Doctor Who Series 10: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best

11. The Pyramid At The End Of The World

"Hello, I’m the Doctor saving the world with my eyes shut."- The Doctor

As the middle part of the Monks trilogy this was the episode that should have given us the explanation as to why they were so intent on invading the Earth. With Extremis the set-up and The Lie of the Land the resolution, the bulk of the exposition had to be included here. But we were given scant insight into the motivations or the background of the invaders.

Instead, the plot of all three parts of the trilogy revolved around the Monks’ methods, and they were different each time: the practice run and intelligence gathering on the virtual Earths, the watching and waiting for consent, and the 1984-like newspeak and brainwashing. No wonder the trilogy dragged in the middle.

The sketchiness in the portrayal of the monks led some to speculating that they would return to be revealed as pre-converted Cybermen or even degenerate Time Lords, all of which could have been avoided had this episode provided more context.

The central conceit of doomsday being triggered not by war but by accident is a good one, as is the shock ending, but overall the story was just a little too contrived. It’s hard to say which element was the most unbelievable – Bill’s failure to realise that the Doctor was blind? The combination lock? The siphoning out of the toxic air? The Doctor unable to work around his blindness? Take your pick.