Who Review: "Thin Ice" (Series 10, Episode 3)

WARNING: SPOILERS, sweetie

When the episode opens up with my new favorite Twelfth Doctor face, you know we’re in for a ride.

Picking up from last episode’s cliffhanger, the Doctor and Bill find themselves in 1814 England on the frozen River Thames during the last of the Frost Fairs. The TARDIS won’t let them leave, and they soon find out why: mysterious lights underneath the ice are feeding people to a giant serpent.

“Thin Ice” manages to blend the light-hearted adventure with the serious moments very well. The first part of the episode shows the Doctor and Bill just having a good time at the Frost Fair, with Bill’s naivety about changing the past and the Doctor acting more like a goof than normal. The Doctor’s interactions with the street urchins were also nice, once again showing that despite his grumpy image, the Doctor is still surprisingly great with kids.

But when someone is killed, Bill reacts accordingly: scared, confused, and asking the Doctor why he isn’t as concerned. Their ideals clash as the Doctor’s pragmatism over lost lives makes him seem almost cruel in Bill’s eyes. However, later in the episode he delivers an epic speech towards the bad guy about the value of human life, proving to Bill that – when compared to a menace that actually devalues human existence – the Doctor’s seemingly cold reaction to death masks a deep care for those lives lost. It’s no where near as epic as the Doctor’s eight minute diatribe about war from last season, but anytime the Doctor gets to make a big speech in the face of cruelty, I’m game.

The episode also deals with race more than usual, and the implications of a time traveller with a black companion. Way back in Series 3, Martha brought up similar concerns when travelling back to the 1500’s, but the Doctor quickly brushes them under the rug and they’re never a concern again. In this episode, though, history is revealed to be more colored than the textbooks showed. Bill points out how much “blacker” Regency England is than she thought. The Doctor responds, “So was Jesus. History’s a whitewash.” Bill being a person of color also causes her to be mistreated by the episode’s aristocratic villain. Until the Doctor decks him, of course.

"And then I told her 'I found Gallifrey!'"

 So let’s talk about the villain, Lord Sutcliffe, for a moment here. In a technical sense, the “monster” of the episode is the giant serpent underneath the Thames. Yes, it is eating people, but it does so against its will. The Sutcliffe family has had it chained up for generations for its resources, and they care not for the human lives that need to be sacrificed to the beast for a profit. It’s not often that the show features human villains, and our protagonists are even led to believe that the mastermind could be alien, as is the show’s general formula. But the fact that this human has so little empathy for his fellow man makes him so much scarier than if he were an alien.

Oh, and the reason that the Sutcliffe family has been feeding people to the serpent for years? Poop. Yeah, the serpent’s excrement is apparently a ridiculously valuable fuel source, with it burning much longer than coal and apparently even burning underwater. Sometimes I had to step back from the episodes plot in moments of seriousness involving stopping the villain’s plan to remind myself, “This is about poop.”

Anyway, on the Moffat Monster Scare-o-meter™, Lord Sutcliffe scores 3 Moffs out of 5. And no, I’m not counting the serpent in this ranking.

We also get an update on the season’s story arc. Whatever is in that vault, it’s alive, and it wants out. And it’s knocking on the door. Four times. Unless this is a very misdirecting red herring, the show basically spells out for us what – or who – is going to be in that vault.

(Also, last week I didn’t actually think that the John Simm Master being in the vault was a valid possibility. Goes to show that I probably shouldn’t knock Internet fan theories as much.)

This week on River Monsters...

“Thin Ice” is a relatively simple episode, but it’s the simplicity that makes it work. There’s no big twist or huge shocking revelation about the story arc aside from some vague clues. It’s the Doctor and his companion stopping a monster from killing people. Not a whole lot of bells and whistles. But because of this simplicity, the episode allows time for great character moments, like the conflict between the Doctor and Bill, the Doctor’s great speech, and the parallels between the Doctor and Sutcliffe regarding human life.

Writer Sarah Dollard really shines in this episode. You may remember her work from last season’s “Face the Raven”, which I thought was a really solid beginning to a three-part story and handled Clara’s death in an emotional and important way. “Thin Ice” is probably the better of the two episodes, though, mostly because it’s not trying to be anything big like “Face the Raven.” It just allows the characters to be great while having a fun adventure.

Final verdict: 8/10.

NEXT WEEK: A house with cheap rent, creaky floorboards, and a creepy landlord? What could possibly go wrong?