He stated "This Doctor has never been written better, Capaldi has never channelled Tom Baker more, that sequence is cemented instantly as the 'Capaldi moment' in clip shows for the rest of time", and while he said that "It was a risky game to attempt the sort of contemporary allegory" that the episode did, he soon confirmed that the episode "knocked [it] out of the park".
(meta data) TITLE: Doctor Who series 35, episode eight: The Zygon Inversion | Television & radio | The Guardian (meta data) AUTHOR: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/danmartin (meta data) PUBLISHER: https://www.facebook.com/theguardian (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2015-11-07T15:55:16-0500 Skip to main content The Guardian - Back to home Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Search jobs Sign in current edition: US edition Art & design TV & radio Doctor Who: episode-by-episode Doctor Who # Doctor Who series 35, episode eight: The Zygon Inversion After last episode's Zygon invasion, the Doctor brilliantly foils the insurgency with a bit of classic bluff and pure logic. And in the process, Peter Capaldi at last enjoys his defining 'Doctor moment' Dan Martin Sat 7 Nov 2015 15.55 EST Last modified on Wed 12 Jun 2019 05.42 EDT His moment has come: Peter Capaldi with Ingrid Oliver as Osgood. Photograph: Simon Ridgway/BBC SPOILER ALERT: This weekly blog is for those who have been watching the new series of Doctor Who. Don't read ahead if you haven't seen episode eight – The Zygon Inversion. • Read Dan Martin's episode seven episode blog here ## 'When you've killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect and you've got it exactly the way you want it, what are you gonna do about the people like you?' In the end, the Doctor won by acting. His bluff about the empty Osgood Box had just the right effect in calling off the Zygon insurgency but, more broadly, Peter Capaldi won as the Doctor by acting. It was pointed out a while ago by our friends at the Radio Times that the 12th Doctor had yet to have his definitive "Doctor moment" – such as Eccleston's "Everybody lives!" or Smith's grand address atop Stonehenge, or even McCoy's "unlimited rice pudding". Well, here it was this week, and then some, and then quite a considerable bit more. As he delivered his passionate, eloquent takedown of Zygon rebel Bonnie (Jenna Coleman on lipsmacking evil-twin form), this version of the Doctor was comprehensively nailed, skewering perfectly who this man is. That brusque exterior is a barely held together veneer to rein in a compassion and a frustration constantly trying to outdo each other within a heart as big as the Medusa cascade; an exasperated parent who can never do enough. Or indeed, you might say, a Scotsman. This Doctor has never been written better, Capaldi has never channelled Tom Baker more, that sequence is cemented instantly as the "Capaldi moment" in clip shows for the rest of time. After last week, The Zygon Inversion took the action down a few notches, but the themes way, way up. And like all the world's knottiest problems, the premise of all global conflict was undermined with startling simplicity, not through Lennon-ist peacenik soundbites but a determined, rational unpicking of the logic topped off with the doozy of a rug-pull; what is it you are actually hoping for? It's a shame that the trifling divisions beneath all political and religious conflict seem more ingrained in real-life humans than they do in fictional Zygons, or that this episode will likely not be used in any real-life peace talks any time soon. Or indeed, that more of us aren't like Osgood. It was a risky game to attempt the sort of contemporary allegory that The Zygon Inversion knocked out of the park. And it actually ended up even more topical than was probably intended, in the wake of the Labour party conference. In saying he would never push the nuclear button, Jeremy Corbyn blew the cover that nobody would ever push the button really. Of course there was nothing in the Osgood Box; it was just important that everyone thought there was, just as half of Corbyn's shadow cabinet think it's probably important that people think Britain has a nuclear deterrent that it would