"The Doctor robs a bank". The idea sells itself, really. But Time Heist was never going to be that straight forward. The result is an episode that remains action packed and fun throughout, but all feels a bit too familiar. Doctor Who is infamous for its use of running, especially down corridors; Time Heist is essentially a corridor running montage for its entire middle act. But the idea keeps it interesting. The episode is also boosted by, yet again, great performances from Capaldi and Coleman. Here, we were also taken away from all the story arcs and serious questions posed so far; a necessary break, which allowed the episode some breathing room. Without this, Time Heist could have been the biggest misfire of the series. But, thankfully, we were left with an episode that, whilst overstuffed and repetitive, was consistently fun and engaging enough to act as a solid piece of TV drama.
The 45 minute time restraint is sometimes Doctor Who's biggest burden, but never more so than here. Time Heist has so many ideas and so much to tell, it struggles to fit everything in, which results in the first half of the episode feeling cluttered and choppily edited. It wouldn't surprise me if the rough draft of this episode was well into an hour long. I actually think Time Heist would have worked as a two-parter. This first half could have acted as a set up (which is, inevitably, needed; they are robbing a bank, after all) and only just delved into the action towards the end, with the resolving part acting as an extended version of the episode's final half. By the time the episode ends, and with so much thrown at you in the final ten minutes, the previous 35 all felt so rushed that it doesn't really make sense. This might improve upon repeated viewings, but even then, the ending felt a bit familiar. Did the whole Alien Love Story thing remind anyone else of last year's Hide?
But, Time Heist probably winds up as the series' most overall enjoyable episode thus far. This was a perfect example of how to have fun without resorting to silliness, which is where Robot of Sherwood faulted. It was also nice to have some side characters that were a bit more fleshed out. Both Psi and Saibra were well developed and welcome additions to the cast; I only feel they could have been even stronger has this story been split over two episodes. This also applies to the episode's antagonist; Ms Delphox, played brilliantly by Keeley Hawes. Whilst she was certainly a creepy villain, she wound up too formulaic in the Female Villain role, and her motives weren't explored enough. Whilst there does seem to be a lot of criticism here, I still really enjoyed Time Heist. It was no match for last week's masterpiece, but it wasn't the show's weakest episode this series, either. Its ideas were too big for its runtime, and there were minor character issues, but it was entertaining, funny and action packed enough to remain interesting throughout. It just won't top any fan favourite lists.
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