The Ghost Monument

At the end of the last episode our four intrepid adventurers found themselves floating in space as the Doctor attempted to locate the last location of the TARDIS. 

Thankfully rescue comes quickly. Graham and Ryan end up on board a ship belonging to a woman called Anstrom (Susan Lynch). The Doctor and Yaz end up with Epzo (Shaun Dooley). Both ships are in a bad way. Epzo’s worse than Anstrom’s. 

Anstrom lands first. We don’t see it, but the implication is they crash landed. We do see Epzo’s crash landing quite impressively. Coincidentally it happens quite close to where Graham, Ryan and Anstrom are. 

So now the whole gang is together. The planet is called Desolation. It is out of its orbit. And it is the final stop in a race run by Ilin (Art Malik). The prize is enough money to set up home for them and their clans. This final stage they must get across the planet to the Ghost Monument. Once there the winner will be transported off the planet and the loser left behind. 

They are warned to not drink the water. 

Also, before Ilin leaves, he shows them a picture of the Ghost Monument that appears and disappears. It is the TARDIS. 

The Doctor is worried about why the planet is in the state it is in. Epzo isn’t. Rudely. Neither is Anstrom. But less rudely. 

After some fiddling about with a boat to get it working again, which allows a little exploration of Ryan and Graham’s relationship and a talk about teamwork where Epzo sets out his bleak philosophy that trust no one and all men are an island. There’s also some discussion with Anstrom about her home world that suggest that all is not well. 

There are ruins, guard robots with lasers, the Doctor lecturing someone – in this case Ryan – about how she never uses guns, and some tunnels. Then we find out what this place is. It was turned into a weapons factory by the Senza. Scientists worked there under duress and they’ve created…well…Desolation. 

One of the things they have created is a floaty papery psychic monster thing that attempts to kill Epzo, who is rescued by Anstrom. These things attack at night. And, of course, the team are forced to go up to the surface at night. Some things in Doctor Who are ordained in advance really. 

In The Acetylene Fields they are attacked. The floaty paper things taunt the group about fear and then refer, when talking to the Doctor, to ‘The Timeless Child’. This may come up again. 

The team drive them off and make it to the Ghost Monument. But there is no TARDIS. The Doctor encourages Epzo and Anstrom to claim joint victory, which they do. Ilin is ‘persuaded’. He clicks his fingers and everyone but the Doctor, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz are gone. 

No TARDIS and no way to get home the Doctor has an unusual moment of giving up. But the team refuse to agree. At this point we hear the TARDIS sound and we’re here. Back with the TARDIS. With a new interior, which I’m not sure I like. It’s a bit dark and miserable for my liking. But perhaps I’ll get used to it. 

I always think if my review is mostly me talking through the story something is missing that means I didn't get deeply involved. This isn't a bad story, but I think two stories in some flaws are emerging in the Chibnall era. Chibnall’s writing has a certain lack of nuance. He's one for spelling things out as obviously as possible, which can be irritating as hell. Lectures get given. I could be making leaps of judgment too early, but we'll see. 

What this story does do is give us a little breathing space to start getting to know the TARDIS crew a little better. I’m still enjoying Whittaker's performance. I really like Graham, but perhaps that’s because I’m near to his age now that to any of the other companions. Ryan and Yaz are still at an early stage. We know the least amount Yaz. But the chemistry between the four of them is excellent. I’m still not happy with the size of the team, but it works for this story, I think. 

I assume the Senza are being set up as these seasons big bad. They’re behind the weapon’s factory; they’re the ones who have invade Anstrom’s world. We shall see. 

We move on.