5 Ups & 3 Downs From Doctor Who Series 12 - Can You Hear Me?

1. The Message Defeated

While the message of mental health being something important not only today, but also way back in the 14th century, the final ten minutes of the episode went about further exploring mental health in our characters and their friends, but nowhere near as delicately and thought-out as it did throughout the entire episode up to this point.

Yaz's police officer interaction three years ago was very on-the-nose, but still led to a heatwarming moment. Graham's discussion with The Doctor onboard the TARDIS regarding his fear of the nightmare he witnessed alongside his cancer potentially coming back resulted in The Doctor shrugging her shoulders and not knowing what to say. If there's something The Doctor does know, it's what to say.

This particular scene may have been a representation of someone realising that a friend isn't always the best person to speak to regarding your mental wellbeing, as a professional in the support field would be more understanding and helpful. It's not to show the Doctor as someone not caring, but representing someone who simply doesn't know what to say to Graham. If this conversation were held between Graham and one of his card-playing friends, resulting in Graham deciding to speak to a professional, this scene would have worked, but instead it ended on a dull, not really suitable note, and took The Doctor's character down with it.