"It Takes You Away" is the ninth and penultimate episode of the eleventh series of the British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television programme ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. It was written by

Ed Hime Ed Hime is a British screenwriter and playwright, best known for his work with the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Career Hime has written several plays, such as ''Small Hours'' (at Hampstead Theatre), as well ''London Fall ...

and directed by Jamie Childs, and was first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

on 2 December 2018. Set in Norway in 2018, the episode involves the alien time traveller the

Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. She is portrayed by English actress Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, sta ...

(

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017). She came to prominence ...

) and her companions

Graham O'Brien Graham O'Brien is a fictional character created by Chris Chibnall and portrayed by Bradley Walsh in the long-running British sci-fi television series ''Doctor Who''. A retired bus driver from Essex who is in remission from cancer, the character ...

(

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), as ...

Ryan Sinclair Ryan Sinclair is a fictional character created by Chris Chibnall and portrayed by Tosin Cole in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Introduced in the first episode of Series 11, Ryan was a companion of Jod ...

(

Tosin Cole Tosin Cole (born 23 July 1992) is an American-born British actor. He is known for various roles in British television series and films. He began his on-screen career starring in '' The Cut'' and '' EastEnders: E20'', later securing a regular ro ...

), and

Yasmin Khan Yasmin Khan is a historian of British India and Associate Professor of History at Kellogg College, Oxford. Education and career Born in 1977 to Pakistani and Anglo-Irish parents in Kingston-upon-Thames, Khan completed her BA in history at S ...

(

Mandip Gill Mandip Kaur Gill (born 5 January 1988) is an English actress. Her first television role came in 2012 when she was cast as Phoebe McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. After departing the series in 2015, Gill went on to have guest ro ...

) investigating the disappearance of a widower called Erik (Christian Rubeck) with the assistance of his daughter, Hanne (Ellie Wallwork). The episode was watched by 6.42 million viewers and received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

The

and her companions arrive in present-day Norway, materialising near a cabin. They meet its sole occupant, a blind teen named Hanne who moved to the cabin with her father Erik following the death of her mother Trine. Her father has since disappeared, with Hanne unable to search for him because she keeps hearing a creature outside the cabin every day. Upstairs, the group discover a bedroom mirror with no reflection, revealed to be a portal. While the Doctor,

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

and Yasmin enter it,

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

remains behind with Hanne. Upon finding speakers around the house aimed at keeping her inside, Ryan's discovery prompts Hanne to knock him out and enter the portal. The Doctor and the others find themselves in the Antizone, a buffer-space between universes to prevent catastrophic damage. They briefly encounter Ribbons, a deceptive alien who guides them through the zone only to become prey for flesh-eating moths when attempting to take the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The others evade them by entering another portal, finding themselves within a reflected parallel universe, whereupon they encounter Erik talking with Trine, despite her being dead. At the same time, Graham finds himself encountering his own dead wife, Grace. The Doctor deduces that they are encountering the Solitract, a

sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...

entity whose incompatibility with the universe led to its exile, becoming a universe seeking companionship. Hanne arrives and immediately recognizes the Solitract version of Trine as an impostor before being ejected back to the Antizone. The Doctor realizes that the Solitract is collapsing in on itself due to the group's presence. She then manages to get everyone out while convincing the Solitract to keep her instead of Erik by offering it her vast experience. The Solitract accepts the offer and ejects Erik, bringing the Doctor to a room within a white space. Despite her enthusiasm at the prospect of speaking to a sentient universe, as the Solitract assumes the form of a talking frog with Grace's voice, the Doctor explains she cannot stay as they are unable to co-exist. The Solitract releases her at her request, allowing her to make her way back through the Antizone before the portals collapse. After the adventure, Erik decides to return to Oslo with Hanne, while Ryan bonds with Graham and calls him "Grandad" for the first time.

Continuity

During the episode, Yasmin makes a suggestion to the Doctor to " reverse the polarity". This is a reference to a recurring phrase used by the

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord fro ...

during his stories in the original series.

Broadcast and reception

Ratings

"It Takes You Away" was watched by 5.07 million viewers overnight, a share of 25.1% of the total United Kingdom TV audience, making it the fifth-highest overnight viewership for the night and the 27th-highest overnight viewership for the week on overnights across all UK channels. The episode received an official total of 6.42 million viewers across all UK channels, making it the 22nd most watched programme of the week, and it had an

Audience Appreciation Index The Audience Appreciation Index (AI) is an indicator measured from 0 to 100 of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by the B ...

score of 80.

Critical response

The episode holds a 93% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, and an average score of 7.50/10 based on 27 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Elevated by Bradley Walsh's comedically empathetic performance, 'It Takes You Away' overcomes most of its tonal incongruities to offer a compelling meditation on grief and guilt."

References

External links

* * * {{Thirteenth Doctor stories, selected=Television 2018 British television episodes Television episodes about disability Doctor Who stories set on Earth Television episodes set in Norway Television episodes about death Television episodes about parallel universes Thirteenth Doctor episodes