I liked the scene because it shows that she is NOT connected to the companions. She just has three random people for company only. They're not friends.

I think the scene was true to the character though. Graham obviously chose her as she’s the ‘leader’, older figure and so thought he could relate with her but actually the Doctor isn’t good in those moments when there’s no threat that means she has to quickly inspire someone to move/take action. It’s the same Doctor that was completely oblivious to Martha’s crush, Amy/Rory’s relationship and Clara’s feeling of invincibility post-Danny’s death. Another example is S10 where his blindness for turning Missy into a good person puts Bill in danger, and he ignores her concerns.

 

Despite spending all her time with humans and despite all her inspirational speeches, she’s not actually good in those more personable moments. She’s excellent when there’s danger or a threat but, if you remove that, she really falters!

 

tbh it seems that it was used to possibly also foreshadow Graham’s exit. I think the Doctor’s behaviour is to kind of re-emphasise to the companions that the Doctor possibly isn’t as close to them as they may have thought and reinforces that alien nature that they possibly haven’t fully felt.

I think the scene was true to the character though. Graham obviously chose her as she’s the ‘leader’, older figure and so thought he could relate with her but actually the Doctor isn’t good in those moments when there’s no threat that means she has to quickly inspire someone to move/take action. It’s the same Doctor that was completely oblivious to Martha’s crush, Amy/Rory’s relationship and Clara’s feeling of invincibility post-Danny’s death. Another example is S10 where his blindness for turning Missy into a good person puts Bill in danger, and he ignores her concerns.

 

Despite spending all her time with humans and despite all her inspirational speeches, she’s not actually good in those more personable moments. She’s excellent when there’s danger or a threat but, if you remove that, she really falters!

 

tbh it seems that it was used to possibly also foreshadow Graham’s exit. I think the Doctor’s behaviour is to kind of re-emphasise to the companions that the Doctor possibly isn’t as close to them as they may have thought and reinforces that alien nature that they possibly haven’t fully felt.

 

100% THIS

 

I hope all three leave

 

I definitely think all three of them will be gone come the end of the special (whenever that airs). As much as it'll feel like wasted development and that we were just starting to see a flicker of how excellent they could be (well, Yaz anyway), changing things up and hopefully reverting back to a smaller TARDIS team of the Doctor and one other is for the best.

Indeed, this series has done much better in showing that there is a definite rift between The Doctor and her companions and that scene emphasised it the best. I'm really interested to see what part it plays in the final, at least one of them surely will leave.

I thought it was a really good episode! Agree that the resolution was way too fast but otherwise I thought there were some brilliant ideas that were well executed. The companions felt VERY well utilised and I really liked the Graham scene at the end - it didn't feel comedic at all to me, it actually felt very relatable. Sometimes it's difficult to know what to say in the moment, so it's best and more considerate to be honest and say nothing.

I quite liked the episode but I still feel that the number of companions let's the show down. It was good that we got some development for them but it would have been even better if the development didn't have to be split 3 ways - plus have yet even more characters added into the tardis mix yet again!

 

 

Also - has anyone noticed this year that Jodie seems to be regularly using the sonic screwdriver and then concluding there is no trace of anything?