Doctor Who – Thin Ice

By: Sharon Kurack

Fellow Whovians, the question isn’t where did we last see our time traveling duo; it’s when. Last week, Bill (Pearl Mackie) had us travel to the future to see if it was a happy one. This week the TARDIS decided to be a bit cheeky and mess with the two, sending them to the past: London, 1814. Perhaps visiting the past is just as important as the future to the TARDIS, who seems to have a fondness for trouble. (Also, a fondness for dresses it seems as Bill discovers. Love at first sight?) The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Bill emerge from the TARDIS right on the completely frozen over Thames River in 1814, in the middle of a faire, the last day before the “big thaw.” Once Twelve “parks” the Tardis above the Thames for safety, he and Bill dress for the times and decide to explore the “Last Great Frost Faire.” Why does no one notice the TARDIS? Apparently, humans hardly notice or tend to ignore the unexplainable (as we see in the conclusion of the episode as well).

Enjoying the faire, Bill and Twelve have a few meaningful conversations that really establish and deepen their teacher/student relationship. One of Bill’s worries is how their being in the past may affect the future, to which the Time Lord tells her not to overthink things lest it take the joy out of the adventure. Existing in the past is similar to everyday life and it is best not to worry over everything as in life. Another conversation involves Bill’s worries over racism, slavery and people’s reaction to her being a woman of color in 1814. However, she does notice a lot more people of color there than “whitewashed movies” have portrayed. (She does indeed face racism, as well se later on, but it brings an absolutely “knockout” performance from the Doctor.)

As they continue exploring, Bill notices small, green-glowing lights coming from under the ice as the Doctor talks/heckles with what would appear to be a conman. After a bit of trickery fun, they get down to business examining the lights only to be interrupted by a young girl searching for her dog. Seeing through her con, Twelve calls her out but his sonic screwdriver is stolen by a small boy. He almost gets away, but then the lights find him in an isolated part of the ice. They encircle him, open the ice and drag him down just as the Doctor grabs the sonic, trying to save him as well. Never having seen someone die in front of her, Bill is extremely unnerved and demands that the Doctor save him. Sadly, at this point, the kid is “sleeping with the fishes.” (Too soon?) So, she runs off to process everything. As her teacher, the Doctor follows and they talk with him questioning the difference between what had just happened and the garden of dead people in the future. The conversation then turns intense as Bill, still angry, inquires to not only the number of people that the Doctor has seen die, but also if he’s ever killed anyone. With as much patience as a 2000 year old being can have, he finds that the number is high, perhaps too high to count. But his answer isn’t one full of pain or apathy; it’s as though he is finally at peace with his decisions in the past that may have brought some death versus extinction. To him, if you don’t “move on,” then more people will die (and perhaps, in vain).

Wanting to save whomever she could from future attacks, Bill agrees to help. It is then that the young girl from earlier, Kitty (Asiatu Koroma), wants to help and leads both Bill and Twelve to where the rest of the street urchins are. It turns out that the kids are paid to promote the faire, which gives them more opportunities to steal from the people. Who is their employer? What would they gain? At this point, our “cool” duo only has the clue of a man with a tattoo on his hand to go by so they do the only logical thing: go under the ice and see what’s there (aka “get eaten”). They grab some conveniently placed deep sea diving gear and walk around on the ice until the lights decide to take them. The dive proves two things: 1) the “lights” are smaller, angler-looking fish that bring “prey,” 2) the “prey” is for an enormous “fish” that is somehow chained to where it is. “Tiny,” one of Twelve’s nicknames for the fish, opens a huge eye and simply stares at the two, groaning in despair (sounds very similar to Monstro from Pinnochio). Thankfully, a lot safer than they thought, the two emerge from the ice to regroup.

“Tiny” is clearly a prisoner, but of whom? And why? Spotting the conman from earlier, Twelve and Bill ask about tattoos (on the docks?) and suspicious activity, which brings them to the dredges. Under the clever guise of the psychic paper (such a useful tool!), Bill and the Doctor do some super-sleuthing and find a lot of crap. No, literally, they find the workers making bricks (…I’m going to refrain from that brick joke….) out of the creature’s excrement, which is supposedly going to be used for fuel rather than coal. (Yay progress!) It burns longer, is extremely hot, and can burn underwater. So, whomever is in charge has been paying the children to promote the faire, which provides “food” for the “fuel.” Gives “daylight’s burning” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?

Thinking a bit ahead, the Doctor concludes that whoever is behind this must be alien to know about the “fuel” and its properties to possibly fuel a ship. (I said ship.) So, they decide to pay this Lord Sutcliffe (Nicholas Burns) a visit, who turns out to be a “really bad hombre.” He is instantly insulted by our Doctor Disco for bringing “that thing” (Bill) in there. Despite his previous warning to Bill about staying calm, Twelve punches the racist scum, finding out that said scum is also human. The bad news? Bill and the Doctor get tied up. The good news? Lord Sutcliffe reveals his whole plan: The creature has always been there so his family has always “farmed” it for the “fuel,” feeding people to the beast during the faire. And by people, he means the underprivileged class. He plans to trap the huge faire crowd, thaw the ice with a fireworks display gone awry and feed them to the creature, reaping the digested benefits.

Although our Doctor Disco gives a moving speech about the value of a life, he is ignored and they are taken to the faire and placed in a tent set with explosives. Of course, the Doctor gets his sonic screwdriver after a few strategic maneuvers (a bit more practiced than Clara and Twelve in “Deep Breath”) and lures the lights to them, which attracts the attention of the guard. The guard takes the sonic screwdriver, causing the “fish” to move and encircle him instead, taking him under the ice. Thankfully, the Doctor manages to get his sonic before it, too, is dragged under. Once escaped, the Doctor gives Bill the choice of what to do about “Tiny.” Do they set her free or let the plan play out, continuing her suffering for the human race’s benefit? Like in “Kill the Moon,” the Time Lord cannot make this decision as Earth is not his planet. Bill ponders for a moment and then begs the Doctor to save “Tiny.”

The new plan has Bill rallying the street urchins to get all of the people off the ice before it is blown at noon. Lord Sutcliffe tries to prevent the mass exodus, but no one listens, causing him to take matters into his own hands (aka blow up the ice). Nothing happens to the ice, but the chains around the creature are blown off, setting her free thanks to the work of the sonic screwdriver. From the movement of the creature, the ice thaws and takes Lord Sutcliffe. (The cold never bothered him anyway.) Where does the creature go? No one knows, but perhaps somewhere away from humans.

Before they leave 1814, the Doctor and Bill bring the street kids to the late Lord Sutcliffe’s estate, where they are immediately fed and looked after. The Doctor “adjusts” Sutcliffe’s will, naming the only boy there the “long lost heir of Sutcliffe.” Thus, this keeps the kids safe and cared for (as Bill and Twelve see upon returning home and checking the internet). The TARDIS returns them to his office, right as Nardole (Matt Lucas) is bringing tea (mixed with coffee). Looking at the two in disbelief, Nardole realizes that the Doctor did not stick to his oath. (He didn’t go “off world” technically.) Rather angry, he storms off and ends up by the Gallifreyan vault we had seen in the first episode. In the midst of his mumblings and rantings, there is a loud knocking coming from the vault. Angrily, Nardole refuses to open the door and leaves. So, now the new questions are: Who or what is in that vault? Why are they there in the first place? Why is the Doctor protecting the vault?