Doctor Who - Series nine on Target

I have serious issues with series eight. There were some bold ideas, yes. Two-part stories, plenty of Daleks, top drawer guest actors... But as a whole, it felt too dark - particularly for a Saturday night. The storylines were grim and were of the kind that no doubt alienated the popular audience - particularly since it was screened at irregular later times with episodes occasionally ending after the watershed. It was also at this point 

I also felt there were issues with Clara's character. She's saved all of the Doctor's incarnations for his anniversary and loved and lost her man so her story had virtually been told by the time we saw her "die" in Last Christmas. But since that was a dream, we ended up with her for another year when it would've done the series a world of good by starting off with a new companion for series eight. 

Her eventual death, resurrection and departure was protracted and maudlin doing neither the actress or the audience any favours. One minute she died, the next she's back. And then she's dead again. And she's back... but the Doctor doesn't know that. Good job too as he'd be bloody livid at what it could potentially do to the fabric of time!

Favourites in this series is Heaven Sent - a tour-de-force from both Peter Capaldi (in a solo performance) and Steven Moffat (for a tale of self-discovery and revelation worthy of 'The Twilight Zone'). Such a pity it was connected to the convoluted mess that was Hell Bent. 

Ah, well. We're back to square one for the next series...

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