Mummy on the Orient Express

249 – "Mummy on the Orient Express"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Others Samuel Anderson – Danny Pink Frank Skinner – Perkins David Bamber – Captain Quell John Sessions – Gus (voice) Daisy Beaumont – Maisie Janet Henfrey – Mrs Pitt Christopher Villiers – Professor Moorhouse Foxes – Singer Jamie Hill – Foretold
Production
Directed by	Paul Wilmshurst
Written by	Jamie Mathieson
Script editor	David P Davis
Produced by	Peter Bennett
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 8
Running time	45 minutes
First broadcast	11 October 2014
Chronology
← Preceded by "Kill the Moon" Followed by → "Flatline"

"Mummy on the Orient Express" is the eighth episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, written by Jamie Mathieson, and directed by Paul Wilmshurst. The episode stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, with Frank Skinner guest starring.

Plot

Following from Clara's admission that she does not want to see the Doctor again after the events of "Kill the Moon", several weeks have passed, and Clara realises she doesn't hate the Doctor, and allows him to take her on one "last hurrah". He takes her via the TARDIS to a space-bound recreation of the Orient Express with passengers dressed in period pieces, all controlled by the computerized operator, Gus. Aboard the train, they find that an elderly woman, Mrs. Pitt, had recently died, claiming that she was attacked by a mummy that no one else could see. They retire to separate cabins for the evening, where Clara calls Danny in her present and gets advice how to properly end her relationship with the Doctor. She later encounters Maisie, Mrs. Pitt's granddaughter, who is distraught over the death and frustrated with the inability to see her body. The two get trapped in the luggage car, where a mummy's sarcophagus sits, and the two talk and bond while waiting for help.

Meanwhile, the Doctor, claiming he is a mystery shopper, starts to investigate the murder, meeting the train's engineer Perkins who is also curious about the death as well as the nature of the train. The Doctor speaks to Professor Moorhouse, who explains about the mummy that is being transported on the train, and the myth that once lights flicker nearby, the mummy will take its victim 66 seconds later, which they are able to confirm when the train's chef dies in a similar manner as Mrs. Pitt. The Doctor discovers Clara's situation but when he tries to rescue her, the lights flicker and the sarcophagus opens; before he can save her, Captain Quell and his men arrest him for falsifying his credentials. When the 66 seconds are up, they find that one of the Captain's men has dead instead. The Captain, realizing the Doctor was right, releases him.

The Doctor begins to question what is really happening on the train, recognizing that most of the passengers are scientific experts and demands to know why. The train suddenly stops in space, and the illusion of the original Orient Express and several of the passengers disperses, revealing they are in a laboratory. Gus tells them they are now to study the attacks of the force behind the attacks so that they can reverse engineer whatever power it has; Professor Moorhouse soon is the next victim, and he stammers out a few details of the mummy before he dies. The Doctor contacts Clara, who has discovered that the sarcophagus is meant as a containment unit for whatever the force is, and that this is not the first attempt by whomever is controlling events to discover the nature of the force, having gone through and lost ships and crews previously, in some cases, purposely killing them due to poor performance. Gus forces the Doctor to end the call and return to work when it expels the air from the kitchen car, killing the kitchen staff and threatening to kill more.

The Doctor and Perkins discover that the past victims were all suffering from various medical conditions, and that the mummy is targeting the weakest. Captain Quell reveals he suffers from wartime post-traumatic stress disorder and soon sees the mummy; before he dies he is able to provide enough information to the others. The Doctor and Perkins identify that the mummy drains the victim's energy through phase shifting, a process that takes just over a minute to complete. Perkins identifies the next likely victim, Maisie, due to her trauma over losing her grandmother, and the Doctor tells Clara to bring her to the lab, having Gus unlock the storage door. On the way there, Clara sees that the TARDIS is protected by a force field, and when she talks to the Doctor about this, she realises that Gus must know about the Doctor and his Time Lord nature to create the field. The Doctor is forced to admit that Gus had been trying to bring him here to help for some time, and Clara accuses the Doctor of taking her into a dangerous situation again. At this point, Maisie sees the mummy, and the Doctor absorbs some of her memories as to be able to trick the mummy into thinking he is the intended victim. Within the 66 seconds, the Doctor is able to realise the mummy is a former soldier from a war thousands of centuries ago, having been modified with phase-shifting camouflage to be an assassin; the Doctor offers their surrender to the mummy, which stops its attack. It manifests before everyone, salutes the Doctor and disintegrates into dust, leaving its phase-shifting device behind. Gus congratulates the passengers on their success and then begins to evacuate all the air aboard the train, their services no longer necessary. The Doctor takes the device and rewires it as a short-range teleporter, rescuing all the remaining passengers on the train to his TARDIS before the train blows up.

