More Pudding than Anyone Can Eat

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? If you're thinking, "Yay, the rice pudding speech!" you are. In this première episode, "The Magician's Apprentice", of Peter Capaldi's second season as the Doctor we see a great many references to Who of the past, among them clips of past Doctors, among those clips one of the Seventh Doctor's finest moments, The Rice Pudding Speech.

Mostly the scene referred back to one of my least favourite Fourth Doctor stories, though, but it featured a clip from one of the best scenes in it.

Spoilers after the screenshot

Davros turns up in so many of the audio plays I've listened to recently that his appearance lost a bit of the excitement it otherwise might have had, though I've never especially been a fan of Davros. Though, on the other hand, he's been featured in some very good stories--The Eighth Doctor audio Terra Firma, the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks (from whence comes the Pudding). His one previous appearance on the revived series so far, the Tenth Doctor episode "Journey's End", felt like a rush on in a big pile of cameos so maybe it is time he had a proper story.

Of course, the episode also has the Doctor's other arch enemy, Missy. Michelle Gomez is so good in the role, her every subtle facial expression working wonderfully, I hope she continues in the role for a long time.

Capaldi, of course, is at least as good. Notice how he says WITH HIS FACE, "Hey, yes, come down here and join me in the arena," and Gomez says WITH HER FACE, "Really? Me? Ha ha, okay."

The episode really felt like two episodes, the first part starring Clara and we see she's become even more assertive and taken a more pivotal role. I get the feeling Moffat is working hard to respond to people who want to see a more feminist flavour to the show but you know he's going to be called a misogynist anyway. Clara is called by the elite UN military force UNIT, which is headed by Kate Stewart, whose subordinates and tech people all also appear to be women, to deal with a plot by Missy, who refers to knowing the Doctor "since he was a little girl", and meanwhile the Doctor is hiding out under the protection of a powerful alien, all female, witches coven. Oh, that misogynist Moffat.

Maybe the throwback that pleased me the most, though, was the fact that the episode ended in a cliffhanger. With all the two parters this season, I think we can expect more and I couldn't be happier.