use. Unfortunately for Andy Burnham, he doesn't have the power to wipe people's memories. (Not even with his leadership campaign material, boom-tish.) ## 'You are a credit to your species' Osgood was devised as the best of fandom. In contrast to the lone, angry typists a lot of people associate us with being, The Day of the Doctor brought in a youthful (rather than simply "young" ), enthusiastic cosplayer, and a female. It was little wonder that Ingrid Oliver's performance won everyone's hearts. Now, she's being pitched as the best of humanity itself, her open mind and heart seemingly being what will hold the ceasefire together. The Doctor might have set Bonnie on the straight and narrow, but it's the link with Osgood that will keep her there; neither will answer the question of which of them is which, "until the day that nobody cares about the answer". A grinningly optimistic end to what could have been an incredibly grim story. And now, she has a first name! Praise be, Petronella. ## Fear factor We've always been given to just accepting that the Zygons are shapeshifters without actually ever seeing how they do it. So it was a cunning bit of body horror to see the poor, civilian sleeper agent, trapped midway through a transformation he is desperately trying to avert. "I'm not part of your fight. I never wanted to fight anyone – I just wanted to live here." ## Mysteries and questions Knowledge of Jenna Coleman's departure has clearly provided fuel for this year's arc-speculation, with episodes teasing us shamelessly about what fate might await Clara. Now Peter Capaldi has further lanced the boil, speaking to Nick Grimshaw on Radio 1 this week. "I don't want to go into what happens, because it's very clever what happens in it, but it's very sad," he teased. "It's not quite what you think's going to happen. You think what's going to happen is going to happen, but then something else happens. "That's what's wonderful about Doctor Who. It's always clever the way these things are done. It's not quite as straightforward as it appears. Get lots of hankies ready, that's what I would say. It's sad over a number of weeks." ## Continuity 108 If you're going to bring in the daughter of beloved old goat the Brigadier, you might as well have some fun with it. So as Kate recounts to the Doctor how she escaped the Zygons, the glee on Jemma Redgrave's face is palpable as she reels off her father's famous catchphrase: "Five rounds, rapid." As coined here in The Daemons from 1971. ## Deeper into the vortex The sonic specs controversy rages on: "Isn't that a bit pointless? Like an invisible hearing aid?" It isn't actually established anywhere within the canon that the Doctor's first name is not Basil, is it? And indeed, "Doctor John Disco." And why not? Disco is a much better surname than Smith. "You know I'm 2,000 years old? I'm old enough to be your messiah." Once again, Clara is well aware that she is an excellent liar. "Most of your kind don't want that." "Then it's time we stopped giving them a choice." It's worth reporting comments Steven Moffat made in an interview with Variety this week regarding the show's potential longevity: "It's definitely going to last five more years, I've seen the business plan. It's not going anywhere. And I think we can go past that. It's television's own legend. It will just keep going." Clara's prison-house inside the Zygon pod recalled the dream states from Last Christmas; she even appears to do a "dream check", to try to work out if it is a dream. It also brought to mind Donna's domestic fantasy from Silence in the Library. ## Next week! Things go a little "off-piste" as Mark Gatiss delivers Cloverfield-style "found footage" episode Sleep No More. Quick guide #### Doctor Who: all our episode-by-episode recaps Series 37 / Season 11 Episode 1: The Woman Who Fell to EarthEpisode 2: The Ghost MonumentEpisode 3: RosaEpisode 4: Arachnids in the UKEpisode 5: The Tsuangra CondundrumEpisode 6: Demons of the PunjabEpisode 7: Kerblam!Episode 8: The WitchfindersEpisode 9: It Takes You AwayEpisode 10: The Battle of Ranskoor Av KolosNew Year's special: Resolution Series 36 / Season 10 Episode 1: The PilotEpisode 2: SmileEpisode 3: Thin IceEpisode 4: Knock