‘BOOM’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
On the planet Kastarion 3 with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby
So, here we are on the third episode of Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. Remember in my ‘Space Babies’ review that I said Russell T. Davies tends to repeat things from his original ‘Doctor Who’ era for his neo-era? Well, here we go again!
In this case, we have RTD bringing back a former ‘Doctor Who’ writer and showrunner to write an episode for his neo-era. And that happens to be, of course, Steven Moffat! Yeah, I would’ve thought RTD would have brought in new writers than old writers for his new era.
Apparently, Steven Moffat was the third person RTD called back for his new ‘Doctor Who’ era. The first was Bad Wolf studios (the production company running ‘Doctor Who’ under Russell T. Davies’ reign since 2023), and the second was music composer Murray Gold. 😐
Now, if you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’re probably aware I’ve given a lot of flak on Steven Moffat and his efforts as a showrunner for ‘Doctor Who’ in the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras. I’ve also given a lot of flak about his run of the TV series ‘Sherlock’.
So, as you probably might imagine, I wasn’t really that keen about Steven Moffat returning to write another ‘Doctor Who’ episode for RTD’s neo-era. I was dubious about whether Steven Moffat’s efforts in writing a ‘Doctor Who’ episode would restore my faith in him. 😐
I know Steven Moffat has had a great following over the years from fans and clearly, Russell T. Davies is enamoured with him, as he practically begged him to come back and write another ‘Doctor Who’ episode. For me however, I can’t really get that enthusiastic.
With that said, there have been moments where I’m impressed by his ‘Doctor Who’ writing. I’m thinking in particular of his contributions to RTD’s original TV era, including stories like ‘The Empty Child’/‘The Doctor Dances’ and of course, the famous ‘Blink’ episode.
There are also episodes in his own TV eras of ‘Doctor Who’ that I really enjoyed. I consider ‘The Bells of Saint John’ to be a great episode and a good introduction to Jenna Coleman as Clara. ‘Heaven Sent’ is a terrific episode that showcases Peter Capaldi’s Doctor well.
So, yeah, I’m not making out to be a hater of Steven Moffat’s writing in ‘Doctor Who’, as there have been times where his efforts as a ‘Doctor Who’ writer have impressed me. It’s just his efforts as a showrunner when chronicling seasons of stories is a lot to be desired.
Now some are likely to disagree with that and regard Steven Moffat’s eras of ‘Doctor Who’ very highly. And they’re within their rights to abide by that. I just can’t be that enthusiastic about Steven Moffat’s ‘Doctor Who’ eras compared to enjoying Chris Chibnall’s era more.
Again, I know fans are likely to criticise Chris Chibnall’s ‘Doctor Who’ era more compared to me, but that’s my opinion. Anyway, I’m digressing. The point I’m trying to make here is when Steven Moffat is just a ‘Doctor Who’ writer and not the showrunner, he can be good.
I anticipated that I would make a lot of fun of ‘Boom’ when I saw it on the 18th of May 2024. Thankfully, that didn’t happen when I saw it, as I found ‘Boom’ to be very good and a tense-driven episode. I’m saying something positive about Steven Moffat for a change! 😀
I’m not trying to be ironic here. I found ‘Boom’ to be the best episode out of Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’. After all the silliness that’s included in the previous two episodes ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord’, ‘Boom’ is quite a welcome relief for me when I watched it.
Would I say this is my favourite episode from Series 14? Err, well, um…no. Look, just because I consider this to be the best episode from Series 14, doesn’t mean that I consider it a favourite. I’m not sure if there’s an episode in Series 14 that’s my favourite. 😐
There are a few issues I have concerning ‘Boom’ and I hope to explain what they are as we go through the review. But I also hope to illustrate more positive points about the episode than negative ones, especially since I found ‘Boom’ a compelling instalment in Series 14.
It’s certainly more sci-fi-driven than fantasy-driven. I think that’s why it appeals to many people. It doesn’t have many trappings concerning RTD’s set-up in having the ‘Doctor Who’ series be more in fantasy. The plot is solid and the characters are very well-handled.
It’s an episode that surprised me, as it has the combination of good storytelling by Steven Moffat and featuring great performances by the cast led by Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. It’s something I didn’t expect when watching the episode for the very first time. 🙂
Incidentally, the first time I saw this episode was in a Premier Inn hotel room in Bolton. My best friend Stephen and I saw the episode on my tablet via BBC iPlayer. We were hoping to go to the ‘Comic Con Mania Bolton’ for that weekend, but it sadly didn’t happen.
