The Doctor, Clara, a mutant and a cyborg attempt to rob the most secure bank in the galaxy.

It’s interesting to note that in almost 51 years, Doctor Who has never done a heist story – one where the specified goal is to rob a bank. Now, of course, that has all changed with the broadcast of Time Heist, where, in true Doctor Who fashion, the genre is given a neat twist that rounds off a very engaging episode.

Time Heist has the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) wake up with their memories wiped in a room with two strangers, Saibra (Pippa Bennett-Warner) and Psi (Jonathan Bailey). All four have to work together to rob the Bank of Karabraxos, all while avoiding the mind-liquefying Teller. Problem is, they don’t know what they’re stealing.

Setting up the episode with that mystery is one of the reasons Time Heist is so engaging. Right from the start, the audience is intrigued: what are they supposed to be stealing, and why? Fortunately, this mystery is maintained throughout the majority of the episode, until finally reaching a resolution in the dying minutes. And for once, the resolution was actually very well thought out. Although it was reasonably simple to deduce that the Doctor was the brains behind the whole scheme, the idea of using time travel to set up the heist was a clever twist. I had personally expected the Doctor to become the Architect and travel back in time to organise the heist after participating it, not doing it all beforehand. It was a welcome subversion of my expectations.

However, if there was one part of the ‘Doctor is the Architect’ reveal that I didn’t like, it was the whole “I hate the Architect” subplot that popped up a couple of times. It just felt tacked on and very underdeveloped – everyone says it, but only when the plot requires them to; the subject is dropped completely when it isn’t needed. As such, when the Doctor uses it to figure out that he’s behind the whole thing, it does feel like a touch too convenient. Also convenient was the fact that the episode’s villain, Ms Delphox (Keeley Hawes) didn’t get the monster of the week, the Teller, to kill the Doctor and Clara when it caught them, and again once they’d been apprehended. Given that there was a scene specifically showing how ruthless Delphox is with regards to illegal activity in the bank, it seems odd that she would even capture the Doctor and Clara, let alone ask a couple of guards to dispose of them.

Speaking of the monster, I’m glad to say that it was one of the highlights of the episode, with a great design and clever gimmick. While not particularly scary, it was very effective in what it set out to do, and I’m very glad that it wasn’t given one scene to show its power before being shunted to the side and forgotten, as has happened quite a few times in the recent series. The fact that it tied in with the episode’s resolution was a bonus too.

Rather frustratingly, there’s nothing much more to say about this episode. It was enjoyable and engaging, with great performances from the cast, and best of all, a good monster. A solid addition to the Doctor Who ranks, if a bit forgettable.

8/10