Well, not technically, but close enough. And “Oxygen” has some fun with the idea of dead bodies stalking slowly towards you spreading a “virus” that makes you one of them. I’m not saying it’s The Walking Dead, but I think someone on staff was watching that.
Unable to keep away from space, the Doctor, Bill, and a scolding Nardole travel to a mining station in the future where company mandated robotic suits supply their wearers oxygen for a price. But a lot of these suits have turned on the crew and its up to the TARDIS team to save the survivors and figure out what’s going on.
One of my favourite Doctor Who writers and indeed one of my favourite writers in general was Douglas Adams (his “City of Death” is still one of the all-time best Doctor Who stories). His brilliant wit, bizarre ideas, and sense of satire made for some very unique episodes. “Oxygen” is nowhere near a Douglas Adams calibre script, but its’ ultimate subject matter does put me in mind of his work.
This is probably the best episode of series ten yet though. It definitely has its problems, but was more interesting, enjoyable, and thoroughly dramatic while also tongue-in-cheek than any of the previous episodes. The zombie suits which I’ll insist on calling them are just campy enough an idea that they feel at home in a Doctor Who episode, and while they never feel like a serious threat (in fact the creepiest bit was probably when the they found the suit with an empty void of a black helmet moving boxes), they still worked well enough for tension. You could feel the dread of all these dead bodies, here there was no coming back from it. Generally the episode’s well written and paced. There are some clever details, like when Bill sees a bunch of zombies not far away, only to learn that they can’t get to her due to her being in a section outside the original design parameters (Nardole compares it to a Sat Nav not knowing a new road). And there are some good filming choices, like the claustrophobic, entrancing shooting of Bill’s exposure to space. It allows you to feel all of her shock and fear. The only downside of this is that Bill being in a daze prevents us from witnessing a cool battle between the humans and zombie suits on the hull, that we only get short glimpses of. And probably the best part was the reveal that no malfunction was behind this situation, it was just all a big business decision. Because the suits’ oxygen levels are paid out in individual breaths, and because there are times when peoples’ breath pace is more rapid than usual, the company deduced that oxygen was being wasted, and the depletion of the suits’ power was a way of saving money until a replacement crew could be sent out. The joke that the powerful corporation values money over human lives is an old one, but one that feels continuously relevant, and here it comes unexpectedly and does so in a dark way (people did die because of this) that makes the commentary work. The Doctor even has a one-liner about it, with an appropriate if corny pun: “like every worker everywhere, we’re fighting the suits”. And the way they get out of it is equally fitting, with the Doctor convincing the zombie suits it’d be more expensive to kill them and let the station be destroyed, something he’s managed to set off. Realizing it’s not a good investment, they relent; the Doctor appealing to capitalistic penny-pinching saves the day.
The characters are done well in this episode too. Not only are a few of the guest performances solid, particularly Mimi Ndiweni and Peter Caulfield, but the characters keep your attention okay as well. The main cast though undergo the most important developments. For most of the episode the Doctor is typically clever and commanding, with his usual I’m-going-to-save-you-so-I’m-in-charge attitude, but the point of real interest is when he pulls a self-sacrifice by giving Bill his helmet when her suit won’t allow her to wear her own. This was completely expected of course, the Doctor has shown a constant willingness to risk his life for his companions. But this is the first time he’s done it for Bill and she’s not someone who will forget that. It’s also one of the few times the Doctor doing this has had consequences. Though obviously he hasn’t died in the aftermath as Bill suspected at first, he has lost his eyesight. Peter Capaldi of course plays this development excellently and it not only puts a new obstacle in the Doctors’ way, but it provides Bill with a present reminder of what he went through for her. Pearl Mackie also does quite a good job, this episode really giving Bill the chance to be the relatable companion. She’s the one in danger most often, with her suit shorting out more frequently (this ending up ironically being her salvation) and her panic is very tangible. Her best scene is when she’s stuck, the zombies are approaching and the Doctor newly formulating a plan, tells her to stay put. He assures her she’ll survive -that she’ll go through a fair degree of torment first but meet him again on the other side of it. She responds by questioning if he’d be telling her this if he knew she was going to die as a means of easing her pain. I’m liking more and more that Bill’s not afraid to call-out the Doctor both on his bullshit and on his word. Unlike some past companions, she doesn’t trust him unconditionally, and she shouldn’t. She’s smart enough to know that in a situation like this, the social contract of kindness and denial often supersedes honesty. It’s a definite quality in the characters’ favour and Mackie does it justice. “Oxygen” is Nardole’s first time since “The Pilot” actually accompanying the Doctor and Bill on a mission and he’s okay. Clearly the comic relief of the trio more than anything, he doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the main story, spending a chunk of the first third trying to goad the Doctor back to the TARDIS. Matt Lucas however is still good and there are signs his character has more of a purpose, particularly surrounding the vault. In matters like this and the general danger of the Doctor’s adventures, he shares an understanding with the Doctor that Bill doesn’t have.
