Doctor Who Series 10: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best
5. Extremis
"Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit, without hope, without witness, without reward." - River Song's diary
The opening episode in the Monks trilogy treated us to two stories for the price of one. The main drama was effectively intercut with the backstory behind the mystery of the vault. Few were surprised by the reveal that Missy was the prisoner inside, but the revelation that the Doctor had been keeping her there in order to save her life was one of a number of effective twists in this action packed adventure. The execution scenes allowed Michelle Gomez to add a new dimension to the character and set the pattern for what was to come, with some gentle hints of a spark of goodness in the Doctor’s old friend.
The main story, a mash-up of The Da Vinci Code with The Matrix really shouldn’t have worked on paper but absolutely did. The Doctor’s blindness was handled much better here than in the next episode and provided an opportunity for Matt Lucas to play a blinder (pun intended) as Nardole was forced to step into the action.
Predictably the episode infuriated some with the dreaded ‘reset button’ when it was revealed that the Doctor, Bill and Nardole were simulations. But this was all part of a bigger picture and the outcomes would have significant real-world consequences.
Extremis also left us with a truly unique ending, a rare achievement for such a long running show, with the Monks and the Doctor both thinking that they had won.