Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Big Questions We're Asking After 'The Lie Of The Land'

2. Does The Magic Of Love Save The Day Again?

One of the biggest bugbears among fandom is the love-conquers-all resolution, perhaps best exemplified in Night Terrors, Closing Time and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. Often viewed cynically as a cop out, or a bit of hocus-pocus magic that undermines what some see as the science-fiction roots of the show, it provokes cries of derision as if the writers have committed an unforgivable sin. It’s not our intention here to challenge that somewhat grumpy viewpoint or defend those episodes. Instead our question is this: is it fair to add The Lie of the Land as another example?

Given that the Monks were waiting to be loved, it must have been tempting to make love their only downfall. It’s a common enough Doctor Who resolution, turning the desires of the enemy against them, but Bill’s story is more complex than that. She succeeds not because of the sentimentality of love, but because her memories are a mixture of reality and imagination.

It’s impossible to say how many of Bill’s memories are accurate, but that doesn’t matter. The point is that truth doesn’t depend on verifiable facts. The crucial difference is that for Bill, they are personally empowering and not a means of enslavement to culture, tradition and the authority of the history-makers. It is her freedom to believe and to make up her own stories that undoes the false history being broadcast through the Monks’ transmitters. Freedom and story and not love and relationships are the ingredients that break the spell.

Instead of looking for a family resemblance to the love-conquers-all stories - a better parallel to The Lie of the Land can be found in The Rings of Akhaten. In the series 7b episode Clara takes over from the Doctor by defeating Akhaten with the untold potential of her mother’s story.