‘Doctor Who’ Recap: ‘Demons of the Punjab’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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While I often find myself analyzing television shows to understand what they’re about and what they bring to the table, the ones that I truly fall in love with, are the ones that find a way to keep me guessing and surprise me at just about every single turn. And it just so happens that slowly but surely, Doctor Who is falling into that category because just when I think I have this new season figured out thematically, it goes and takes a powerful left turn that leaves me speechless and last night’s episode of the show, ‘Demons of the Punjab’, stuck with that particular criteria to a tee.
 
For once again, this seemed like a pretty by the number’s affair for the series since Yaz wanted to learn more about her Nan and why she was so secretive about a particular part of her past and the Doctor was mostly happy to oblige Yaz’s wishes to learn more about said past by taking the team into yesteryear to meet a younger Nan. But when Team TARDIS arrived in 1947 India, on the day of Partition, wherein the country was to be divided into India and Pakistan, the Doctor and her besties quickly came to learn that strange things were surrounding Yaz’s Nan and her forthcoming nuptials, in the form of demon-like aliens who seemed to be out for blood and that of course put Yaz’s family in harm’s way. 
 
Which, really is pretty standard Who fare when you think about it. I mean, often times we get a menacing alien (or aliens) on the show, and they seem hell bent on taking lives and doing their own thing before the Doctor defeats them, which is about as ‘Monster of the Week’ as it gets. But that’s where that wild and crazy left turn comes into play. For the aliens in this episode, weren’t the galactic-ly renowned assassins the Doctor thought them to be. They were instead, galactic mourners, the last of a race that now take the time to comfort those who are about to pass into the great beyond and do what they can to preserve that creature’s memory for all of eternity, which meant they weren’t the big bad of this particular tale. 

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​Instead, the villain here turned out to be a part of humanity that we’ve yet to shed from our species, hate. Because the idea of Muslims and Hindus living together in harmony was more than Prem’s brother Manish could handle and well, the reveal that he was the man responsible for Prem’s passing, and Nan’s escape to England was heartbreaking to say the least. Because he turned his back on family, all in the name of what he believed to be a greater and more powerful concept than just being decent to one another and really, what made this episode so incredibly powerful, aside from Prem’s fate of course, is what this story had to say about hate.
 
Because this tale reminded us, that hate is something we learn, and that it is something that is difficult to unlearn and when it infects a person’s mind and heart and soul, they do terrible things in its name and that was all we saw from Manish. Disdain, disgust and that burning hate and it was just a shame to see someone lost to its power. But, despite that bleakness, the episode did offer up plenty of hope as well. After all, it was beautiful to see love blossom and shatter borders and despite the ugliness present here, this story reminds us that the dark times always pass, and that love and being kind always win out in the end and that’s a wonderful message to provide the audience with in these troubled and erratic times.
 
Yet, all of this aside, I love that this series continues to work hard to provide the Doctor’s new companions with depth and substance. No more are their everyday experiences a plot device to move the Doctor’s agenda along, they help to shape new adventures with the Doctor and that’s just wonderful. And I really am digging how this series keeps using the standard Who formulas to build new tales that have all kinds of depth and power and this really was quite the beautiful episode to say the least, one that reminded us of the wonder of family, and why we often see our elders as heroes in their own right and once again, this leaves me hungry for more, and I’ll be counting down the minutes yet again for Sunday to roll back around so we can all enjoy another fascinating adventure with the Doctor and Team TARDIS. Until next time. 

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