The Witch's Familiar

What. An. Episode. This episode not only stood up to the quality of the sensational The Magician's Apprentice from last week, but it managed to surpass it altogether, a rare act for a double-part story these days. The episode toned down the epic tone of its predecessor, to focus almost entirely on two relationships, Clara and Missy, and the Doctor and Davros. The acting from the entire cast - especially Bleach and Capaldi - was incredible, and the talks between the Doctor and Davros took the ancient enemies into completely new - and unexpected - territory, dripping with surprising emotion, powerful dialogue, and truly touching moments. Elsewhere, Missy is devilishly evil and proves herself to be one of the best incarnations of the Master yet. One second, she's being hilarious and bouncing off Clara brilliantly, the next you literally hate her very despicable guts. She's funny and electric, but damn you can't trust her. And, ultimately, the crux of this episode is in its optimistic portrayal of the concept of mercy and compassion, and simply how powerful was the final scene, the Doctor and the young Davros, hand in hand, Davros carrying the screwdriver and the Doctor carrying the Dalek gun? What a powerful image, concluding what is by far one of the best Doctor Who episodes ever told. Superlatives all round for this one; Moffat, this may be your greatest ever script for the show. Hopefully the rest of Series 9 can keep to this astounding quality.

Pretty grate 2 parter so early in the season? These two, the preceding Magicians Apprentice and Witches Familiar, really feel like like the customary 2 part season finale.

We spent the last episode seeing everyone get in a ton of trouble. So in this one we get to see them get out of trouble. The how isn't important. It's really about the great scenes with Missy and Clara or Davros and the Doctor.

Michelle Gomez is simultaneously shockingly evil, hilarious and sexy. Yes Missy is evil and terrible but how can you stay mad at her?

I have to say Jenna Coleman is quite eclipsed by Michelle in the seasons they share. Not that they are bad. They are some of the best scenes in this story.

The Daleks in this story are great, I think they have every kind of Dalek model represented. I spotted at least 4 different shapes without trying. Pretty sure there were more.

Overall, somehow without doing anything mindblowing and it being merely yet another Dalek/cybermen story, it's still a really good episode.

Its okay for the show to have far out episodes, monster of the week episodes and plain old fashioned 'Classic' enemies episodes. I think it's great actually. I do wish they would do more stuff with other bad guys than the master. And other nefarious species than the Daleks and Cybermen. I guess they have done Ice Warriors.

I'm ashamed to say it now, that series 9 was the "I'm done with new who" moment for me. While id never give up on the show today, series 9 is still my personal, least favourite season of the shows history. Everything just failed for me. The same old same old, it felt tired when it looked and sounded like the show was pushing the boundaries with ideas, only to completely back off last minute because of silly lazy excuses, such as that tv shouldn't look like movies. From a no straight answer ridiculous hybrid arc, to bringing back monsters/references and completely missing there point, to making speeches for the sake of being shared, to pandering to a small demographic like tumbler or Twitter. To calling out Clara haters and getting big actors like Maisie Williams (one my favourite actress) and putting her in the most kiddest who story yet. Plus the usual stuff of "looks good, sounds good but makes no sense". Such as the Dr punching through Crystal making a doorway. Is it really good " symbolism"? I seem to be the only one, (apart from batmanmarch) to be baffled why the Dr is punching a bloody wall made of something 10 times stronger diamond?

The series annoyed me so much that I went to the Festival live show to get my answers. From Moffat being smug and swearing at the few kids that was even there and the many teens cosplaying, plus the fact that bbc was selling a bowtie worth over £100 that actually sold over cheaper incredibly detailed Robert Harrop classic statues. I look back now and cringe at my actions but I really did wonder if doctor who (new who) for me anymore?

The story's first part is a very long tedious joke fest. From missy's try hard "Hey Mickey joke" and the puppy joke. Both jokes have one thing in common, they ruin something for the sake of a joke. Hey missy makes unit look ridiculously incompetent and the puppy joke ruins the entire setup of armed guards watching missy. Yet an old couple with a puppy is allowed to walk across? We also get yet another joke that a lot of fans still reference/debate today. The Dr on a tank. Its ridiculous with any Dr, even the 11th would struggle pulling it off.

My family all looked and cringed at me when i watched this with them. Resulting in me now using BBC iPlayer to avoid that awkward moment again. Like many jokes here it ruins 12, gone is more serious Dr and now we get a more forced cringy joke teller. Poor capaldi. Even the cliffhanger has a fake death of both Clara and missy. Death means nothing to Moffat so it's ridiculously obvious they will be back so your just wasting our time.

The story finally starts to kick in and then later forget it's own arc about how the Dr is dying. Yet again. I can see what Moffat was trying to do and I do think it could of been very interesting stuff seeing both the Dr and Davros fear death and not knowing if the other will be the cause of each other's death.

