Doctor Who: The Almost People – Series 32, episode 6

SPOILER ALERT: This weekly blog is for those who have been watching the new series of Doctor Who. Don’t read ahead if you haven’t seen episode six – The Almost People Dan Martin’s episode five blog “Reverse the jelly baby of the neutron flow. Amy would you like a… Doctor?” The trouble with making such a big deal about the cliffhanger at the end of this episode is that, however intricately plotted, the episode itself is going to feel like it’s going through the motions. And the trouble with serialising something that’s inherently episodic is that the endings risk feeling tacked on. For all of this, The Almost People feels a bit uneven, though it’s worth saying that it’s one of those where everything makes more sense on second viewing. The most fun to be had was with the Double Doctor conceit. Fans will have been gasping at the pre-credits as his past incarnations burned through him, Pertwee’s the “reverse the polarity of the neutron flow” proving durably iconic. Matt Smith puts in a bravura performance, as the subtly different, eventually the same Doctors, playing on Amy’s insecurities and coming over as genuinely unsettling as the echoes of the other flesh send him into anguished rage. And if we spend the whole episode trying to work out whether this doppelganger is going to turn evil, it’s all the more perturbing as the true extent of the real Doctor’s duplicity becomes apparent. The tangled web of secrets and lies between the Tardis crew has become the theme of this series, and here’s where it all starts to unravel. Except for Rory. Great as Arthur Darvill has been, I keep waiting for that guy to properly man up and do something dangerous, and he’s constantly slipping just short. Even his attempt at a righteous coup leaves him as a hoodwinked buffoon, and I’d expect more from a man who waited outside a box for 2,000 years. Anyway, The Doctor’s big secret about Amy’s unwitting pregnancy is one of the most staggering reveals we’ve seen in a long time. Amy wasn’t real, she’s about to give birth, and after weeks of hints, we’re finally getting somewhere. “It doesn’t have to be about revenge. It could be so much better than that” Notwithstanding the cringeworthy moment where Ganger Jennifer actually says out loud “who are the real monsters?” (I mean, seriously, even the slowest of seven-year-olds would have worked their way round that particular moral quandary by this point – we don’t need it spelling out), the Gangers remain great fun. And like their obvious parallels the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, it’s the women who rock hardest. Cleaves recalls Number Six, the serenely nasty manipulator, eventually seduced by humane sympathy. Jennifer is the Boomer, the wronged goody-goody who takes a righteous quest for revenge much too far. The men end up mainly limp: Jimmy serving principally to play out the tearjerking subplot, Buzzer proving a disappointing jobsworth and Dicken so inert that not even his self-sacrifice at the end can make me really remember who he is. All of them switch sides with remarkable ease, so is it that their personalities are unstable as well as their bodies? But as an exercise in moral dilemmas, uncomfortable truths and then happy endings, they’ll go down as memorable Almost Villains. Fear factor This being Doctor Who it needed a big monster at the end, and so it delivers. Evil Ganger Jennifer morphs into a fleshy-silver-CGI-lizardy-thing and runs riot, and this dark, thoughtful story is restored to camp running-for-your-life-around-some-corridors. Yes, we’ll have that. Mysteries and questions That final twist raises so many possibilities it’s difficult to know where to start. Is that a real baby or some nasty genetic interference? When and how and by who or what was Amy impregnated? How long has the Doctor known? Is there really “a way back” for the Ganger Doctor? Which Doctor did Amy make the confession about his death to? Was Dicken even in the first episode? The Almost People was not without its holes. It’s never really explained how, or when, the Ganger Doctor was created. And what was so different about Jennifer that she was so evil and could turn herself into a fleshy-silver-CGI-lizardy thing? Time-space debris Was that a recording of Tom Baker’s voice at the beginning, or just a really good impression from Matt? • Cybermats! Another gift for fans and surely a clue for the big arc. These woodlousey metallic Cyber-servants were first seen in 1967’s Tomb Of The Cybermen. • Last week we discovered that Frances Barber’s Eyepatch Lady is named Madame Kovarian: meaning of or relating to the ovaries. It’s obvious really. • “Tough old sexy.” Nice to see that the events of The Doctor’s Wife have