Before we get into the plot, let me share the inspiration Steven Moffat had for this episode. Apparently, he came up with the idea of the Doctor stepping on a landmine and he couldn’t move. RTD was impressed with the idea and I admit, it’s a clever idea on Moffat’s part. 🙂
Remember that scene in ‘Part One’ of ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ where Tom Baker’s Doctor stepped on a landmine and Harry Sullivan had to help him get off the landmine? That’s the plot of ‘Boom’, as Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor steps on a landmine and Ruby must help him.
The episode begins on a desolate battlefield on the planet Kastarion 3. The year is 5087, I believe. The 51st century. Two Anglican marines wander through the battlefield. They’re Joe Anderson as John Francis Vater and Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy as orderly Carson.
Okay, so, one of the things I didn’t like about the Steven Moffat eras of ‘Doctor Who’ is when he introduced the Church as a military force in ‘The Time of Angels’/’Flesh and Blood’. Seeing church men and women being in the military in the future doesn’t sit well for me.
Being a Christian, I don’t understand why, in the future, the Church would resort to being in the military. It just…it doesn’t make sense to me, especially when Christians are usually peace-loving and don’t resort to violence. I wish Steven Moffat didn’t come up with it.
But to be fair to this episode, ‘Boom’ is a story that also challenges on the theme of faith. Something that I found enlightening and fascinating when watching the episode multiple times since I first saw it in May 2024. We’ll return to this as we go further into the review.
Apparently, John Francis Vater is temporarily blind. He’s relying on the assistance of his orderly Carson to lead him to safety. As they walk, Vater contacts his daughter Splice, who’s at the Church’s base on the planet. Caoilinn Springall guest stars as Splice Alison Vater.
Vater: Have you done your teeth?
Splice: Yes.
Vater: Well, I need to smell your minty breath.
Splice huffs onto the comms.
Vater: Oh, you little liar! Teeth! Now!
Splice: How can you smell my breath over the comm?
Vater: Dad skills, that’s how.
(rolls eyes) Okay, I know I said Steven Moffat’s writing is great in the episode, but there are moments like that at the beginning where he’s trying to be funny, and quite frankly…it’s just silly. I think the early part of a Steven Moffat-penned story is often a bit hard to get into.
Vater reassures his daughter Splice that he’s on his way home before he ends the call. Eventually, Vater and Carson come across an ‘ambulance’ heading their way. Carson advises Vater they should avoid it, since the ambulance will deem him unfit for service. 😐
Unfortunately, Carson accidently slips down into a crater. Vater cries for him, but Carson steps on a landmine – or a smartmine, as it would be called in the 51st century – and it vaporises him. I know I joked about it in the introduction video, but poor dear Carson. 😦
The explosion – or can you call it an explosion, as there wasn’t a big bang? It was just noise – alerts the ambulance unit and it makes its way towards Vater. Apparently, the ambulance has the face of Susan Twist on it. Don’t see the relevance yet? Let me explain.
Susan Twist has been in certain episodes of the neo-RTD era of the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series beforehand. In ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, she was Mrs. Merridew, a maid at Isaac Newton’s house – Woolsthorpe Manor. In ‘The Church on Ruby Road’, she was an unnamed woman at a pub.
In ‘Space Babies’, she was a comms officer named Gina Scalzi on Baby Station Delta. And In ‘The Devil’s Chord’, she was a tea lady working in the EMI Recording Studios’ cafeteria. Here, in ‘Boom’, Susan Twist is playing the Villengard Ambulance’s AI. Her fifth role so far.
And there’s more to come for the rest of Series 14 concerning Susan Twist’s appearances in the season. They’re all linked to what will occur in the two-part season finale, but that’s for another time. I did wonder why Susan Twist kept appearing in episodes of the show. 🙂
On the battlefield, the ambulance latches onto Vater. The AI interface scans him and considers his blindness to make him unfit for service, as predicted. It decides his life must be terminated. Vater protests, citing his daughter needs him, but the AI ignores him.
Vater is soon smelted away. You know, considering the future still has wars that people fight, I’m surprised not more consideration is made in terms of restoring soldiers to full health. I mean, the NHS is trying to do that. Why can’t this be applied for soldiers in a war?
It’s rather shocking that Vater gets killed off in the episode, considering that he’s temporarily blind. I mean, let him have the four weeks to recover! Four weeks surely isn’t going to hurt. Whoever designed the AI for these so-called ambulances must be very cruel.
Not far away and at the same time Vater is being smelted, the TARDIS has arrived. The Doctor opens the door, as from within, he heard Vater’s scream. Concerned, the Doctor runs outside to find out what’s happening, telling Ruby to stay where she is at the TARDIS.
