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Doctor Who review: The Ghost Monument – an instant classic or an average episode?

By James Aggas

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The Doctor finally finds her TARDIS in The Ghost Monument.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

A dangerous world, robots and killer cloths! A lot went on in The Ghost Monument. Was it a strong episode of Doctor Who?

So we’ve finally seen the new TARDIS! After it went missing at the end of Twice Upon a Time and following on from The Woman Who Fell to Earth, the new Doctor’s search took her and her new friends far away from Earth in the latest Doctor Who episode, The Ghost Monument.

The first episode of the series had a pretty straightforward plot, and this is even more true of the second episode. What we’ve got in this story is a classic space race scenario, one where there can only be one winner.

One thing that leapt out about The Ghost Monument was that, while there was emphasis on how only one person could win the race, Chris Chibnall explicitly avoided the Battle Royale route by making it clear that the contestants couldn’t kill each other. Not if they wanted to win, anyway. That’s quite an interesting subversion of the usual formula, especially in the twenty-first century.

Then again, race or contest stories in sci-fi usually have a large number of contestants. Again, Chibnall subverted this by focusing on just two: Angstrom and Epzo. There’s also a neat explanation of why it was just them: what we saw was only the last stage of the contest, and all the other contestants had been killed already.

However, it doesn’t matter how many contestants there were or how simple or complex the plot was. It doesn’t even matter how many ways Chibnall subverted expectations along the way. What really matters: was The Ghost Monument any good? Let’s find out, as our contributors take a look at the episode in their own reviews.

We got a better glimpse of the new Doctor than in the previous episode. How does she come across so far?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Raphael Kiyani – Contributor

The Ghost Monument offers us our first full foray with our new TARDIS team with style and confidence. Building on the opener, we are given a largely well-balanced adventure. We are thrust straight into an enthralling space-romp with stakes and action – whilst also offering plenty of time for characterization and group dynamics to blossom.

Immediately being plunged into peril, Jodie Whittaker takes the reins as the Doctor with a calm authority that commands your attention. Straight away we can tell the post-regenerative haze has been done away with. This allowed Whittaker to give a more controlled, measured performance to balance her manic, energetic flair.

Here, she truly shines and cements herself as the Thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor. She’s soft, yet stern – full of wanderlust and more empathetic than her recent predecessors. Sticking true to incarnations gone by, we witness the Doctor again, preach the values of non-violent conflict resolution with her disdain for guns. Jodie has imbued the role with freshness, whilst still resonating with what has come before.

Our new companions are further fleshed out in meaningful ways. Character development in this story vastly improves upon the series opener. I am really starting to feel like I know these characters and their complexities.

Yasmin here, however, gets the short straw. Whilst an engaging character she’s noticeably the least explored – a testament to this is the fact that The Ghost Monument would have been more or less the same if she were excluded. On the whole though, all three are charming and likable and I really appreciated the slower, more exploratory character moments littered amongst the journey.

Balance between character and action

The plot is simple but intriguing, being caught up in an intergalactic race based on a barter-system and pure survival – the Rally of The Twelve Galaxies is a neat sci-fi idea with shades of 1983’s Enlightenment. This creates a predictable point A to point B narrative but I personally didn’t mind this and thought the quest construct allowed the story to balance character work and action.

The adversaries of the SniperBots and the Remnants are somewhat basic, but due to them not being the main conceit of the story I feel they do their job well. They’re ancillary to the main quest and provide just the right amount of threat.

Though, at times, the implementation of the threat can feel a bit muddled. The middle of the episode does feel mismatched pacing wise – with some scenes feeling far too fast whilst others felt like padding.

The two warring parties in the race, supporting characters Angstrom and Epzo are solid additions here too. Epzo did waver into a self-centred douchebag archetype but Shaun Dooley’s performance makes the character memorable.

Angstrom was a delight and gave a tough but sympathetic portrayal. Side characters in recent years have felt like cardboard cut-outs lacking any sort of nuance, but this wasn’t the case here.

The organiser of the racing event, Ilin, was essentially a glorified cameo, but I felt Art Malik gave the role the right balance of cold menace, efficiency and mystery.

A cinematic adventure

The setting, the alien planet of Desolation, is stunning and one of the best realised worlds in Doctor Who history. The South African location work, cinematography and score all coalesced to bring to life the bleak, yet beautiful planet. The setting was showcased in such a way that you really felt the vibes of faded glory. Chris Chibnall wasn’t lying when he used the word “cinematic” – this felt like Series 7A on steroids with an almost Star Wars-like level of blockbuster sensibilities.

Overall, I personally haven’t had this sense of adventure, intrigue and awe in Doctor Who for years. Despite some niggles on pacing, The Ghost Monument strikes the right balance of high energy and considered character beats.

Development across our TARDIS team was entertaining and needed, despite Yas not having much of a role. Interesting side characters and an incredibly well-realised setting improve the story further. The plot and villains were arguably basic, but provided enough of a pull to enthrall. A strong alien-bound journey that really builds on the seeds of the opener. A must watch.

Location filming in South Africa provided a truly believable setting for an alien world.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Luke Molloy – Contributor

The Ghost Monument was exactly what we needed this week. If last week’s Doctor Who was a morning lecture in flying, this was the afternoon session where you switch on the engines and hit the sky.

