Who says it can't get better?

You may figure from my 'catchy' sub heading that this season of Doctor Who has done better than previous. And it has, it's probably the best Steven Moffat season since Season 7... and Peter Capaldi's best too. That doesn't mean to say it's anything outstanding, as it suffers from some major flaws aswell. But I was quite pleased with how it turned out in the end, while a lot of it was filler we got some great episodes that were the most important such as the finale and the Monk trilogy, and of course, a new companion in Bill Potts. So let's get to it.

So first off, Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts is a delight. I was afraid she could get annoying, that she'd be too much like Donna Noble, but I was really surprised. I really liked her, she was well grounded and felt like a totally different kind of companion for the Doctor to have. She had a well told story and in some episodes such as 'The Lie of the Land' and 'World Enough and Time' she really shines over all other characters. She's really likeable and I'm sure her career is about to sky rocket. Capaldi's Doctor isn't a favourite for everyone but I've always quite liked him. He's been given some terrible stories to have to work with but most of them in this season he's always pulled off an impressive performance. It's a shame this is his last season, there were many moments when I knew I was going to miss him. Matt Lucas' Nardole is just odd. There are some quite nice and serious moments between him and other characters but he just feels very silly among the rest of the cast, and a bit annoying. Michelle Gomez's Missy returns, a character which I absolutely loathe - but I liked her just a bit more this season. She took on a more serious role and we got a better look at her character and how she was developing. Still, she's pretty unlikable for me usually...

There were some great and not so great episodes this season. Whilst each episode seemed to get better and better as they went along, some of them were atrociously written, my pick for this in particular being 'The Eaters of Light' which was one of the worst episodes I've seen. It felt like I'd seen this story so often before, and it was massively boring on the whole. 'The Pilot' 'Smile' and 'Thin Ice' feel the same. I'm pretty sure we've seen these sorts of stories in Doctor Who, 'Thin Ice' reminding me of Season 5's 'The Beast Below.' 'Smile' had some promising moments, but ultimately fell flat. 'The Pilot' the first episode, felt cringingly over-political at times and there was a lot shoehorned in. 'Knock Knock' wasn't an awful episode but the enemy was very disappointing and again felt repetitive. It would have been nice to see more horror aspects in this episode as what was promoted in the trailers and such. 'The Empress of Mars' was a better episode featuring the return of Mark Gatiss as writer and the enemy of the Ice Warriors. It didn't hit the level of the last Ice Warriors episode 'Cold War' as it felt quite lazy in terms of it pretty much taking place in two rooms... when they had all of Mars to use!

That being said there were some great episodes this season, including 'Oxygen' which tackled capitalist ideas and also added a Sci-Fi/Horror vibe to it. 'Extremis' has to be the highlight of this season, and the start of the 'Monk' three-parter. We got to see a weaker Doctor, and a stronger Bill, who stood out in the third part 'The Lie of the Land.' Moffat's writing was very consistent in these episodes until that third part where things fell apart towards the ending - where so much opportunity could have been utilised. 'World Enough and Time' and 'The Doctor Falls' the two final parts of this season bought back John Simm's Master, in which I felt didn't need to be done at all. Whilst his performance was good as always, he didn't add anything at all except some fan excitement. The Mondasian Cybermen made a cool reappearance which was made very creepy indeed in the horror like 'World Enough and Time' which I have to clap for as being one of the best of the season. Capaldi and Mackie's performances were very well appreciated in the final as well, probably Capaldi's best in a long long while.

It's hard to review a season of Doctor Who very thoroughly hence the overview... but I fell that's due to lack of innovation I feel, as this season also had. It's been one of the best in while, but that's not exactly an outstanding achievement. I'm excited for the Christmas Special, and Chris Chibnall's takeover next year - hopefully he'll bring Doctor Who back to life. In the meantime, at least Moffat has done a half decent season to end his 'Who' legacy.

The Good

- Mackie's Bill

- Capaldi's Doctor is great as always

- Some writing improvements from previous seasons

- Some great returns to horror here and there

The Bad

- Really repetitive storylines and enemies

- Aspects like the Master feel there just to get fans excited and add not much at all

- Lack of innovation

- Nardole... why?

5/10