So, with last week’s terrible disapointment out of the way we can finally move on to some good Doctor Who and boy does this episode deliver. Now it is a single-part filler episode about Nikola Tesla so don’t expect it to be astounding. But this quality of filler episode has not been seen since... Flatline, I guess. It’s nicely paced, the cast of characters is well-utilized, the monsters are well designed and intimidating and it’s just all around a fun time. The opening was also one of the greater openings in a while with Tesla and his assistant hiding from a strange man with a strange gun and the Doctor suddenly just bursting on the scene. Up until now, I’ve enjoyed Whittaker but never really quite saw her as the Doctor but that opening and how she handles the rest of the episode made her the Doctor for me. I really enjoy her quirky amicability that really covers this cruel alien beneath. When she first began her run as the Doctor a lot of people were saying that she was the most human of the Doctors but I don’t think that’s quite the case, I think she acts the most human, but especially seeing her deal with the Skithra this week, you can see a cold, unforgiving alien beneath.
Speaking of the Skithra, they are fantastic. It’s rare that you see a new-Who created monster that becomes a recurring threat, but I would definitely be game to see more of them. They’re not quite as scary as the Weeping Angels or the Silence (which are really the only new-Who monsters that appear in multiple stories) but the design is fantastic, their characterization is fantastic and the episode leaves a door open for their return. The only real complaint with them is that I don’t understand why the queen (Anjli Mohindra) had to be bipedal, but the bionic scorpion look of the actual species is fantastic and while I don’t quite understand what the zombie ones are, they look pretty awesome as well. Plus, the whole concept of scavengers that scavenge because they think they’re too great to build anything themselves is pretty clever and connects well enough to the morals of Edison (Robert Glenister) in the episode.
Speaking of Edison, in his rivalry with Tesla (Goran Višnjić), he is presented as the one in the wrong, but never in a one-sided-Doctor-gives-a-long-monologue-deprecating-him kinda way that might have happened had this episode occurred in season 11. (I realize I’ve attacked season 11 a lot in these reviews, and I want to make clear that I didn’t hate any of those episodes but they did tend to get overly consumed in yelling a timely political message, not that political messaging should not be a part of Doctor Who, but it’s more often handled better than it was in season 11). Edison gets some good counter-arguments in on Tesla and the episode ends more in a compromise than a victory over Edison. He’s portrayed as not a great person, but he also is visible upset when he sees all of his workers killed (more so than the Doctor, more proof that she’s the most alien Doctor yet) and his only real punishment for being a bit of an a-hole is that the aliens want Tesla and not him.
Višnjić is also fantastic. It’s really nice to know that after the abysmal ensemble of last week that Doctor Who can still write compelling side characters in forty-five minutes. Višnjić portrays Tesla as if he doesn’t quite operate on the same wave-length as the rest of Earth. He acts like a man who believes intensely in his ideas, but is ridiculed by the rest of the world so that his only option is to retreat further into his theories and concepts. He also really fits into the plot, something that a lot of other historical characters that have popped up in previous Doctor Who episodes can’t say. I don’t really get why the Skithra still want Tesla after meeting the Doctor, but them wanting him in the first place makes sense and it’s his belief that he’s contacted Mars (which actually happened) that starts the episode and it’s his invention that wins the day. Plus it also gives us a sky-beam which is always fun.
By the way, let’s talk about the ending. The Chibnall era has been in large part plagued by it’s anti-climactic way of dealing with it’s villains (see Spyfall or Orphan 55 or almost any episode of season 11), and it’s really nice to see a classic good guys come up with a plan that arises from the information given in the episode, bad guys throw a wrench in the plan and good guys win with another bit of information that appeared earlier in the episode conclusion. And although the farewell to Tesla is a bit on the nose, it’s pretty traditional Doctor Who on-the-noseness so I can forgive it.
All in all, while this was not a great episode, it also felt like a massive assurance that Doctor Who can still deliver fun stories and what I put in this review so far isn’t even all of it. I like the extended time in the Tardis and that it was actually part of the plot rather than a convenient mode of transportation. I liked that the Skithra were obviously related to the Racnoss, but that it never had to outright state it. I liked that Yas actually felt like part of the story, and they weren’t just finding something for her to do. So yeah, this episode was good. Let’s see where season 12 goes next.
P.S. It did really bug me though that the Doctor kept calling the Silurians aliens, because they’re not.
Personal Rating: 9/10
Enjoyment: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Depth: ⭐️⭐️ ☆ ☆ ☆
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
Comedy: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆ ☆
Tension: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
Acting: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
Directing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☆
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