TV Review | Doctor Who: “The Witchfinders” by Joy Wilkinson

It says a lot about the quality of Chris Chibnall’s first season in charge of Doctor Who that “The Witchfinders”, which is more compelling than much of what aired in the dying days of the Moffat era, left me feeling disappointed and underwhelmed.

As a once-avid consumer of Doctor Who across the media, particularly in its wilderness years off the air, I was always going to be inclined to compare a Doctor vs witchsmeller pursuivant story unfavourably to Steve Lyons’ twenty-year-old Salem novel, The Witch Hunters, which, if you love the show enough to be reading my musings on it, you’ll almost certainly enjoy. It’s an excruciating and brilliant read that showcases the sort of grit and nuance that, ironically, has set this season’s finest offerings apart from the pack. Yet Joy Wilkinson’s first script for the series borders on the prosaic. It’s Doctor Who painted by numbers, perfectly entertaining, but forgettable and flat - save for when it’s memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The realisation of King James I, for instance, is painful. Be it due to Alan Cumming’s performance, Wilkinson’s writing, or a combination of both, the monarch comes across as CBeebies-hammy; at times it’s like watching Gigglebiz. Fortunately Siobhan Finneran (Benidorm, Downton Abbey) and particularly young Tilly Steele (Victoria) are haunting and credible in their supporting roles, but unfortunately their portrayals do not sit well with the king’s camp theatrics.

 

The regulars, as ever, all give solid performances. Ryan, the king’s “Nubian prince”, handles the script’s comedic elements artfully, as does Bradley Walsh, though I was less than impressed with the subject matter of his. This episode’s heavy focus on the Doctor having to play assistant to Graham because of her gender brought back that unsettling disconnect for me. I love Thirteen, and think Jodie Whittaker is incredible in the role, but at times I still find it hard to reconcile her incarnation with the Doctor’s preceding thirteen. Little moments, such as the one I highlighted in “Demons of the Punjab”, work splendidly in recognising the character’s newfound womanhood, even managing to feel Doctorish in the process, but this episode’s approach, whilst arguably historically warranted, is more akin to using a sledgehammer than a sonic. What’s particularly irritating is that the Doctor just grins and bears the rampant sexism of the age - I would at least expect Thirteen to deliver her usual, uncomfortable parting riposte to her would-be oppressors as she beats a gauche retreat.

And so whilst “The Witchfinders” is far from being the calamity that “The Tsuranga Conundrum” was, it still failed to capture me. This season has been so fresh and so innovative that an episode reliant on a traditional alien monster masquerading as a witch and hidden within a witch-burning landowner feels a bit... meh.

The new series of Doctor Who airs on Sunday nights on BBC One and this episode is available to stream or download on BBC iPlayer in the UK, where the preceding 153 episodes are also currently available. A series pass is available from iTunes for £23.99.

The Witch Hunters by Steve Lyons is available to download for just £1.99 from either the iTunes Store or Amazon’s Kindle Store.