Davros is revealed to be dying back on skaro and it's never explained but these Daleks all serve him. We get a nice mix of different era Daleks, however its never mentioned why they are here? And why is a renegade Dalek here, with davros? Julian bleach and Peter capaldi are two absolutely stunning actors and really make this nothing story sound better, what a waste of two great actors. The two have many debates about being good men and the story plays around with the idea of helping a child who grew to be evil. I don't think the opening scene captured the war at all, the men should of deliberately left the child there and the handmines are pointless when you have real horror of people being shot at because of race.

We get an Incredible interesting moment with the Dr and davros as he prepares to die and congratulates the dr on his planet being back. It's a really honest and powerful scene that gets completely ruined because Davros tricked the Dr and the Dr tricked davros. So it was all a lie, it meant nothing, cheap. You can tell at the start that davros was planning something but then it stops and gets very serious So your lead to really believe this moment between them. The idea of using the Drs regeneration powers to the Daleks is a really good one but it's wasted. The Daleks here shouldn't be dead and the fact the regeneration is linked to every Dalek on skaro how did davros really not know how the regeneration would also go to the sewer ? Makes him look very stupid.

The other side plot is an incredibly ridiculous one. Moffat tries to recon the Dalek. I don't mind the idea that a mutants emotion and hatred will trigger the gun, but the idea that exterminate is a way to help charge the gun just cheapens the line. The exterminate chant is supposed to be scary, saying it's automagical and needed as a trigger help ruins it and I much prefer the idea of a Dalek doesn't need to say it at all, the gun needs no loadup, but it screams it because it can and wants too. It's also said here that the suit controls the mutants. Showing that Moffat never understood them. It's baffling how one can reference genesis and not understand it. The mutants are genetically engineered and born with hatred and will do anything to kill with or without the suit. The whole reason many kaled scientists died at the end of Genesis to put right and wrong in the mutant. Even Chibnall understands this. His first Dalek story is all about how the mutant will survive and kill no matter what, with or without the suit, so I find fans who say Chibnalls Dalek stories are worst than Moffat laughable. It's your opinion of course but it's a fact that Moffat doesn't understand them. I'll personally never understand how one wants the show to go back to a season like this either? Series 11 was far from good but id take it other series 9 as it actually did something different, it didn't work but I think they know that and I don't see Chibnall doing a video every week about how stunning and heartbroken fans will be, you get ready fans! Even towards the end the Dr doesn't even question why this Dalek (that has Clara inside) is acting weird.

There's a big theme here about the Daleks and mercy. I honestly think Moffat was trying to explain why Daleks sometimes talk the way they do, why when they shouldn't if davros made them a certain way.

That I don't mind but it didn't work. Because the Daleks don't have mercy, but it doesn't mean they don't understand it. Theyve used peoples mercy and compassion against them since the first episode when they use Susan's friendship with the thals to lure them into a trap and kill them.

Having the Dr go back and tell Davros about mercy doesn't fix anything it adds more problems as to why did he then goes on to make the Daleks at all.

My biggest problem with this story is there is some great ideas here to do something new and really interesting with the Daleks and davros. Have the theme and main focus be davros is dying and questioning whether he is a good person. The Dr being a more darker Dr has decided to put him out of his misery. Have The Dr give him one last chance to make the Daleks good. Maybe the sewer Daleks are failed good Daleks. The Dr is tricked for regeneration and the Daleks become more powerful and can regenerate. The Dr has also at the last minute given the regeneration energy to the sewer Daleks. They need a new casing so attack the Daleks above. This could explain rusty? Davros in many audios and books has been written like this pathetic dad who wants his children's love and so it wouldn't look odd him trying to change them near the end. During the timewar he created a nightmare child to kill the Daleks but also himself, he made the Dr watch this. The idea being, did davros turn good in the end by creating something that would end his Daleks. Plus did he fall or jump?

So while there is great sets and ideas here, there is still a lot of very bad reckoning or silly things such as davros eyes being fine even though he was blind in the war, missy swearing because the show is now edgy or even tickling the Dalek hemispheres. I will say Michelle Gomez really makes awful stuff at least enjoyable, same with capaldi.

But for me it's easily the worst Dalek tv story yet.

Rating: 1/5 3/10.

If you go down Dalek sewers today, you're sure of a big surprise. If you go down Dalek sewers today (going twice not recommended), you better go in disguise (best not to go at all). For every Dalek passed its sell by date, will gather there for acrimonious hate, today's the day Dalek waste becomes regenerated slick.

She falls 20 feet yet only her pride is hurt. How so very sweet. Companions invariably become unbearable (arrogant, pretentious, entitled, petulant...) and should be replaced every series. Davros has always been an impossibly dreary character. And the Daleks are the incompetents of the Universe. The Master/Mistress are always over-the-top characters that encourage you to search for a large grain of salt. I would love to watch episodes in which the companion does not appear. Why do they always have to be there? The show IS called Doctor Who. Not Doctor Who and his companion.