Review: Doctor Who Season 8, Episode 7: Kill the Moon

We were hoping this episode would be better than the previous week’s, and we were not disappointed. This ep was scarier and better paced. The schoolgirl who popped up in ‘The Caretaker’ had more of a role, which was a bit annoying, but this was probably the only downside of the episode.

The opening scene drew us in very well. The episode began in the very middle of the action straight away, rather than wasting time with a slow build-up. Set on the Moon of the future, an expedition of astronauts from Earth have arrived and discovered there is gravity where there shouldn’t be. The Doctor tries to find out what is wrong with the Moon. The first findings show that there some sort of a parasite on the Moon, but in the end this isn’t all that it seems, and it turns out there is a lot more to the Moon than meets the eye.

The Doctor decides decisions that need to be made aren’t actually his to make. His argument is that he is not of Earth, and only the last remaining astronaut from the group, Clara and the school girl can make the decision. They decide to call on the help of the rest of the human race as well.

This episode had a lot of scary jumps in it, which made it a lot more engaging than last week’s. Peter Capaldi’s Doctor has carried over many similar characteristics from past incarnations of the role. He tells it like it is, and he is a lot harsher with others. Clara becomes angry with the Doctor, as she sees how coldly he can treat people. She disagrees with the way the Doctor thought he was helping the situation, and tells him to go away. It seems that Clara may have fallen out of love with travelling with the Doctor. Could this have been their last trip together?

Throughout season 8 we can see Clara questioning what she is doing, and why she continues being around the Doctor. Her character has become much more fleshed out and individual this season; Clara will never be anything like Rose was as a companion. It’d be interesting to see Steven Moffat go back to explore how Clara has come to be a little more. In previous seasons she was the impossible girl, which was touched upon, but we can’t help but feel there is more to this mystery.

How will the next episode deal with this friction between the Doctor and Clara – is this the end for them?