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Doctor Who – Season 9, Episode 2 The Witch's Familiar

Play trailer Doctor Who – Season 9, Episode 2 The Witch's Familiar Aired Sep 26, 2015 Sci-Fi Fantasy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 19 Reviews
The Doctor finds himself trapped and companionless in a Dalek city without his sonic screwdriver or his TARDIS.
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Doctor Who — Season 9, Episode 2

Doctor Who — Season 9, Episode 2

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Critics Consensus

"The Witch's Familiar" is proof that Doctor Who is back on target, ending the two-part season opener with a revealing, meaningful, and twist-driven conclusion.

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Critics Reviews

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Jon Cooper Independent (UK) 09/28/2015
It's gratifying to see some of the themes explored in The Witch's Familiar are firmly grounded in Doctor Who's humanist and ultimately optimistic worldview. Go to Full Review
Noam Cohen Observer 09/28/2015
Through all of its twists and turns and set-pieces... the heart of the episode turns out to be a meditation on the nature of friendship and enmity. Go to Full Review
Kelly Connolly Entertainment Weekly 09/28/2015
The Doctor rarely gets so complete a victory; you can't tell a story about time travel without consequences. Go to Full Review
Emmet Asher-Perrin Reactor 01/09/2019
If there's anything that this episode (...) suffers from, it's that there are one too many "gotcha!" double-backs, and not all of them are that smart. Go to Full Review
Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez Tom & Lorenzo 06/19/2018
But as whole, it didn't feel like this episode felt fully resolved - or even that this story needed two full hours to tell. Go to Full Review
Charlie Jane Anders io9.com 05/19/2018
That this storyline works as well as it does is pretty much entirely down to Peter Capaldi, who is in rare form this time around. Go to Full Review
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Episode Info

Synopsis The Doctor finds himself trapped and companionless in a Dalek city without his sonic screwdriver or his TARDIS.
Executive Producer
Steven Moffat
Screenwriter
Richard Curtis, Chris Chibnall, Toby Whithouse, Mark Gatiss, Simon Nye, Steven Moffat
Network
BBC
Rating
TV-PG
Genre
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Drama
Original Language
British English
Release Date
Sep 26, 2015