Doctor Who Series 10: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best
2. The Lie Of The Land
"I’m sorry. But this is good." - The Doctor
Toby Whithouse’s conclusion to the Monks trilogy is very much the sleeping giant of series 10. It would be a mistake to criticise this episode for leaving us in the dark about the Monks, for that should have been the responsibility of the preceding episode. The job here was to tell the story of how the Monks would be defeated. Bill had inadvertently handed the entire world over to the Monks because of her belief that the human race would need the Doctor to save them, but in the end only Bill can undo the damage.
Many have noted the stylistic similarities to The Last of the Time Lords (e.g. the statues of the Master/the Monks, and the focus of Martha and Bill respectively), but by using the series 3 finale as a template, Whithouse turns that story on its head. Martha mobilises the world into praying to the Doctor through the Archangel Network. From the shrivelled aged and weakened Time Lord trapped in a birdcage the Tenth Doctor rises like a god to defeat the Master. But here the reverse movement takes place – the overconfident, verging on manic Twelfth Doctor is brought down to Earth, with Bill and her imaginary Mother taking his place.
This is no love conquers all resolution, instead it is the power of Bill’s imagination that breaks through the Monks’ conditioning. Bill’s strength of mind here will later come into play in the finale as she resists Cyber-conversion. This story isn’t merely the final part to an admittedly incomplete trilogy, it is a critical turning point in the series arc – perhaps even the beginning of the Doctor’s fall.