Since we’re pretending there are real-world politicians in the Doctor Who universe for cheap jokes about being orange, could we not have at least had someone pretend to be Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, or even António Guterres? Then again, Peter Harness did fail to get doubles for comrade Orange (the limp-wristed one) and the Kim Jong-un-shaped one, settling on generic military personnel. Yes, it is him, the one that I am sure was happy when Texas made it clear only straight White men are fine, women aren’t allowed health care, and soon, if you’re in the Alphabetti Spaghetti group, you’re next.

Do I hold a grudge like no one else you’ve ever seen? I don’t know, ask Gareth Roberts between his repeated diatribes of transphobic nonsense. After “Kill the Moon” and the Zygon double-bill with help from Steven, Harness once again teams with the soon-to-be leaving showrunner for one last episode that is meh at best. To think, some people actually call this the best era of Nu-Who. Either they believe Peter brings some weight from the classic series or their love for all the weighty lore taking over from the fun adventures deludes them. I don’t understand those people.

“The Pyramid at the End of the World” has the Russians, the Chinese, and the Americans all doing their usual thing, pointing guns. One only wishes they’d do the decent thing and point them at their own heads or better still, put them down and talk. This is not an episode of rational humans, but one of the fearful and small-minded humans trying to play chess grandmasters on the intergalactic stage. Unlike a decent playthrough of Mass Effect though, “The Pyramid at the End of the World” is a messy and boring attempt to shout about some mortal peril we’re in. A threat that quite clearly isn’t going to hold over throughout the series.

The aliens that constructed the simulator for the majority of the last episode land a spaceship that looks like a pyramid between two world powers and a crippled economy that couldn’t complete a “special military operation.” This is all fine. The idea that they only accept servitude and power from people doing something out of love rather than fear is also a solid sci-fi concept. The trouble is that it is wasted here with a Doctor that will do everything but admit he’s messed up. He is a character defined by passiveness first, using aggression as the first port of call in the face of a threat.

It was a story done with ambition in mind yet hadn’t taken the reigns off and attempted anything new, making it one of the most mediocre. Once again we’ve got the President of the Earth thing going on. However, once again it is rather quickly dropped so we can have military personnel either bickering with him or in-fighting among themselves. They are the people that are supposed to respect rank and all that gubbins, but of course, Captain America in camo has to go swinging the “I know better than you” attitude about aliens. This creates a generic concept on the sci-fi end.

I’d say the best part of the whole episode comes from Tony Gardner’s Douglas and Rachel Denning’s Erica. Two microbiologists working on a microbe in a lab that is offset by point zero-zero-zero-seven off whatever measurement is being used to indicate the end of the world is coming. The reason for the screw-up of an extra zero is such a human error. I think that’s what makes it enjoyable too. A bloke that’s hungover and dying alongside a woman used her bag to pop open the door that her husband slammed shut, breaking her glasses. Yeah, it is clumsy in terms of real disasters, but against the backdrop of the Monks, gungho commanders, and a ticking Doomsday Clock, it grounds the episode.

The Monks themselves are interesting, it is how they are used that makes me disinterested. They aren’t a threat, or at least in the common sense of the word. Demands have been made and people have been killed. All the same, those that were killed died because they were quick to bow down to the dictatorial danger. I find them interesting because of the line about protecting once love is given, but we’re never going deep into that. We have commanders that need to kill themselves by assuming fear is love, we have the lab, we have the Doctor being blind, we have Bill on a date, and we have X, Y, and Z making it difficult to have an interesting idea explored.

You might have noticed this week I wrote something about Star Trek, and I don’t think it is out of the world of possibilities I love both Doctor Who and Star Trek. The point I am getting to is that Doctor Who is meant to be fun but is at the current point losing that adventure. At this point, it misses the “interesting ideas told in simple ways” philosophy that it has in common with Star Trek. The first thing that comes to mind because I’ve seen it so much is “Dax,” an episode that tries to accomplish a lot but does it via character exposition. In the second of three episodes with the Monks, I don’t have anything to say that they are wholly immoral.

Ultimately, I can’t say I hate Peter Harness’s latest outing with Steven. However, it is a standard episode that is a little messy trying to get all the pieces on the board for the arc while forgetting about itself. Once again, we’ve focused on the Doctor’s inability to admit when he’s wrong, the consequences therein, and trying to reiterate that Bill cares for him. All my interest in the episode relies on the lethargic element of the lab, a B story that is part of the A story and grounds it enough to make me care just a little.

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Doctor Who "The Pyramid at the End of the World"

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Erica and Douglas' stories.
• The Monks were at least interesting with the idea of consent.

Cons

• A story that is a bit messy.
• The need to mention agent orange.