Doctor Who: Series 8 Ranked From Worst To Best

11. Time Heist

"Big scarf, bow tie. A bit embarrassing. What do you think of the new look? I was hoping for minimalism, but I think I came out with magician." - The Twelfth Doctor

The Twelfth Doctor turned bank robber as he was presented with an offer he couldn't refuse, which was to steal from the most dangerous bank in the cosmos. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a fair bit, as it turns out, as - while Time Heist came forward with a clever concept which built itself up to an interesting final twist - the episode as a whole ultimately suffered at the hands of its limited running time, plus the fact that the aforementioned twist was somewhat of a predictable one. Forget the Daleks, it's safe to say that that time has become Doctor Who's worst enemy, which is pretty ironic given the basic premise of the programme. In most cases, though, 45 minutes just isn't enough time for the story to be told in the manner of which it was intended, and this year that was never truer than in the case of Time Heist. Its stellar guest cast would have been put to even better use if the adventure had been given the extra 15 minutes or so it realistically required to develop all of its arcs and underlying narratives efficiently. This is no reflection on the writing, either, with its two co-writing Steve's (that's Thompson and Moffat) bringing plenty of humour, suspense and mystery to the table. Keeley Hawes was captivating in her performance as the powerful Ms Delphox (in the role originally offered to Michelle Gomez) while Jonathan Bailey and Pippa Bennett-Warner shone in their respective portrayals of Psi and Saibra. It's just a shame that the episode was forced to move along at such a pace that most of their motives and emotions were lost amidst the rest of the action. Oh well, there's always fan fiction...