Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Dear diary,

It's strange how my priorities have shifted in the last six days. During Episode One, I was really glad to be seeing something akin to an old-style 'historical' story, with the minimum amount of science fiction involved. As the story has gone on, though, I've found myself enjoying the sci-fi more and more, and now I'm more interested in what's going on in the Central Zone than I am with any of the stuff in the Civil War area.

It's great to see the Doctor using the Sonic Screwdriver again here, and for an application other than unscrewing things. It's interesting to note that he struggles with another method of getting the wall panel removed to begin with (he talks of reversing the magnetic forcefield, but stops short of mentioning any neutron flows...), and it's actually Zoe who suggests that the Sonic Screwdriver might be of use here. Maybe my assumptions all along that the Doctor simply hasn't developed the device to the point that it can fulfil the magic-wand like qualities it's capable of these days are completely wrong? Could it be that he actually designed it simply to remove screws (that's what it's been used for in 50% of its appearances so far!) and it's not until now that he starts to think there might be other applications for it? I think it was the Doctor who thought to cut through the wall with it in The Dominators, so maybe it's a combination of the two? It's not quite there yet in terms of the 'software', for want of a better word, so he doesn't immediately think to use it when a situation arises?

Forget all that, though, because today's episode is home to a far more important moment - it's the first mention we've had in the series of 'Time Lords'. It's mentioned in passing, just as a single line in the middle of a greater conversation about the War Chief. It's chucked in as part of a reference to the fact that he's an alien to these people as much as he is to everyone else, and they're described as his people. There's absolutely no indication that there's anything important about the line, and that makes this one of the rare times that I'm glad to have former knowledge about the programme.

Usually, I'm complaining that knowing all about this stuff means that I don't get to experience events with the sense of excitement a new viewer might. Here, knowing how significant that line is, I can sit back and enjoy being ahead of the game, watching as they start to draw all the threads together, leading to the Doctor's capture at the end of the story. Like the references earlier on to the Doctor hoping his suspicions about what's going on could be wrong, it's great to know what's just coming up on the horizon. 

I'm also pleased to see Zoe being sent off back to one of the war zones, while the Doctor remains behind with Jamie. It's great to have him spending some quality time with both of his companions before they get separated, and having had several episodes in which he gets to interact with Zoe's superior logic, we end today with Troughton and Hines gurning as the ceiling presses down on them. It's like they're letting us enjoy the pairings one final time before they're so cruelly snatched away from us...