The clues we’re all there, at least on this side of the pond. BBC America ran Genesis of the Daleks as part of the run-up to The Magician’s Apprentice, which while were grateful for the all-too-rare showing of a classic series story outside of those rare PBS station who still keep that flame lit, still seemed a bit out of keeping. That is until it was obvious that Mount Moffat, and quite rightly too, loves Genesis (as does the Tour it should be noted… it came in at #10 in our 50 for 50 list.)
Genesis was only the most obvious name-drop story to feature in The Magician’s Apprentice, there were loads more, fortunately this kind of insinuation didn’t seem all that insular, which is to Moffat’s credit. But central to the premise of The Magician’s Apprentice was a very memorable conversation between the Doctor and Davros back in Genesis about absolute power and the potential moral dimensions of that corruption.
Having said all of the above however, and the Tour Brain Trust loved The Magician’s Apprentice, we always must caution that the second half of the story, The Witch’s Familiar, is still to follow, so we’ll withhold some judgment until next week. In fact with a healthy portion of Series 9 given over to two-parters, we’ll be singing this refrain often in the coming weeks.
Caps and images for The Magician’s Apprentice are now online.