"Somebody needs to have a big rethink about the signage in this building."
I don't know why, but I had a really hard time understanding the dialogue this episode. It's these Northern accents. I need to readjust my brain or something.
Like, I have no idea what the team was doing at the beginning of the episode. They were looking for something, but I never quite caught what. The Doctor said something about junk planets all looking the same, but that was about the extent of it before they found the sonic mine. Not that the starting scene is terribly important. Most times, that first scene is just filler before the adventure starts, though it is an opportunity to have some fun conversations (i.e.: the space conversation between Clara and Twelve from "Sleep No More"). But anyway, that's just my problem and a re-watch with subtitles or closed captioning will clear up any issues.
Until then, I'm left with similar feelings that I had with last week's episode. Not terrible, but not great. This was one of Doctor Who's patented "okay but it won't be cracking the top twenty of any best of lists" episodes. Containing the action to a ship with no means of escape should have made it tense, but I didn't really feel it. The Pting was too damn cute to be much of a scary threat. Just look at its chubby cheeks! I guess the point of the episode is right there in the title. It's a conundrum, not a blood bath. The episode is more about being smart than watching these characters get picked off one by one.
Speaking of the characters, you kind of get to know them, but it's the bare minimum. Mabil is new on the job and unsure of herself. Eve and Durkas aren't the best brother and sister to each other. Yoss isn't sure about having this baby. Ronan is an android. Seriously, that's all we learn about Ronan. Everyone does eventually step up in their personal storylines, but it's mostly to serve the story. I would have been interested to see Mabil more involved with the problem solving, but all she ends up doing is delivering a baby. If Ryan and Graham had been left on their own to figure it out, that would have been more entertaining.
There were also some odd story beats. When the Doctor is running around the ship trying to find a way out, she just leaves her Companions behind at one point and shows no concern that they aren't with her. The Companions also make no attempt to track down the Doctor or figure out where they are. Then we get an extended conversation between Ryan and Yaz about his background. Asking Ryan about how his mom died seemed really out of place, especially in the middle of a crisis. And then, there's the cherry on top, where the Doctor spends like five minutes explaining anti-matter. I mean, yay for accurate science, but all we needed to know was that the Pting shouldn't reach the anti-matter core. This was part of my worry when they expanded the episode run time to 50 minutes. Sometimes there's not enough plot to fill the time. Though, the Doctor's pure joy while talking about space travel was pretty great.
When you get down to it, the episode had an interesting premise, but it doesn't quite live up to its full potential.
Random: It was funny watching Graham and Ryan trying to help Yoss give birth to his baby. The looks on their faces at certain points were the best. I laughed when Graham said he's seen every episode of Call the Midwife, but he always looks away when there's a squeamish bit. At the same time, the baby side plot was clearly just a way to give the boys something to do while the Doctor is trying to save the day. This looked like a fairly cheap episode, in that there's only one short scene planet side and minimal special effects and the setting is all one location. Those stun guns looked so awkward to carry. I'm intrigued that they keep separating the Doctor from the TARDIS. I get that it's for obvious reasons in this episode - if the Doctor had the TARDIS, she could get everyone to safety super easy - but it does force her to be part of the crisis. This isn't a lark. The crew's problem is the team's problem, too. I wonder if next week the teleport doesn't go as planned and that's how they end up in the past, but probably not. I don't see how a teleport could malfunction like that. Can Chibnall not write every episode this season? We're halfway through and he's written or co-written everything so far. At some point, Ryan will fist bump Graham, right? It's not far to leave him hanging.
Next week seems to delve more into Yaz's family history. As fine as it is to learn more about Ryan's family, Yaz needs some more time devoted to her.
I read that we're not getting a Christmas special this year, that it'll be a New Year's special instead. I'm not picky so as long as we get one more episode.
Like, I have no idea what the team was doing at the beginning of the episode. They were looking for something, but I never quite caught what. The Doctor said something about junk planets all looking the same, but that was about the extent of it before they found the sonic mine. Not that the starting scene is terribly important. Most times, that first scene is just filler before the adventure starts, though it is an opportunity to have some fun conversations (i.e.: the space conversation between Clara and Twelve from "Sleep No More"). But anyway, that's just my problem and a re-watch with subtitles or closed captioning will clear up any issues.
Until then, I'm left with similar feelings that I had with last week's episode. Not terrible, but not great. This was one of Doctor Who's patented "okay but it won't be cracking the top twenty of any best of lists" episodes. Containing the action to a ship with no means of escape should have made it tense, but I didn't really feel it. The Pting was too damn cute to be much of a scary threat. Just look at its chubby cheeks! I guess the point of the episode is right there in the title. It's a conundrum, not a blood bath. The episode is more about being smart than watching these characters get picked off one by one.
Speaking of the characters, you kind of get to know them, but it's the bare minimum. Mabil is new on the job and unsure of herself. Eve and Durkas aren't the best brother and sister to each other. Yoss isn't sure about having this baby. Ronan is an android. Seriously, that's all we learn about Ronan. Everyone does eventually step up in their personal storylines, but it's mostly to serve the story. I would have been interested to see Mabil more involved with the problem solving, but all she ends up doing is delivering a baby. If Ryan and Graham had been left on their own to figure it out, that would have been more entertaining.
There were also some odd story beats. When the Doctor is running around the ship trying to find a way out, she just leaves her Companions behind at one point and shows no concern that they aren't with her. The Companions also make no attempt to track down the Doctor or figure out where they are. Then we get an extended conversation between Ryan and Yaz about his background. Asking Ryan about how his mom died seemed really out of place, especially in the middle of a crisis. And then, there's the cherry on top, where the Doctor spends like five minutes explaining anti-matter. I mean, yay for accurate science, but all we needed to know was that the Pting shouldn't reach the anti-matter core. This was part of my worry when they expanded the episode run time to 50 minutes. Sometimes there's not enough plot to fill the time. Though, the Doctor's pure joy while talking about space travel was pretty great.
When you get down to it, the episode had an interesting premise, but it doesn't quite live up to its full potential.
Random: It was funny watching Graham and Ryan trying to help Yoss give birth to his baby. The looks on their faces at certain points were the best. I laughed when Graham said he's seen every episode of Call the Midwife, but he always looks away when there's a squeamish bit. At the same time, the baby side plot was clearly just a way to give the boys something to do while the Doctor is trying to save the day. This looked like a fairly cheap episode, in that there's only one short scene planet side and minimal special effects and the setting is all one location. Those stun guns looked so awkward to carry. I'm intrigued that they keep separating the Doctor from the TARDIS. I get that it's for obvious reasons in this episode - if the Doctor had the TARDIS, she could get everyone to safety super easy - but it does force her to be part of the crisis. This isn't a lark. The crew's problem is the team's problem, too. I wonder if next week the teleport doesn't go as planned and that's how they end up in the past, but probably not. I don't see how a teleport could malfunction like that. Can Chibnall not write every episode this season? We're halfway through and he's written or co-written everything so far. At some point, Ryan will fist bump Graham, right? It's not far to leave him hanging.
Next week seems to delve more into Yaz's family history. As fine as it is to learn more about Ryan's family, Yaz needs some more time devoted to her.
I read that we're not getting a Christmas special this year, that it'll be a New Year's special instead. I'm not picky so as long as we get one more episode.