Doctor Who S1E3 Episode Review

The countdown to disaster is in full swing with the third episode of the 15th Doctor's adventures, which marks the return of Steven Moffatt, the showrunner during the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi years, as the writer in charge of this episode.

Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 3

HOLD IT! Ensure you have already watched the episode before my quick review. Come back here when you have already watched it.

The episode begins with The Doctor accidentally stepping on a landmine upon hearing a distressed yell from a soldier named John Francis Vater, who was killed by the Villengard robot.

With The Doctor's life on the line, Ruby encountered a mysterious capsule which is a compressed corpse of John Francis Vater. There was an AI rendition of him as well.

Encountering John Francis' daughter, Splice, things get even worse for them when the AI John Francis pops up in Splice's eyes. Worse, the landmine The Doctor stepped on made him a living explosive.

As the Anglican Marine named Mundy pointed The Doctor at gunpoint, tensions escalated and with The Doctor getting shot during the stand-off, it attracted the Villengard robot. Ruby and Mundy are trying to create a distraction, a really painful distraction, but sadly, one of the soldiers, named Canto, shoots Ruby.

The Villengard robot tried scanning Ruby, whose life is on the line, but the mysterious phenomenon is happening again. As Ruby faces her imminent death, Mundy tells The Doctor the worst news; they only have five minutes before The Doctor blows up.

Shockingly, The Doctor revealed the truth about what was going on. He revealed that the war on Kastarion 3 was a false war set up by the Villengard organization. However, Mundy denied The Doctor's truth, so he entrusted the AI John Francis to hack the entire Villengard algorithm.

Sadly, Canto was killed by the Villengard robot while trying to intensify the hacking. With them getting surrounded by the robots, the landmine's triggered. Miraculously, the AI John Vater averted the worst, Ruby Sunday is saved, and The Doctor is freed from the landmine.

Moments after the worst is averted, The Doctor tells Splice about what happened to her father and he promises her to keep the faith. After bidding the two farewell, The Doctor and Ruby are returning to the TARDIS.

This episode is history repeating itself as Varada Sethu, who will be popping up next season, got her first gig in the Whoniverse as the Marine named Mundy Flynn in this episode. It's the same way when Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi got their first Whoniverse gig in The Fires of Pompeii in 2008 before Gillan became Amy Pond and Capaldi became, yes, The 12th Doctor. Kudos to Varada Sethu for her first Whoniverse gig.

This episode is a life-or-death situation. As tensions escalated, the inevitable plot twist kicked in, showcasing just how unpredictable this episode was going to be. In the end, it proves that nothing can prepare viewers for the worst. 

Still, you get the point but hey, because Steven Moffat's responsible for this unpredictable episode, he left viewers with a piece of The Doctor's past adventures; the Fish Fingers and Custard dialogue The Doctor said at the end of Boom.

Before getting ready for the next episode, let's enjoy some bonus extras:

- ODWP

- BTS

- NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW