Doctor Who (TV Series) Kill the Moon (2014) User Reviews

One of the better episodes from this series

[Extraneus92 · 7/10 · 5 October 2014]

I think that this episode has been largely polarising for many viewers of Doctor Who; both loyal fans from the classics, to the new fans of Eccleston, Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi. There's a certain depth to this episode 'Kill The Moon', and while I don't usually review singular episodes of television shows, I had to make an exception this time.

I largely believe that the reaction to this episode has come to characterise the reaction to the way that Moffat has taken Doctor Who in recent years. Some have loved it, while others have hated it. The brilliantness is that there's a cleverness underneath the fun and action driven moments that deals with morality, existential freedom, and arguably pro life/pro choice debates. These are wonderful moments and I think that there's credit due to the episode writer - Peter Harness who wrote some very strong dialogue. Indeed, this dialogue was delivered with absolute brilliance by the actors of the show. To me, Capaldi is going from strength to strength in his role as The Doctor. He's demonstrating an incredible ability to deliver not only shallow, superficial lines, but also in the deliverance of the emotionally charged speeches. He has brought us a Doctor that we have come to question and delivered a freshly needed take on the Time Lord.

However, while there was much strength to this episode (which I think is arguably one of the stronger episodes of series 8) there's a lot of poor choice. There's certainly been a plug towards the tumblr fan- base recently with references to the site (in this episode), and the creation of a few characters deliberately to serve towards those ends. While there's little wrong with this, I feel like it may set a dangerous precedent that the show could begin to deviate away from the silent majority and towards the loud few. This is a process that I think may already be under way. Furthermore, the lens is beginning to feel like it's deteriorating away from The Doctor and towards Clara, and while I feel like it was justified in this episode, it seems to be a trend which is becoming too common. Furthermore, this episode started very strongly in creating a great setting, alone on a moon; a wonderful introduction of which many story lines could have be derived. Though, it makes me wonder why they went down the direction that they did. This could have been a much stronger episode.

Ultimately, this entire episode is just another stand alone in a show that feels like it's missing any kind of strength in a bigger arc. 'Heaven' is featured so infrequently the show is left kind of going towards no real end, it just fades from one stand alone to another. There doesn't seem to be much progress. Maybe a bigger arc is what is needed to step out from the grogginess which has began to hurt the show and alienate viewers since series 7.

Has she finally gone?

[largeduck · 6/10 · 4 October 2014]

First of the score 6 out of 10 because the first half of this episode was good and in some places genuinely scary and the Doctor was actually allowed to be the Doctor for once rather than a side show to the main story line. However, as is the pattern for this modern Dr Who this careful build up is thrown away in another display of indulgent feminist claptrap.

The current set of writers seem to be very unhappy wring Scifi and seem to aspire to be lead writers for Eastenders or Casualty where they can indulge their own Utopian fantasies of strong woman and the men are rather not needed and can go overboard with a sea of emotions and feelings. You will notice in this story all the men were weak and pathetic and got eaten before we even learnt their names, whilst all the women did that heroic thing of running down corridors whilst the background did fancy explosions. Also got they got back stories so we would feel for them whilst they made their angst decisions.

Anyway I am getting sidetracked slightly and if I carry on people will thing I am completely anti women, I am not, I like women, I like them to have good roles in film and TV . Science fiction in particular is a good opportunity for gender and race to note matter and people are just that people. Good SciFi involves you in the story so much you do not care who plays what part. Unfortunately this is not good SciFi and thus the irritating Oswald thing keeps getting in the way. hence the title of this Ill informed rant .. has she finally gone? I flipping hope so, then no more soup story and get back to the SciFi, But i fear she will be back, the Doctor will humbly say sorry and that he is lonely and .. no sorry can not even bare to think of it.

I am really getting side tracked today, so back to this episode, in summary good scary start back to the Doctor who of old, rubbish rushed ending and many many errors and unanswered questions such as 'How do you recreate a new moon out of nothing in less than a minute?'

Swearing in the TARDIS, it's a bloody brilliant episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 19 September 2015]

Having upset pupil Courtney Woods, the Doctor takes her and Clara on a trip to the Moon. They land on board ship that lands on the surface, the crew demand answers and are trying to discover why the Moon has gained mass and has lost its gravity. They discover a previous moonbase had been wiped out, and worse...giant cobwebs.

The last time we had an outing with the kids we had Nightmare in Silver and that didn't work. Courtney is actually good fun, she's a good character.

I am a little terrified of spiders, not the small ones but the biggies, and this is possibly the first episode of nu Who that had me looking away, so it gets the thumbs up for the scare factor.

In terms of effects it works hugely well, it feels like a film. The orange suits looks so effective against the greyness of the moon's surface. Not sure why when I first watched it I wasn't hugely impressed, but after a re-watch it gets a big thumbs up (must have been in a moody.) It gets so interesting when the Doctor refuses to make the decision himself, instead he hands control to Clara, it's so interesting. I stand by my opinion of the ending, the solution was a little hit and miss, but the fall out between Clara and the Doctor is a pretty monumental moment, brilliant. Huge accolades for Jenna's performance, must have been a first for a companion to give the Doctor both barrels. 8/10

A Massive Disappointment...

[jack-carter2000 · 4 October 2014]

Kill the Moon is the 7th episode of Season 8 of Doctor Who, written by Peter Harness.

Overall, I have to say, that for me, Season 8 has been extremely disappointing (except for Listen, which was awesome!). This episode is included, unfortunately...

Pros + Clara's Outburst + Earth and 'Baby' CGI + The nods to 'Let's Kill Hitler' and 'The Impossible Planet'

Cons - One of the most unlikable protagonists in recent memory in Lundvik. - The reappearance of F***ING Courtney Woods!!! - The monsters are a complete let down and not threatening. - Peter Capaldi is an arsehole in this episode. - Those astronaut guys that die (didn't even know their names) - The rest of the CGI

I was really looking forward to this episode, as it looked like a mash up of Alien and Doctor Who, but instead we got a less then average bit of crappy sci-fi with lots of disappointment.

When they leave the beach, stop watching and make up your own ending

[Meven_Stoffat · 7/10 · 5 October 2014]

"Spiders on the Moon". I kid you not! Remember that movie "Apollo 18" that came out 3 years ago? As scared as I am of spiders, I will admit it that based on the promo materials that out the spiders front and center we were going to get another Apollo 18. But here's the thing: Doctor Who can get away with almost anything. I mean, look at series 2: one episode you got an adventure set on another planet and the next a post-absurdist black romantic comedy. And seeing as this series has been pretty solid so far you'd think the trend of consistency will be continued. Well, it seems for the most part it has

The thing about this episode is that the first 35 minutes of it are absolutely brilliant. It came damn near close to being a 9/10 but it was ruined by an utterly lame climax and a scene where Clara has a huge bitchy hissy fit at The Doctor which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's a shame because just look at the first 35 minute alone. Scary and atmospheric stuff on the same level of episodes such as The Web of Fear or even Blink. The spiders are shown in minimal glimpses and it works to a great effect. As usual, Capaldi is absolutely brilliant and in full command here. For those first 35 minutes we are under the impression that we have the first really engaging episode since last season's "The Snowman"

However things take a bit of a turn for the worse at the end when Clara comes up with a brilliant plan to get everybody to turn their lights off if they want the creature killed and then to top it all off, she saves it at the last minute. And then of course, that rant. Why is she so mad at The Doctor?? The Doctor told her that he isn't going to be there all the time to make the tough decisions and that someday she will need to stand up and make them for herself. Even the female astronaut with her tells her that thousands of people will die because she can't make an unfair decision. I don't normally side with the whole "DW needs better female characters" thing but this rant really left a black mark on her character and here I'm beginning to side with them

Though I won't be too negative, for the most part I did enjoy this episode and given that it did succeed in creating a real claustrophobic atmosphere in the first two acts, it's the first time the show has done that in a while. Scary episodes are the ones I like most and so given next week is also a scary episode the series could be finding a new consistent ground. Though with Moffat anything can happen.

We're Off To Button Moon With Clara And Doctor Spoon . Button Moon

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 4 October 2014]

The Doctor takes Clara and Courtney to the Moon in 2049 and find a Earth mission carrying hundreds of nuclear bombs . As it turns out the potential menace of the nuclear bombs is nothing compared to the very real horrors menacing the expedition and ultimately humanity itself

This really is one of the most schizophrenic pieces of television ever produced . For 25 minutes the audience are treated to some of the most shockingly brilliant pieces of DOCTOR WHO ever . right up there with The Web Of Fear and The Seeds Of Doom . This middle aged , jaded and oh so bitter, cynical viewer is not ashamed to say that he genuinely jumped out of his seat at a couple of scenes . What drama . What horror . What suspense . What a great television show DOCTOR WHO is to have terrified children of all ages over the generations . Whoever said this is a show for children can shut up for ever

Oh hold on a minute what's happening here ? Out go the giant spider bacteria thingies and in comes plot turns that are more fitting in a juvenile children's fantasy . The Moon is really an egg ! Hmmm well I don't believe in life on other planets but DOCTOR WHO is my all time favourite show so I suppose I'll have to suspend some disbelief but the script makes that very difficult indeed and throws a very large spanner in the works by having a public vote which doesn't really make sense . Everyone has to turn their lights out ? Hmmm so who gets to turn out the street lights and the ones in office blocks etc etc ? Surely not everyone would have been watching the broadcast anyway etc etc Cue also lots of teeth gnashing and moral debating which is manipulative and not nearly as half as sophisticated as it thinks it is

Maybe I shouldn't too scathing because when this episode was good it bordered on brilliant and I was more than ready to give the episode ten out of ten but suddenly things lost their momentum and I felt like the cast had suddenly walked in to something broadcast on the CBBC channel . I certainly prefer the show with Capaldi more than I did with Smith but can't remember the last time an episode grabbed me from the opening scene and compelled me totally till the end credits . This episode came close but not close enough

An emotionally and thematically beautiful episode; one of the show's greatest accomplishments

[ryanjmorris · 10/10 · 4 October 2014]

Kill the Moon is arguably the most polarizing episode of Doctor Who ever aired. Whilst the episode was, for the most part, critically acclaimed, many fans slate the episode consistently. It's difficult to understand quite why that is; this episode starts out fairly conventionally. It's bog standard Doctor Who. The Doctor and Clara land on the moon, something isn't right, they go to investigate and they find some alien spiders. But then Kill the Moon shifts; it veers away from conventional Doctor Who by taking one hell of a narrative left turn seemingly out of nowhere. And what follows represents 25 of the greatest, most powerful, interesting and heartbreaking minutes this show has ever aired.

Whilst this episode's opening half is good television in its own right (it's nicely written, with some stunning cinematography and a handful of genuinely scary moments), Kill the Moon's greatest accomplishments lie in its second half. Once the Doctor abandons Clara on the moon to make that difficult decision herself, the episode belongs to her. Many fans criticise Season 8 for focusing too much on Clara, but I fail to see why this is an issue. Doctor Who should not be about an alien man with an insignificant woman by his side, for the show's formula to work the two leads need to be equals, or at least close to equals. This season did a fantastic job of bringing Clara up to that level. And Jenna Coleman delivered, she performs excellently across all twelve episodes, but Kill the Moon is her absolute peak. She is breathtakingly good here.

As Clara and Courtney look out at Earth while everyone switches off their lights in order to signal their desire for the creature to be killed, the impending sense of doom just heightens and heightens. But the moment Clara steps forward and pushes the button to cancel the detonation, she evolves as a character. She, ultimately, made the right decision, but as she tells the Doctor in her heartbreaking rebuttal of him later on, it was not his place to leave her there without his support. The Doctor's abandoning of Clara is sudden, but it would not work without it; and it's not as if it hasn't been hinted at before (Remember the 10th Doctor wanting to leave Pompeii for everyone to die? Only this time, he went through with it).

Kill the Moon will have its criticizers, that's a given. It is the most divisive episode Doctor Who has ever aired. People tend to criticise the episode's scientific accuracy, but when has Doctor Who ever been concerned with scientific accuracy? Remember when the Daleks moved entire planets to a new location? Moffat and Davies are very different writers, and very very different showrunners. Each have their strengths and their weaknesses. It is time now for people to accept that Moffat will not confirm to Davies style of showrunning; the whole basis of Doctor Who is to shift and shake itself up every once in a while. People may try and tell you that Moffat's era is universally hated, but it isn't. The show is viewed globally now under his authorship, and he has brought the show to critical acclaim in it's current ninth year. This show is just as good now as its always been, and Kill the Moon is one of the most conceptually audacious episodes the show has tried yet.

More like this, please.

Killed my interest

[dkiliane · 7/10 · 18 April 2019]

The first time I watched "Kill the Moon" I absolutely hated it. Worst episode of season eight, I thought. And to be honest, although it's not as horrible as I originally felt, it still is the weakest of the season.

The Doctor takes Clara and her student (yeah, the one who threw up in the last episode - - didn't exactly enter with points for her) to the moon in the near future (I forget the exact year but I'm pretty sure they mention it). They encounter a few astronauts who quickly of course start to get picked off one by one in true cliche horror fashion. It starts off as a fairly decent escape the monster kind of episode, in this case, moon spiders(?) - - yeah,I said decent, not good or amazing. Although it has its issues (mostly stupid side characters being stupid and setting themselves up to be killed), the creatures were neat and provided some good scares. I was surprised to learn that some insects can actually be killed via cleaner spray (so why they felt the need to say they were basically giant germs was rather stupid and unnecessary). But the production value was pretty good, at least.

Unfortunately it gets worse from there. The moon is an egg (sigh, see told you) of a planetoid sized moth alien and it's affecting the tides etc as the mass of the larvae grows. Then we enter the debate of whether to kill said larvae or not cause it might be a threat to Earth. At which point the Doctor exits the episode and tells Clara its her decision! What! How is that her decision?! It literally makes no sense at all.

Now, to be fair there is some quite good dialogue at this point, and it almost seems like a Roe vs Wade debate, which doesn't make a lot of sense given the context. But some interesting ideologies are raised and Clara's anger towards the Doctor is fully justified. The actress who plays the student actually does a good job and the whole cast is superbly directed to ante up the tension at this point.

But the conclusion is both anti climatic (forgivable) and baffling (not so forgivable). Basically we throw all science out the window and the moon reappears after the giant space moth hatches (no, they don't kill it) for no reason than to provide a happy ending. So while the majority of the episode is serviceable, after being dragged through the last act (one of the few I've ever fallen asleep during) the audience definitely deserves better. 7/10

Kill The Moon... and annoying commentators

[ElathanGER · 10/10 · 5 October 2014]

*** May contain spoilers ***

Well, last night I watched new brand new episode. I thought that LISTEN cannot be kicked from the throne of being the best episode so far. I thought. But now...?

Clara took her role again and decides like a human and on behalf of the humans. She's the conscience, not only the impossible girl. And when she apparently breaks with the doctor, she really can't. Jenna Coleman is from the performing view the best companion ever. She's adequate to Capaldi, which makes them to a TEAM, not only Doctor/Companion.

Sure, a comment is something very personal. It has nothing to do with calculations, which are right or wrong. And from that very personal point of view I must say: this was one of the best episodes ever, and far the best of the 8th series. Series 8 is going to be a highlight of the entire show.

Some very personal words at the end: When I read in some comments: "I haven't seen the episode... I will not.... I read something about it... BBC, sack Moffat now" I feel like Courtney when she was in the Tardis at the end of the last episode. Guys, stop commenting on Doctor Who and switch to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - that's a more suitable level of entertainment for you.

