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Love enslaves the day as decomposing despots educate unelected representatives on the merits of consent

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Bill is trying to get the Penny to finally drop her trousers before Doc’s nightmarish monk simulation of the Earth’s takeover catches up with them, when the UN Secretary General crashes their date, looking for the President of The World.

An allegedly 5,000-year-old pyramid has just appeared out of thin air in that -stan country we visited in the Zygon Invasion, and its enrobed inhabitants have swiped right into the world’s most volatile tinderbox because they’re in the market for love.

At the same time, a hungover Yorkshire lab tech is about to bring about t’ end of the world as 2020 knew it, but which lab is he in, will his colleague be able to put a lid on this petri dish, or will Doc pull a blinder of his own and con his way to our salvation?

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Here's what we think of N138 The Pyramid at the End of the World

We rate Doctor Who stories on a scale from 0.0 to 5.0. For context, very few are excellent enough to merit a 5.0 in our minds, and we'd take a 0.0 Doctor Who story over a lot of other, non-Whovian stuff out there.

Leon | @ponken

3.7

Drew | @drewbackwhen

3.4

Marie | @hammashandjelly

2.9

Featuring
The Twelfth Doctor
Bill Potts
Nardole
Monks
The Pope
UN Secretary General
Here's what we think of N138 The Pyramid at the End of the World

We rate Doctor Who stories on a scale from 0.0 to 5.0. For context, very few are excellent enough to merit a 5.0 in our minds, and we'd take a 0.0 Doctor Who story over a lot of other, non-Whovian stuff out there.

Leon | @ponken

3.7

Drew | @drewbackwhen

3.4

Marie | @hammashandjelly

2.9

Here's what you think 3 Responses to “N138 The Pyramid at the End of the World”
  1. Kieren Evans | @kjevans2

    Hi folks

    Sort of a dumb title, but I kinda like it as well. A 5000-year pyramid pops up overnight, that would fuck up the archaeologists wouldn’t it? And the leering monks set the Doomsday clock going on everyone’s phones to hammer in their point, nice.

    The agrofuel plot feels a bit over the top for me (speaking as someone with a Chemistry PhD). But I suppose we should be grateful it isn’t the end of the world via military means. Maybe a little nearer the mark given more recent events, although I think the plague scenes in Doctor Who and the Silurians are harder to watch (especially the scenes at Marylebone). Also, nice casting choice for the lady scientist.

    The ending is fairly good cos it actually does a decent job of making it look like the Doctor has thwarted the Monks’ plans, especially with the Doomsday Clock spinning back away from the brink. But then his blindness comes back to bite him in the arse right at the last moment.

    Question, was this a trap for the Doctor and Bill all along? Cos everyone else failed the consent purity test as they were either afraid or it was a plan. Who other than Bill would have done it out of love? I don’t think there is anyone, so I feel it has been a trap for them all the time.

    Oh Bill, what have you done…

    Slightly wonky for me but still very good 3.9/5 rampant enzymes melting everything

    Cheers
    Kieren

    July 11, 2021 at 12:41 pm
    Reply
  2. Michael Ridgway | @bad_movie_club

    Things I liked:

    • The creepy, invulnerable Pyroviles, ahem, I mean alien monks. I liked their hijacking the airplane and junking the nuclear submarine.
    • The uber tense lab stuff. So that’s how COVID got loose. Will these pesky scientists never learn!
    • Badass Doctor – ‘coordinate your attacks!’. The Seventh Doctor nods in approval.

    Beefs:

    • Slightly negligent to release all top secret documents onto the internet, eh Mr Assange, I mean Doctor?
    • The Doctor can build and prime a bomb but can’t feel the clearly etched numbers on a combination lock? Are you kidding me!?
    • No Bill, you are the ‘stupidest person on the planet’ for not figuring out the Doctor is blind! He was wearing his techy sunglasses and having Nardole explain everything! For the last three episodes!
    • If Nardole has succumbed to the virus and he’s in the Tardis, i.e on the other side of the airlock thing, wasn’t it already too late? i.e. humanity would have had to consent to the monks anyhow.

    Summary: nitpicks aside, tense & thoughtful stuff – with an emotional punch.

    Rating: 3.8/5 eviscerated military leaders who should have made love and not war. Will these pesky military leaders never learn!

    July 11, 2021 at 12:41 pm
    Reply
  3. Eddie Rock | @TheEddieRock

    Hey WhoBackWhen, time to dive into this episode centered around a giant mysterious structure made of ROCKS! There have been a lot of stories about alien invasion and conquering earth, but very few have taken this unique twist on it. It’s not some species that strolls in with a plutonium 237 destructor ray saying “we’re taking over”. Instead it’s “listen, you all are about to bone yourselves but we’re here to help and of course subjugate you”. I got big The Stand vibes off the experiment gone wrong storyline, which was so much fun. It showed that, with just a few wrong moves, the human race could be completely wiped out. The moral of the story being: don’t go to work hungover when you’re responsible for genocidal chemicals.

    Erica was a delightful and epicly likeable addition. Capaldi is constantly able to have so much fun even in the most dire of circumstances. Nardole commentating everything for The Doctor was a little obnoxious and unfortunately it was pretty much his only role in this whole episode. The Doomsday clock was a countdown that I don’t think even Drew could hate and the show did a great job of establishing the threat of The Monks with them barely even having to lift a finger.

    Overall, not as good as Extremis but far better than this story’s upcoming finale (more on that later). I give this episode 3.5 out of 5 nonsensical sonic sunglasses.

    Until next time, ROCK ON

    -Eddie Rock
    @TheEddieRock

    July 11, 2021 at 12:41 pm
    Reply

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