The Eaters of Light

Episode aired Jun 17, 2017
TV-PG
42m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

4.6K

YOUR RATING

Pearl Mackie and Samuel Adewunmi in Doctor Who (2005)

Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

A long time ago, the Roman legion of the ninth vanished into the mists of Scotland. Bill has a theory about what happened, and the Doctor has a time machine. But when they arrive in ancient ... Read allA long time ago, the Roman legion of the ninth vanished into the mists of Scotland. Bill has a theory about what happened, and the Doctor has a time machine. But when they arrive in ancient Aberdeenshire, what they find is a far greater threat than any army. In a cairn, on a hill... Read allA long time ago, the Roman legion of the ninth vanished into the mists of Scotland. Bill has a theory about what happened, and the Doctor has a time machine. But when they arrive in ancient Aberdeenshire, what they find is a far greater threat than any army. In a cairn, on a hillside, is a doorway leading to the end of the world.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

4.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
When Kar says of the Romans "...their work is robbery, slaughter, plunder. They do this work and they call it 'empire'. They make deserts and they call it 'peace'", it is a direct reference to the famous speech made by the (probably fictional) Celtic general Calgacus, from the Roman histories of Tacitus.

Goofs
When setting out to look for the 9th Legion Bill insists that they would have followed the river, however there is no river running south from Scotland to England. In particular there is no river running from Scotland to York which, as the nearest (still standing) Roman outpost and their point of origin, would have been the soldiers destination.

Quotes
The Doctor: Shhh. Does everybody hear that? Do you know what that sound was? That was the sound of my PATIENCE shattering into a billion little pieces!

Soundtracks
Doctor Who Theme
Written by Ron Grainer
Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales

User reviews21

Featured review

7/10

Rona Munro makes a return to the show.

The Doctor, Bill and Nardole arrive in ancient Scotland, with one aim, to answer the question, why The Ninth Roman legion vanished. The Doctor and Nardole fall into the hands of the locals, while Bill is given salvation by the Romans. The warring factions have a common enemy, the eaters of light.

I was so excited to see that Rona Munro had been commissioned to write an episode for the new series, having had the dubious honour of writing the last classic serial, Survival.

The location was fantastic, there's something mystical about ancient Scotland, it really did add to the story, creating lots of atmosphere.

The trailers made it appear to be a big action story, I'd say the action is perhaps more limited, we get lots of dialogue, some of it rather good, some parts were a little sentimental. Moffat enjoyed early success under his tenure with the Romans, so it's nice to see them return, Brian Vernel was particularly good as Lucius.

I enjoyed it, had it not been for the appearance of Missy it would have received a six, but again Gomez manages to take it up a notch, is she to be trusted or not she really has been a 'Masterful' addition to the show. I perhaps had expectations set a little too high, but still pretty good, 7/10