12 Great Moments From Time Heist
Mark McCullough picks out twelve faves from the fifth episode of Series 8.
Note: Episode spoilers naturally!
All good heists need a strong plan as a foundation. Time Heist needed lots of strong moments to ensure its success. Let’s look at twelve of the best.
12. Guards in Disguise
The theme of the episode was a heist, which meant certain things were going to happen during the course of the narrative. The reveal that the guards were in fact the Doctor’s friends Psi and Saibra and that the entire thing had been parter of their larger plan to rob the bank was probably an inevitability. In terms of how easy to guess it was, it may have been better to have consistency with the guards rather than one with a helmet and one without. Regardless of the fact that it was somewhat predictable, it was still an excellent scene which showed the pair receives their rewards for placing their trust in the Doctor. The scene would probably have been higher up the list only for the fact that it undermined two wonderful character death scenes by bringing back the characters.
11. The Memory Wipe
The opening scene of this week’s instalment is one of the most unique I have seen, it is the rapid change of pace which seals the deal. The episode opens with the Doctor trying to persuade Clara to come with him instead of going on a date with Danny. Her preparations and beautifying herself is used as a source of humour when contrasted with the Doctor’s attitude. The TARDIS phone ringing is used to deliver a reminder of the arc. Then the tone shifts drastically as the audience is thrown in at the deep end. The Doctor and Clara appear at a table with two strangers as each is played a recording of themselves consenting to have their memory wiped. The concept of agreeing to something you wouldn’t normally agree to, and then to have no recollection of why you did must have been a terrifying situation for the characters and was certainly a contrast to how the episode opened.
10. It’s a Time Heist
It’s a bank heist, but it’s also Doctor Who. The sci-fi twists were there for the entirety of the plot, but no moment screamed Doctor Who as much as the one where the Doctor realised that his heist was being led from the future. Until this point the episode could easily have been a futuristic episode of BBC drama Hustle. However time travel is the very essence of the show and its injection into the episode was the leash of life it needed to realise its full potential. It also allowed for a set where the full picture remained ambiguous until the end of the end of the episode where everything slotted into place. This helped to maintain the mystery of the heist.
9. The Bomb
The bomb scene is the first time the plot slows to allow the audience and characters a chance to come to grips with the situation. The themes that occur in the scene are questioning the logistics of the situation: is everything planned, are they expendable, what they are trying to steal and who is behind it all? Something else which crops up in this scene and not for the first time this series is the theme of the Doctor being in charge. This time he handles it better than he did with Robin Hood, but again his answer is played for laughs, unless we choose our leader based on eyebrows. Interestingly though we see him refer to Clara as boss in the final scene.
8. Feeding on Guilt
It’s one thing hearing that a bank is the most secure in the universe, but it isn’t quite believable until they show us. This is what this scene does so well, establishing the concept behind the Teller and the mechanism of how it kills. The sense of danger stems from this scene too as we are aware that our heroes could potentially face the same fate later in the story. It is also the first opportunity for Keeley Hawes to showcase her talents in the role of Mrs. Delphox. Unfortunately it is one of a limited number of such scenes as I feel the character is not fleshed out enough to allow Hawes to shine as bright as I know she can from the wonderful Ashes to Ashes. The concept behind the Teller is fascinating, a telepath who can sense guilt. This is particularly useful as the threat against our bank robbing protagonists.
7. The Doctor is the Architect
The major twist within the narrative was that the mysterious Architect, who had masterminded the entire bank robbery, was in fact the Doctor in a hoodie. The hints were there throughout: the Doctor recognised the memory worms and the chip in Psi’s head, same with the shredders (although he got their function wrong). These subtle hints allowed me to guess the twist before it was revealed in the “shut up scene”. There’s something magical about seeing the Doctor interrupt the antagonist mid flow with a “shut up” as he figures out the situation and pieces together the information. The result is a story which forms a stable time loop with the bank robbery only happening because the Doctor gave Miss Karabraxos his phone number during it.
