Doctor Who Series 9

[Monkey Astronaut]

Episode 1 "The Magician's Apprentice" Excellent start to the season I thought the atmosphere was eerie, there were some genuinely funny bits and some interesting visuals.

SPOILERS...

The Handmine field during the intro was really creepy looking as was Davros' servant Colony Sarff. It was also nice to see the returns of The Maldovarium, the Shadow Proclamation and the Shadow Architect, the Sisterhood of Karn and Missy. Peter Capaldi appearing playing electric guitar on a tank was one of the coolest moments ever. The scene where Colony Sarff transforms into a bunch of snakes was pretty crazy. The reveal that Bors from "The Doctor's Meditation" was a Dalek puppet came as a complete surprise. Seeing Clara and Missy work together in an uneasy alliance was certainly interesting. Loved the use of the classic Doctor clips especially "Unlimited rice pudding!" Great reveal that the space station was actually on the planet Skaro. That was one hell of a cliffhanger! Really looking forward to next week and will probably rewatch this a few times.

[Monkey Astronaut]

Episode 2 "The Witch’s Familiar" I thought this was a decent enough conclusion with some good visuals. Loved seeing a nod to Tom Baker and William Hartnell in Missy's flashback. I'm glad she explained how she survived the Daleks last episode and the Cybermen in "Death in Heaven". Clara and Missy have pretty good chemistry on screen and it's interesting watching them work off each other. Crazy seeing Skaro so full of Daleks and really cool to see so many classic versions pop up. The Doctor riding around in Davro's chair was pretty cool. I laughed when Missy pushed Clara into the sewers. The snakes enveloping the Doctor was disturbing. Missy killing the Dalek in the sewer was great and her line "I'm a Time Lady, that's how I golf" made me laugh. I liked seeing Capaldi revisit the moral from "Genesis of the Daleks" and struggle with that decision again. Creepy seeing Clara encased in a Dalek again and I kept expecting her to mention soufflé when she was reunited with the Doctor to let him know it was her. I thought Julian Bleach gave an excellent performance as Davros in this. I was not expecting the Doctor to willingly use regeneration energy on Davros like that, not a bad double switch I guess. The sonic sunglasses were a bit goofy though and nearly made me roll my eyes. Satisfying enough conclusion seeing the Doctor save kid Davros and introduce mercy to the Daleks.