Series 10: Thin Ice Advance Review
Note: Doctor Who TV’s pre-air reviews aim to be as detail-free as we reasonably can while still offering a critique, but as everyone’s spoiler sensibilities are different, we advise you read on at your own discretion.
Last week, Series 10 took viewers into the far future. Now it’s time to do the complete opposite and revisit the distant past. Following on directly from the closing moments of Smile, the TARDIS has landed in Regency era London, 1814 to be precise. There’s a great frost fair on, but more worryingly something huge is lurking under the River Thames and people are going missing…
In 2015 Sarah Dollard was tasked with writing Face the Raven, a high-stakes episode that saw the main companion die (or at least until Hell Bent allowed some “wiggle room”). Dollard’s latest, Thin Ice, is rather more traditional fare by comparison. It doesn’t really do anything you wouldn’t expect from a period episode. However that’s not to say it’s entirely without incident. It also touches on weightier themes such as racism, ecology and the social class system.
Much like with Smile though, where the episode really excels is the growing dynamic between Bill and the Doctor. Bill has demonstrated a talent for posing some interesting questions to our Time Lord. And here we tackle little topics like: has the Doctor ever killed anyone? Complexities like this dig a little deeper into the Doctor’s character, and in turn allow Bill to question her own ideals. Piece by piece we’re seeing further layers added.
With such themes this may sound like a bit of a darker episode then, but there’s a good balance. There are still plenty of fun moments to be had, particularly early on when the Doctor and Bill encounter the various attractions, shady townsfolk, and a gang of young pickpockets. There’s a latter Capaldi moment that leads to a great punchline (literally), sadly already spoiled by the publicity material.
Although the cast is the largest of Series 10 so far, there are only a few characters really worth talking about. Of the aforementioned pickpocket gang, Asiatu Koroma is granted more depth as the young Kitty. Nicholas Burns plays the villainous Lord Sutcliffe well, even if his time is too short to make him particularly memorable. Matt Lucas’ Nardole once again appears fleetingly, in just one scene. And as with the last episode, he is there to ever so slightly advance the series arc.
Publicity has made no secret of the fact the monster of the episode is a giant underwater creature, although you never really get to see it in full detail, and it’s not a routine threat. It’s the type of monster that has a little more to it than on the surface (or under, as it were), reminiscent of the Star Whale from The Beast Below.
The BBC excels at costume dramas, and Doctor Who usually follows suit when required. This episode is no exception, with the Regency era faithfully recreated in all its snowy glory, helmed by New Who Director Bill Anderson. The underwater sequence is perhaps a bit ambitious for Doctor Who’s budget, but it gets the job done.
By and large, Thin Ice is a good if slightly unremarkable episode. Once again the plot and resolution is a little undercooked and takes a backseat to the character work. But when the interplay of our leading duo is this strong, it can be more easily forgiven.
