Doctor Who Season 14’s Steven Moffat Episode Honors An Underrated Story From Chibnall’s Era
SUMMARY
- Moffat’s Doctor Who return in season 14 includes a callback to an underrated Chibnall-era story.
- “Boom” episode praised for witty dialogue and clever twists, featuring a reference to “The Witchfinders”.
- “The Witchfinders” deserves reevaluation as a written and directed episode by women with a unique storyline.
Steven Moffat made his epic Doctor Who return by writing a season 14 episode that included a pleasing callback to an underrated story from the Chris Chibnall era. The writer, who was Doctor Who‘s showrunner between 2010 and 2017, penned the third episode of the new season, entitled “Boom”. The standalone story has been well-received by critics, with some even hailing it as one of Moffat’s best Doctor Who episodes. As well as the writer’s trademark witty dialogue and clever twists, “Boom” also features a reference to a story from Chibnall’s time in charge of the show.
Moffat’s immediate successor, Chris Chibnall was the showrunner of Doctor Who between 2018 and 2022. His era is notable for introducing the show’s first female Doctor, as played by Jodie Whittakter, and for a perceived drop in both quality and ratings. Despite this, the Chibnall era features many underrated gems. One such story was honored by Moffat with a cheeky line in the latest Doctor Who season 14 episode.
It’s A Throwback Few Could Have Predicted
“Boom” sees Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday landing on Kastarion 3, a war-torn planet in the grips of an ongoing conflict. At one point, the Doctor questions Varada Sethu’s Mundy Flynn about the validity of the war. When she speculates that the reason why she has never seen her opponents, the Kastarians, is because they are “in the mud“, the Doctor retorts by saying, “Sentient mud? Seriously? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?I’ve met sentient mud, lovely girls“. This is a reference to the episode, “The Witchfinders”.
“Boom” also makes reference to The Doctor’s penchant for fishfingers and custard.
“The Witchfinders” first aired in 2018 as part of Chris Chibnall’s debut season as showrunner. Written by Joy Wilkinson, the episode takes place in Lancashire in the 17th century and revolves around the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions encountering an alien race who have hijacked a witch hunt. Known as the Morax, the creatures are sentient beings who take the form of mud and have the ability to possess living human beings and reanimate dead ones. Throughout the episode, they are shown only to possess women, hence the Fifteenth Doctor referring to them as “girls“.
Why Doctor Who’s “The Witchfinders” Deserves To Be Reevaluated
The Season 11 Episode Doesn’t Get Enough Credit
“The Witchfinders” is one of only a small handful of Doctor Who episodes to be both written and directed by women.
Like many episodes of the Chibnall era, “The Witchfinders” doesn’t have the greatest of reputations; it’s not considered among the worst Doctor Who stories, but neither is it regarded as one of the best. While it certainly has its flaws, “The Witchfinders” deserves something of a reevaluation. For starters, the episode explores the notion of witch trials in an interesting way and even depicts the Doctor herself being accused of witchcraft. The story doesn’t hide away from the fact that if the Doctor was still a man at this point, events would pan out very differently.
Additionally, “The Witchfinders” is one of only a small handful of Doctor Who episodes to be both written and directed by women. It’s a track record that the show shouldn’t be proud of, but the episode itself deserves to be celebrated for breaking the mould, especially given that Wilkinson and director Sallie Aprahamian use the episode’s setting to cleverly tackle themes relating to gender. Throw in a scene-stealing performance by Alan Cumming as King James and a fair few creepy moments, and “The Witchfinders” is a strong if not slightly unspectacular entry in the Doctor Who canon.