He runs off down a slope and…you know what’s coming, right? The Doctor finds himself in the crater and…he steps on a landmine. Yes, yes, I know it’s called a ‘smartmine’, but ‘landmine’s easier to remember. Maybe the Doctor should have looked where he walked.
And we cut to the opening titles. Checking the runtime via BBC iPlayer, the opening titles happen at 05:50. Meaning that we’ve had quite a long prologue to set everything up before the Doctor and Ruby arrived. I mean, it’s rare for a prologue opening to be that long, right?
Ruby steps out of the TARDIS to try and find where the Doctor has gone to, and she hears him singing the ‘The Skye Boat Song’. Apparently, ‘The Skye Boat Song’ happens to be a 19th century Scottish folk song, which I didn’t know anything about till I saw this episode.
Doctor: I love that song. It’s about Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Ruby: I know, it’s sweet. Let’s go.
Doctor: It’s sweet and it’s sad, and it’s about soldiers fighting, but it’s sad, like a lullaby. And that’s right, isn’t it? Songs about soldiers should be sad, don’t you think?
Apparently, and this is something I discovered in terms of my research, ‘The Skye Boat Song’ has featured in ‘Doctor Who’ before, but it’s not referred to by name. The Second Doctor played the song on his recorder in ‘The Web of Fear’ as part of a diversion, I believe.
It was to prevent then Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart from overhearing the Second Doctor’s conversation with Jamie on the Piccadilly Circus tube station platform near the conclusion of the London Event. The song was also played in ‘The Power of the Doctor’. 🙂
It was when the Spy Master, played by Sacha Dhawan, got stranded on a distant planetoid somewhere in space by Yasmin Khan and he took out the Second Doctor’s recorder to play the song. Interesting that the song has popped up three times in ‘Doctor Who’ so far.
Ruby finds the Doctor in the crater, as he stands on the landmine with one leg whilst the other leg in the air. The Doctor is singing ‘The Skye Boat Song’ to calm himself and prevent detonation, believing the mine is scanning for life signs to determine what’s stood on it. 😐
By calming himself, the Doctor is tricking the mine into thinking that he’s not there. I don’t know how the Doctor is able to do that, considering he’s usually full of energy (at least in his recent incarnations), but it does raise the tension levels when you’re watching this story.
On a side note, I must applaud Ncuti Gatwa’s acting as the Fifteenth Doctor in this episode. When he’s standing on the landmine and trying to not set it off, you can clearly see how scared he is as well as trying to maintain control with Ruby helping him out of it.
This episode showcases how great Ncuti Gatwa can be as an actor, as he’s able to deliver the lines given to him by Steven Moffat with absolute sincerity. This is probably where I’m convinced that Ncuti is the Doctor in that scene, as he isn’t playing the lines for laughs. 🙂
When the Doctor needs to be serious, Ncuti can deliver that tremendously in spades. This is especially when he challenges people around him and he’s talking his way out of a dangerous situation. This is especially since he can’t move or run away from what he’s in.
As the Doctor tries to maintain his balance, he instructs Ruby to go and find a rock or something heavy to help him counterbalance his weight when he moves. After all, the Doctor needs to put his right foot on the ground whilst maintaining his left foot on the landmine.
In her search, Ruby finds a strange heavy object, which she assumes is an urn. However, when the Doctor sees what she’s got in her hand, he tells her that it’s not an urn but the compressed tissue of a soldier. I’d be like Ruby and be put off by that unnerving revelation.
I mean, is that how soldiers would end up if they got killed in battle or terminated by an ambulance? They end up like that? As a cylinder presumably made of flesh that’s ‘smelted’? Granted, it would save on funeral costs, but…it gives me the shudders! Ugh!!!!
The Doctor asks Ruby to toss it in her other hand, and she does so. The Doctor calculates that it’s heavy enough for him to use to counterbalance himself. He orders Ruby to toss it to him, but she’s concerned of the danger of tossing it to him, insisting she hand it to him.
The Doctor argues with Ruby, implying that she’ll get killed in the blast if it goes wrong with her handing the soldier’s remains to him in his hand, but she’s adamant. And this is one of my favourite scenes in ‘Boom’ with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby.
Because, again, the chemistry between the two actors is wonderful. You can clearly see the friendship formed between the Doctor and Ruby, fuelled by Ncuti and Millie’s interaction together, as they work together to save the Doctor’s life from being vaporised.
It’s a scene that stands out well for me and reminds me why I enjoyed Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’, despite its flaws. Because if it wasn’t for Ncuti and Millie liking each other and getting on well together as the Doctor and Ruby, I wouldn’t like them so much as I do here.
Doctor: Ruby, if this doesn’t work… You are brave and you are wonderful… and I forgive you for being incredibly stupid.
Ruby: Good, then.