KnockEpisode 5: OxygenEpisode 6: ExtremisEpisode 7: The Pyramid at the End of the WorldEpisode 8: The Lie of the LandEpisode 9: Empress of MarsEpisode 10: The Eaters of LightEpisode 11: World Enough and TimeEpisode 12: The Doctor Falls2017 Christmas special: Twice Upon A Time Series 35 / Season 9 Episode 1: The Magician's ApprenticeEpisode 2: The Witch's FamiliarEpisode 3: Under The LakeEpisode 4: Before The FloodEpisode 5: The Girl Who DiedEpisode 6: The Woman Who LivedEpisode 7: The Zygon InvasionEpisode 8: The Zygon InversionEpisode 9: Sleep No MoreEpisode 10: Face The RavenEpisode 11: Heaven SentEpisode 12: Hell BentChristmas special 2015: The Husbands of River SongChristmas special 2016: The Return of Doctor Mysterio Series 34 / Season 8 Episode 1: Deep BreathEpisode 2: Into The DalekEpisode 3: Robot of SherwoodEpisode 4: ListenEpisode 5: Time HeistEpisode 6: The CaretakerEpisode 7: Kill The MoonEpisode 8: Mummy on the Orient ExpressEpisode 9: FlatlineEpisode 10: In the Forest of the NightEpisode 11: Dark WaterEpisode 12: Death In HeavenChristmas special 2014: Last Christmas Series 33 / Season 7 Episode 1: Asylum of the DaleksEpisode 2: Dinosaurs on a SpaceshipEpisode 3: A Town Called MercyEpisode 4: The Power of ThreeEpisode 5: The Angels Take ManhattenChristmas special 2012: The SnowmenEpisode 6: The Bells of Saint JohnEpisode 7: The Rings of AkhatenEpisode 8: Cold WarEpisode 9: HideEpisode 10: Journey to the Centre of the TardisEpisode 11: The Crimson HorrorEpisode 12: Nightmare in SilverEpisode 13: The Name of the Doctor50th Anniversary special: The Day of the DoctorChristmas special 2013: The Time of the Doctor Series 32 / Season 6 Episode 1: The Impossible AstronautEpisode 2: Day of the MoonEpisode 3: The Curse of the Black SpotEpisode 4: The Doctor's WifeEpisode 5: The Rebel FleshEpisode 6: The Almost PeopleEpisode 7: A Good Man Goes To WarEpisode 8: Let's Kill HitlerEpisode 9: Night TerrorsEpisode 10: The Girl Who WaitedEpisode 11: The God ComplexEpisode 12: Closing TimeEpisode 13: The Wedding of River SongChristmas special 2011: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe Series 31 / Season 5 Episode 1: The Eleventh HourEpisode 2: The Beast BelowEpisode 3: Victory of the DaleksEpisode 4: The Time of AngelsEpisode 5: Flesh and StoneEpisode 6: The Vampires of VeniceEpisode 7: Amy's ChoiceEpisode 8: The Hungry EarthEpisode 9: Cold BloodEpisode 10: Vincent and the DoctorEpisode 11: The LodgerEpisode 12: The Pandorica OpensEpisode 13: The Big BangChristmas special 2010: A Christmas Carol Doctor Who Doctor Who: episode-by-episode Fantasy TV Peter Capaldi Episode recaps Reuse this content
train23771
The Zygon Inversion
Broadcast and reception.:Critical reception.
On review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a 95% positive review rating and a score of 8/10, with a critical consensus stating, "While "The Zygon Inversion" isn't the most compelling conclusion to a Doctor Who two-parter, it allows for a stirring performance by Capaldi while hinting at Clara's fate in the episodes to come."
 Steven Cooper of "Slant Magazine" called it the best episode of the season so far and claimed it was "a powerful conclusion to the story set up last week". Mark Rozeman of "Paste Magazine" praised the transformation from "standard aliens-invade plot line" to "a treatise about war and its ultimate uselessness." He ultimately awarded the episode an 8.8. Kaite Welsh of "IndieWire" heavily acclaimed the episode, awarding it an A++ grade and saying that the episode was "Less overtly political than the previous episode, this week is an embarrassment of riches". She further praised Coleman's performance by saying that the episode " could very well be Jenna Coleman's goodbye present". Mark Rozeman of "Paste Magazine" awarded the episode a score of 8.8 out of ten, praising Clara and Bonnie's sequences as "brilliantly contrived". He also praised Capaldi's performance, stating "it’s a firm reminder of how lucky we are that an actor of Peter Capaldi’s caliber has taken the titular role and so thoroughly made it his own". 
 Writing for "The Guardian", Dan Martin also heavily praised the episode, specifically the Doctor's anti-war speech in the episode's conclusion.