It's that time again to review the newest Doctor Who episode and I'm sure I will hate it. And..... I didn't hate it. There's a first for me. I know most of you think I will hate everything this new Doctor does, but that's not true. Actually, there were other episodes that I liked, but it always ended up being my partner in crime, Brice Baker's turn to review it. So here's my chance. Now, let's not get carried away. I didn't love this episode, but it was Ok.
"Demons of the Punjab" is another historical piece set during the partition of India. Like my review of "Rosa", creating a Doctor Who historical episode is very tricky. You have to have the history correct and you have to add a science-fiction element to the story. With "Rosa" the drama and historical parts were off the charts great, but the sci-fi part was some of the worst that I've seen. Now with "Demons of the Punjab" the drama and historical parts were very good (not as good as "Rosa) and the sci-fi element was leaps and bounds better then "Rosa".
In this episode we meet the Thijarians, an ancient race of assassins who have given up their evil ways and now travel the universe mourning peoples' deaths. Man, they sure love their assassins this season. So first we thought they were bad and then it turned out they weren't so bad. Classic story with pretty good convincing creatures. Am I the only one who wants to see the Thijarians when they were assassins? How badass do these guys look?
The one thing I have noticed this season that is a step up in quality are the scenic shots. In this episode, when they first stepped out of the Tardis and we get that shot of the valley was truly breathtaking. Not sure if it was CGI or location, but it looked fantastic. The other episode that had some great camera shots was "The Ghost Monument". We didn't get such beautiful sceneries and landscapes in Peter Capalid's run as the Doctor.
So to wrap this up, I give "Demons of the Punjab" a 3 out of 5 Tardises. Good episode. Not great, but good. For those of you missing Brice Baker's reviews, don't worry he will be back next week to review "Kerblam!" I keep thinking of 1960's Batman every time I say that. Kerblam!