Doctor: And if it does work, I’m going to be very cross at you for a very, very long time.
Ruby: Not that long, babes. You’re standing on a landmine.
The Doctor and Ruby laugh.
And this is also where you can tell that Steven Moffat’s writing comes into play very well. Because Ncuti and Millie could’ve easily said those lines in an aggressive manner, but they don’t, since they say them with the love that the Doctor and Ruby have for each other.
Before Ruby gives the Doctor the soldier’s remains, she suggests that he sing ‘The Skye Boat Song’ again to maintain a rhythm so that she can pass it to him at the same time he sets his other foot down. This, they agree to, and this is where the tension builds up again.
I was anxious by this point, wondering if it was going to work with Ruby handing the soldier’s remains to the Doctor at the same time he put his foot down whilst singing the song. Luckily, they have the cue for when Ruby gives him the remains to put his foot down.
At the cue of the Doctor signing ‘Skye’ in the song, Ruby hands him the remains and he puts his foot down. There’s tension when the green light on the landmine begins to increase, but fortunately, it doesn’t go off, and the Doctor is able to maintain his balance.
I’m sure many viewers who saw this episode felt an immense sense of relief when the plan between Ruby and the Doctor worked. I know I was relieved. Granted, the Doctor needs to survive this story, but ‘tough and go’ moments like that work well when done right.
The Doctor thanks the remains in his hand, saying the deceased’s name: ‘John Francis Vater’. At that, a holographic AI reconstruction of Vater appears from the remains, startling the Doctor and Ruby. The Holo-Vater is voice-activated when being turned on. 🙂
You know, considering that this is the 51st century, I’m surprised holographic technology doesn’t get better in the far future. I mean, at least in ‘Star Trek’, the holograms in the holodeck look like real people. When Holo-Vater appears, he simply looks like a ghost. 😐
Which, I suppose is fitting, considering that he’s dead. Holo-Vater asks for his remains to be returned to his next of kin. The Doctor and Ruby enquire about how he died, and Holo-Vater tells them that he had been terminated upon discovery of his temporary blindness.
It was considered a mercy killing. The Doctor deduces that Vater’s continued survival would have harmed the budget and wellbeing of the military mission happening on Kastarion 3. Thus, the Villengard algorithm dictated he be terminated via the ambulance.
Is Villengard a name that sounds familiar? Well, that’s because it’s been mentioned in ‘Doctor Who’ before. In ‘The Doctor Dances’, the Ninth Doctor says he visited Villengard once, and the sonic blaster that Captain Jack Harkness had in that story came from there.
The Twelfth Doctor visited Villengard in the TV story ‘Twice Upon a Time’, and in comic form, the War Doctor visited Villengard in ‘The Many Lives of Doctor Who’ story ‘The Whole Thing’s Bananas’. Funny how Villengard keeps coming back in Steven Moffat’s stories. 😀
Once the Vater hologram fades out after finishing his conversation with the Doctor, his daughter Splice arrives at the crater. How did she manage to end up here? Granted, she received a message from her father earlier and she tracked it back to the source, but still.
She must have been very brave to come all the way out on a battlefield to find her father. Nervously, the Doctor and Ruby introduce themselves, as they struggle to tell her what happened. This is especially since the Doctor is still maintaining his balance on the mine.
Unfortunately, Splice says her full name and the Vater hologram appears again from the remains held in the Doctor’s hand. Not understanding and full of joy to see her father again, Splice runs towards him. This, of course, means danger for the Doctor on the mine.
Ruby manages to stop Splice by tackling her to the ground, telling her that the Doctor is standing on the landmine. It doesn’t help matters when the timer on the mine counts down further, and the Doctor struggles to calm himself. Once again, the tension is raised.
It’s also unnerving when you see the Doctor’s body start to glow, as the landmine that he’s standing on is causing him to be the explosive. I’m sure this would have been an edge-on-your-seat moment for many viewers that watched this episode for the first time.
Just then, a light shines on the Doctor into the crater from above. Ruby and Splice turn to look, and it happens to be an Anglican marine, played by…Varada Sethu? Oh, hi, Belinda! Nice to see you! Aren’t you a bit early? I thought you were going to appear in Series 15. 😀
Yeah, okay, she’s not Belinda in this. This is actually Mundy Flynn. At the time ‘Boom’ was shown to audiences, Varada Sethu had been announced as the next ‘Doctor Who’ companion for Series 15. But when she portrayed Mundy in this episode, it was a one-off.
Russell T. Davies must’ve been very impressed with Varada Sethu’s performance as Mundy Flynn in this episode. Or it could be because Varada had worked with RTD before, since she portrayed Peaseblossom in his TV adaptation of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.
