REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 11 Episode Two 'The Ghost Monument'

 REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 11 Episode Two 'The Ghost Monument'

Continuing my look-back at my thoughts regarding Doctor Who's eleventh series, here is my verdict on 'The Ghost Monument' from the original time of broadcast.

Since the revival began, second episodes have proven to be something of a problem for showrunners of the new series. Russell T Davies' second instalment of Series 1 'The End of The World' proved to be a somewhat lukewarm affair, whilst Steven Moffat's 'The Beast Below' - which directly followed the Series 5 opener 'The Eleventh Hour' - turned in a relatively uninspired narrative. It's a typical example of what has come to be known as 'the difficult second album': the challenge of attempting to meet or exceed the expectations built from your first instalment in a piece of media.

With this episode Chris Chibnall has managed to buck the trend, providing an episode that is every bit as good as the series opener. The difference in quality between The Woman Who Fell To Earth and 'The Ghost Monument' is really is minimal, and both feel like instant Doctor Who classics. The Ghost Monument brings to mind typical adventure stories from other areas of popular culture, such as your Jules Vernes or your Swiss Family Robinsons; it captures that air of a grand voyage to claim a treasured item with such ease that you wonder if Chris Chibnall should perhaps consider penning a classic adventure storyline once his time as showrunner of Doctor Who comes to an end.

Everything from the directing to the acting in this episode is on-point, but the former in particular being an especially impressive aspect of this episode. Doctor Who has never felt as wonderfully dynamic as this. The camera is constantly moving, zooming, changing shot size...and keeping a momentum going so that even the most slow scenes feel fast and engaging. The cinematography is stunning throughout, with grand vistas and a great use of shadows and highlights that feel almost as though they would be at home in a cinematic feature. This really helps to elevate Chris Chibnall's writing, which is perhaps more character-focused than the work of past Doctor Who writers and showrunners. Even Russell T Davies didn't devote as much time as getting to know our guest cast as Chris Chibnall does here.

This is enhanced by the visual effects, which are by far the best special effects Doctor Who has ever had. Desolation looks stunning with its distinctly alien skyline, and the red lasers from the guns light up the screen in a way that no other weapon special effects ever have. It truly feels like watching a Doctor Who movie with a big Hollywood blockbuster budget. In fact, you have to wonder whether they should have considered simulcasting this episode on the big screen, as the BBC had done previously with 'The Day Of The Doctor' and 'Deep Breath'. It would have been a stunning way to experience the episode for sure.

The episode, at its essence, is one big race to the Doctor's ultimate goal: reuniting with her time/space machine, the TARDIS. Because of course, the prize at the end of the race would be that familiar blue box. It's a clever idea by Chibnall to devote a whole episode to the companions' first encounter with the TARDIS, which in past eras was typically included at the end of a series' first episode when the Doctor met a new friend or two. It means there is an extra novelty for viewers to hang around for, another event episode beyond the Doctor debut story if you will; no longer is the second episode just a way to fill time in the series, now it serves a more important purpose.

The result, when we finally see the TARDIS at the end of the episode, is a tad disappointing however. The interior is not quite as warm and homely as in past eras of the show. The main issue is the big crystal that forms the time rotor; past time rotors have assumed a more basic cylindrical appearance, which was generally more appeasing to the eye. Here, however, we have a daft and ugly crystalline structure in the console's centre. Then there's the crystalline columns, which appear to hinder rather than benefit the production of the show. Installing these crystal columns which clearly limit the variety of camera angles that can be utilised seems like a glaring oversight by the production team, and it is a wonder that nobody noticed how much these tall over-arching constructions would get in the way.

The writing continues to be sharp and witty, with my personal favourite lines including: "Oi! We're humans. Show some solidarity!", "Call of Duty, man. I've been training all my life!", "Come to daddy...I mean mummy,". Unlike the Moffat era the comedy comes more from grounded reactions to the situations the characters are placed in rather than sitcom gags, and it feels natural to their individual voices. Only Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) could reference Call Of Duty in reference to fighting alien 'sniper bots'. Only the Doctor could forget her gender as a form of habit, and refer to herself as a male form.

Talking about their individual voices, the new TARDIS team as a whole are a bit of a mixed bag.  Jodie Whittaker is simply perfect casting; there's no doubt in my mind that the best actor was chosen for the role there. Bradley Walsh is a revelation as Graham. He can make you laugh, then make you cry at the flick of a switch. The early scenes between him and Ryan as they discuss Grace's demise in the previous episode was very touching; on the flipside later scenes that utilise Bradley Walsh's comedy skills with the dialogue he is given are hilarious. Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole are perhaps the weakest of the bunch, although Tosin Cole still feels somewhat relatable  as Ryan Sinclair, and Mandip Gill does a decent job with the material she is given. She feels a somewhat more generic Doctor Who companion, as though Chibnall sketched out his idea of a Doctor's assistant on a napkin and copied it over to his screenplays with minimal expansion, but Mandip Gill at least embodies her with more personality than is present on the page.

If I had one gripe with this episode it's that compared to previous Doctor Who instalments the threat feels very minimal. You don't get the greatest sense of how treacherous or punishing this alien environment supposedly is, and the lack of alien life on the planet limits the sense of peril for the Doctor and her friends. The episode could perhaps have benefitted from an extra antagonistic threat away from the rags and the sniper bots, maybe even showing other members of Tim Shaw's race the Stenza, and how they react to the TARDIS team in comparison to their encounter with Tim. 

Overall, not content with how much he impressed us last week Chris Chibnall delivers another whopper of an episode. Doctor Who has never looked or felt this good, and only a lack of alien threat holds it back from being a perfect instalment of television's greatest family drama series.

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What are your thoughts on The Ghost Monument? Let me know in the comments section.