Who Review: The Pyramid at the End of the World

The world is in crisis. A 5,000 year old pyramid has suddenly appeared in the Asian desert, at a disputed border where Russian, Chinese, and American troops are stationed. The Secretary General of the United Nations calls upon the Doctor to find out who is in control of the pyramid, and what they want. It doesn’t take long for the Doctor to get some answers. The monks from the Vatican vault, the ones who have been running a simulation of the planet in preparation for an attack (see “Extremis”), have come to set a countdown to doomsday. The Doctor, Bill, and the leaders of the Russian, Chinese, and American military enter the pyramid, where the monks invite them to glimpse the Earth in a year, according to their model. They see a picture of desolation; all living organisms wiped out. And, the monks explain, it will be by their own hands, their own doing. But the monks can prevent it happening. All they want is for those in authority to ask for help, to consent to the monks intervening, and to do so with pure motive. The Doctor smells a rat, a devil’s deal. No-one knows what this “consent” will entail. And yet there seems to be no other choice. With the world powers ready to cede control to the monks, the Doctor has to find out what will bring about the Earth’s demise and stop it, before it’s too late…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

Last time, Bill’s attempt at a date was thwarted by the Pope. This time, it’s the Secretary General of the UN, who needs Bill to help him find the Doctor. A fun piece of continuity, and not inappropriate since this episode continues on from the last. It’s not a “part 2” however, since the last episode didn’t really end on a cliff-hanger. Unless you count the Doctor vowing to fight back against the monks as a “cliff-hanger.” Though he doesn’t take the fight to them in this story; they bring the fight to Earth, and the Doctor has to deal with it. So, let’s call it a new story, intimately connected to the previous story. Maybe part two of a duology (though I think the next episode is connected too, so part two of a trilogy!) You don’t have to have seen “Extremis” to follow along, but it helps.

I have to say, I was a little wary at first. When Doctor Who brings in world leaders, the military, and global politics, you can almost smell a message in the air. And it’s usually a message of the “why can’t we all get along?” and “love wins” variety. In itself, that’s not a bad thing, but it gets to be predictable, and invokes stereotypes (American aggression being the most popular), and can be hopelessly simplistic. However, this story doesn’t do that. It’s not the military leaders who vote for a show of strength, but the Doctor. It’s on his command that they send missiles and war planes. All to no avail, of course. And faced with the prospect of a desolate Earth, it’s the leaders who agree to accept the monks’ offer, despite the Doctor’s protests. However, they give the Doctor time to find the cause of the impending disaster and prevent it. But if he doesn’t find it soon, they will consent.

This situation creates another ticking clock, so we have both the countdown to “midnight”–doomsday hour–and the countdown to the leaders’ submission. The Doctor races against the odds to find a laboratory in Yorkshire where a lab worker recovering from a rough night makes a critical error with a decimal point, creating a lethal bacteria, resulting in a shutdown of the lab to try to contain the disaster. However, the air vent system is due to go off in twenty minutes, which will release the bacteria into the atmosphere. Another ticking clock. This is how you build tension. Three ticking clocks. And let’s not forget, the Doctor is working blind. Literally. And that will prove to be his downfall. He successfully plants a bomb that will destroy the virus. But he can’t escape from the air controlled environment without entering a number sequence into the lock. And to enter the correct sequence, he needs to be able to see the numbers. He has a little over a minute to escape before he goes down with the bacteria.

This is how you turn a story where you think you know what’s going to happen into a story where everything you thought was going to happen gets turned on its head. And right when you think the Doctor’s going to save the world at the last minute, he doesn’t. Bill does. And she does it by doing exactly what the Doctor has been saying all along no-one should do. And she does it for love, for the Doctor. Which sets us up nicely for the aftermath of Bill’s actions, which I presume we’ll see in next week’s thrilling adventure.

Another good episode of Doctor Who, worth watching, even if I’ve given away most of the plot (sorry–but good storytelling is worth talking about). And though there is a resolution to the story, it’s one that leaves us with a lot of questions. What will happen to planet Earth now? And what will become of Nardole, who clearly is suffering from having inhaled some of the bacteria? Will the Doctor regret getting Nardole’s lungs “on the cheap”? Is this the cost alluded to by the Doctor last time with regard to getting his sight back? And who are these menacing monks who want to wipe out life on Earth and take over? I guess we’ll have to wait to find out…

Did you enjoy this story? What did you like best or least? Let’s talk…