Advanced Review Round-Up: The Zygon Inversion

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The Zygon Inversion is nearly upon us – and thanks to a distinct absence of ‘Next Time’ trailer, we’ve only got the TV trailer to go on. Right? Wrong!

We’ve got a heady amount of reviews to pick from… and they’re overwhelmingly positive!

I would just like to take this opportunity to say that advanced reviews can damage an episode: the huge expectations on last week’s The Zygon Invasion meant I didn’t enjoy it as much as I might’ve without the weight of glowing previews. With that in mind, let’s find out what the critics thought of today’s episode.

We’ll start with DoctorWhoTV, which calls it “a very satisfying conclusion”, particularly for its characterisation. Peter Capaldi is well on form. So, too, is Ingrid Oliver as Osgood. DWTV further says:

“Something that should also be noted is that this is actually a bit of a creepier episode than the first half. Along with the aforementioned surrealism, director Daniel Nettheim injects some Zygon body horror into proceedings, which makes for an uneasy watch (in the best way possible).”

CultBox lavishes a full five-stars on the episode, saying that it “exceeds the opening installment.”

Perhaps the most astonishingly brilliant performance of The Zygon Invasion was Jenna Coleman, and it seems she carries on this remarkable track-record:

“You’ll already know from last week that key to the success of all this is Jenna Coleman as Zygon duplicate, Bonnie. In this episode – and we’re choosing our words delicately here – there are times when both Clara and Bonnie appear in the same scene, and here the success of Jenna’s characterisation of ‘Evil Clara’ is most apparent.

“Head coolly tilted, Blackpool accent replaced by something closer to Received Pronunciation, she rarely blinks…”

However, the site hands the award for Performance of the Episode to Capaldi, thanks to a pivotal scene that’s “certain to be its most celebrated.”

We can only presume this is a speech that’s been almost-universally praised. MCMBuzz says:

“The episode features one of the most blistering – and intelligent, and multi-layered – speeches about morality ever delivered in the show. If there’s any justice, in the future it will be regarded as one of the show’s greatest moments… Peter Capaldi gives his most compelling performance as the Doctor yet. At one point he may even bring a tear to your eye… and it’s not even a sad moment, just a really impassioned one.”

It’s about time Capaldi got a Big Speech; Matt Smith delivered some wonderful ones, but Peter’s so far have been littered with clunky dialogue – “I’m the Doctor, and I save people”? Really? No, actually, that sort of worked in context, but still – hardly bigging himself up, is he?

Just as intriguing is this teaser, also from MCM:

“There’s a wonderfully emotive and beautiful shot of a Zygon changing form that doesn’t involve special effects.”

Den of Geek‘s Simon Brew, it sounds, might be in love with our favourite Time Lord – and not in a healthy way. He notes:

“There’s a sequence with Capaldi in The Zygon Inversion, for instance, that’s so good, you stop noticing how erotic his eyebrows are for a minute. It’s the realisation of just what you get when you cast an actor of Capaldi’s experience and stature in the role, and the more I talk about it, the more I risk spoiling it. I’ll thus instead add that Coleman is exceptional too, with a separate sequence that gives her the most interesting work she’s had to do all series.”

He also warns:

“[D]on’t let anyone spoil this one for you.”

So without further ado, we’ll stop, and ignore the advanced reviews.

One thing seems for certain… The Zygon Inversion: accept no imitations.

The post Advanced Review Round-Up: The Zygon Inversion appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.