Either way, Varada was chosen to be the next ‘Doctor Who’ companion in the following season and she became Belinda Chandra. And this, of course, happens to be another example of RTD repeating things from his original TV era of ‘Doctor Who’ in his neo-era. 😐
When Freema Agyeman was cast as Martha Jones in Series 3 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, it was after she played Adeola Oshodi in ‘Army of Ghosts’ in Series 2. I’m quite surprised Varada didn’t reprise her role of Mundy Flynn when she was cast as the new companion.
Then again, it might be because Mundy Flynn is a Steven Moffat creation, not a RTD creation. And RTD would have had to pay a lot of royalties to Steven Moffat to have Mundy Flynn on board as companion if he had taken that decision, even if it’s for just one season.
At least, RTD acknowledged Mundy Flynn being a descendant of Belinda Chandra at the end of ‘The Robot Revolution’, the first episode of Series 15. Incidentally, Varada Sethu has had quite a lot of acting experience over the years before she starred in ‘Doctor Who’.
As well as being in ‘Doctor Who’, Varada is quite well-known for playing Cinta Kaz in the ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Andor’, which I’ve yet to see on Disney+. She’s also been in the 2022 film ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’. Wow! And I saw that film twice at the cinema back in 2022. 😀
Back to ‘Boom’, Mundy insists that the Doctor release the casket he’s holding, since the remains are of an ordained Anglican. Ruby protests by saying that the Doctor needs to hold the casket to not let the landmine go off, but Mundy declares that ‘he’s dead already’.
Apparently, even if the landmine doesn’t detect a viable target, it will explode after a certain time as a fail-safe. The Doctor refuses to drop the casket containing Vater’s remains, and Mundy shoots his arm, determined to make him drop it, which shocks Ruby.
When the Doctor asks how the landmine works since it doesn’t have an explosive component, Mundy says it triggers a quantum-level chain reaction in the subject’s DNA. The Doctor warns Mundy that he’s a Time Lord and his biology will create a big explosion.
Bigger than big, in fact. So big that it can wipe out half the planet. Mundy scans him to check and realises that he’s telling the truth. So, not only is the Doctor in danger, but apparently, everyone else on this war-torn planet. Great! As if things can’t get any worse.
Just to explain about the battle that’s going on. Apparently, the Anglican marines are fighting the Kastarions, who happen to live in the mud. According to Mundy Flynn, that is. The Doctor scoffs at that, especially when he says he’s met sentient mud beings before.
This is a reference, of course, to the mud-witches that appeared in ‘The Witchfinders’ with Jodie Whittaker. I was kind of expecting mud creatures to make an appearance in the episode, but the fact they don’t appear links to the faith theme that we’ll address shortly.
Mundy’s attack on the Doctor’s arm prompts an ambulance with Susan Twist’s face on it to enter the crater. It scans the Doctor, which doesn’t bode well, especially as the ambulance struggles to identify his species and the Doctor’s anxiety level is likely to rise.
In a panic, Ruby acquires Mundy’s rifle and fires it aimlessly to draw the ambulance away from the Doctor. However, Mundy tells her that the only way to draw the ambulance away is if one of them is injured too. She asks Ruby to shoot her arm on the gun’s lowest setting.
Reluctant at first, Ruby aims the rifle to shoot Mundy’s arm. But then, another Anglican Marine – Bhav Joshi as Canterbury James Olliphant a.k.a. ‘Canto’ – turns up and assumes that Ruby is about to kill Mundy. He shoots her and Ruby ends up falling into the crater. 😮
It’s quite a shocking moment and the Doctor is horrified to see her friend shot, and you can see that clearly in Ncuti Gatwa’s performance. It emphasises how dangerous certain TARDIS journeys can be. The jeopardy is well-justified with the tension levels being raised.
Sadly, this is where we have Ruby out of the episode for quite a bit. 😦 I wouldn’t have shot Ruby personally, as I would’ve liked more of Millie Gibson interacting with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor. She mostly lies on the ground unconscious and with a blanket placed over her. 😐
But then, I’m guessing that Steven Moffat would’ve written the character of Ruby loosely in the episode, since she’s not his creation and RTD would have added more to her if he was writing the episode. This is clearly indicated when snow begins to fall into the crater.
Once again, the snow appearing out of nowhere returns for Ruby when something bad happens to her. At this point, you wonder how RTD is building up this reoccurrence in Series 14 and how it’ll pay off in the season’s finale. Well, um…we’ll get to that eventually.
The ambulance unit switches focus from the Doctor to Ruby, who’s badly wounded. It identifies her name and her age – apparently, she’s 3,082 years old by this point in the future. Gosh, she’s aged well. 😀 However, the ambulance struggles to find her next of kin.
