Doctor Who: Boom Review - 9 Ups & 3 Downs

In the teaser for this episode, Moffat alluded to having taken something away from the Doctor, telling us that we'd have to wait to find out. Now, we'd already seen footage of the Doctor standing on a landmine, so the fact that the Moff was likely referring to his ability to move felt needlessly cryptic.

Something taken away from the Doctor that was unexpected was his ability to embrace his emotions, be that excitement, fear, or sadness – anything that spikes his adrenaline. This was a really fun additional handicap for the Doctor, especially considering the sequence of events that follow test his mettle like few situations have before.

This also allowed the episode to do far more with the landmine premise than just having things fall near the Doctor or force him to shift his weight. Now, every single emotional beat was weaponised against him, spelling potentially fatal danger. The threat of getting turned into a tube of pâté by an ambulance, as well as blown up, was a necessary additional threat.

And yes, the Ambulance was played by actress Susan Twist in her fifth appearance in the last six episodes. There's certainly something going on there. Once again, in those final credits, there's always a Twist at the end.