Thursday 6 August 2015

Revisiting the Twelfth Doctor: Time Heist

Time Heist

My reaction to a second viewing of this episode perhaps surprised me more than many others. Before we get into that, here's what I remembered from my first viewing, so long ago now:
I recall really enjoying this one. Classic Ocean's Howevermany style robbery caper. Slightly awkward re-use of sets not masked very well and a sense that the team that had been assembled were largely superfluous redshirts, once it was revealed what actually needed to happen, but a good romp, nevertheless. Creepy monster and a palpable threat.
Most of the stories this series I have enjoyed more on a second viewing. Into the Dalek was superb, Deep Breath was a great drama about trust in relationship and even Robot of Sherwood was an enjoyable romp if you look past the paper-thin characters and plotholes.

Time Heist provoked the opposite reaction in me. I found it very hard to enjoy - or even concentrate on - this story on a second viewing. And that response can be summed up with a simple word - one with has troubled and irritated me throughout my life: twists.

And be warned, there are massive spoilers ahead.


The plot, drama and suspense of Time Heist relies entirely upon the mystery surrounding the "bank job". They have no memory of being commissioned, no idea what they are there to steal or who their employer is. They go from situation to situation, discovering as they go what unique skill each team member brings to the heist (apart from Clara who's just, y'know there. A lot of comparisons have been made in this episode between Clara and Sarah-Jane Smith, because of her dynamic presence and trouser suit, but honestly she reminded me more of Harry Sullivan: very affable and worthy of affection, but spends a lot of scenes standing around like a spare part.) All this leads through terror, personal sacrifice of the team members committing "suicide" to help the Doctor reach the final mysterious treasure. The menace of the monster who can turn your brain to soup is always there, stalking through the corridors. It even plays quite effectively on our collective mistrust of evil banks: in the face of corporate commercialism, what hope does an individual have?

So, spoilers: Twists only work once. If someone jumps out on you, that's scary. If they jump out on you a second time, you might flinch. After that it's just someone bouncing in front of your face. Time Heist has this problem. Once you know that the "monster" is actually the trapped creature they have come to save, it provokes pity, not fear. Once you know the Doctor is the one who's hired himself to do the job, there's no concern over the invisible hand that is managing proceedings. Once you know the team members aren't dead, but were instead disintegrated (and reintegrated) via a personal teleport, there's no tangible sense of sacrifice. In short, once you know everything that is going to happen, no twist can provide a continued thrill.


Once we've established that the "twist" element of a story is null and void after the first viewing, what else does Time Heist offer? There's some interesting character stuff with each team member considering what important thing may have convinced them all to take part in this caper. Beyond that? I struggled to find anything.

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