'Doctor Who' Recap: 'World Enough and Time'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

When it comes to Doctor Who, one of the most bittersweet moments that Whovians will ever go through...is the Regeneration of a Doctor. After all, we've come to know and love that particular Doctor, so having to see them exit the show is completely and utterly heartbreaking and truly the only solace that we can find in their untimely demise, is the fact that when the time comes at last, the Doctor always goes out like a champ. His end also means a glorious finale, one where he demonstrates his heroism on levels we never expected, where he fights until his final breath and when the dust is settled, the tears have dried and the new Doctor stands before us...we can only feel pride because his final act, saved countless lives. 

Sadly, that time is upon us once again, for last night's episode, 'World Enough and Time' kicked off the beginning of the end for the Twelfth Doctor in the most stunning of fashion, by not only giving us a sneak peek of the Regeneration to come, but by also putting the Doctor's hearts and our own through the wringer all thanks to the machinations of an old and evil friend and rather than spend any time revisiting the plot with our traditional summary, it's best we dig right into the meatier parts of this episode head on because this was more than a story, this was a powerful experience...one that unfortunately saw the Doctor's (and our own) worst fears come to fruition in a tale that finally brought together the overreaching story arc of Series Ten...the Doctor's juggling act between saving Missy, and the universe. 

If anything, this particular tale allowed for that delicate juggling act to come crashing to the ground in a matter of minutes since let's be honest, every last one of us gasped in utter shock the instant we saw that hole in Bill's chest and really...this was an hour filled to the brim with heartbreak and horror. Because the 'hospital' that Bill was taken to was truly the stuff of nightmares with its cavalcade of faceless monsters and truly, it was difficult to watch poor Bill make peace with the fact that her heart was now artificial because you could see it in her eyes...she thought it would be no big deal because the Doctor was coming to save her and he'd make everything right again and watching her, watching him and waiting for rescue only made the night worse because this episode had a cloud hanging over it, we knew bad was coming...but I don't think anyone was ready for how devastating the final moments of this episode turned out to be.

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Because while it was quite the treat to see John Simm return as the Master and come to learn that this iteration of this titular villain is in essence the father of the Cybermen as a whole...nothing can top those final moments, when we learn that Bill did indeed wait for the Doctor, and the price for her patience was full conversion into a Mondasian Cyberman and I'm not sure I will ever forget the look on the Doctor's face as Missy, the Master and his friend stood there before him, representing everything he's ever stood against. If anything, we all knew that eventually the Doctor would pay the piper for constantly trying to do everything at once but this...well this was just cruel. It's one thing for the universe to teach you a lesson, but this kind of pain and suffering could and should break a person at their core.

I'm certain of course that's what the Master wants, to shatter the Doctor once and for all, but I think we all know that while Twelve is a caring man with a giant pair of hearts...he's not above settling in for a fight and unleashing the hidden fury within which means, the Master is going to pay, and the Cybermen are in for one hell of a fight. But perhaps the toughest thing when it comes to this episode, is what crosses your mind long after its ended. This is it. Twelve's time is coming to an end and while I was chatting up this episode with my pal Kerri, we came to the same conclusion that next week's episode will be tear jerking and brutal, because it's Twelve's final outing and the incredible work that Peter Capaldi put into the role comes to an end and that hurts because, well, it's best I quote Kerri on this one, 'he IS the Doctor' and she's right. He's simply perfect in the role and seeing him go may be the toughest Regeneration the fans have had to endure to date.

Aside from the heartbreak this episode brought forth however, we do need to take a moment and discuss the wonder of John Simm as an actor. I never once suspected he was Mister Razor in disguise all along and that reveal made me gasp just as loudly as I did when Bill took that energy bullet to the chest, but wow...he's tremendously talented to be able to fool us like that and considering that Peter Capaldi, Michelle Gomez and John Simm will all be on screen together next week, it looks like we are in for an acting clinic with that much talent in one place. Either way, this is it. The end has come at last for the Twelfth Doctor, and it looks like he's going out with a bang, and I am not ready for this in the slightest. Until next time. 

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