Doctor Who: The Legend Of Ruby Sunday Review - 6 Ups & 4 Downs
4. UP - Tension and Stakes
This episode was a hype train rocketing at speed towards its destination, all building to that reveal.
The tension in this episode hasn't just been building for 45 minutes, but rather the last 7 weeks, with the show generating more fan theories and discussion than it has for some time. RTD had us hanging on his every word for answers, and he capitalised on our impatience by dragging it out to the extreme. For better or worse, RTD's style of series arc certainly generates discussion.
This episode is a slow burn, but that's not to say it wastes any time in putting the audience in a state of unease pretty much the get go. There's a sense that something big is coming, even if the characters aren't particularly sure why, and this tension only rises throughout, culminating in that chaotic ending that bounces back and forth between three equally intense scenes.
We're talking The Pandorica Opens level stakes here.