Doctor Who: Shield of the Jötunn

The Doctor arrives in near-future Arizona just as a project to combat climate change starts to go terribly wrong. In some respects, it's a formulaic base-under-siege story, with our heroes trapped in a blizzard as monsters attack and then eventually up the stakes. However, it's very well done and there are some twists on the usual progress of the story, with some characters that initially appear to be villains eventually turning out to be more sympathetic than we expect. In fact, misunderstanding people's motives could be said to be one of the themes of the story.

There are a couple of quibbles. For one, and this may just be me, I can't help but notice that nobody pronounces ‘Jötunn' correctly... There's also the fact that we're told early on that what eventually turns out to be a large part of the solution won't work for what seem like perfectly sound reasons, but that seems to have been conveniently forgotten by the end of the story. Okay, so the Doctor got it wrong, but that could have been more directly acknowledged.

But these are fairly minor issues (especially the first one) and don't really detract from what's a fun story with a decent monster and links to Norse legend. Constance once again proves herself an effective companion, with her background giving her a unique perspective on things; Edginton, in his only writing credit for BF, seems to have quite a good handle on her character, although Miranda Raison's performance may also have a lot to do with it.

There's nothing particularly innovative in the story, but there's nothing too much to dislike about it, either. It's fast-moving, with a plot that (in context) arguably makes more sense than usual, and a good way to spend a couple of hours. A solid, but basic, story that manages to capture some of the core appeal of the show without stretching any boundaries.