Doctor Who is often at its smartest and most entertaining when it immerses itself in real historical events, offering up some quirky explanation for unsolved mysteries. These range from more whimsical happenings such as Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance in The Unicorn and the Wasp; this season’s Thin Ice, which took a look at why the London Frost Fairs existed; to the seismic events that were truly responsible for wiping out the dinosaur in Earthshock. One such tale has baffled historians for years: the disappearance of Rome’s Ninth Legion. Turns out, in the Who-niverse anyway, the explanation is far more colorful that conventional theories.
Synopsis:
A long time ago, the Roman legion of the ninth vanished into the mists of Scotland. Bill has a theory about what happened, and the Doctor has a time machine. But when they arrive in ancient Aberdeenshire, what they find is a far greater threat than any army. In a cairn, on a hillside, is a doorway leading to the end of the world.
Five thousand of Rome’s finest stationed in Caledonia, gone. An unchronicled reassignment from the region is one rather mundane theory; the more romantic is that the Scots, heavily outnumbered, managed somehow to wipe out this army as it marched through their turf. Turns out, according to Doctor Who, the real cause was some pan-dimensional light eating locusts. Creatures that long ago had been sealed away by Clan elders, aside form the occasional pressure release. At this annual event, one chosen from the tribe stands to push the creature back, only this time they failed. Once free, it feeds on the light, growing in strength, wiping out this Roman legion. As the Doctor and Bill arrive, the creature looks set to turn its sights on the rest of humanity.
Despite this nifty weaving into history, it’s a familiar threat, structure, and resolution for the show. It’s executed pretty well, but gains few points for originality. Where the episode does do well is in bringing Bill back to the fore, notably with her rapport with the Roman survivors and their contrasting views on sexuality. It’s effective to remind people that despite thousands of years separating our cultures, in some ways the Romans were more tolerant then than some of us are now. The episode also delivers an effective reminder of the horrors of war, and how it’s often the young who bear the brunt of it.
While Capaldi has certainly secured his legacy as a superb Doctor this season, this outing seems a little at odds with his character. It’s odd behavior at times, snarky with comments as to how everyone sounds like children. Even the impetus for the episode stems from him wanting to prove Bill wrong. That student/teacher relationship certainly takes something of a back seat. Writing also feeds his character into an odd and lackluster ending, suggesting the Doctor and generations of regenerations ahead of him are required to stop the creatures, but this can be replaced by a handful of troops each with a few decades of life. There’s no logic to it, and it encapsulates many of the issues this second half of the season has had. I’m also unsure why they’re dragging the existence and explanation of the TARDIS’s translation matrix over multiple episodes this season.
Perhaps the most baffling thing in the episode is in its final act. Missy is now squirreled away on the TARDIS rather than in the vault, for help with maintenance, and obviously setting up some plot for next time. It’s an interesting idea, this redemption, but it just ain’t gonna stick. If it were, it would deprive the show of one of its most effective nemeses for the Doctor. So milk away, but it’s just not convincing. Dripping these short scenes feels like a disservice to the arc and the character. That said, the exchanges between Capaldi and Gomez are wonderful, even without the bite that comes from the typical adversarial nature of their encounters. Similarly underserviced, the point of Nardole remains to be made. At this rate the only explanation for his persistence as a “companion” is that he’s going to be killed by Missy come the season finale. Again, if that is the case, it ain’t going to carry much weight as far as I’m concerned.
Oh and the Doctor REALLY needs to lose this raggedy sweater he wears from time to time. Cosmic hobo chic it is not.
Doctor Who Trivia
Rona Munro, who penned this outing, in doing so became the first person to write for both Nu-Who and the Classic original series. In fact, she was responsible for writing the final episode of Sylvester McCoy’s tenure, 1989’s Survival. And yes, I know McCoy featured in the TV movie.
The Eaters of Light treads familiar ground for Doctor Who: a historical mystery wrapped around an adventure and looming threat from a strange creature. It entertains while also offering a subtle critique of imperialism and war. While solid, it just doesn’t hit the heights of storytelling and character development achieved earlier this season and suffers from having to maintain the drip of information to sustain the season long arc.