Fly me to the Moon

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 5 October 2014]

Following on from last week where The Doctor took troublesome schoolgirl Courtney Woods on a trip in the Tardis that left her vomiting she is left depressed because he told her she wasn't special. Clara is annoyed with him and wants him to tell her she is in fact special; rather than do this he offers to make her the first woman on the Moon. They don't actually end up on the moon though; they end up on a space shuttle that is about to crash land on the Moon! Once there The Doctor notes that something is wrong; the gravity is far too high. It turns out that this is why the mission is going there; not only is the Moon heavier it is starting to come apart threatening the Earth. If that wasn't enough there are large creatures there that are clearly dangerous… and if that wasn't enough it turns out that our understanding of the nature of the Moon is wrong leaving them with a moral dilemma; a dilemma that The Doctor believes must be resolved by humanity alone, without his input.

This was an improvement over the previous instalment; it featured good scary monsters and an interesting dilemma for Clara to worry about. It also leads us to question just how long Clara and The Doctor will travel together as she is clearly unimpressed with his actions. While the story was decent it felt a bit rushed at times; as though they were trying to cram two stories into one. I couldn't really see why Clara was haranguing The Doctor for saying Courtney wasn't special… does she think all of her pupils should be considered special; if so she hasn't heard the adage 'if everybody is special then nobody is'… besides I thought being called 'special' was considered an insult! Overall though I thought this was an enjoyable enough episode; mostly due to the scary spider-like monsters.

"Kill the Moon" was one of the worst Doctor Who episodes ever.

[good-manners42 · 1/10 · 5 October 2014]

This was one of the worst Doctor Who episodes ever.

Lots of money spent on special effects, but what a waste. My problems with this episode included: 1. Ridiculous basis of the episode to start with (Moon = Egg) 2. Heavy pro-life under-current rammed down our throats. 3. The Doctor behaving totally out of character. 4. The Courtney character starts annoying and gets worse. 5. There are huge plot inconsistencies (yeah right... an unknown person Clara addressing the entire world on a global broadcast, resulting in everyone in the world "Voting") 6. Unclear breaks in continuity (the gravity yo-yo business and when the shuttle slides down into the crevasse). 7. The Doctor's misplaced positive spin on mankind going out into space on a positive footing (i.e. not killing the egg. But mankind DID vote to kill it. Clara overrode the vote. So how can that be a positive for mankind. 8. Huge physics inconsistencies like "where did the extra mass come from as the embryo grew", and "where did the extra mass come from to create a new moon even after the new life form has flown off". 9. An secondary heroine (the astronaut) that I tried to sympathize with but just couldn't.

Simply a REALLY bad episode. It took me three weeks to almost recover from the first episode of the season, now I am back to square one, not really wanting to watch the next one. That's a big statement for me after not missing an episode for six or seven years.

A Stuuning Spectacle i could watch a million times!

[masonbingley2000 · 9/10 · 5 October 2014]

Even though this episode has received a mixed reception, i adored it. I was looking forward to this episode from the start and i'd really hyped it up to the Max and i loved it. The Darker Doctor doesn't seem as liked by fans and may show why the ratings are dropping but i don't see the problem with him.

Kill the Moon tells us that the moon is in fact an egg which seemed a little odd but may become quite a plausible explanation if you have an imaginative mind. The CGI and character development in this episode was great and the Spider/Bacteria seemed amazingly strange, in the end i kind of felt sorry for the spiders!? The Creature laying another moon bigger than it seemed strange but i did love this episode to the max. It gave a mix of emotions and created a stunning environment for me. It was a chilling episode but with a warm embrace.

This one almost stopped me watching the show

[dysamoria · 2/10 · 31 May 2018]

Doctor Who was my childhood best TV series. I grew up with it and kept it close to my heart after it was canceled in 1989. I was cautiously optimistic about the new series (if fearful), but it eventually won me over.

