Doctor Who Series 11: 4 Ups & 1 Down From 'The Witchfinders'
The Hunt is on - maybe for a new Showrunner?
Landing in 17th century Lancashire, The Doctor knew going up against those trying to rid Satan from their village would be an arduous task, especially when an alien threat comes from deep underground. The Witchfinders continues a short streak of guest-written episodes, and it continues a quality run of stories, leaving our leader, Chris Chibnall, with egg on his face after a rather turbulent five episodes at the beginning of the series.
With women being hunted down for flimsy reasons, stubborn town-folk, a woman with a big secret, and King James I all thrown into the mix, The Doctor and the rest of Team TARDIS have quite a bit on their plate. Threats from two sides bring The Witchfinders to our television sets, but was this episode dunked and pointlessly killed? Or did it survive the critical response test?
Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who Series 11 Episode 8.
First up, the negatives.
Down...
1. The Lack Of Period Costume
There is a singular big problem with this episode. A rudimentary staple has been pretty much abandoned in Series 11. Where was the period clothing? The third episode of the reboot saw a companion dress in period stuff. Rose wore that dress in The Unquiet Dead. Bill and The Doctor got into character in last series’ Thin Ice.
Now, however, the companions, and The Doctor for that matter, wear whatever the hell they like. It’s not really mentioned much, except for King James mentioning it this time round, but everyone feels kind of out of place with everything when they stand out so much. I want to see Graham and Yaz getting really into wearing whatever, and Ryan looking all sheepish and confused about the whole thing. There are two episodes left so it could still happen, but it should have happened here. And in Demons of the Punjab. And in Rosa. Y’know.