The episode, like the previous installment, was a simple one and yet one I much preferred. I enjoy any story centred around a game or a race with deadly traps and dangers, and this was no exception. It was a proper adventure, landscaping across a deserted world. It had the Who gang working together and I felt part of the journey—I wanted to find the TARDIS just as much as they did!

I have to mention the ribbon-like creatures “the Remnants” which were such a cool enemy that spending only five minutes of the episode with them felt criminal. The way they floated, spoke, hunted in packs—I was buzzing with excitement thinking this was a huge great new villain for the Doctor—before they got blown up with a cigar (which I have to admit was awesome).

But imagine if they’d been in the whole episode! Attacking them, hunting them across Desolation…rather than that awkward waste of ten minutes in the boat. Of course, that would have been heavy on the SFX team (DNEG) who already had many challenges this episode and rose to them all, the best being Epzo’s crash-landing ship as it heads towards Ryan and Graham.

I was stunned at what I was watching. It looked so real and made the whole sequence genuinely nailbiting. Hands-down the most spellbinding action sequence I’ve seen in Who since Cybermen breaking the plane in Death in Heaven.

Adding to the effects, the scenic planet of Desolation. The three suns in the sky seemed to hold my firm belief that this was an alien planet and not a random desert in South Africa. The shot of the Doctor running towards the TARDIS as the camera swoops round the endless beautiful landscape is already an iconic one in my mind.

Call of Duty and the new TARDIS

Only one moment—yes—that Call of Duty moment, took me out of the episode. It was obviously included for a Doctor “no guns” preach, but the tone seemed so wrong and contrasted with everything we’d learnt about Ryan’s dyspraxia.

I’m also not overjoyed with the new iteration of the TARDIS. The six pincer-like growths engulf the console, like a scorpion about to tuck into a spider. Claustrophobic, dark and not very welcoming at all. However, the console is pretty and dispenses custard creams so maybe it’ll grow on me.

I’m also striving to see the Doctor on her own. Since she crash-landed on the train, she has been with her gang of new friends. However, in the past, some of the best Doctor moments have come from being alone.

Sooner rather than later, I hope we can have her onscreen for at least a minute before her friends come along, because Whittaker is still dazzling two weeks in. Her energy is madcap and I could honestly watch an episode where a Dalek just gives her coffee and watches her fizz around Skaro.

A new story arc?

Hang on though, Chibnall did say no returning monsters. Don’t expect the Skaro coffee adventures to start yet. However, he also said no story arc…but the remnants spoke of a “Timeless Child”. Could Chibnall already be telling fibs two weeks in? I think so. Could the finale be set in a Skaro Starbucks? I…think less so.

I loved this episode—any insecurities I might have of the series being swamped with companions or full of boring, “simpler” stories were flipped upside down. The companions gelled more naturally together this week and the story, whilst cliched (but perfectly tailored to me), looked dazzling and had a fascinating monster concept held within. It may be Doctor Who played safe but it was Doctor Who at it’s entertaining, adventurous best.

4/5

PS — the new opening titles. Weird, mesmerising and evoking the spirit of the show from the 60’s to now, it may be the best version of the introduction ever produced.

Epzo was one of several key characters in this episode. But what was the stronger aspect – the writing or the performance?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

James Aggas – Site Expert

The Ghost Monument was a really straight-forward story, but it’s also one I liked a lot. It’s not the kind of episode that’s meant to be a classic, but it’s a nice, light episode to include this early in the series. Something that ranks well along the lines of The End of the World or Gridlock – a nice, light sci-fi adventure to show off what the series is capable of.

I need to talk about how beautifully shot this episode was. The Ghost Monument made excellent use of location filming, and there were a lot of great shots that made sure to show that off.

Personally, I do think the guest characters could have been written a little better. Both Susan Lynch and Shaun Dooley are fantastic actors, but I don’t think The Ghost Monument quite made full use of them. They’re the kind of characters that you’ve seen plenty of times, especially in Doctor Who.

Still, both Lynch and Dooley helped to make them a little more memorable. A real highlight for the latter character was his story of what happened when his mum let him fall without catching him. It’s the kind of story that we’ve heard before from many “badass” characters, but Epzo’s line of how he loves his mum and Dooley’s delivery of it made it so much better.

Little moments and major hints

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Once again though, it’s the regular characters who really shine in this one. Especially during the little moments. I really appreciated Graham talking to Ryan about Grace and acknowledging that it’s still fresh for both of them. It’s a nice way of grounding the story. Not too much, but it makes the characters feel that much more believable.

As noted in Luke’s review, there seems to be more than a hint of an arc this series after all. Despite, you know, everything that Chibnall has said.

The mention of the Stenza sounds like major setup for them to be the new “Big Bad”. I’m not sure how I feel about that right now. “Tim Shaw” was an OK character in The Woman Who Fell to Earth, but that’s about it. If you’re going to create a new major enemy, then they need to be memorable. If we’re going to see more of their race later on in the series, I hope that we’ll be seeing much more interesting characters.

“The Timeless Child”, on the other hand, sounds much more intriguing. Of course, it also sounds like the kind of thing that Moffat came up with, such as the Hybrid or the Vault. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops, if it develops at all.

Overall, The Ghost Monument was a light, enjoyable episode. Nothing spectacular, but a fun little story, like The End of the World. I’m curious to see where we go from here.

Next. Review: The Quantum Possibility Engine (Seventh Doctor audio). dark

What did you think of The Ghost Monument? Did you enjoy it? Do you agree with our reviews? Let us know in the comments below.

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