Whilst Ruby happens to have approximately 432 seconds to live, the ambulance unit withholds giving her treatment, as she’s not ordained. Meaning she’s not an Anglican marine, but a civilian. Gosh, the way the Church is handled in the future is rather rubbish.
I mean, churches in our time are more charitable and they have missionaries that go out to places like Africa and Asia where people need help. This is why I don’t like the idea of the Church being a military in the future. Surely, churches wouldn’t stoop to war policies.
Mundy and Canto do their best to save Ruby, and there’s a kind of semi-romantic connection between them. Except Canto has more romantic feelings for Mundy than she does for him. It’s interesting to see how that’s unveiled whilst watching the episode itself.
Thus, it’s quite sad when Canto gets electrocuted and is killed by the ambulance unit. I mean, that just came out of nowhere. Even Canto didn’t deserve that. I mean, I know he shot Ruby, but he did that to protect Mundy, especially as he cares about her a great deal.
The ambulance units aren’t programmed to heal unbelievers. Again, I feel this is a bad portrayal of the Church in the future, as surely Christians wouldn’t stoop to that level. They would seek to heal everyone, regardless of whether the patients are believers or not.
As tensions rise and the Doctor’s landmine is almost complete with the green lights surrounding it, Mundy asks what they should do. The Doctor suggests they simply surrender and hopefully, the landmine will turn off, as the marines built it in the first place.
As the Doctor explains to Ruby whilst she’s unconscious, the Anglican marines came to Kastarion 3 six months ago. They advertised their presence, which in turn set up the defensive perimeters of the Villengard algorithm, and started a cycle of war on the planet.
The Anglican marines ended up fighting against their own hardware. They grinded themselves down just enough to keep themselves engaged, to keep the combat going as well as the money flowing to Villengard. 😐 After all, according to Rule of Acquisition #34:
Quark: War is good for business.
Now, I’m sharing this plot exposition with a bit more clarity based on the plot detailed in the ‘Boom’ page by TARDIS Fandom. Because the first time I saw this episode, it was quite a challenge to get my head around, considering Steven Moffat’s episodes can be complex.
But the concept of Villengard being a profit-hungry business to ensure war weapons are being sold and that the Anglican marines are constantly fighting against their hardware to keep the business going is quite frightening. That the technology is driving us to fight. 😐
It’s a pretty modern concept and one that I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case happening now, considering that we have AI that basically controls our lives, even when we don’t know it. It’s something to ponder on, as I’m sure the truth is closer than we think.
I do like it when the Doctor tries to keep Ruby alive by talking to her and prompting her to think about what’s happening considering the situation they’ve found themselves in and how it’s even happening. This is despite Ruby being unconscious and she’s unable to talk.
The Doctor is also challenging Mundy Flynn on what she thinks concerning the war situation that she and the Anglican marines are in. He’s prompting her to believe what he’s saying and to understand that she and her lot are in this endless cycle in their war. 🙂
Doctor: ♪ Do you get-get-get it? ♫
I’m surprised the Doctor didn’t go into full rap by that point when he prompted Mundy to understand what he’s getting at. 😀 Mundy however is sceptical and demands proof. And this is what I wanted to address concerning the episode’s core theme in challenging faith.
In my opinion, it’s blind faith that the episode is tackling. You see, there are various forms of faith, whether it’s religious or not. In churches, Christians are always driven by faith in the belief that God is our lord and creator and that Jesus came to save us from sin.
What the episode is addressing, as far as I’m concerned, is how we have faith without thinking for ourselves. Faith that is without question. Faith that drives you to do something regardless of how it’s affecting other people and what the consequences are.
And there are forms of ‘bad’ blind faith in that regard. If history has taught us anything, the Nazis followed Adolf Hitler, regardless of the harm they were causing to many other countries that took place in the Second World War. They were blinded by the propaganda.
And it’s fair to say that some church leaders in history have been manipulative in how they motivate church-goers to follow what is the Word of God. Sometimes, it’s caused disharmony among communities as certain church leaders aren’t abiding by God’s word.
I’m not claiming to be an expert on this, as I’m not a priest or a religious leader and I don’t regularly do sermons. But I can appreciate what the episode is trying to get at when it tackles on a subject that’s…not really dealt with very much, even for a sci-fi series as this.
I don’t really want to brag too much about this topic because…well, I want to focus on the episode’s plot and characters. But the appeal of ‘Boom’, as well as being a tense-driven story about the Doctor stuck on a landmine, is how it challenges viewers concerning faith.
