Jamie Mathieson is a writer whose work on Doctor Who can easily be forgotten but he wrote some of the very best episodes of the Peter Capaldi era with Flatline, Oxygen and, of course, Mummy on the Orient Express. He was able to capture a lot of the traditional elements of Doctor Who and blend them with creative science fiction, horror and genre focused storytelling in a way that stood out. His stories seem to play on different genres and absorb the Doctor and companion within that genre and environment in a way that’s truly gripping and imaginative. Let's delve in.
The story involves the Doctor and Clara in a difficult and turbulent place, deciding to part ways with Clara no longer being able to trust the Doctor as they embark on their last adventure. The Doctor takes Clara to a train in space where they are able to relax and enjoy themselves. There seems to be a series of related deaths to uncover with the mythology of a mummy at the centre and several professors at the Doctor’s disposal.
Mummy on the Orient Express takes place in the second half of Series 8 and it feels like the point where the Peter Capaldi era of Doctor Who started to emerge with its own mood and feel. Jamie Mathieson clearly writes with a lot of imagination and artistic intent. In some ways, it took the presence and the power of an original writer for the Capaldi era to find its feet, cementing itself with the kinds of stories that would be told in the rest of the era.
Mummy on the Orient Express has a slow-moving feel and tone which I appreciate. It has a gradual sense of mystery and development as the Doctor gathers the pieces of evidence he needs and slowly puts things together to resolve the mystery. The story evolves very naturally, and Jamie Mathieson allows time for character development, mystery, and scares to take their effect on the story. The moodiness, atmosphere and aesthetic of the story gives it its own vibe and sense of individual identity. Mummy on the Orient Express feels like a very familiar and traditional Doctor Who story. It feels like it has the darkness, maturity and terror of Doctor Who baked into the script and feel of it which I love. It makes the story feel very comforting and familiar as a result. It has the inspiration and feeling of an early Tom Baker Phillip Hinchcliffe story written all over it.
One of my favourite aspects of Doctor Who is its ability to take on so many genres, with the best of the show putting the Doctor in the middle of familiar and comforting tropes and genres with science fiction aspects stapled on top. Jamie Mathieson has distilled the essence of an Agatha Christie murder mystery very successfully. It wears the shoes of Murder on the Orient Express with the setting, feel and murder plot. I haven’t read the book, but I have seen the 1974 film which has a similar tone. I like the upper-class British 1920s-30s aesthetic which you can feel emulated in the set design, direction and whole approach to the episode. However, the story is very much its own thing with the science fiction elements and creative ideas which are a core part of the story.
I enjoy the conflict of the period train feel and murder plot, contrasted with the space setting. The title of Mummy on the Orient Express is a very bonkers one that has Doctor Who written all over it. It feels utterly absurd, but it's part of Doctor Who to mesh different things together that shouldn’t work and make it all thrive effortlessly. The Orient Express train spaceship is pulled off with the right amount of scientific logic and silliness and is made to feel like something you’d love to spend a luxury holiday on. There is a trend in modern Doctor Who of mixing in modern pop songs and pop culture elements into science fiction and historical environments in an attempt to modernise a story. This can either enhance a story or feel contrived and unnecessary, depending on the handling. In this case, I really like the addition of Foxes singing “Don’t Stop Me Now.” The song is skilfully readjusted to fit into the aesthetic of the story. It doesn’t draw attention to itself, but you are still able to recognise the Queen classic.
The Mummy pushes the story the extra mile into the insane territory which is perfectly right for Doctor Who. It gives the episode the essence of danger and terror, giving it the Doctor Who and science fiction flavour to mix well with the Agatha Christie vibe and storyline.
