The Haunting of Villa Diodati by Maxine Alderton

Art by Soundsmyth
What’s It About: Utopia and The Silver Turk’s Bastardized Child...

A serious contender for one of my straight up favorite Who stories, I was at first perturbed by the continuity issues, but as Villa Diodati slid over me, the more I saw of it, the more I absolutely adored.
Historicals have been the Jodie era’s bread and butter, and I’ve immensely enjoyed them so far, certainly more than any of the futuristic ones. The Jodie era is at it’s best when it does something daring like this, something bordering surreal, or focusing on a certain atmosphere, because holy shit does this one have a mood. Funny how the one before the finale has been the best one for both series 11 and 12, It Takes You Away being so last year, and I absolutely love what this episode does.
Absolutely love it.
Oh, Brilliant: 
I may sometimes feel like a Jodie Whittaker apologist. I don’t always think she’s at the top of her game. And I try to be fair with the scores I’ve given. Looking back, Spyfall certainly doesn’t feel like a nine to me, and although I stand by Orphan 55 being terrible, and Praxeus being inoffensive, I defended Series 11 for two years as good, when it is, in fact, regardless of how I feel towards the show, minus three or four episodes, horseshit. (Not as bad as Series 7 though, I will definitely rip into Series 7 on this Blog) Nonetheless, Series 12 feels like an improvement that I and the show have needed. It is such a breath of fresh air to have this level of performance, this level of episode return to the show. And although I love Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror, it doesn’t compare to this. Nothing has, since The Doctor Falls. At the very least. Jodie Whittaker and Everything relating to this episode are sheer gold.
The Fam: The Weak Point in the episode is the fam, the only weak point. I’m glad that some of them will evidently leave in Revolution of The Daleks, because as amazing as this episode is, and although they feel present in it, constantly, they also still feel like they haven’t done much.
I like Graham and Yaz. Ryan annoys me, but the point is...they are not characterized to the same level that Amy, Donna, Bill, Martha, Rose or any other companions have been since 2005. And that’s an issue.
That...is A Lone Cyberman...: On Paper, Making The Cybermen angry sounds like the literal worst idea. Out of all the ideas, literally the worst. Conceptually, this idea is one of my least favorite the show has ever produced. But. And this is a huge, fucking but:
Ashad is astonishingly good, and one of the best villains in the show’s entire history, fight me.
Ashad is chilling. An example of the worst, to quote Orphan 55 (hold on, I have a point here) an example of “the dregs of humanity.” He was a terrible person first, and a cyberman second. A religious zealot who believed in the Cyberman ideal is a terrifyingly human concept, the design of him takes The Modernity of The Nightmare in Silver Cybermen and the brilliance of those we first saw in The Tenth Planet, and it’s just.... fucking magnificent.
Overall: The Depth this episode shows, I could talk about it for hours. Mary Shelley and the other writers are very well characterized. The entire show invokes an era: and it leaves a shed of mystery at the end for you to wonder about before getting pumped for the finale.
A true 10/10, and I may have to edit some previous reviews to make that point, because this, is goddamn gold.

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