It’s a very enlightening episode, as it prompts us to question how much faith means to us, whether we’re religious or not. There’s bound to be a lot of people who were offended by this episode, especially when it challenges them on the faith they have when watching it.
I don’t think it’s Steven Moffat’s intention to offend anyone. At least, I don’t think so. I think it’s him challenging us on whether our faith in something that really matters to us or not. He’s asking whether we’re reliant on faith too much and whether we can improve ourselves. 😐
I wasn’t offended by this episode when I saw it dealing with faith. Quite frankly, it made me think about my Christian faith and I still stand by it. And I’m glad the episode doesn’t denounce faith, even when the Doctor tells Mundy how important it can be by the end. 🙂
Mundy: I thought you didn’t like faith much, Doctor.
Doctor: Just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean I don’t need it, Mundy.
And it’s interesting how the episode explores the Doctor’s stance on faith. We know he’s not a religious character, as established in ‘The Impossible Planet’/’The Satan Pit’, but sometimes, it’s good to be enlightened by what the Doctor’s views are in this situation. 🙂
The Doctor is a scientist by nature and sometimes his scientific views often get challenged as to what he believes or not. He even admits that in ‘The Satan Pit’ two-part story I just mentioned when he’s going right down into the pit and he’s talking to Ida Scott.
Doctor: I believe…I believe I haven’t seen everything, I dunno. Funny, isn’t it? The things you make up. The rules. If that thing had said it came from beyond the universe, I’d believe it, but before the universe? Impossible. Doesn’t fit my rule. Still, that’s why I keep travelling. To be proved wrong.
Going back to ‘Boom’, when Mundy demands proof, the Doctor calls for Vater’s AI, ordering him into the ambulance’s computer to find proof that Kastarion 3 is uninhabited and the deaths are self-inflicted. Vater’s AI is reluctant, as it goes against his protocols. 😐
Eventually, the Doctor insists to Vater’s AI that he’s still Splice’s father and he has a duty to help her. Vater relents and he reminds Splice to brush her teeth before he goes to do what the Doctor tells him. I think Vater should’ve been a dentist instead of a soldier. 😀
The Vater AI soon disappears into the ambulance unit connected to the Doctor. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Canto gets killed when the ambulance unit’s defences activate. Other ambulances soon arrive and surround the crater to prevent a data breach.
It’s all part of the Villengard algorithm’s doing, especially when the Vater AI is seemingly replaced by an AI of Susan Twist, who claims that the AI is destroyed. It was unnerving to see the ambulances showing up and for Vater’s AI to be replaced by the Susan Twist AI. 😐
The mine beneath the Doctor’s feet begins the fail-safe detonation, announcing that anyone who is not the target should stand clear. The Doctor tells Mundy and Splice to run, but Mundy says there’s no point, as the planet is about to explode where they’re standing.
At that point, this is like the moment where everything is about to end. Where everything going against the Doctor and his endeavours to stop the mine from exploding and destroying him and everyone else, including Ruby, Mundy and Splice is about to occur. 😐
Fortunately, the ambulances start to glitch, as it’s revealed that the Vater AI managed to override their protocols. This also means that the lead ambulance gets to heal Ruby Sunday after all, which is a huge relief. And it’s all thank to two words that Vater’s AI says.
Holo-Vater: Kiss-kiss.
There, managed to fit in that line into the review somewhere. 😀 The landmine the Doctor’s standing on also turns from red to green. Meaning that the Doctor can safely step off at last! The Doctor is overjoyed, especially as he reunites with Ruby once she’s woken up.
The explanation the Doctor gives as to what happened is quite wordy when Ncuti Gatwa says his lines. But essentially, it was Vater’s love for his daughter Splice that defeated the ambulances. So, ‘the power of love’ essentially defeated the Villengard algorithm here. 🙂
This is something that probably would be considered laughable, especially in a Steven Moffat-penned story. But, hey, considering there was a lot of tension in the story and the fact an AI defeated an algorithm via a father’s love for his daughter, I’m willing to buy it. 😀
I don’t really know if the Doctor’s suggestion of writing a diary in drums would actually work. I mean, the Doctor should have a drumkit to do that instead of going, “A-boom. Tap. Tap. Boom. Tap-tap. Boom. Tap. Tap. Boom. Tap-tap. Boom. Tap. Tap. Boom. Tap-tap”. 😀
Sometime later, when the smoke is cleared and the Doctor, Ruby, Mundy and Splice are above ground away from the crater, they look up into the sky and admire it. This is while the Anglican marines are preparing to leave the planet, since the false conflict has ended.
Cue the shot of the Fifteenth Doctor that was used in the 60th anniversary trailer and gave us false advertising. 😀 I wondered when that shot would eventually appear in the TV series. Who knew that it would appear at the end of a Steven Moffat-penned ‘Doctor Who’ story?