6. Saibra’s Curse
The scene between Capaldi’s Doctor and Saibra is a standout moment which proves that a scene doesn’t need to be complex to be special. A heartfelt conversation between two characters accompanied by a simple score allows for a particularly poignant moment. The content of the conversation itself is tragic and gives a fascinating insight into the character’s life and what life is like without contact. Something else which may be worth noting is the potential foreshadowing of Saibra’s situation to that off Miss Karabraxos who is isolated in the vaults below the bank. This scene also has a payoff as we get a near identical scene, except due to the ‘reward’ Saibra no longer has her problem of being unable to make physical contact with people
5. The Two Tellers
The twist to the episode hinged on the Teller, the ‘monster’ of the story. Structurally it was a similar twist to the one in last year’s episode “Hide”. Arguably it was done much better here as unlike previously the twist was actually teased throughout the episode rather than seeming like a last minute addition. Unfortunately due to the similarities this potentially wonderful scene suffers slightly. The tease in question was that “everyone has a price”, which when you think about it for a monster of the Teller’s nature can only really be what it was revealed to be. The reveal did add a layer of depth to the creature and its actions throughout the story and I found myself empathising with him.
4. Saibra’s pseudo-death
When the Doctor and co stumbles upon the Teller’s cage, it is Saibra who is the victim of its mind devouring abilities. Her death scene was a particularly poignant one as she opted to take the easy and painless way out; this showed her strength of character and resolve. The scene is also used to get another reference to the apparent secondary arc of the series, is the Doctor a good man? Here the answer is yes as Saibra uses what she thinks are her last words to remind the Doctor that his a good man, a notion he appears to reject. Unfortunately any pathos established by the scene is undone when the character’s death turns out to have been fake or a pseudo-death.
3. Delphox is Karabraxos
If ambiguity about the villains has been a recurring theme of Series Eight, this can be considered another such case. Miss Karabraxos is not the traditional villain in that she doesn’t actively harm anyone who doesn’t first try to steal from her. Besides this, the only person she hurts is the clones of herself, a testament to her self-loathing. Karabraxos is actually a very intriguing character who is obviously suffering from the effects of social isolation; the paranoia and obsession with inanimate objects such as wealth is a telling sign of this. Looking at the bigger picture her only real crime is the one which she is most guilty about, and the one she goes about redeeming. The scene which reveals this is exceptionally well realised and is starkly contrasted by the actions of the Doctor immediately after the reveal. The humour of the “shut up” scene takes the viewer’s mind from the Karabraxos reveal to the Architect. For this reason much of the depth only becomes evident when reflecting on the episode.
2. Psi ‘dies’
I’m going to combine two moments which come together to produce one of the most memorable pseudo-deaths within the Whoniverse. Psi’s character was incredible and the first standout scene was the one to feature his discussion about deleting memories. Here Clara acts an audience surrogate, we can all relate to the fact there are some things we wish we could forget (maybe even certain Doctor Who episode). The thought of losing the memories which matter the most to you is a harrowing one and made Psi’s character a centre for empathy. This then led to a scene filled with pathos when he sacrificed himself for Clara. His line about your life flashing before and seeing the people you care about, yet he had no-one. What made the scene all the more poignant was the fact that Psi chose to do this, to protect the people he cared about. This aspect of his character is shown to be consistent as he places others before himself several times throughout the narrative. It is somewhat a pity that the lasting impact of the scene was nullified by the apparent cop out.
1. The Doctor’s Reward
“Imagine the thing you want the most in the universe” A chilling thought posed to the audience earlier in the episode, and the suggested reason behind robbing the bank for our four protagonists. We see Saibra and Psi receive their reward, but are neglected to be shown directly what the Doctor’s is. That is why in my opinion when you piece everything together the Doctor’s reward is the most poignant scene of the whole lot. The dénouement of the episode reveals the Doctor’s motives to be helping and old woman on her death bed to correct the biggest mistake of her life: causing the extinction of a species. Reflecting this onto the Doctor and it bares uncanny parallels to The Day of the Doctor and his own personal plight. The answer to the question of what the Doctor wants the most in the universe is not “professional detachment” or even any of the greatest wealth in the universe, but to help those who need him and to prevent the extinction of any form of life. How very Doctor-like.
