Doctor Who – Recap: The Trouble With Upgrades via Rickey.org
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Recap video and review of Doctor Who – Series 7 Episode 12 – Nightmare in Silver:
Matt Smith’s tenure as The Doctor has been relatively low on the villains we’ve come to expect from Doctor Who. Yeah, he’s fought the Daleks before, and he’s come face-to-face with Cybermen. However, the Eleventh Doctor has had terrific variety in his rogues gallery, which is why an episode like “Nightmare in Silver” doesn’t feel like a retread the way David Tennant’s umpteenth battle with the Daleks tended to feel. The Cybermen are a classic villain, but they’ve hardly been overplayed during Steven Moffat’s run. This Neil Gaiman-penned episode utilizes the Cybermen in a way that maximizes their threat, which is a relatively simple task to accomplish, given that the Cybermen are among the The Doctor’s more formidable opponents, what with their persistence and constantly evolving intelligence, to say nothing of their sheer numbers. (Of course, when you recycle your enemies, your army is naturally going to be huge) That said, while the episode is able to build a thrilling sense of danger (especially when presented with the dual sides to The Doctor), this was pretty much the weakest episode of Series 7b. It wasn’t that it was bad, but simply that it felt vaguely devoid of any real purpose. We don’t learn anything new about Clara, nor do we get any sense of how The Doctor’s relationship to her has changed or evolved over the course of their brief companionship. Normally, this isn’t a problem if the adventure is a fun one, but I found this to be kind of a slog, for the most part. I’ll likely be in the minority there, and that’s perfectly okay (disagreement is the bread and butter of discourse), but I just can’t see myself rewatching this one. However, the episode does provide a showcase for Matt Smith’s unique talents, allowing him to portray dual personalities. His performance alone is enough to make “Nightmare in Silver” worth seeking out, even if Gaiman’s script isn’t nearly as interesting.
Credit: BBC
So Angie and Artie, the two children Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) babysit, have discovered her secret time/space-travelling hobby, and have demanded to be taken along for her next trip. And so The Doctor (Matt Smith) takes them all to Hedgewick’s World, an amusement park smack-dab in the middle of a ruined, mostly uninhabited planet. The trip to the park introduces us to a colorful of characters, from the Willy Wonka-esque amusement park master Webley (Jason Watkins) to his charge, a little person nicknamed Porridge (Warwick Davis). Everything is all well and good until the Cybermen, on display in Webley’s museum, are activated by dormant cybermites, resulting in the hostile takeover of the entire planet — and the kidnapping of Angie and Artie. The Doctor launches a full-scale rescue mission, while using his psychic paper to convince the embedded soldiers on the planet that he’s a high-ranking official. This allows him to essentially deputize Clara, leaving him in charge of the force while he rescues the children and does battle with the Cybermen hive mind. Unfortunately, things don’t exactly go smoothly for either party. When the Cybermen rise to full strength, Clara and the soldiers are no match for the steel warriors, as they continually upgrade, correcting their weaknesses and rendering the anti-Cyberman weaponry ineffective. Worse, The Doctor has been assimilated by cybermites, essentially splitting his mind down the middle — the half dominated by the Cybermen hive mind, and the half over which The Doctor retains control.
Credit: BBC
What results is the best material of the episode, as Matt Smith portrays the dichotomy of these two personalities, with the Cyberman side taking delicious, menacing pleasure in exerting his influence over the good side of The Doctor. Meanwhile, the true side of The Doctor remains quirky and benevolent, doing his best to wage a war entirely in his own mind, and against his own mind. The battle of wits ultimately boils down to a game of chess, where The Doctor puts complete control of his mind at stake, while the Cyberman side offers the freedom of the children as reward. This leads to some pretty great bits, such as the Cyberman trying to convince Clara that The Doctor is secretly in love with her, which plays into the running gag of Clara slapping The Doctor to verify that it’s really The Doctor she’s talking to, and not the Cybermen hive mind. Also great: Warwick Davis as Porridge, who doesn’t get nearly enough to do. Davis is a fantastic actor, and he imbues the vagrant Porridge with a subtle sense of nobility. Of course, this becomes important later, when we learn that he’s the emperor of this wayward galactic system. He’s also the man who ultimately saves the day, as he detonates a bomb that destroys the planet, preventing the Cybermen from escaping into the galaxy and conquering the entire system. He transports everyone safely to his imperial spaceship first, and is even able to bring the TARDIS on-board before the destruction down below. Yet this heroism belies a deeper pathos.
Credit: BBC
The story of an emperor fleeing from his responsibility is one of the best parts of Gaiman’s script, and it’s an element that could have been much more. However, I still enjoyed what we did get, as Porridge’s plight as the man with his finger on the button, having to decide whether or not to destroy the entire planet to prevent the Cybermen from taking over the galaxy, mirrors The Doctor’s plight as the man who essentially ended his own race. There’s a shared pathos between the two men that’s barely touched upon, but is there nonetheless. Porridge resists his destiny, though he begrudgingly accepts the loneliness to which that destiny has condemned him. That feeling of loneliness is among the more salient thematic notes of the episode, as it mirrors The Doctor’s own, in many ways. Both men are also similar in how their loneliness is offset by Clara’s invigorating presence, though Porridge’s fondness for Clara is of a different nature. He proposes marriage at the end of episode, offering love and the promise of sovereignty over the entire galaxy. But Clara doesn’t have those kinds of ambitions. She sweetly rejects his proposal, since she doesn’t exactly want the burden of galactic rule either. However, the narrative throughline remains: no one ever has to be alone, regardless of the burden of their responsibilities. It’s a lesson The Doctor is relearning, following the loss of Amy and Rory. The “Impossible Girl” is having a far greater effect on him than he might even be willing to admit, and I absolutely love Clara as a companion, since she makes such a terrific foil for The Doctor, matching his cleverness and adventurous sensibility.
Credit: BBC
“Nightmare in Silver” isn’t a bad episode by any means, but it’s the weakest of this season so far, mostly because it’s had to follow some pretty solid installments. That said, I feel time will probably be kinder to this episode, as I imagine it’ll play better on subsequent rewatches. There’s richness and nuance to the work Smith and Davis are doing with their performances, and it adds a rewatchability to the episode that it might not otherwise have had. Though I wasn’t crazy about the episode, it’s done nothing to dull my enthusiasm for next week’s finale. I’m beyond stoked. And really, that’s the strength, and the beauty, of this show — the childlike giddiness it can inspire simply from the promise of another adventure.