It’s just as well that I’m using this screenshot image of the Fifteenth Doctor looking at the sky of Kastarion 3 for this review as well as for my review of ‘The Giggle’. Because, quite frankly, I wondered whether that image was ever going to appear in the TV series or not. 🙂
I must say that the visual effects for ‘Boom’ are impressive, especially when they’re bringing in virtual production to ‘Doctor Who’ for the first time. This is an innovative filmmaking process that merges physical and live-action footage with real-time CGI environments. 🙂
It primarily uses large LED walls, game engines like Unreal Engine, and camera-tracking technologies. I believe this approach has been used in a ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ episode, which I’ve seen behind-the-scenes footage of on the Season 1 DVD. ‘Doctor Who’s caught up! 😀
However, the Doctor and group’s admiration of the sky doesn’t last long, as he gets easily bored and insists that he and Ruby depart. Seriously, Doctor, couldn’t you let Ruby see the sky for a little more than two minutes. It’s her first visit to an alien world, you know? 😐
Doctor: (to Ruby) Plenty more universe to see and, quite frankly, your lifespan sucks.
Well, that’s just rude. 😀 The Doctor says goodbye to Splice and Mundy. He tells Splice that despite her father being dead, Mundy will take care of her. Splice isn’t worried, as she knows her father isn’t gone from her life. The Doctor approves and tells Splice to ‘keep the faith’.
The Doctor gives Mundy a hug and Ruby gives Splice a hug before our intrepid TARDIS duo departs. The Doctor says he’ll be ‘popping in every now and then’. Hmm, I wonder how many times the Doctor’s said that to people on the planets he’s visited in Space and Time.
Doctor: Fish fingers and custard is my favourite.
Err, isn’t that a Matt Smith thing? I know this is Steven Moffat writing the story, but when have we ever seen Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor eating fish fingers and custard? Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker and David Tennant’s Doctors didn’t eat fish fingers and custard either! 😀
As the Doctor and Ruby return to the TARDIS, they wonder how Splice and Mundy will cope from now on. The Doctor is certain that they’ll be okay and he talks about how death defines us and we all melt away like snow whilst something stays. Interesting insight that.
Vater’s AI appears one last time whilst Splice and Mundy continue looking at the sky filled with planets. Vater’s AI waves goodbye and the Doctor and Ruby wave in return. The Doctor also shares with Ruby that ‘a sad old man’ once told him, “What survives of us is love”.
Initially, I thought that was a reference to the hermit the Third Doctor once knew, and it still could be, but it’s also a quote from ‘An Arundel Tomb’, a poem by Philip Larkin, published in 1956. I’ve not come across the poem before, but it was intriguing to discover.
The Doctor and Ruby finally leave in the TARDIS, and just the TARDIS completely fades away, we see a snowflake flying towards us on the screen. Hmm. That’s clearly foreshadowing of what’s to come later in Series 14, but that’s something for another time.
The DVD/Blu-ray special features for ‘Boom’ are as follows. On Disc 3 of the Series 14/Season One DVD/Blu-ray box set of ‘Doctor Who’, there’s the in-vision commentary on ‘Boom’ with executive producer Russell T. Davies, writer/executive producer Steven Moffat and executive producer Joel Collins. There’s a behind-the-scenes featurette on ‘Boom’, ‘Ncuti Gatwa & Millie Gibson’s Guide to Get Your Zen On’, a preview on ‘Boom’ by Steven Moffat, ‘Bringing Virtual Production to Doctor Who’, ‘Video Profile – Mundy Flynn’ with Varada Sethu and ‘Boom’ – Script to Screen’. On Disc 6 of the Series 14/Season One DVD/Blu-ray box set of ‘Doctor Who’, there’s the ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ episode for ‘Boom’.
‘Boom’ is ironically the best episode in Series 14 of the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, especially when you consider that it’s by Steven Moffat. I like how the episode plays well to the strengths of Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and to Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.
This is especially when the tension levels are raised, and the Doctor needs to get out of a dangerous situation he’s in where he cannot move nor run. It’s also a fascinating episode that challenges us about faith, particularly blind faith, and I found this pretty invigorating.
At this point in the season, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson continue to impress me as the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby. I was looking forward to seeing more of them and how their relationship as a Doctor and companion would develop and how their stories would unfold.
I was looking forward to seeing what would happen in the next episode ’73 Yards’, especially with Ruby being the central focus of the story for a change. It seemed promising from watching the ‘next time’ trailer and knowing it’d be set in Wales. Would I be impressed?
‘Boom’ rating – 8/10
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