Doctor Who: 5 Favorite Moments from “The Eaters of Light” (Season 10 Episode 10)

Bill, the Doctor, and Nardole go looking for some Romans in Scotland, but end up finding so much more. Just another trip on the TARDIS, right? Here are our five favorite moments from Doctor Who Season 10 Episode 10, “The Eaters of Light.”

BILL VS THE DOCTOR

Sure, the Doctor knows a ton about history, but he’s got nothing on Bill. She’s a nerd. Not only is she brazen enough to challenge the Doctor on a time period he has spent extensive time in, she actually turns out to be right: she does know more about the 9th legion than he does. Sometimes living history can’t beat a determined girl with the heart of a nerd.

HEY MISSY

Missy’s arc is slowly unfolding in a heartbreaking way. While initially coming off as nothing more than a ploy to get the Doctor to free her, Missy’s true goal as she presses on in her lessons in humanity has become more and more unclear.

On the one hand, she’s The Master, the most clever and deceptive of the Doctor’s friends (and foes). On the other, Missy has made so much progress that she not only voluntarily kicks around the TARDIS, but she cries even when the Doctor isn’t watching her.

I have no idea where Missy’s arc is heading, but given that John Simms is back, it’s going to be somewhere wild.

NARDOLE’S FACE PAINT

There’s not much to this one. He looked adorable. I too would probably time travel in a bathrobe and offer people popcorn, so this was possibly Nardole’s most relatable moment ever.

THE DOCTOR GETS A LESSON IN HUMILITY

The Doctor has spent a lot of this season learning that he is not the hero he fancies himself to be. Sure, he is a hero — that’s just a fact.

But he’s not the only one, and his ego sometimes needs a swift kick in the ass when it gets too inflated for his own good. In this case, that kick comes from Kar, Nardole, and Bill.

The defeat of the Eaters of Light isn’t his to claim, it belongs to the people who he looked down on and dismissed as mere children.

The Doctor’s assumption that Kar cannot not lead her people, that she is young and naive, and that the cause she fought for is stupid winds up as egg on his face.

In the end, Kar proves him wrong, and steps up to sacrifice herself for her people. The world didn’t need the Doctor as its martyr — it needed a brave girl.

ROLLIN WITH THE LGBT

Doctor Who continues on with The Gay Agenda™. Bill meets a group of Roman soldiers from the 9th legion.

She rightly assumes one is hitting on her and has the uncomfortable task of explaining her sexuality to a group of strange men, but gets a delightful surprise when she reveals that she only likes women: she is actually surrounded by people just like her.

A gay man, a bisexual man, and a lesbian all have a talk about “modern day” sexuality while hiding from a light-eating alien, and no one bats an eye. This is the future, people. Well…you know what I mean.

(I’d like to launch a formal complaint against the notion that anyone who isn’t bi or pansexual is “narrow minded,” however. That comment was cringe-worthy. One random Roman soldier does not speak for all us, just for the record. Eyeroll emoji.)

What did you think of this episode of Doctor Who? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

Doctor Who airs Saturdays at 9/8c on BBC/BBC America.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!