Smile

Between here and my office, before the kettle boils, is everything that ever happened or ever will.

The Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

The language of the future is emoji! The Doctor takes Bill to a spectacular city on a distant planet – but where are the colonists? A band of ‘cute’ droids hold the deadly answer.

Review

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s second story for Doctor Who is an improvement on In the Forest of the Night. Whilst that sounds like damning with faint praise, it is undeniably true. It has some interesting ideas, especially in the first half, but does lose it’s way towards the conclusion.

Smile is definitely a story of two halves. The first of those feels like a callback to 1960s Doctor Who, which sees the Doctor and Bill exploring the deserted city. The second half crams a lot in, the discovery of the rest of the human race and settling the plot of the story. There is a sense of optimism in the white walled city and minimalism. It almost looks like an Apple store. The location used for this story is the City of Art and Culture in Valencia, which looks distinctly futuristic and alien. When the Doctor and Bill discover the original colony ship at the heart of the colony, it transitions to a more 1980s aesthetic, complete with rust and grime. It feels like a much more realistic view of the realities of space travel. Whilst there is nothing wrong on paper with the concept in Smile, it does feel as though it could benefit from being two parts, especially given that the war between humans and Vardy is averted by a reset switch. There is no time to explore the implications of this. Whilst the Vardy have no memory of murdering the humans, the humans have to live with the creatures who slaughtered their friends and family, and turning against them is a near impossible task given that the city is made of the Vardy. The food that has been planted for them to grow has been fertilised by the bones of  those humans, which is also a horrific idea. I do like the central concept and, whilst it is another example of technology gone wrong in this era, the idea of robots not understanding human emotions is solid enough.

One of the strengths of Smile is that it takes time to give us the Doctor and Bill alone together, and establish their relationship. As series have got shorter, stories like Smile have possibly gone by the wayside. This story is not concerned about the supporting cast, killing off the human colonists’ advance guard before the TARDIS arrives, and the colonists who wake during the story aren’t really given enough time to develop. Ralf Little is fine as Steadfast, but the story doesn’t really give him very much to do. There are also the Emojibots, the interfaces with the Vardy. They are more sinister than scary, but far better than my worst fears when it was announced that Doctor Who was going to be doing an episode focused on emoji. After all, this was during the emoji boom, and came out the same year as The Emoji Movie. The pound sign moment aside, they are perfectly fine for a one-off adversary, albeit that they are actually a slave race who are freed by the end of the story.

What’s the opposite of a massacre?

OK, what?

In my experience, a lecture.

The Twelfth Doctor and Bill Potts

The Doctor and Bill have a really lovely dynamic already. It is one of teacher and student, or alternatively grandfather and grandchild – a dynamic that is novel to modern Doctor Who. Things like Bill’s propensity to question could be irritating in the wrong hands, but Pearl Mackie makes this charming and it is a good way of bringing any new viewers onboard. The Doctor is showing the signs of experience, recognising his mistakes and ensuring that he keeps his companion as safe as possible. Whilst he remains committed to guarding the vault, albeit that he wants an adventure or two before he returns to St Luke’s University. Shrugging off Nardole, who wants to ensure that the Doctor sticks to his oath. Whilst it would be nice to have more of him in this story, it’s great to have a chance to establish the relationship between Bill and the Twelfth Doctor first. They have great chemistry and those scenes, like with the blue food cubes, or running from the Emojibots through a gorgeous location.

Verdict: Smile is a lot better than the basic concept would imply. A lovely location, good direction by Lawrence Gough and wonderful chemistry between the two leads make up for a rushed ending. It is a fun romp. 6/10

Cast: Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Pearl Mackie (Bill Potts), Matt Lucas (Nardole), Kiran L Dadlani (Kezzia), Mina Anwar (Goodthing), Ralf Little (Steadfast), Kaizer Akhtar (Praiseworthy), Kalungi Ssebandeke (Nate), Kiran Shah (Emojibot 1) & Craig Garner (Emojibot 2).

Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce

Director: Lawrence Gough

Producer: Peter Bennett

Composer: Murray Gold

Original Broadcast Date: 22 April 2017

Behind the Scenes

• Location work was done at the City of Art and Science in Valencia, Spain.
• Erehwon is nowhere backwards.

Cast Notes

• Mina Anwar played Gita Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures. She has also appeared in a number of Big Finish stories, including Ghosts, The Rise of the New Humans and Echoes of Extinction.

Best Moment

It sounds a bit weird to say about a story that I don’t hate, but I do like that this story leads directly into Thin Ice. In a story that harks back to the show’s roots in many ways, Doctor Who revitalises the tradition of the closing moments of the story set up the next one.

Otherwise, I’m a sucker for a David Bowie reference:

I’m happy. I hope that you are happy too.

The Twelfth Doctor

Best Quote

Do you know why I always win at chess? I have a secret move. I kick over the board.

The Twelfth Doctor

Previous Twelfth Doctor review: The Pilot

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