That noted, this story almost stopped me watching it any further. That would be an extreme position for me, since I've forgiven numerous cases of bad writing and anti-science in the series as a whole, but "Kill the Moon" went beyond any prior foolishness/writer ignorance the series has ever demonstrated. Had I not been watching from an already purchased DVD set, I don't know how long it would've taken me to come back for more.

If you don't know what I'm referencing, just read the other low rating reviews. Suspension of disbelief for techno-fantasy is one thing. Expecting your audience to be utterly uneducated is another entirely, and is a prime way to anger them.

I'm happy that Moffet is moving on from his show-runner position. He has some really neat and fun ideas, but someone else needs to wrangle him. Keep him as a contributor. That's fine.

Put Up or Shut Up

[boblipton · 9/10 · 4 October 2014]

Courtney the disruptive influence at Coal Hill School is feeling bad because the Doctor thinks she isn't special. So they and Clara go to the Moon in 2049.... where they encounter an expedition about to blow up the Moon with nuclear bombs because it's put on a lot of weight. Then they run into spiders... even though that turns out not to be the real problem. The problem is a moral one that the Doctor insists that humans must make for themselves.

Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is a common fear. Doctor Who has encountered them only twice before: once in the original series, in the serial "Planet of Spiders"; and the Eleventh Doctor ran into some cobwebs in "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship".

Besides the more normal fears of spiders, being on an airless planet and atomic bombs, this episode offers some interesting set dressing to make things even creepier. The moon is grey, black and white and when everyone is on the surface, the only signs of color are the bright red spacesuits that the Doctor, Clara and Courtney wear -- and the box holding the controls for the nuclear bombs. It's one of the creepiest set designs I've ever seen.

Those, however, are well-executed details. In this season, we've seen the Doctor struggling to remake his morality and listening to Clara talk about stoicism; and he leaves the decision in her hands. Will she make the right decision? Or refuse to make it at all?

"Kill the Moon" is not just a well-written, scary thriller for Doctor Who. It has something worthwhile to say about moral courage.

Scientifically Flawed but Emotionally Excellent

[NineTenElevenTwelve · 9/10 · 6 October 2014]

This episode has gained quite a polarizing reaction from the look of things. While I can understand why others don't like it, I personally found it to be an excellent episode.

This was a very serious episode with lots of emotion. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman really got to shine and their final scene together in this episode actually got me a bit choked up due to the raw emotions that the two characters were showing. The small supporting cast was quite good. Ellis George portrays a realistically likable teenager in Courtney Woods and Hermione Norris gives a good performance as Lundvik.

The monsters in this episode had a great design and the curveballs this episode threw (more specifically the ones involving the Moon and the Doctor) were wonderfully unpredictable. Some of the twists and plot points do require quite a suspension of disbelief; but, in a show about an alien who travels around time and space in an old English phone box and changes his face and personality every so often, it wasn't that difficult for me to buy some of the stretches in scientific fact.

Overall, I found "Kill the Moon" to be a splendid episode with fantastic performances, lots of emotion, interesting twists, great cinematography, and excellent sound design. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how Series 8 continues from here!

Eggstroidinary...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 28 December 2021]

Ziggy made it from Mars to the Moon. Brought some spiders to spin a cocoon. He told a few jokes. Must have had a few smokes. It was quite an outrageous lampoon.

Conveniently empty

[jvcremonini · 10 July 2020]

I'm stunned at how pointless all the moral dilemma inside this episode turned out to be. Ignoring the astronaut's arguments was bad, telling the Earth to switch the lights was worse. Having the Doctor as deus ex machina king is predictable and boring, truly one of his worse moments.

An amazing episode

[J-c-lewis123 · 10/10 · 14 March 2015]

Wow there are such a lot of moaners about doctor who. Yes the science is bad but please remember this is a show about aliens and time travel. This story was exciting thought provoking and a great character piece. Yes the doctor is out of character but that's the point it's a turning point for 12. I personally love how he's not a big grinning coward like 10 was who was to afraid to kill anyone even if it meant innocent people suffered. 12 is real and does what needs to be done. As for him leaving he has done it before. Think of hungry earth cold blood he made Amy make the decision about the silurians it's exactly the same thing here.

