Doctor Who: Boom ★★★★
Steven Moffat is back in a tense episode about faith, fatherhood and love.
Story 307
Series 14/Series One – Episode 3
“One wrong move and I go BOOM! All food mixer” – the Doctor
Storyline
In the year 5087, on the war-ravaged Kastarion 3, the Doctor steps on a landmine. Ruby is determined to help but one false move and they will die, as will the ordained Anglican marines deployed in the vicinity. Without moving, the Time Lord must outwit the deadly technology and the so-called Ambulances that are sweeping the battlefield.
First UK broadcast
Saturday 18 May 2024
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Cast
The Doctor – Ncuti Gatwa
Ruby Sunday – Millie Gibson
John Francis Vater – Joe Anderson
Carson – Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy
Splice Alison Vater – Caoilinn Springall
Mundy Flynn – Varada Sethu
Canterbury James Olliphant – Bhav Joshi
Ambulance – Susan Twist
Crew
Writer – Steven Moffat
Director – Julie Anne Robinson
Music – Murray Gold
Producer – Vicki Delow
Executive producers – Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Phil Collinson, Julie Anne Robinson, Steven Moffat
RT review by Patrick Mulkern
After two frantic episodes, Boom offers a welcome gear change. A sophisticated landmine stops Ncuti Gatwa in his tracks, rooting his quicksilver Doctor to the spot almost for the duration. A tense predicament unfolding in real time obliges him and Ruby to catch their breath, and be calm, brave and resourceful. Gatwa and Millie Gibson impress throughout.
Fatherhood and blind faith are the themes of the week. The first character seen in close-up personifies both – a sightless Anglican marine and father whose very surname is Vater – "father" in German. To spare our sniggers, this is given an English pronunciation, not the German "farter".
Vater will soon be a ghost, an AI hologram, thanks to a so-called "ambulance" that cruelly dispenses death on the battlefield. Its interface offers "Thoughts & Prayers" with all the glibness of politicians and social media types who claim to be "so sad" whenever anyone of note "passes". ("Ambulance" is also the latest guise for Susan Twist, bolstering her increasingly bizarre Who CV.)
The Time Lord suggests that faith, especially blind unquestioning faith, has led to most, if not all, conflict in world history. In Boom, humankind has taken it to the stars. Faith in war, faith in technology, and these marines are the Clerics, a militarised religious organisation who first appeared in The Time of Angels (2010). It’s a strong message but interesting that these marines are “ordained Anglican”, a soft target. Imagine substituting any other faith or denomination there and watch that BOOM!
It’s great to see Steven Moffat back in the driving seat after a seven-year absence. He still writes with ingenuity, playing with words and tech and, more than anything, tugging the heart. There are three types of love story here. Between father Vater and daughter Splice; between the shy marines Mundy and Canterbury. And yes, as Mundy follows Sunday, this is our first glimpse of Varada Sethu, who’ll join the series as the next companion.
The third love is between best friends, the Doctor and Ruby. The little hug they share in the police box doorway right at the end is my favourite moment of the episode. There’s no hint of yearning, no Rose/Martha/Amy doe-eyed attraction. Just deep affection. And a smidgeon of Larkin, slightly misquoted by the Time Lord: "As a sad old man once told me, 'What survives of us is love.'"
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