Mummy on the Orient Express [TV/2014.10.11]

★★★★☆

  This is what I love about rewatching things I haven't experienced in years. Before, Mummy on the Orient Express was a solid and yet unassuming little piece rested between two hot potatoes of Series 8, Kill the Moon and Flatline... and now it's one of the eighth series' highlights, giving Peter Capaldi fantastic material to bring alive and equally memorable characters to interact with. At this stage, Jenna Coleman's Clara is pivotal to the development to this Doctor and comes through with the interpersonal drama of the episode. Costumes are lavish, sets are even more so, and incidental music takes the spotlight for once in the Murray Gold era (I've always said that Gold became a theme-over-sound man in his later years). With elements like these (a fantastically put-together episode topped off by an actually terrifying baddie), how could anyone refuse its instant charm?

  I absolutely love stories that seem to have been/are built upon the premise interpreted from a clever title; this was a pun destined to be turned into a Doctor Who story, and it proved to be as marvellous as the expectations. It's fun, fast-paced and contemplative, missing out on nothing as it delivers a frightful mystery that turns into a Saw-like trap for the TARDIS duo to get out of. Seeing as it comes straight after the emotional turmoil that is Kill the Moon, it deals with who the Doctor is and whether or not he's even a person someone should be hanging around with. There is a sense that, without Clara's heart-to-hearts and her confrontation of this Doctor's callousness, he would've let a few more unwilling participants die for the sake of gathering more information to craft (for lack of a better word) a better plan, rather than his improvised act of heroism which saves everyone. I absolutely love that Clara's story arc subtly affects the Doctor's actions and, in turn, lets him find out who he really is. Series 8's theme is about whether or not the Doctor is a good man, and if actions are things to go by, Mummy on the Orient Express shows that he very much is. I had such a fun time revisiting this adventure, and I wouldn't say no to a few more Jamie Mathieson scripts moving forward.