There is a lot of focus across the episode on the Doctor taking all the evidence around him and trying to figure the truth out of it. However, the story flips halfway through and the presence of all the intellectuals and professors brought into one place makes sense. Everyone has been brought together to solve the mystery of what the Foretold itself is. The second half of the episode features confined drama and suspense, a ticking clock, and the Doctor and professors racing to solve the mystery before they are all killed. It’s a subversion of a traditional “whodunnit” as the mystery is in what the Foretold is and what the ultimate objective of the engineered scenario is. Personal stakes heighten the drama and situation. Whilst it does not take the form of a traditional “whodunnit” it still has the mechanics of it in its mystery. You have the setups and payoffs of mystery storytelling; it sticks to the rules which it has established and manages to reward viewers' interest and investment by creating reasons for the questions which have been brought up. With the way the story runs, there are revelations which re-contextualise and realign parts of the mystery and a logic to the structure of the episode. The idea that the pattern of victims for the Foretold isn’t random sets up the trajectory and direction for the rest of the story and for the resolution of the mystery. It's neatly unveiled to the viewer in a satisfying way. The story is aligned to unfold in a certain way which feels original and sci-fi focused whilst evocative of a lot of traditional mystery elements.
The Foretold is the main villain of the story and it’s a rather frightening presence and idea. Egyptian mythology and mummies have been a part of Doctor Who before with the Pyramids of Mars, and this story preys upon a similar sense of scariness. The image of the Mummy lurking towards the victim is rather grotesque and frightening, with the story hinging on the myth of the Foretold in a very clever manner. It uncovers the superstition through Professor Moorhouse and explores how that correlates and aligns with reality. The truth behind the Foretold is given a science fiction baked reality in a way that feels believable. I like the revelation that the Foretold is a soldier being driven and kept alive by ancient tech. It turns them into a sympathetic character which is satisfyingly resolved. The ticking clock of the 66 second myth gives the story rules to play with and a deliberate suspense, which is a very clever idea and adds a dose of horror. It emulates the horror of the Tom Baker era effectively.
The main menace behind the story is Gus, the computer of the Orient Express. This is voiced by John Sessions, who gives the computer a very chirpy personality. Gus’s voice is portrayed in a way that crosses into human and feels very creepy and sadistic. The way the computer is always breathing down the characters' necks and making sure they are working and on track adds a real sense of threat. I like the fact that the Doctor never finds out who was behind Gus and who set the whole thing up. The Doctor operates in a large universe and isn’t always going to find all the answers he wants, and some stones being left unturned adds to the scale and mystery of the universe. The flaw in the story is the rushed resolution. The Doctor helping everyone off the train and getting them to safety feels rushed, and you don’t get time to feel the danger and live the sense of relief of escaping it, which is unfortunate.
In Mummy on the Orient Express, you have Peter Capaldi playing the Twelfth Doctor who is a delight in the role. I love the cynical darkness and mystery which Peter Capaldi brought to the role of the Doctor, which took the character to new heights. There is a captivating charisma to Peter Capaldi’s performance and a sense of delight in trouble and danger. There is a subtle childish immaturity which I really like in this episode. The Twelfth Doctor has a fascination with the stars and a love of trouble but struggles in his human interactions and has difficulty with complex and difficult emotional conversations. This adds a distant and alien coldness to Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, which I really like. There’s a spiky bluntness and callousness to him and a lack of consideration for the feelings of others. I think there’s a lot of relatability in the way he struggles to adjust himself to the emotions and feelings of humans, but it makes him gripping, unpredictable and alien at the same time.
I always love seeing the Doctor as a professor and sophisticated scientist, which is very present in the Twelfth Doctor in this episode, and he blends into the vibe and feel of the story very effectively. Peter Capaldi has great chemistry with Frank Skinner as Perkins and I love the interaction between the two. There is an arrogance and sense of intellectual superiority to the Doctor with the feeling that he is miles ahead of everyone else in the mystery and frustrated by the slow brains of humans. The morality and heroics of the Doctor are dealt with very smartly in this story. The Doctor has a heartlessness to their actions willing to sacrifice others for the greater good and willing to make ruthless decisions. It shows the lying and ethically questionable things of what it takes to be the Doctor and questions the heroism of that in a very interesting way. You see, the goodness in the Doctor in the aims of a greater objective, but there are shades of grey to his complex morality. He is tackled as an alien with inner flaws which I adore.
