Arachnids in the UK still isn’t my favorite s11 story especially how it resolved but up until that point, I did enjoy it and especially the ending.
Also, Sallie Apprahamian is a very good director and one of my favorites in s11 because she knows how to use location very well and visual depth (Ryan playing with the lights and shadow in the background), and the realistic sibling dynamic between Yaz and her sister.
This is something Jamie Childs isn’t very good at, IMO. He does cinematography well but at the expense of the other characters, they come off as static characters (visually and metaphorically) in the background. They don’t move or express anything or do anything to provide more detail to their characters. Ryan playing with shadows does a lot to establish who he is, as well as Ryan and Graham grinning at Mr. Big.
Apprahamian did a lot of fantastic shots that align very well with the genre Arachnids is in: creature feature with a spooky lonely hotel. The low shots were amazing and remind me of The Shining.
The cons of AUK start piling up when the Doctor and co. come upon the wall of cobwebs and rather than show that they can’t get through the Doctor is forced to say they can’t get through.
And this makes me think and wonder how limited the budget was for series 11, because now that I think about it series 11 is a whole season of mostly bottle episodes. The production cut down on the extras, count the episodes where there are more than five extras and I’ll bet the episode count can fit in one hand. The biggest indulgence in the series 11 production has been splurged on three things: on-location shoots, guest actors, and the CGI effects.
I know Moffat lamented the state of Doctor Who’s budget during his time and he tried to push out episodes with spit, luck, and duct tape. I feel that’s doubly the case with series 11 where episode orders were cut down.
I hope they did get a little more money in for series 12.