Day 80: A Battle of Wits

Doctor Who cliffhangers are important. They act as hooks, to make it more likely for the audience to tune in for the next episode, and can be done through a variety of ways, but it mainly boils down to having one of the characters in mortal peril, or a plot development that changes the course of the entire series. It's the latter case that this week's cliffhanger falls into, as we discover that the Monk not only is a time traveller, but also has a TARDIS, and it can be assumed that he is a fellow member of the Doctor's little mentioned race. As has been said, this changes the course of the entire series, acting a wonderful hook to keep people interested. Because we've already known that the Monk must have been a time traveller, but to see that he is a fellow member of the Doctor's race shows that we are discovering about the Doctor's people for the very first time in the series. We know that the Doctor has left them, but the circumstances through which he left are cloudy, and all we've really heard about his home planet is a vague description given by Susan in The Sensorites. So to see hints of this hidden past, and hints that there may be more to the Doctor, than him just being a wanderer through time and space, it intrigues the audience, and makes us wonder more about the time before the junkyard on Totter's Lane. Perhaps we will meet more members of his race, and perhaps we will discover more about his past. Either way, it's a hell of a cliffhanger, as for the first time, we learn that the Doctor is not alone, changing the course of the series forever, and opening the doors wide for more adventures like this in the future.