As the opening episode of The Doll Factory begins, viewers are shown Mrs. Salter’s Doll Emporium. Inside, a woman paints a self-portrait before hearing something behind her. When Iris gets distracted, her canvas catches on fire. In the morning, Iris (Esme Creed-Miles) helps create dolls. She talks to Rose (Mirren Mack) about her daughter who is dead. Before long, a man and woman enter the shop. They’re told that parents send them an image of their lost child to recreate upon the face of a doll. While the child’s soul is gone, the doll is a symbol of the earthly vessel she left behind. Iris asks the woman if there is something she finds interesting.

The woman explains she likes to give opportunities to disadvantaged girls. Once they leave, Iris’s boss, Mrs. Salter, tells her speaking up just cost her a day’s wages. Rose tells Iris she shouldn’t have said anything, but Iris hates when they stare. Outside, Iris picks up supplies from Albie. She complains they’re killed with moths so Mrs. Salter will go mad. Albie says his sister was sick and he was up all night. She reminds him to be more careful with the threads next time because he is dealing with a devil and not a woman. Albie notices something on Iris’s hand when she pays him. She insists she is okay and says the money is for his sister. Then, Albie visits Silas Reed (Eanna Hardwicke) and says he has something nice for him today.

Silas takes the corpse. He gives Albie a shilling and offers to let him visit his workshop. Once he goes inside, Silas says the little pups are going to make him an artist. A group of men arrive outside and yell that they’re there for Louis’s bird. They don’t believe Silas is home so they decide to get ale. Albie yells at Moll as he walks along the street. Albie makes it back and learns that his sister has company. She tells someone that they can’t have her cunny unless they give her money. At work, Iris tells Rose she is unable to find the daguerreotype for Rosanne Vickers. Rose notices her hand. She tells her she deserves it for creeping around. They hear Mrs. Salter mumbling nearby and wonder if she needs laudanum. Iris gives Salter the bottle before finding the daguerreotype.

Iris admits she sometimes forgets they’re real children before Rose tends to the burn on her hand. When they go outside to get apples, Iris questions whether they should see the model of the Great Exhibition. A woman overhears and tells them it is quite something. Rose tells Iris they shouldn’t talk to prostitutes. She makes Iris ask for blackberries. Iris gets away from Rose before going to see the Great Exhibition. Silas arrives and seems mesmerized by the display. He ends up locking eyes with Iris. Moments later, Iris catches Albie stealing. Silas is surprised he needs money after everything he gave him. Silas introduces himself to Iris before Albie says he finds Silas dead things. Silas believes his collection will be famous one day. After Iris mentions the Great Exhibition, Silas reveals he is there to submit his collection to it.

Silas has a vision of a woman when Iris eats a blackberry. Iris tells him that her last name is Whittle and that she paints the faces on the dolls at Mrs. Salter’s. Silas questions whether she is there with someone. Iris excuses herself and leaves. Iris catches up with Rose who accuses her of running away from her. Rose reminds her how hard it is for her in places like this. Iris picks up the apples she dropped and rushes after her. Silas goes to the pub later. Bluebell approaches her arty boys. She claims Louis Frost (George Webster) abandoned her even though he said he wanted to paint her and do more things to do. Louis says he is in need of a queen. Bluebell calls Silas a freak before asking what he is looking at. The others begin calling him the cadaver.

Louis wants to talk to him about his turtledove since it went moldy. His house is full of flies causing his model to storm out. Silas is asked what he is going to do about it. They say Silas has given them a good excuse to go hunting. They are going to commence the search tonight. Louis works with his accomplices to try to figure out who he should use for Ophelia. Silas is asked for his opinion. He tells them about a girl he knew in childhood who had the most remarkable red hair. Silas explains that he saw a redhead today and she was very striking. He describes Iris to Louis and his friends. Silas explains she works in Salter’s doll shop and is very respectable. It appears that Louis writes down the information he just received. Albie’s sister tells another woman to stay clear of the artists because they’re in one of their moods.

Iris finds Salter buying supplies from salesmen. One of the men begins flirting with Iris who sees a couple having sex. Mrs. Salter tells the girls to get back to work. Rose tells Iris she should at least pretend she didn’t enjoy that. Later that night, Iris works on her painting. She gets naked and plays with herself. Rose catches her and tells her she is lucky it wasn’t Mrs. Salter. Iris complains Rose is suffocating her. She says being sick doesn’t give her the right to be so cruel to her. Rose says she was the beautiful one first. She knows what it’s like and it is not an excuse to behave like a sl*t. Iris mentions Charles before she is slapped. She runs out and locks Rose in. Iris lets Rose out in the morning.

A man approaches Silas to say he is looking for a delicacy for a lady. Silas offers him a fan crafted from the issue of a whale’s lung. The man asks about the mice that are wearing clothes, but Silas says they’re not for sale. When Silas is alone, he looks at trinkets in a box. While Iris works, she ends up breaking something because Louis is staring at her from outside. Rose claims she didn’t see him. Mrs. Salter scolds Iris. Silas works before going outside to have a letter written to Miss Whittle. Albie asks him about writing to Iris. Meanwhile, Iris agrees to deliver a package for Mrs. Salter. Louis spots her outside and approaches her. Iris ends up sitting down with Louis and his sister, Clarissa (Nell Hudson). Iris learns about Louis and how he is a painter.

Louis eventually says he wants Iris to be his model. He wants Iris to be his queen and he’ll pay her a shilling an hour. The sister offers to find rooms for Iris and her sister. Iris says her sister caught smallpox at 16 so she is afraid of everything now. Rose would disown her if she left the shop and Mrs. Salter wouldn’t have her back. Louis says Clarissa can chaperone a visit to her studio. Later, Clarissa tells Louis that they’ll have to move her before she comes. It’ll have to be tonight. Clarissa tells him not to lose this one because people will start to talk. She’ll have everything arranged. Louis catches up with Iris. Once she leaves, Louis yells that he looks forward to their next meeting. Silas approaches Iris to ask about the letter he sent.

He gives her something he made from his collection. Silas warns her to be wary of the artist and his friends. He believes it is his fault that Louis approached her because he told him about her beauty. Silas asks her to come tour his shop tomorrow. Iris admits she is interested in seeing it before leaving. As Louis returns home, Clarissa lets him in and a woman screams from inside.

 

The Doll Factory Review

The opening episode of The Doll Factory was good in some areas, but a bit frustrating in others. The way the episode was structured and edited early on made it feel like I was missing something along the way. This may have been intentional with the idea that the viewer already knows something about the novel. It became a bit more obvious and straightforward toward the end of the episode though.

It also didn’t help that Iris and Rose looked so much alike so it was difficult to tell who was who during those super-dark scenes. The performances were mostly good. The series is obviously trying to be mysterious and creepy, but I didn’t really feel that in the first episode. In fact, I didn’t feel much of anything for the story or the characters.

It may just take a little more time for that to happen though. Even though this is based on a novel, it isn’t all that original. Truthfully, this was neither great nor horrible but it was bland. It still has time to improve though. The opening episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Doll Factory can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent work at this link.

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