Doctor Who: Boom: Review

Essentially a rejoinder against faith and a rebuttal of the loss felt in life, Steven Moffat's latest Doctor Who script is packed with the kind of tension and character moments that signal the show working at its best.

However, while it is let down by a deus ex machina and a sentimental ending to offset some of the bleakness, what Boom does is showcase Ncuti Gatwa at his best. 

Set on the war-torn planet of Kastarion 3, the Doctor comes running when he hears an unknown scream, and ends up stuck on a landmine about to explode if he moves any further. Placing him in one position focuses the story scope and while a few scenes take in some cursory exposition over the clerics who are fighting against forces unknown, Boom is an exercise in tension that sees Moffat rip from his own playbook.

From flirtatious tensions between seemingly opposed lovers to AI elements, you only have to look back at what Moffat's done in stories like Silence in Library to see where he's coming from.

But what sells Boom outside of its premise are the character moments between Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday and Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor. 

Whether it's her resolve not to leave him at a time when death could claim them both, or his demeanour at how events play out, both actors continual to sell the relationship of the two, no matter how few episodes there have been (and are) to play out the dynamic.

With nods to Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi the show continues to move forward while slyly looking backwards, but what Boom does is demonstrate there is a more serious side to the casual almost puerile nature of the opening episodes.

Perhaps more disconcertingly, there are several nasty swipes at faith, before deciding that having something like that is not necessarily a bad thing and that love is signified by loss as well - these are not new ideas in Doctor Who and get bandied around a lot, despite this time feeling a little more cynical and mean-spirited.

Ultimately, though Boom is perhaps the strongest episode of the season - with tension and a taut performance from both Gatwa and Gibson, and a surprise early turn from new companion to be Varada Sethu, it makes a compelling and explosive case for the series' latest iteration.