But
the entire universe doesn’t need to be under threat for the stakes
to be high, and the stakes are certainly high in “World Enough and
Time”, the first part of the two-part Series 10 finale by Steven
Moffat. While “World Enough and Time” certainly bears many
similarities to first parts of previous finales, it also stands
apart. It is certainly one of the darkest Doctor Who
stories (not just finales), filled with an unrelenting sense of
impending doom. Clocks are
seen ticking forwards in this episode, yet the feel nevertheless is
one of a countdown—a countdown to a terrible catastrophe.
Catastrophe is certainly a hallmark of many Doctor Who
stories, but rarely does it feel so tangible and so close—not just
close to the characters, but to the viewers as well.
There’s
a lot to unpack in “World Enough and Time”. It’s a dense script
based around some complex scientific topics (and in typical science
fiction fashion, not entirely accurately portrayed) and
also has a heavy reliance on the show’s past (which is not always
to its benefit). Of course, the next episode (the actual Series 10
finale episode) will likely have an effect (either good, bad, or
both) on how many of the elements of “World Enough and Time”
ultimately work, but looked at on its own, without knowledge of what
is to come next (beyond the “Next Time” trailer), it is a hugely
enjoyable—if highly morbid—episode that keeps me captivated until
the end and has left me eager for the next. Yet it is also a highly
problematic episode that also gets a little too caught up in its own
self-references.
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