Doctor Who: The Haunting of Villa Diodati (12x08)

Woah damn. I really, really liked this episode.

Cons:

Honestly, the only "con" I have is that Jack Harkness isn't going to be in the rest of the season, and that we didn't see the Master... going in to the next two weeks, it seems to me that there is simply way too much content still left to cover. Where is the focus going to be? Are some of these elements going to bleed over into the next season? Sometimes I feel like we're just getting started in exploring the 13th Doctor, and I get nervous that this will all be over too soon.

Pros:

So I may or may not have been an English major in undergrad, with a specific focus on the Romantic and Victorian eras of writing. This may or may not be entirely my jam.

I loved the creepy house, the gathering of literary giants of the era, the practically mythical origin story for Mary Shelley's genre-creating Frankenstein, Lord Byron being a total player. It was all so... familiar to me, like seeing old friends on the TV. A real treat.

In specific, I love what they did with the character of Byron. Doctor Who has never been a show with a ton of romance at its core, but over the years we've seen plenty of dalliances between the Doctor and various folks they run into on their adventures. I'm glad that now that the Doctor is being played by a woman, there hasn't been a plethora of examples of men falling over themselves to be close to her. But at the same time... why shouldn't someone fall all over her? She's pretty remarkable. I loved that Byron had a clear and stated interest, but that it never ended up going anywhere concrete. That was such a fun tension to play with. And good on Claire Clairmont for stepping away and asserting herself when she realized that Byron's affections were fickle. (Although, on a darker note... that little baby dies at age five, just as a historical bummer FYI).

I also love that Byron's philandering is something that has had such an impact on literary history that it can still be the punchline to a joke in the year 2020. When the Doctor and the fam approach Villa Diodati, they go over the two rules: don't mention Frankenstein, and don't snog Byron.

The creepy happenings in the house itself are really interesting. First, it seems that people can't get where they're trying to go - walking through doors and down stairs only to find themselves back where they started. Then, Graham sees what appears to be a ghost mother and daughter (a complete red herring, which I really liked). There's a creepy hand, a skull where the baby should be, etc. etc..

And then the truth starts to unravel itself - a seemingly defective Cyberman shows up and tries to get to Percy Shelley, who is apparently the "Guardian," having picked up a piece of Cyberman tech containing the collective knowledge of all Cybermen. The Doctor ends up taking on the task herself, saving Percy but potentially condemning countless future people, since she "gave the loan Cyberman what he wanted," the exact thing Jack Harkness had told her not to do.

This is so intriguing. Obviously one of the big highlights of the episode was the Doctor's angry speech to her companions, stating that sometimes, even she can't win. She can't just let Shelley die at this point - that would alter the course of history, erase all of his future writings, and influence countless other people. It's a fixed point in time. On the other hand, she's foregoing a warning from Jack, taking on something she doesn't understand by becoming the Guardian, and making things potentially a lot worse overall. How is one person meant to make a choice like that? This show has made a good case for the fact that one person shouldn't be able to make a choice like that, and yet when it comes down to it, sometimes that's just how it works out.

Mary Shelley was my favorite part of the episode, I think. I loved how brave she was, how devoted to her future husband (technically she's not even Mary Shelley yet, but she's already calling herself that). And she wants to write, but is feeling discouraged about it. Ryan and the others give her a boost. There's also the fun implication that her experience with the Cyberman, who is a monster only in that he was created to be one, serves as inspiration for Frankenstein. But that narrative is also complicated by the fact that the Cyberman fully leans in to his monstrous instincts, and doesn't provide that hint of pathos that we get with Frankenstein's Monster. Very fascinating.

This is one of those reviews where I could probably go on and on. I loved it all - the atmosphere, the spookiness, the implications for the Doctor's future and the future of the universe, the historical characters and references, the fun dancing scene, Ryan being tragically bad at playing the piano... it all gets a big thumbs up from me!

9.5/10