In tonight’s all-new episode of Doctor Who, titled “Boom,” landing on a planet at war, Kastarion 3, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) steps on a landmine and must reign in his emotions and use his wit to save Ruby (Millie Gibson) and the planet, all without moving.

Tonight’s episode was written by previous showrunner Steven Moffat. Known for many classic episodes, I expected it to be be better than the previous two (and more serious), and I wasn’t disappointed on either front. This episode felt more like the series I love. Don’t get me wrong, I love the comedy too, but as I stated in last week’s review, at times I found the episodes to be a bit too silly. This episode had more emotional gravitas and was at times heartbreaking.

Once again, Gatwa was phenomenal as the Doctor, and I liked seeing him rushing headfirst into danger rather than being too scared and hanging back like in the previous two episodes. Of course, it may have been the wrong move to do so, but it often is. Fans also got to see a more vulnerable side to the Doctor in the episode as well, which I appreciated. Gibson was also really enjoyable to watch. Once again I feel a bit of Clara (Jenna Coleman) in her and love that she doesn’t just follow what the Doctor says, and she risked her life to save him. The two of them continue to have fantastic chemistry on screen. 

I found the episode very suspenseful and thrilling and it was interesting that the majority of the episode took place in the same small area, which really added to that tension. The landmine having a timer worked really well as a device to keep that amped up, as did the fact of course that the Doctor couldn’t move and had to stay very calm. The episode felt like it moved really quickly from start to finish. It was more of a character driven piece and a very simple plot, but it did what it needed to do and was really poignant. I was pleased with the script and also thought the idea that the weapons manufactures kept people at war to make money and that in the end there was no enemy was an interesting one.

Even though it was mostly in the same place (I’m not sure if it can be considered a bottle episode if it isn’t indoors) the visual effects were still used to their advantage with the beautiful panoramic view of the planet’s sky and fun ai holograms and tech. 

The only really negative I have for the episode is that I found it a bit jarring (even if it is sort of a plot point) that Splice (Caoilinn Springall) was never upset that her father was killed and took it all in stride. 

Regardless, the episode was very entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.