Doctor Who: The Witch's Familiar (2)

Doctor: 'Admit it, you've all had this exact nightmare.'

After last week's cliffhanger, it was always going to be an uphill struggle to dig the story out of its proverbial hole. Obviously Missy and Clara couldn't be dead, and whilst Missy's anecdote about the Doctor escaping android assassins brought out the best in Clara—as she picked through the clues, made the correct deductions whilst hanging upside down, threatened to kill Missy, before finally stomping off pointy-stickless to save the Doctor—I'm not sure the rest of the episode allowed her to shine so brightly.

Doctor Who: The Magician's Apprentice (1)

Doctor: 'Davros made the Daleks. But who made Davros?'

Now that's how you do a cold open! Not only did it follow on seamlessly from 'The Doctor Meditates', it complemented the opening ambience of 'Genesis of the Daleks' perfectly, and dropped a gasp-inducing D-bomb on our shuddering craniums. The mastermind behind the Daleks is back—looking as ill as ever. Who'd have thought he'd be such a handsome looking kid? That Skaro air must really mess with your complexion... not to mention your hair follicles.

Doctor Who: Last Christmas

Clara: 'Every Christmas is last Christmas.'

This was an episode which benefited greatly from the media confusion surrounding it. The possibility of Jenna's departure transformed it into a tense tale of multiple fake-outs, and the more cognisant you were of the rumours, the more harrowing it was to watch. Unlucky for me, I believe any old horse shit... so I almost vomited from the stress.

Doctor Who: Death in Heaven

Doctor: 'How can you win a war against an enemy that can weaponize the dead?'

Well, that was bleak beyond belief. With finales you expect a modicum of carnage. What you don't expect is for the effects to be permanent, nor the victims to be soft targets. If Santa hadn't turned up at the end, I dare say I'd have burst into tears. Let's hope they don't kill him at Christmas.

Doctor Who: Dark Water

Doctor: 'Be strong, even if it breaks your heart.' 

This was a wonderfully dark penultimate episode. I've always believed that Clara and Danny would one day end up together. Despite her occasional indecision and whoppermongering, it always felt like the desired endgame. Until now. Now, I haven't got a clue what's going to happen. Help!

Doctor Who: In the Forest of the Night

Missy: 'Now that was surprising.'

You're not kidding, Missy. This felt like an episode with some really good ideas at its core, but some really weak pay-offs. The idea of the world waking up to find itself covered with trees was solid, the dialogue was consistently top drawer, and the ecological digs were both amusing and apt. So why did the rest of the episode fail to set my thrill circuits alight?

Doctor Who: Flatline

Al: 'Are we really hiding from killer graffiti?'

When I first saw that bald, bearded bloke vanish into the border, I sighed loudly and braced myself for the worst. Was 'Flatline' destined to become this season's 'Fear Her'? Then the quality of the CGI picked up dramatically, and the whole episode was transformed into a classic Russell T. Davies-style romp to the end. Thank goodness for the inaccuracy of first impressions.

Doctor Who: Mummy on the Orient Express

Clara: 'To hell with the last hurrah, let's keep going.' 

Despite the naff title, this was an excellent episode. It contained just enough Agatha Christie hat-tips without resorting to overkill (the fatal mistake of 'The Unicorn and the Wasp'), the atmosphere and setting were effective without being corny, the central mystery was mostly consistent, and the last six minutes were thoroughly absorbing. To think, I thought last week's denouement was a surprise.

Doctor Who: Kill the Moon

Clara: 'You go away, okay? You go a long way away.'

The early buzz seemed to suggest we were in for a treat this week. Reviewers were praising tonight's episode as better than 'Listen', others were saying it was terrifying, and some were touting it as one of the best episodes of all time. I don't think it was any of those things, but it had much to recommend it. The story was good, it had a decent moral conundrum at its centre, and the acting was terrific. So why am I being such a Davros Downer?

Doctor Who: The Caretaker

Doctor: 'How can you think that I'm her dad when we both look exactly the same age?'

This was an episode in which introductions took precedent over monsters. Danny meeting the Doctor has been on the cards for a while now, but I never thought it would be so much fun. After last week's plot-heavy caper, I enjoyed tonight's more character-centric focus. Plus, the funny dialogue was back—and sing Hosanna!—did it make a difference to the quality.

Doctor Who: Time Heist

Doctor: 'I was hoping for minimalism, but I think I came up with magician!'

The best part of tonight's episode was the beginning. I loved the heist setup: from the mysterious phone call, to everyone losing their memory, to the bank at Karabraxos. After that, it was a fairly standard runabout-by-numbers, with predictable reveals, a liberal dash of synapse-scrambling timey-wimeyness, and the occasionally wonky secondary character.

Doctor Who: Listen

Clara: 'Fear makes companions of us all.'

Beautiful! Without a doubt my favourite episode of the season, and one of my favourite episodes of all time. Virtually everything about it worked: from the domestic drama between Clara and Danny, to the timey-wimey shenanigans, to the ambiguity of the monster story. Was there ever anything there? Will we ever find out?

Doctor Who: Robot of Sherwood

Hood: 'And remember, Doctor. I'm just as real as you are.'

This is an episode I've been dreading since I first saw it advertised. The title sounded awful, the premise laughable, Robin Hood himself looked ridiculous, and the less said about the teaser the better. So why did I spend half of the episode cackling like a loon? One word: banter. The Doctor may not like it... but I do.