On a nearby planet, Clara, who had passed out earlier from the lack of air, wakes up and the Doctor explains what has happened, and that the train had exploded only after he has failed to hack Gus to find out who was responsible for all of this. The two have a brief discussion on the nature of the Doctor's relationship with Clara. On the TARDIS, the Doctor offers Perkins a job to maintain the time machine, but he politely refuses. Clara takes a call from Danny, who is expecting that she will finally end her trips with the Doctor, but when she ends the call, has reconsidered her earlier decision and wants to continue her travels with the Doctor.

Continuity

The question "Are you my mummy?" is a reference to the Ninth Doctor episodes "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". The Tenth Doctor repeats the question in "The Poison Sky".

The Doctor confesses to Clara that the mysterious force which enticed him to the Orient Express "even phoned the TARDIS once", recalling the last line from "The Big Bang", when the Eleventh Doctor, answering the TARDIS phone, replies "an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express, in space?"

The Twelfth Doctor is shown offering jelly babies to Professor Moorhouse, a tradition associated with past Doctors, particularly Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor.

Danny Pink reminds Clara that the Doctor is "not your boyfriend." This is what the Doctor himself tells her at the end of "Deep Breath".

Production

Filming

The read through for Mummy on the Orient Express took place on 1 May 2014. Shooting started on 20 May and finished on 10 June. The episode was primarily studio-based in filming, however the scene with the Doctor and Clara on the planet was shot in Limpert Bay in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Casting

Christopher Villers previously appeared in the classic serial The King's Demons, and Janet Henfrey previously appeared in The Curse of Fenric. Frank Skinner considers himself a die-hard Who fan, and previously had appeared in the special The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

Broadcast and reception

Overnight ratings show that this episode was seen by 5.08 million, a 22.1% share of the available audience and third for the night.

Critical reception

Mummy on the Orient Express received highly positive reviews. Guardian columnist Dan Martin was positive towards the episode and praised the Mummy saying, "At last, a proper new scary monster to get us behind the sofa," something he felt had been lacking so far in the current series. He called it "a triumph of production design matched with imagination," and praised first time writer for the show, Jamie Matheson for blending "cool monsters," and "awkward Tardis dynamics." He did however feel that the reveal of the monster's true nature was "underwhelming." Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph was positive of the episode and awarded it four stars out of five. He praised the stylisation of the episode and its ability to make the viewer a part of it, "as a viewer you felt hemmed in by the train’s narrow corridors, stalked by an invisible creature that could strike at any moment." He believed that Skinner "started well," but more impressive was David Bamber, describing his performance as "poignant," and praised the development of the relationship of the Doctor and Clara.

Morgan Jeffrey of Digital Spy praised the episode, giving it four stars out of five. He praised the chemistry of the two leads, "Capaldi and Coleman remain an utterly magnetic coupling on-screen," citing the final Tardis scene and the beach scene as "magic." He felt that the main problem of the episode was the decision to keep the two apart. He was positive towards Frank Skinner's "genuine love for Doctor Who, that meant he was "practically beaming throughout," and called him "an endearing replacement," for Clara in the episode. Like the previous episode he thought that it had a Hinchcliffe vibe to it and felt that "'Mummy' is a joy, with excellent production design and a roster of perfectly-pitched performances all adding up to create an enchanting atmosphere," and believed it had a "wonderful mood," that felt like "vintage Doctor Who." Tim Liew, writing for Metro, was positive towards "Mummy", calling it "another strong standalone story," praising the "period costumes helped create a distinctive look and feel, the mummified Foretold was well realised and the repeated use of the 66-second countdown clock injected a real sense of pace and jeopardy." Neela Debnath of The Independent praised the guest stars of the episode, Foxes and Skinner, saying "he [Skinner], acts his socks off." She remained critical of Clara, arguing that "her poorly conceived and written character fails to charm," despite praising Coleman's acting. Overall she felt that the episode was "a delightful outer-space romp."

Forbes gave their first really positive review of the series, saying "that's more like it." They felt the episode was very classic Doctor Who. They praised the "fantastic core principal" to the plot. However they were disappointed with the run time, believing it would've benefited from another five minutes, citing some areas that could've been explored further, particularly the escape from the train. They praised the cast, particularly Capaldi, "The Doctor infects Capaldi’s performance. Drawing on his love for the series I could see the influences of many of the previous actors to take on the role," and praised the development of the Doctor and Clara's relationship. They called Mathieson's script "an impressive debut." The A.V. Club also heavily praised the episode, awarding it another perfect "A" grade, particularly praising Capaldi's performance. They said "When the time comes to write the final accounting of the 12th Doctor—and hopefully we won’t need to do that for a little while yet—“Mummy On The Orient Express” will loom large. This episode is a triumph for Peter Capaldi". They also add that the episode was "the latest superb episode in a strong season" and that "Peter Capaldi’s performance is enough by itself to elevate this story to classic status, but Jamie Mathieson’s script provides him excellent support".

External links

• "Mummy on the Orient Express" at IMDb