The Zygon Inversion will be remembered for one thing and one thing alone: the speech. Found in the video above, it is perhaps the most powerful moment ever broadcast in the history of Doctor Who. It's a man shouting and begging at two sides of a warring conflict to stop fighting, and seek the peaceful alternative. It's about always recognising that something like a genocidal war is always the worst case scenario and you should avoid it at all costs.
It's a speech that proved to be surprisingly topical - even as the story was being filmed it was generally known that it was going to reflect what was happening with the Islamic State situation, what was not known was that a short while after this story was broadcast, an attack was launched in Paris that captured the world with both solidarity with the Parisian people and fear that this would prove to be a catalyst to instigate another war. And the speech proved to be a weird cultural touchstone, something that people turned to and considered as a rousing voice in the overall fight between sensible diplomacy and hate filled fighting. Even today, a few months after broadcast, particularly considering that certain politicians are making their mark on the world through hateful, vile, warmongering statements, and watching this speech brings up a horrible image of what could happen if any of these people could be put in charge, their fingers hovering over buttons which could destroy the world.
And of course, the other big reason why this speech will be remembered is Peter Capaldi. Because no matter how good Peter Harness and Steven Moffat's writing is, as well as Daniel Nettheim's direction, Peter Capaldi surpasses all of that with the performance of a lifetime. It's such a passionate and powerful performance that I have no qualms about saying that it brought me to tears, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not alone in that regard. So, honestly, sit down and watch this speech. It's pretty much perfect.