The other negative things said about Clara. Well the companions have always been the main character since 1963 so why all of a sudden is it a problem. The doctor worked everything out himself in this episode yes Clara made the choice but it couldn't have been done without the doctor. He was always watching as as soon as Clara stopped the bomb he landed showing he was watching what was happening. He was showing how much he cared about humanity by letting them choose their fate.

this is an amazing episode one or the best of an amazing season

Absurd from start to finish

[trevor-mcinsley · 1/10 · 6 October 2014]

Whilst this episode has some interesting ideas like giant bacteria and the moon being an egg they simply have no place in Doctor Who and would be better suited to a sci-fi B movie. For this story to make any sense at all you basically have to ignore every single episode that has come before and likely every one that will follow. As well as basic science of course.

In fact I can't even be bothered to leave a proper review. Instead, like most everyone else on here, I will just list some of the things that were wrong with it in the hope that the writers read it and learn from their terrible mistakes. Given that the core concept of the episode was the public sending messages to a small group of people that seems rather apt.

First of all the giant bacteria. I'm sure science puts a limit on how large a single celled organism can actually be but I'll let that one slide. However them behaving exactly like spiders to the point where they even create webs? Why would they possibly evolve this behaviour if they live off larger species like a parasite? Since the episode didn't show any possible prey for them besides humans they wouldn't be catching anything anyway. Then comes the question of why the kid would possibly spend ten minutes kitting up in a spacesuit and then decide to grab the bottle of disinfectant to take with her onto the surface of the moon. If that scene had taken place on the Tardis it would have at least made sense. Hell if they had just established her to be an obsessive compulsive germaphobe it could have been lazily written off. Then they find the body of their crewmate in direct sunlight despite establishing that the creatures avoid it which did make sense at the time given that UV light kills bacteria. Later they are also crawling all over the surface in the light, so much for that idea then.

Then the creature itself. The premise of it having been inside the moon the entire time is completely ludicrous as such a thing would have been noticed. If the story had taken place around an alien planet yet to discover spaceflight then the idea would have been acceptable. When it hatches the surface of the moon just turns to harmless rubble instantly for whatever contrived reason the writers failed to think up. Anyone who has seen any kind of fish/insect/lizard/bird hatch knows full well that most of the shell remains intact. Trying to apply logic to the situation is fairly pointless though as it is also never made remotely clear where the extra mass the moon creature is acquiring is coming from. Had they said the creature was born with a wormhole in its stomach that was sucking in matter from elsewhere they at least could have tried to justify the idea. I sort of got bored of watching but it seemed to suggest it was the bacteria multiplying that caused the mass gain which still solves nothing as they could only have fed on the creature itself. At the end it simply flies off with what appear to be dragon wings. At least the star whale seemed to move via some as yet unknown propulsion method and not by simply flapping its wings in a vacuum...

The most ludicrous part of all however is naturally the end where the beast lays a 'new moon' egg which looks completely different to the moon and so screws with all past episodes that show it in the future. The earlier 'hologram' line was clearly devised to cover this but simply fails frankly. Worse of all though is the ridiculous idea of a newly hatched creature laying an egg larger than itself. The episode simply cuts to the new moon being in the sky and no one seems to question the sheer impossibility of this scenario.

The Waters of Mars storyline is also rendered seriously tenable after this one. As someone else pointed out this would mean that the human race put together a viable Mars colonisation programme in just a decade. It also means that after enduring major catastrophe on Earth they decided to spend fortunes flying to Mars instead of, you know, fixing stuff at home. The crew on the Mars mission are also dumbfounded as to how the Doctor arrived on the planet, which was a logical reaction at the time. Now though we have to assume that the astronaut who survived the mission and returned to Earth didn't bother telling anyone what had happened or how she got home. The only way anything that happened in this episode can possibly make sense is if the end of this series has some kind of major time reset event like that which occurred with the Master, or if it is revealed to all be a simulation or something.

