Thaddea Graham’s Bel with Blake Harrison as Namaca. I hope her tale is not done – she was absolutely compelling, and still remains stranded. Claire’s premonitions must have meant she recognised the Doctor, which was why she seemed so intriguingly knowledgable about Weeping Angels in chapter one. The interplay between her, the psychic, and Prof Eustacius Jericho (Kevin McNally), the scientist and war veteran, echoed Matt Smith’s 2013 haunted house episode Hide, only without the romantic undertow brought by Dougray Scott and Jessica Raine. The supporting cast were exemplary, especially Annabel Scholey as Claire.
And the chilling reaction of Poppy Polivnick’s young Peggy at the deaths of her elderly carers Gerald (Vincent Brimble) and Jean (Jemma Churchill) back in 1901 was one of the darkest moments of the series so far. It was desperately sad that Peggy returned to her village after 66 years and was treated like a pariah for trying to warn everyone about what happened there when she was 10. It wasn’t just the central story of the Angels and the Division that shone, though. But even as Jodie Whittaker was being captured and recalled, I caught my breath in shock as the wings appeared on her back and the Division imprisoned the Time Lord herself as an Angel. Division is unstoppable.” The Rogue Angel gave us a grave warning about what the Doctor was about to find out about herself, and what she was up against. It gave us plenty of jump scares, but, like the reveal that the cursed Devon village had been quantum-extracted into space, it also had more than one unexpected turn along the way. W ow – what an incredible slice of Doctor Who served up by Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton, with a jaw-dropping conclusion.