Can You Hear Me? - The First Review

WARNING! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 12 EPISODE 7! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Starring Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole, with Ian Gelder and Clare-Hope Ashitey.

Written by Charlene James & Chris Chibnall.
Directed by Emma Sullivan.

The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) steps out of the TARDIS, to find that Aleppo is being attacked by a monster from the CGI-verse.

From ancient Syria to present day Sheffield, and out into the wilds of space, something is stalking the Doctor and her friends. As Graham, Yaz and Ryan return home to see friends and family, they find themselves haunted by very different experiences. Who is the figure calling from beyond the stars for help, and why? And what are the fearsome Chagaskas terrorising Aleppo in 1380? To find the answers, Team TARDIS embark on a mission that forces them to face their darkest fears.

"Can You Hear Me?" joins the ranks of experimental stories like "It Takes You Away", "Extremis" and "Heaven Sent" in being one of the more mystical episodes of modern Doctor Who. Starting in one place, and ending in quite another, this is an episode that is attempting to work on multiple levels. I say attempting, because while I think this might be one of the bravest and most daring stories of the Chris Chibnall era, it's not without its problems, and it suffers from the same kind of issues that plagued "Fugitive of the Judoon".

"Once again, Chris, I don't have a clue what's going on."

"Can You Hear Me?" starts with a pre-titles sequence that doesn't quite work for me, as I don't feel like it really conveys the drama of the situation as perhaps they were intending to. One thing I have enjoyed about the Chibnall/Whittaker era has been the removal of the pre-titles sequence, and using it only on special occasions (such as "Spyfall" and "Resolution"). I don't mind them, but they have got very same-y over the years, to the point where I felt like they weren't really saying anything of consequence, or going on too long. "Can You Hear Me?" falls back into this trap, and does ruin the opening ever so slightly. It just feels abrupt, and, had it been placed after the titles, I think it may have worked better. That being said, the mood and atmosphere this episode goes for is fantastic: the early parts of the episode work along the same lines as "Listen", with its focus on lingering silence and claustrophobic horror. These are easily the best parts of the episode, and the surrealist imagery that springs from it is so creative and engaging that I really wanted to spend more time here. That being said, we did get the CGI monsters, which, quite frankly, felt a little silly and superfluous in the end, and which weren't really realised to their full potential. They reminded me of the Krafayis from "Vincent and the Doctor" in a way, in that they were better when mostly off-screen, and slightly glimpsed, then when they appeared in full. And especially considering what they turned out to be, it seems a waste to simply have them as generic monsters that leave little impression on the viewer. The nightmares that the companions are forced to go through were much more effective scares, and provided some of the most surreal imagery seen in the series since "Heaven Sent". I also just adored the image of two planets being held from crashing into each other: something about an image as simple as that really chimed with me, and shows this episode's willingness to engage with visual ideas that leave a big impact. The Chibnall era has faced criticism before for long-winded expository dialogue that just has characters flat out saying their emotions, rather than using visuals and words to draw us in. "Can You Hear Me?", however, definitely doesn't suffer from this problem, and instead uses visual imagery to draw the viewer into the story. Our main villains, Zellin and Rakaya, are actually some of the most interesting and well-realised villains since the show's return in 2005, and they manage to be genuinely unsettling and disturbing. Zellin's detachable fingers are just horrible, and the more they kept showing them zooming towards their victims, the more I kept feeling uncomfortable. That being said, I think the way they were dispatched was pretty poor, and rushed so we could have the coda. Sure, the Doctor would have to trick them in order to defeat them, but I feel like not really much time was spent on that element. The pacing just feels incredibly wrong, and the story could have been a lot tighter in order to get a stronger effect. For example, the Aleppo sequences could easily be cut, and the story would still make sense, and would probably feel even more claustrophobic. As is, it's a good beginning and middle, but an unsatisfying ending, when it had the potential for more.

The Doctor doing what she does best: studying an alien
life-form and going "nope, not got a clue".

The guest characters this week are a mixed bunch, for sure. There's clearly a lot of acting talent there, but most of them are sidelined in favour of the regulars. However, since this is such a rarity in the Chibnall era (in fact, I'd probably say only "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", "The Ghost Monument", "It Takes You Away" and "Resolution" have given more prominence to the regulars than every member of the guest cast), I'll let it slide. As mentioned above, our villains are great, and the callbacks to the Toymaker, the Eternals and the Guardians are the kind of continuity I want to see, rather than pointless cameos and fan-bating. Ian Gelder and Clare-Hope Ashitey are amazing, and I wouldn't mind a return of these villains in another story in the future. Gelder, in particular, is wonderfully cold, and makes a great counterpoint to Whittaker. The only other major guest role of note is Aruhan Galieva as Tahira, who has a rather thankless job as support for Jodie in the early scenes. It seems like, at least to start with, that she might be the Doctor's temporary companion for the episode, especially with Team TARDIS all back in present-day Sheffield. However, once the action shifts away from her native time, she becomes a little bit of a spare part, and writer Charlene James doesn't really know what to do with her. It's the same problem that Donald Cotton and Terry Nation had with Katarina back in 1965: how do you introduce a character from so far back in history to all the weird and futuristic concepts that Doctor Who deals with? So, for the most part, she's just shuttled off, out of sight and mind, only really becoming important at the story's end in order to deal with the villains. It's a shame, because, once again, Galieva gives a good performance (it's by no means the strongest of the series, but it's still impressive), but its just a shame she doesn't really have the material to back it up. We do get one surprise cameo in this episode, as Sharon D Clarke returns as Grace in Graham's nightmare. This is a wonderful moment, and reinforces the history of our central characters. What helps is that, due to the nature of the sequence, Grace is rather cold and impersonal, and it makes her return even more effective. Unlike Captain Jack's earlier in the season, this feels earned, and comes naturally out of the situation. The production on this episode is, like the other episodes of the season so far, absolutely peerless. Emma Sullivan maintains the high standard set by the previous directors of the series, and even, in some cases, tops it. The animated sequence, where the immortals explain their history, is breathtaking, and something strikingly different for a Doctor Who story. It's a shame that its presence was advertised on social media before the episode aired, as that would have been one surprise I would have loved to have experienced going into the episode. Sullivan's direction of the actors, particularly the four regulars, is exemplary, and the way she tackles some of the issues that the episode raises is to be commended. I keep saying this, but it keeps happening to be true: the work that the production team in front of and behind the cameras (excluding writing and marketing) are doing in this era is amazing, and at the cutting edge of broadcast TV drama at the moment, in this reviewer's opinion.