All in all an episode which simply has to be completely ignored in order to continue enjoying the programme. What alarms me however is why this episode was ever put into production in the first place. They must have known at the time that it made absolutely no sense and didn't remotely fit in with other Doctor Who episodes. It concerns me now whether future episodes will ignore this one totally or try to justify the things that happened in it (like showing the new moon around Earth in future stories). Either way they must be really scraping the bottom of the barrel if this is the best writing they could find.

An Instant Classic

[pjgs200 · 10/10 · 29 June 2016]

What an episode! Not only were the first 35 minutes some of the most tense, well acted and directed, intriguing, and scary moments of Doctor Who we've ever had, but they were also audacious and really well written. Clara's outrage at the Doctor is something I have never seen before on Doctor Who- and Jenna Coleman delivers a powerhouse performance in the climax of an already great episode that elevates it to a truly classic status. As for the moon being an egg... it's just another twist in the episode. I also really like how we don't know if Clara's really going to come back or not- that gets me excited for next week's episode and gives the audience a lot to speculate about.

Lots of people are giving Kill the Moon a 1/10 unfairly because they didn't like that the moon was an egg, but they're not giving it any credit for the spectacular first half, and the final scenes in which Clara really becomes a character and which are some of the best of the entire season so far.

One of the Greats

[dfjdsjfadsnnnn · 10/10 · 28 May 2016]

Peter Harness' Doctor Who stories have all been pretty divisive. Kill the Moon and The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion have all been instant classics for me, though.

Kill the Moon was incredible for many reasons. The Moon being an egg, while not great sci fi, should not be what makes or breaks this episode. Let me say that the acting was impeccable from all of the cast. Jenna Coleman is quickly going from the worst companion in series 7 to one of the best ever. The way she stands up to the Doctor at the end was brilliant. It's excellent characterization- he put her in a position that was life threatening and scary, and she hated that. Capaldi/Coleman already have an amazing dynamic, but this brings it to a whole new level.

The CGI and Directing was also great, and the soundtrack was very tense. I loved how horror-oriented this episode was also. The beginning was terrifying.

I was very impressed by this episode. Who cares if the moon's an egg when the acting and directing has never been better? ]

10+/10. One of the best Doctor Who episodes ever made.

One of the worst Dr Who episodes ever

[cook_alexandra · 1/10 · 5 October 2014]

You can't have a good quality sci-fi story with mistakes like this. The Moon turned to be an "iron chicken" screaming and flapping its wings in the vacuum of space! Plus quite a few other ridiculous details. How this is supposed to teach our kids to like science? Moral dilemmas are very important but even they became so repetitive! By the way, our kids already left the audience despite most of us admiring Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor. The parents will be leaving soon too if the series won't improve. And they could improve. I am sure there is plenty of excellent new writers ready to take over and recreate the series which would inspire both young and old. Pose completely new problems. Tell us about Earth history or new discoveries in physics - realistically, please. We really need something fresh and different, not just endless repetition of themes from previous episodes plus deep disregard of modern science.

Kill the Moon

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 9/10 · 16 April 2021]

This was not the first time the moon has been an egg in the TV show, nor was it the last, but it is perhaps the one that sticks in my mind as being the best. I liked almost everything about this episode, however IMDb users appear not, on the whole to agree with me, I can understand that I am perhaps too generous with my scoring, but 6.8 for this episode is way too low.

Dumb Episode

[KatarBlade · 1/10 · 13 June 2021]

Everything about episode sucks. Tone, acting, story. It just annoyed me so much. Definitely one of the worse episodes. Just feels so forced. Also the kid actor. So annoying.

Intense!

[alveen_ph · 10/10 · 18 May 2021]

One of the best episode for season 8. We see Coleman and Capaldi at their very best.