Jenna Coleman, as Clara Oswald, is going through somewhat of an inner turmoil in this story. After the conflict between her and the Doctor in Kill the Moon, Clara has decided to leave the Doctor. Their relationship in Mummy on the Orient Express is in a very uncomfortable place and Clara has very confused feelings towards the Doctor. She admires him as a hero but struggles to stomach his lack of humanity and what he is willing to do for a greater objective. Clara has a lot of love for the Doctor but is endlessly frustrated by his unpredictable nature, his arrogance and how he is willing to trick and use people to his advantage. She is torn by her trust in him and feels like she can’t rely on him for the dependence of people’s safety and, like her morality and her values are being compromised, which you can understand. Jenna Coleman does a terrific job of presenting this sense of frustration and difficult mix of feelings, which she does not know how to process. However, Clara is clearly someone similar to the Doctor in a lot of ways. She enjoys escapism, adventure and trouble like him and is finding the idea of letting go of adventuring very difficult. The ending as she lies to Danny to go adventuring across time and space is a turning point in her character and pushes Clara into new places with her addiction to time travel.
Mummy on the Orient Express has a strong set of guest characters. The most memorable is Frank Skinner playing Perkins who is the Chief Engineer of the Orient Express. I love the personality and thrill which Frank Skinner brings to the character. There is a moral conflict but an intriguing working relationship between Perkins and the Doctor that I really like. There is also a scepticism to him that feels endearing and over the story, a reliable sense of trust develops between the Doctor and Perkins.
Captain Quell, played by David Bamber, is a very interesting character and a nice addition to the story. There’s a lot of really good conflict between him and the Doctor and a difficulty of authority but an inward sense of pain to Quell as well. The PTSD of his experiences arises naturally in the plot and is a very believable part of his character. Professor Moorhouse, played by Christopher Villiers, acts as a device for exposition, but the intellectual personality disguises this and he is given a likeable sense of intrigue and vulnerability. Maisie is a key character played by Daisy Beaumont. With the grief of her Gran she is going through a difficult process, coming to terms with her own guilt and her grief, and dealing with the complicated feelings of her relationship with an unpleasant family member. The complications of her relationship mirrors Clara’s relationship with the Doctor and through that both Clara and Maisie find a way to understand each other. Maisie is in a very irrational place and Daisy Beamont fills the character with a lot of reality and emotion.
Mummy on the Orient Express is directed by Paul Wilmhurst who previously directed Kill the Moon and would go onto direct Last Christmas. What I really like about Paul Wilmhurst’s visual direction is the gentle movement the story is given. It fits with the 1920s-30s luxury vibe of the story, which is emulated both in the set design and in the focused stillness of the direction. The gentle movement of the opening shot introducing the audience to the main setting of the story has a simplicity and focus. Wilmhurst does a very effective job of using the confined space of the train carriages and corridors to focus in on character interactions. The way the introduction of Perkins is shot has a brilliance to it. The gradual frame movement from the perspective of both Perkins and the Doctor wonderfully shows the scepticism the characters feel towards one another as they both come together and form more of a trust. It’s a simple thing, but the ticking clock during the mummy sequences is a very effective device for suspense, and the dreamy way the Mummy is shot adds a heightened scariness. The visual directing is heavily consistent, which is important in a story like this to sell the environment and the threat.
So, how do I feel about Mummy on the Orient Express? I think it’s a fantastic story and easily the best of Series 8. It captures and emulates the mood, style and structure of an Agatha Christie novel with particular homage towards Murder on the Orient Express. It expertly merges that with a bonkers science fiction setting and an Egyptian Mummy. The story homes in on the creepiness of the concept of the Foretold with a sense of suspense and an unfolding and natural plot. You have wonderful performances from Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, with weight and human consequences given to the lifestyle of the Doctor and moral struggles in the Doctor companion relationship. Jamie Mathieson’s meshing of ingredients creates one of the Twelfth Doctor’s best adventures.
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