The Doctor finds herself wondering how the hell she ends up in these situations.

But, as I mentioned above, this is very much an episode for the regulars. Up until now, the regulars haven't really been explored as perhaps as much as they should, bar Graham, who had a few moments last season related to Grace's death. "Can You Hear Me?" attempts to make up for this with a whole episode dedicated to our companions and examining how their travels and pasts affect them. Its strange to be able to talk about them as real people, because, to be honest, it had got to the point where I had been expecting them to remain as ciphers forever. Here, however, we do get to see that not only do the characters have a deeper side to them than that we have seen previously, but there are some attempts to change them from the basic moulds set out in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth". Especially in the case of Yasmin Khan, who up until now has literally just been a 2018 version of Rose as far as I was concerned, this was much needed. However, I have to be honest, I don't feel like the 'developments' we get in this episode maybe go far enough to fill in the massive void that we've had so far from the characters. For example, we discover here that Yaz has suffered in the past from depression, and may have, at one time, contemplated suicide. Now, while this does happen to be a lovely twist that brings a nice, real-world grounding to a companion for the first time, it doesn't really develop Yaz's present character for me, something I feel like is needed more than darkening her backstory. Yaz has pretty much, bar "Spyfall" and "Orphan 55", breezed through her adventures, and, as such, doesn't really feel like she's changed all that much from when she first appeared. What I was hoping for was material that pushed her character in the present: tried to change her and show the growth that she'd experienced through her travels. And, for me, at least, this didn't really do that. I certainly like the intent, but I feel like it might be too little, too late, and just betraying it as an attempt to develop the character of Yaz before she leaves at the end of the series, so that people care when she does. If this had come slightly earlier in her time, this would have left room to build on her character, and to see where she could be taken in the future. I adore Mandip's performance and the bravery with which this is executed, but this doesn't completely fix all the problems with her character for me. It was nice that Graham got to do more than just provide the comedy this series, and his recurring fear of his cancer's return adds a new dimension to his character (although one once again wonders why this couldn't have been introduced sooner), and Bradley Walsh is as wonderful as ever. The scene where Graham confesses this fear to the Doctor at the end did need some work, I feel, as I think that the Doctor comes across as too aloof in this scene. Now, I'm one of the many people that think the Doctor being alien is a good thing: the Doctor is at their best when they are unknowable and do things that we humans wouldn't expect. And, while I like the idea in principle, I think a lack of reaction from Graham to this really hurts this scene. Just some reaction from him would have prevented a lot of the criticism that I have seen about the scene on social media from springing up. Ryan, meanwhile, is the least developed of the three here, although he does get some material worthy of Tosin Cole's skill. I think its particularly interesting how Charlene James and Chris Chibnall have showed how the effects of "Orphan 55" have affected him, and I actually would have liked to have seen this developed further. As for the Doctor, we do see her pushed to her more desperate limits here, and Jodie gives a fine performance. I think we'll have to settle for her Doctor being slightly goofy and oddball, and not a lot else at this point, as it seems like, bar the destruction of Gallifrey, we haven't really seen her Doctor explored in many other ways. Maybe this will change, but I suspect this is our lot at this point.

Yaz (Mandip Gill) finds herself back in the worst place in the
world...

Overall, my feelings towards "Can You Hear Me?" are slightly muddled ones, as you can tell. While I have some problems with some of the basic elements of this story and their execution, I really admire the bravery of writer Charlene James to do a story that is quite so 'out there'. Modern Doctor Who can often have a tendency to tell stories that are 'safe': they're guaranteed to keep the audience (whether that be a general viewing audience at home or us fans) happy. Even the Chibnall era has been prone to it on a number of occasions. But "Can You Hear Me?" is by no means safe or predictable, and attempts to take the show in some new directions that it has never tackled before. And, while not entirely successful, I will take something like this over "Praxeus", "Orphan 55" and certainly over the very, very safe "Fugitive of the Judoon". It may be messy and not entirely perfect, but "Can You Hear Me?" is still a brave choice and I respect it, even if I don't totally like it.

All pictures copyright to the BBC. Thank you very much for reading.