not been forgotten. Amy: “I never thought it possible, but you’re twice the man I thought you were.” Yes, I cried a bit. Next week! It’s the mid-season finale and the last Doctor Who before autumn with A Good Man Goes To War. And unless somebody’s telling fibs, we finally learn the true identity of Doctor Song… Season 2 Episode 1: The Robot Revolution Episode 2: Lux Episode 3: The Well Episode 4: Lucky Day Episode 5: The Story and the Engine Episode 6: The Interstellar Song Contest Episode 7: Wish World Episode 8: The Reality War Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2: Space Babies / The Devil's Chord Episode 3: Boom Episode 4: 73 Yards Episode 5: Dot and Bubble Episode 6: Rogue Episode 7: The Legend of Ruby Sunday Episode 8: Empire of Death Christmas special: Joy to the World 60th anniversary specials Special 1: The Star Beast Special 2: Wild Blue Yonder Special 3: The Giggle Christmas special: The Church on Ruby Road Flux / Series 13 Chapter one: The Halloween Apocalypse Chapter two: War of the Sontarans Chapter three: Once, Upon Time Chapter four: Village of the Angels Chapter five: Survivors of the Flux Chapter six: The Vanquishers New Year's Special: Eve of the Daleks Spring special: Legend of the Sea Devils BBC centenary special: The Power of the Doctor Series 12 Episode 1: Spyfall part one Episode 2: Spyfall part two Episode 3: Orphan 55 Episode 4: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror Episode 5: Fugitive of the Judoon Episode 6: Praxeus Episode 7: Can You Hear Me? Episode 8: The Haunting of Villa Diodati Episode 9: Ascension of the Cybermen Episode 10: The Timeless Children New Year's special: Revolution of the Daleks Series 11 Episode 1: The Woman Who Fell to Earth Episode 2: The Ghost Monument Episode 3: Rosa Episode 4: Arachnids in the UK Episode 5: The Tsuangra Condundrum Episode 6: Demons of the Punjab Episode 7: Kerblam! Episode 8: The Witchfinders Episode 9: It Takes You Away Episode 10: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos New Year's special: Resolution Series 10 Episode 1: The Pilot Episode 2: Smile Episode 3: Thin Ice Episode 4: Knock Knock Episode 5: Oxygen Episode 6: Extremis Episode 7: The Pyramid at the End of the World Episode 8: The Lie of the Land Episode 9: Empress of Mars Episode 10: The Eaters of Light Episode 11: World Enough and Time Episode 12: The Doctor Falls 2017 Christmas special: Twice Upon A Time Series 9 Episode 1: The Magician's Apprentice Episode 2: The Witch's Familiar Episode 3: Under The Lake Episode 4: Before The Flood Episode 5: The Girl Who Died Episode 6: The Woman Who Lived Episode 7: The Zygon Invasion Episode 8: The Zygon Inversion Episode 9: Sleep No More Episode 10: Face The Raven Episode 11: Heaven Sent Episode 12: Hell Bent 2015 Christmas special: The Husbands of River Song 2016 Christmas special: The Return of Doctor Mysterio Series 8 Episode 1: Deep Breath Episode 2: Into The Dalek Episode 3: Robot of Sherwood Episode 4: Listen Episode 5: Time Heist Episode 6: The Caretaker Episode 7: Kill The Moon Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express Episode 9: Flatline Episode 10: In the Forest of the Night Episode 11: Dark Water Episode 12: Death In Heaven 2014 Christmas special: Last Christmas Series 7 Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks Episode 2: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Episode 3: A Town Called Mercy Episode 4: The Power of Three Episode 5: The Angels Take Manhatten 2012 Christmas special: The Snowmen Episode 6: The Bells of Saint John Episode 7: The Rings of Akhaten Episode 8: Cold War Episode 9: Hide Episode 10: Journey to the Centre of the Tardis Episode 11: The Crimson Horror Episode 12: Nightmare in Silver Episode 13: The Name of the Doctor 50th Anniversary special: The Day of the Doctor 2013 Christmas special: The Time of the Doctor Series 6 Episode 1: The Impossible Astronaut Episode 2: Day of the Moon Episode 3: The Curse of the Black Spot Episode 4: The Doctor's Wife Episode 5: The Rebel Flesh Episode 6: The Almost People Episode 7: A Good Man Goes To War Episode 8: Let's Kill Hitler Episode 9: Night Terrors Episode 10: The Girl Who Waited Episode 11: The God Complex Episode 12: Closing Time Episode 13: The Wedding of River Song 2011 Christmas special: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe Series 5 Episode 1: The Eleventh Hour Episode 2: The Beast Below Episode 3: Victory of the Daleks Episode 4: The Time of Angels Episode 5: Flesh and Stone Episode 6: The Vampires of Venice Episode 7: Amy's Choice Episode 8: The Hungry Earth Episode 9: Cold Blood Episode 10: Vincent and the Doctor Episode 11: The Lodger Episode 12: The Pandorica Opens Episode 13: The Big Bang 2010 Christmas special: A Christmas Carol