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The obvious point of comparison for last night's new Doctor Who would be the series of Eighth Doctor audioplays featuring Mary Shelley as a companion. Certainly the episode, "The Haunting of Villa Diodati", lifts much of its basic premise from those 2011 audio plays, but I found myself surprisingly reminded of The Ghost Breakers, a 1940 comedy starring Bob Hope and Willie Best, aka Sleep 'N Eat. Seeing Ryan (Tosin Cole) in 19th century garb obviously brings to mind attitudes about race at the time while the writers' decision to portray Ryan as goofy and stupid resulted in a surprising moment on the stairs when he reacts to what he thinks is a ghost bumping his elbow, with exaggerated fright. And I thought of Willie Best and any number of black comedic performers in the mid-20th century who were cast in roles that reinforced stereotypes of black people as being stupid or lazy. Funny how this kind of portrayal is now considered progressive. Weird how we come full circle. It should be said Willie Best gave a much better performance, with a better sense of comedic timing, than Tosin Cole.

Graham (Bradley Walsh) is certainly no Bob Hope so I guess we could say the white guy, or at least one white guy, comes off just as stupid. Though Lord Byron as portrayed by Jacob Collins-Levy comes off as a broad, idiotic cad, come to think of it. His attempts to flirt with the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) are automatically rebuffed. Wouldn't want sexual tension, would we? Not when we've succeeded in getting the ratings below five million in the UK, back to the levels of Capaldi's last season. Hmm, there wasn't much sexual chemistry between Twelve and Bill, either, was there? Yet at least the writing was sharp in that season, even if it was unpopular. One of the ways in which the Eighth Doctor audioplays are superior to Sunday's episode is that they allow the Doctor and Mary Shelley to engage in intellectual discussion instead of just bumbling about.



But "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" happens to be one of the better episodes of the season, or maybe it's just that I'm a sucker for haunted house stories. The premise of a house where people seem to move continually into the same room even reminded me of the Halloween episode of Simon and Simon that made an impression on me as a child. I also thought the design of the Lone Cyberman (Patrick O'Kane) was pretty good.



Yet one can't help thinking back to the Eighth Doctor audios again and again, especially since, like this episode, they made something of the fact that 1816 also happened to be the "year without a summer" and also had Mary Shelley encounter Cybermen to draw comparisons between them and Frankenstein. This wouldn't be the first time an episode of the revived series was based on an audioplay--the Ninth Doctor story "Dalek" was written by Robert Shearman based on his own Sixth Doctor audio Jubilee, though the stories were different enough that one could still imagine them both existing in the same continuity. A few episodes have even seemed to draw on audios without crediting the source before--the Tenth Doctor story "Fires of Pompei" has noticeable similarities to the Seventh Doctor audio The Fires of Vulcan. But even then, "Fires of Pompei" brought plenty of new ideas to the table where "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" just feels like a partial synopsis.

So now it looks like we have to choose between continuities. Do we consider the Eighth Doctor audios canon or "The Haunting of Villa Diodati"? Hmm. It's kind of like asking would you rather drink champagne or water with the crushed ice from a McDonald's beverage dispenser.



The Doctor had a big speech in this one about how sometimes she's the only one qualified to make a decision and how lonely that is. Which seemed a bit cruel given how obviously deficient her companions are. Though I was surprised last week when the show took so much heat for the Doctor's insensitive reaction to Graham. The Doctor's supposed to be insensitive to the human experience sometimes. Sure, it was badly written and even Twelve would probably have conveyed a sense of being troubled even through a gruff response. But at least it was somewhat in character for the Doctor. I guess we all have our particular tastes as to what qualifies as the worst writing.

It's worth remembering the best portrayal of Mary Shelley on that fateful night remains Elsa Lanchester's in Bride of Frankenstein.

There were lots of great character moments in last night's new episode of The Expanse, an episode that used a series of good scenes to show overlapping political, personal, and social issues and the unpredictable ways they play off each other.

Spoilers after the screenshot



There were two someones in the kitchen with Naomi (Dominique Tipper) in two separate scenes that contrast with each other in a nice way. Both are scenes where someone tries to make peace with her, one more successfully than the other. First Alex (Cas Anvar) offers her some food, this coming after a scene where he finally hears back from his wife on Mars.



This was a scene that showed why Cas Anvar is one of the standout performers on this show as the rapid sequence of emotions that pass through him after his wife has told him she's left him are completely clear. So his motive for making peace with Naomi is also clear--he's suddenly realised, without Mars and without his wife and kid, his misfit shipmates on the Pinus are the only family he has. I like that he still made it clear that he's still furious about Naomi for giving up the protomolecule, but there's a basic human need that transcends that. It's a very sweet scene.



The episode began with another Martian, Bobbie (Frankie Adams), in a nice, dialogue-free scene that establishes her own feelings. With a relaxed smile she sits down, happy to be in the familiar Martian surroundings, until she sees the defaced Martian flag and she's furious.



Despite her own experiences that have cut her off from Mars, the symbols are too personal for her, and it's especially a cruel shock coming when she was feeling a sense of peace at being some place, somewhat like home.



Feelings of family and loyalty are too deep rooted and complex to be cast aside even for very clear logical reasons. The other person to have a scene with Naomi in the kitchen is Avasarala and it was a pleasure watching Shohreh Aghdashloo and Dominque Tipper doing a scene together. Outside the more restrictive political scenes and voluminous costumes, Aghdashloo seems to be taking the opportunity to give a more physical performance, her poses simultaneously theatrical and reminding me a bit of Marlon Brando.



She gives a very political line to Naomi about how she understands that not all Belters support the actions of the OPA--it's a familiar line one might hear from someone talking to an Irish person about the IRA or a Muslim about ISIS. There's insight in it and maybe a real effort at sympathy but of course it's patronising and Naomi demonstrates why with her angry reaction--she might not agree with OPA all the time but there's a history of personal and philosophical dialogue that Avasarala's political speak is tone deaf to.



The episode also featured some nice moments of nuance with two of its more villainous characters, Mao (Francois Chau) and Errinwright (Shawn Doyle). Even Mao has a moment of conscience after he, like Alex with his shipmates, has a transference of familial connexion, in his case to Prax's daughter. And in his case, he does allow his personal feeling to influence his policy decision.



Errinwright, meanwhile, shows he really is as conflicted as he seemed last season. He's clearly shaken by the over two million people who died because one Martian missile got past Earth's defence systems. Then he does something really petty with that feeling and goes and tells Anna (Elizabeth Mitchell) that it could've been avoided if the president had had firmer resolve--implying that it was she who swayed him. It's unclear if Errinwright's insinuation is right but we see by the look on her face that Anna knows he could be. And Errinwright walks away with a bitter smile at the knowledge that he's spread some of the misery. So he's not a total psychopath--he does feel bad about people dying--but he's too weak not to abuse others for his own pain management. I think he's an asshole, but then, it's hard to imagine what it would be like feeling responsible for two million deaths.



There were also some nice scenes on the UNN flagship. I love those classic space opera corridors. I definitely like the more complex lighting after the endless blue of the Pinus/Rocinante.