build-up, with lots of comedy. I laughed out loud when Ryan was challenged to a duel and the exasperated reactions of the other house-guests, and yet there was a very sinister atmosphere: the dark, stormy night; the big mansion. The story slowly creeps up on you as it gets scarier and scarier, with the crawling hand and the flashing images giving it the vibe of a really well done horror film.
The surprises in this series have been great: first the Master, then Captain Jack, then the Ruth Doctor. Obviously we knew the Cybermen were going to be in this series, but although I had heard rumours they would be in this one (and I thought they'd be very fitting for a Mary Shelley episode), I am so glad they weren't shown in the trailer, as they always were in the RTD and Moffat era. I always sigh when I imagine how much more exciting Bad Wolf and World Enough and Time would have been had we not known about the Daleks or the Cybermen appearing in each one respectively. Chibnall has done a much better job delivering these twists and it makes it so much more exciting. I wasn't sure if we'd be seeing the Cybermen in this one or not right until Ashad appeared, and the moment when he did was so much better as a result.
I had been worried about the Cybermen appearing this series --- in New Who, I only really feel they've been done right in World Enough and Time --- the vast majority of the time they've appeared, they've just been robot stormtroopers, little to no signs of the body horror which I feel should be a theme in all their appearances; it's the fact that the Cybermen used to be humans that makes them so disturbing and interesting, and either previous writers just don't get that or they're worried about making it too scary for the little kids watching and getting complaints from angry parents. I wasn't expecting Chibnall to make good use of them, but, other than Series 10, this is hands down the best use of the Cybermen so far, and without a doubt my favourite New Who design for them. Ashad looks, sounds and acts horrifyingly sub-human, stomping around the dark mansion with his hideous half-face, demanding who the guardian is.
The Doctor makes the threat of the Cybermen and what they do very clear from the start, making their threat seem very real, and I loved the indirect allusion to Bill and the fact that the Cybermen have clearly affected the Doctor in a deep way since. I really felt on edge when Ashad lifted the baby up, truly worried as to what he was going to do, and I found myself really, really hoping the Fam would heed the Doctor's advice and stay put, because the way Ashad looked, it made me really dread seeing anyone getting cyberconverted. I think it's saying something that seeing as cyberconversion is something I want to see, Ashad actually made me really nervous about it actually happen. This is the effect the Cybermen should always have when they appear if you ask me, but I've only felt it once or twice with them before. I really thought Mary was appealing to his human side when she asked if he'd been a father, thinking he'd spared her son out of mercy and was really taken aback by the incredibly dark revelation that he'd in fact murdered his children when they'd rebelled against the Cybermen.
Ashad is easily the scariest villain from Chibnall's era- this monstrous creation makes series 11's Tim Shaw look even more insignificant amidst Who's rogue's gallery than he already was, and he really pushes the limits of how scary the Cybermen can be. It really is great to see the silver giants used to their full potential at long last, and in a way even more exciting seeing as I wasn't expecting them to be any good this series. My faith in Chibnall is being restored more and more as time goes on.
As for the regulars, whilst Jodie is still far from my favourite Doctor, I'm very much used to her by now, and here she does very well at handling some darker material. I particularly enjoyed her debate with Ryan over Shelley's life. At first I agreed with Ryan, that they should let one person die to save many others (and I'm glad this point was brought up, too; I wouldn't have liked it if every character immediately opted to save Shelley without question), but then after the Doctor's pleasingly fierce response, I found myself hoping she would save Shelley after all. The way she got Shelley to release the Cyberium was surprisingly dark, too. I found myself consistently thrilled and surprised throughout this episode, and I could totally understand her reasons for giving Ashad the Cyberium. The threat of him bringing an army of Cybermen to Earth then seemed dreadful indeed. I really like it when I can truly get into the protagonist's head and fully relate to their motivations throughout, and this episode did that tremendously well.
Another thing I liked was that they were subtle about the Cybermen inspiring Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein; it was just the implication. Nothing in this episode felt forced; it had the perfect doses of humour and horror, one of the best designs and uses of the Cybermen ever in Doctor Who and a cliffhanger that honestly made me yearn for the next part, which I plan on reviewing soon. Series 12 really is a breath of fresh air for the programme, and The Haunting of Villa Diablo is likely my favourite of the season, with the feel of a modernised Hinchliffe era, which happens to be my favourite. I honestly can't fault it, so I shall, of course, give it the 10/10 it deserves.