Thus far , the slack theme of this time of year of Doctor Who seems to be “ identity crises ” and “ deconstruct heroism . ” These themes manifest this calendar week in another story where the Doctor is n’t entirely call the barb , and the main McGuffin that everybody is trying to slip is “ selfhood . ” coddler ahead …
The central mystery at the center of “ Time Heist ” is not really much of a mystery at all : the identity of the bod known as the Architect who has lease the Doctor , Clara , a drudge named Psi and a shapeshifter named Saibra to soften into the most secure bank in the population . Of course , the Architect is the Doctor — the answer to every mystery on this show nowadays is usually “ the physician . ”
But in fact , the Architect / the Doctor is really just a puppet in himself . The real mastermind behind all of the event of this sashay is Miss Karabraxos , the owner of the Bank of Karabraxos who ’s staffed the bank with disposable clones of herself like the beleaguered Miss Delphox . The present - daytime Miss Karabraxos is another snot-nosed chief lady , cut from the same cloth as Missy , Miss Kizlet from “ Bells of St. John ” ( and arguably Vastra and River Song to some extent . )
But even though Miss Karabraxos is a ruthless Thatchery user in the present twenty-four hour period , old age in her future she winds up regretting her malevolent way . And in one of the closed in - loop topology paradoxes that are the show ’s stock in trade wind of late , she thinks back to the day that her money box was destroyed by a sudden solar solar flare . ( jolly careless of her to build such a safe bank in such a vulnerable spot , really . ) And she decides to get hold of the Doctor , who tell her that he ’s a time traveler back then , and falsify up a plot for the Doctor and friends to develop into her own coin bank in the past and devoid the Teller , the creature she mistreated there .
In perfume , in this account , Miss Karabraxos is Sally Sparrow from “ Blink , ” and the Doctor is her creature , profess to be the puppeteer .
And I guess Miss Karabraxos , having make a whole foundation named after herself and in her own figure , full of duplicate of herself , is trying to reclaim her own identicalness as much as all of the other characters in this story .
Anyway , the Teller is the show ’s behemoth , but it ’s also a victim in need of saving . The Teller has the ability to detect guiltiness psychically — which is why the Doctor and his friends inflict amnesia on themselves at the jump of the tale — and when it find out a shamed party , it siphons off someone ’s mind , leave a horrific empty husk with a caved - in - count skull . At one point , the Teller catches up with Clara , and the Doctor issues the injunction “ Do n’t think ! ” ( which joins “ Do n’t respire , ” “ Do n’t blink , ” “ Do n’t turn around , ” and various others . This show should have an installment prognosticate simply “ Do n’t “ . )
But the Teller is in chain , and is clearly being used rather than being a willing player in all of this fiduciary naughtiness . And indeed , it turns out the vault the Doctor has to break into contains not riches or secrets , but the Teller ’s Ilex paraguariensis who ’s been imprisoned as further leveraging . The Teller receive to be free and happy with its girlfriend , instead of being an unwilling devil who overcharge other mass of selfhood .
The “ reclaiming your identity ” theme is underscore by the storylines of the Doctor ’s two confederate . Saibra becomes anyone she touches , but that entail she ca n’t rival anybody without lose herself ( until the Dr. help her regain a therapeutic . ) And Psi had his memories of his admirer and kinsperson deleted to protect them when he went to prison ( until the Doctor help him restore them . )
And the “ hook shot ” that quetch off the whole zany account is the Doctor and friends having their memory board rub out using judgment worms , make you marvel what ’s really go on , and if the Doctor is really being heroic or a tool here . ( Spoiler : the Doctor is really being heroic . But he ’s also kind of a creature , as discussed above . )
It ’s somewhat traditional , after a re-formation , to have a brief moment of the Doctor questioning his identity — but we ’re now on the fifth story in a row where the Doctor ’s Doctoriness is put to the question . Is he a practiced human being ? Is he as worthy as Robin Hood ? What ’s he afraid of , and how does this define him ? And now , we get “ can he be trusted ? ” I ’m curious to see where this is headed — I venture we ’re conjecture to think the Doctor is questioning himself after hundreds of old age on Trenzalore , but I still have n’t really felt the weightiness of that time other than as a brief montage . ( The 100 on Trenzalore feel as weighty as the century pass extend from the muteness , I guess . )
If I had to guess , I ’d say we ’re leading up to the Doctor find a way to restore Gallifrey , and then oppugn whether he ’s doing the right thing . That seems to be the main brake shoe that Moffat has left hang in mid - air , and the fact that there ’s been zero credit of Gallifrey since Matt Smith ’s finis makes me think it ’s going to be some kind of braggy reveal . I ’d wager on that being the point of the Missy / Paradise material , somehow . ( Although her “ Paradise ” reminds me a bit of the V.R. hereafter where the Doctor run aground River Song . )
All in all , “ Time Heist ” was sort of play . For a story whose “ hook ” is amnesia , it ’s actually fairly forgettable . But Peter Capaldi proceed to have the natural endowment of get up whatever fabric he ’s given , just through the exponent of sheer conviction . I hazard it ’s sort of funny that we ’re getting a Doctor who constantly questions himself , even as he ’s played by the actor who ’s most capable of effortlessly possess the office and case of the Doctor of any we ’ve seen in the new series .
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