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It Takes You Away is the ninth – and penultimate – episode of Doctor Who Series 11, and it took the Doctor and the Scooby Doo gang away to spooky house in a forest in Norway (not Norway), in which something has taken Hanne’s father away…
While the owner of the house was out and about, Hanne was remarkably trusting, even though her Dad had just been captured, and she’s blind, so you’d think she’d be rather wary.
While Ryan stayed behind with Hanne, the Doctor, Bradley and Yaz went through the mirror, met an orc called Ribbons, and then followed him through a cave… as you would. And so instead of running along corridors, they’re walking through a cave…
…and Ribbons was just a rip-off of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, since instead of “my precious”, everything he championed was “delicious”, and spoken in a similar way.
Just a shame, for Ribbons, it was rather a waste of The Actor Kevin Eldon.
Oh, and add in the alternate reality in which, when you die, you can exist elsewhere – so that’s Robin Williams’ What Dreams May Come. But then it wasn’t the dead coming back to life, after all, it was a baddie pretending to be dead people – so that’s the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
There was also a particular guest star who I won’t name here, but I’ll hide behind a spoiler header in the cast list.
Add in another random reference to a future situation we’ve never seen (The Woolly Rebellion), another redundant modern reference (TripAdvisor), and when the Doctor said, “Can I just say – I love me sonic”… Yeah, we’ve noticed, Doc, all thanks to lazy writing from Chibnall & co.
So, we had zero originality and a thoroughly boring episode. I don’t know if Doctor Who, as a whole, can be saved, but Chibnall isn’t the answer.
The only reason this I’ll give this episode a one is because of Graham’s touching scene, late on. Beyond that, it was risible.
However, while the rumour about Jodie and Chibnall leaving after one series was an obvious fake, at this point I really couldn’t give two hoots if it was true!
Next time: Nine distress signals from the same planet, and Mark Addy from The Full Monty is stuck there. Can The Doctor & co. save Dave and solve everything in 50 minutes?
Maybe as well let the CGI frog write it…
It Takes You Away is available on the BBC iPlayer.
You can also pre-order it on Blu-ray, Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook and DVD.
Individual episodes can be bought in HD and SD here.
Score: 1/10
Director: Jamie Childs
Producer: Nikki Wilson
Writer: Ed Hime
Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens
Music: Segun Akinola
Cast:
The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker
Graham O’Brien: Bradley Walsh
Ryan Sinclair: Tosin Cole
Yasmin Khan: Mandip Gill
Hanne: Eleanor Wallwork
Ribbons: Kevin Eldon
Erik: Christian Rubeck
Trine: Lisa Stokke
Previously on DVDfever:
November 25th:
It Takes You Away is the ninth – and penultimate – episode of Doctor Who Series 11, and has a very short trailer which shows a cottage in Norway in winter, a chimney with no smoke, and The Doctor appears to be encased in honey…
Synopsis: On the edge of a Norwegian fjord in the present day, the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz discover a boarded-up cottage and a girl named Hanne in need of their help. What has happened here? What monster lurks in the woods around the cottage – and beyond?
Again, we have a different writer than Chris Chibnall, and it’s Ed Hime, who hasn’t written for Doctor Who before, and only has written for Skins. IMDB states the writer is The Witchfinders‘ Joy Wilkinson, but I’m taking my cue from the BBC iPlayer.
The episode is directed by Jamie Childs, who also directed The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Demons of the Punjab, and the finale, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos.
It Takes You Away is broadcast at 6.30pm on BBC1 next Sunday.
Read our review for The Witchfinders.
Director: Jamie Childs
Producer: Nikki Wilson
Writer: Ed Hime
Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens
Music: Segun Akinola
Cast:
The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker
Graham O’Brien: Bradley Walsh
Ryan Sinclair: Tosin Cole
Yasmin Khan: Mandip Gill
Hanne: Eleanor Wallwork
Ribbons: Kevin Eldon
Erik: Christian Rubeck
Trine: Lisa Stokke
Check out the brand new trailer below along with a look at what police officer Yasmin Khan has on file about the Postmen from episode seven.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.