Doctor Who Series 10: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best
3. The Eaters Of Light
"Is it really up to your bleeding hearts' standards?" - Missy
Missy, who has been secretly watching the Doctor’s adventure in Pictish Scotland, was the first critic to get her review of The Eaters of Light in. And she wasn’t impressed. A few Earth kids fighting it out in the Highlands seemed a little small fry to her. She expected better from the Doctor and his ‘bleeding hearts.’
Missy clearly hadn’t been paying attention, because in this story the Doctor shows zero compassion. He may see himself as the gatekeeper, even insisting that it’s about who he is and not what he does, but his harsh treatment of the young Pict leader Kar suggests otherwise. He’s more distracted by his quest to redeem Missy than his mission to protect the Earth. For him their song of hope becomes a key weapon in his counselling repertoire.
It is genuinely moving to see Missy’s finally tuning in to the melody, and it’s a poetic contrast to the relentless knocking that once tormented her predecessor. But Missy’s redemption story doesn’t really excuse the Doctor’s behaviour.
With the Doctor being so off-kilter, it’s down to Bill and Nardole to work sympathetically with the respective sides of the Roman/Pict conflict, and both Matt Lucas and Pearl Mackie shine it what may well be their final standalone episode.
This is a lavish, atmospheric piece where the sum is so much greater than its parts.