Imperialism: to conquer, spread your upper-class’ idea of civilization, generate hatred for yourself, and eventually, divide so you can cause as much harm as humanly possible by fueling sectarian hatred and violence. I never said once that “Demons of the Punjab” was going to be an easy one, and much like “Rosa” there are a lot of uneasy moments throughout. So the Partition of India is something that isn’t entirely taught in schools for a “good” reason, it doesn’t make White folks out to be the hero or the victim. Instead, you’re taught about a stupid boat that James Cameron sank, now ignore the teacher while they cough about America doing that slavery thing and it totally wasn’t British boats that transported anyone.

My soft dig at the education system aside, the Partition of India is heart-breaking, fascinating, and deeply troubling in just how little anyone regularly knows about it. To put it lightly, Britain basically said overnight “tatty bye, we’re off, we’ve drawn stupid lines on your maps, and we’ve taken your diamonds.” This caused untold amounts of death that we’re still currently seeing throughout the region’s politics, but it is estimated that within the 48 hours of the partition something between 200,000 and 2 million people died. Oh, a fun and light-hearted episode.

Vinay Patel, previously writing the highly-praised and heart-breakingly depressing Murdered By My Father, takes up the reigns for this beautiful and sad episode. Focused around Yaz though you’d hardly know it given she’s scarcely provided enough room to grow as a character, it is her family we go back in time to see in that August of 1947. For once we got a bit of Yaz: Graham got to talk to her for the first time in six episodes, but as usual, we didn’t really see her character leap out of the group to command attention. With nine characters and a 50-minute episode, it gets difficult for everyone to get their time to shine.

I don’t think we’ve established by this point that Jodie’s Doctor is someone that does first and thinks later, a very un-Doctor-y thing to have as a central characteristic. The big twist is, of course, the aliens aren’t what they initially appear to be, and much like “Twice Upon A Time” make death a laborious process within the universe depending on which time you end up dying in. There is just a lack of Jodie stomping into the room and commanding the scene, which I don’t mind, but it makes for this strange dynamic where historically she’s shouting in her Matt Smith form: “I’m being extremely clever up here, and there’s no one to stand around looking impressed!”

Though as we establish that, we’ve also reinforced the notion that she’s a tinkerer and the “My references to body and gender regeneration are all in jest. I’m such a comedian,” thus far are charming enough. We’ve seen her forge her sonic screwdriver in “The Woman Who Fell To Earth” and we also got that quick jab about being a man there too. That’s what we’re missing a majority of the time, character, something that tells me that she does something outside of what we see her do; she isn’t taken out of the box and dusted off to appear on the screen. Here she’s more natural and has something to actually do.

If there is an issue with the episode not just as drastic as a focus on a character who the showrunner doesn’t actually care that much about, it has to be what I’m willing to bet is the writers’ room. A typically American concept of making TV, a writers’ room is less focused on having an idea that is made and more on hammering that idea into line with everything else in the tone. Though Patel is credited, you can still feel Chibnall’s hands around the place, though not as much as everything that is actually credited to him. It also takes away the rollercoaster of catastrophically bad like “42” and the fantastic Paul Cornell’s “Human Nature.”

There is something of a monotonal, desaturated, and depressive tone hanging over the episodes so far (and later on too), making it feel difficult to watch one after the other. That’s something I saw someone say the other week, that Chibnall’s era is particularly dense and difficult to, say, have a sick day and binge series 1, 3, or 5. Between the exposition, the heavy tones, and here specifically where it feels more like a Big Finish story being acted out but someone forgot the direction. Jamie Childs did a fine enough job behind the camera, despite that heavy blur on close-ups, but there was nothing on the paper to work with.

It is strange that despite all that seemingly heavy writers’ room influence, Graham is still the lovely grandad. Script editing throughout this era has been a major issue, but somehow that stays consistent and is one of the best parts of the run. Though speaking of the script editing: “Rosa” was very much about the butterfly effect, where you couldn’t step on a blade of grass without changing everything, but “Demons Of The Punjab” throws its arms up and shouts whatever! I’d have enjoyed some consistency in that.

As I’ve said, I like the Thijarians. A little bit of a predictable twist, but a nice twist nonetheless as they have that redeemed assassins turned spiritual comforters, I guess. Their entire thing is that their planet was destroyed and they are the last two, unable to grieve and bury their own, they seek to witness and preserve the memory of those who’d die alone. That’s a great concept, if only it wasn’t the exact subject as the glass people from “Twice Upon A Time” from 6 episodes ago. It is done much better here, but it is diminishing returns when you have Missy grave robbing, the glass people taking you out of your timeline and copying you, and these two Corruption 2029 characters.

I do think there was a major issue in that the Thijarians have set up this teleportation field around their ship, it is like a minefield that will punt you away if you get too close. Great! Why did they find that on the way out? Walking straight to the ship, nothing happened, but walking out after being told to swan off, that’s when we’re seeing the field in action? It is like a note being played out of order in a song, it would be like playing two Es back-to-back in the riff from “Don’t Stop The Music,” you need the D between them or it just sounds weird.

I did like the husband-to-be, the one that went to war. The aliens being themed that they are effectively demons haunting that guy, it is really nice. Maybe not everyone is going to pick up that tiny detail, but it stands out when a few episodes of this series have not just missed the mark but flown past that giving the Vicky and blowing raspberries. Though speaking of theming, it is hard to miss the number of shots of poppies; the symbol of remembrance and hope for peace, and if you’re in the know, copious amounts of opium.

Ultimately, “Demons of the Punjab” is a fantastic bit of the educational side of Doctor Who akin to “Rosa” too. An interesting episode, Yaz finally got her moments though small they were, and Jodie finally got to spread her wings to settle into something with character. Lovely, depressing, heart-breaking, and generally the perfect way to get in the uncomfortable position for what premiered later that night too, They Shall Not Grow Old. Though I do wish Nani Umbrean wasn’t blasting you in the face with exposition out of the gate.

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Doctor Who "Demons Of The Punjab"

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Touching on a bit of history often ignored.
• Theming, finally!
• Jodie finally getting character established.

Cons

• You don't need to put that much focus on the close-ups.
• A quick script edit could fix a couple of problems.