Doctor Who Series 11: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best

4. It Takes You Away

In a series of very straightforward, one-dimensional stories, It Takes You Away was a welcome head-scratcher. Rather cleverly Ed Hime sets it up as a horror piece, only to subvert the expectations of the genre with a turn to the surreal. Like Ryan, we don’t trust the absent father and suspect that he has something to do with the monster, if there is one. Fully expecting more of the same demythologising in series 11, with humans as the big bad again, it turns out real aliens are involved for once, and that the myths about them are true.

Jodie Whittaker gives her best performance to date in this story, largely because for once she gets to be the Doctor and not the withering, uncertain, forgetful shadow of her former selves. Sacrificing her freedom to save xx father is the most heroic thing the Doctor has done in the series.

The talking frog has caused much mirth in some quarters, but it is exactly right for the episode and for Doctor Who as a whole. It’s far more believable than a father who would leave his blind daughter alone and who would manipulate her through fear. Grief can destroy families and blind us to the reality around us – Ryan knows that with his own absent father – but Erik’s cruelty is extreme. It works as a fairy tale and as a metaphor for how grief plays out, but it’s hard to take literally as the story demands we do.