Doctor Who, ‘The Ghost Monument’ Plot Summary:
The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Graham (Bradley Walsh), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Yas (Mandip Gill) are rescued from deep space by Angstrom (Susan Lynch), and Epzo (Shaun Dooley) — two aliens competing in an intergalactic race. The Doctor and friends now become part of the race and must help the duo in order to reach ‘The Ghost Monument’ which turns out to be The Doctor’s lost TARDIS. However, the planet is way more treacherous than expected.
‘The Ghost Monument’ is a classic Who episode. The Doctor and friends land in the middle of something high stakes, meet up with sympathetic characters with shattered pasts, and encounter a world/situation that’s much more deadly than meets the eye.
Time and time again we’ve seen various Doctors encounter this type of story, and time and time again the results are similar. To the surprise of none, Jodie Whittaker pretty assimilates her Doctor into this battle-tested Who storyline. After last week’s fantastic premiere, it should come as no surprise that Whittaker was a joy to watch in this episode. Her ability to have a commanding presence and inject moments of silliness, seriousness, and ferocity is staggering, and by season’s end we may just say she’s the best Doctor in a long, long time.
As an episode, ‘The Ghost Monument’ does not stick to the ribs. It’s perfectly enjoyable, but as stated before, it’s an episode we’ve seen before.
However, there were three massive moments this episode gave us that’ll define Whittaker’s first season as The Doctor.
1. The TARDIS
Yes! We finally see the new TARDIS. And boy, it could not have been a more perfect reunion/introduction. The Doctor talking about the improvements of the TARDIS worked perfectly because of Jodie Whittaker. A scene like this would’ve been a bit more cheeky, or played for laughs with the previous three Doctors, but here there’s genuine passion, care, and sincerity. Whittaker’s warmth really pours out in this scene, and it makes things feel like we’re “home” instead of the typical “It’s bigger on the inside” gag.
Of course this TARDIS is going to take getting used to. The construction is wildly different from what we’ve seen in the past. It’s almost a bit primordial, and organic rather than the library of Capaldi, or the bright shiny toy of Smith or Tennant. It’s an interesting aesthetic choice for sure.
2. The Timeless Child
A new mystery for The Doctor. Sign. Us. Up. One of the great motifs of Doctor Who has been a big, sweeping mystery that visibly haunts The Doctor. The introduction of this “Timeless Child” storyline was a great way to give credence to a fairly forgettable villain. It also gets us hyped for the rest of the season as this will undoubtedly be a major arc throughout, the very least, Series 11.
What’s intriguing is we’re going back to Gallifrey (again…which is totally fine), and exploring The Doctor’s childhood (it seems). The series explored this, especially in relation to The Doctor and The Master, in the Tennant era. Really excited for this new crew, with Whittaker at the helm, to dive into the history of the Doctor.
3. A Foreshadowing of a Character Death
This is a bit of a hot take. Remember when Graham mentioned to Ryan he’d always look out for him, and he was hoping Ryan would reciprocate the sentiment? Something about that screams that Graham is not coming out of Series 11 alive. Do I have any proof of this? Not really. But when Doctor Who characters start talking about their fate, or when they start getting that sentimental look in their eye — the end is near.