The nature of the company responsible for the action of this episode is satirical, but the episode has a few other good moments of comedy, yet none that overshadow the drama with the characters. The racism joke from Caulfield’s member of Blue Man Group was actually pretty funny in its timing and delivery. That second joke from Nardole was pretty bad though. But he got a laugh from that fluid link thing he stole from the TARDIS, the randomness of him having dated the robot’s voice actress Velma (who’s calm demeanour about killing the people in suits reminded me of the suicide booth from Futurama), and the very idea that the Doctor sent him to Birmingham for chips. The dynamic between the Doctor and Nardole is fun when they’re not entirely serious in their displeasure. The episode opened with a somewhat irreverent reference to the Star Trek monologue, just cause. That opening bit with the two expendable crew members wasn’t a very promising start to the episode, with the sparse dialogue being reserved for her crush on him. Also there was a little plot hole in how the trio were separated from the TARDIS. As soon as the atmosphere began to decompress they, even the Doctor, tried to escape back to it only for them to be separated from it by open space. But when they got in the spacesuits, why didn’t they just make it back to the TARDIS? I suppose you can rack that up to the Doctor wanting to solve another mystery, but in the time they took to discover there were survivors on board, they could have gotten to the TARDIS and left. And I’m not sure rotting corpses inside space suits would look that good, but that’s about the most you could show kids.
So yeah, “Oxygen”, with its character development, interesting B-movie but effective premise, and darkly satirical edge for Doctor Who, is the best episode of series ten thus far. It’s certainly the first of the series I’d say is definitely good. I enjoyed myself watching and was pleasantly surprised where it went. The ending and teasing for the future even furthered my anticipation. After leaving the station having saved Bill (her suit didn’t have the charge capable of killing her that the others did), and dropping the survivors off at their head office to file a complaint, the Doctor returns to campus. There’s a bit where he tells Bill the survivors’ protest will lead to a revolt and major overthrow that changes galactic history, which throws another wrench into the incredibly distorted and constantly shifting timeline of Doctor Who. When Bill’s gone though, Nardole scolds him mercilessly about how they nearly didn’t make it back. It’s maybe the angriest we’ve seen him yet, as he reminds the Doctor how terrible things could happen with regards to the earth and the vault if he’s gone. The Doctor interrupts this diatribe with a revelation. After he lost his sight, he assured Bill that he would be able to regain it once he got back to TARDIS, and subsequently it seemed he did. But while his eyes are no longer clouded, he confesses to Nardole that he’s still blind. This puts the Doctor in a very interesting position and I’m curious how long his blindness will last. Will it shape his character through the remainder of his term a la Daredevil, or will he regain it after a few episodes not having learnt anything, akin to Arya Stark on Game of Thrones? Either way, he’s in a more vulnerable position now. Not only has he lost his sight, but early in the episode a robotic suit destroyed his sonic screwdriver, so he doesn’t even have his signature tool. And in perhaps not the wisest of decisions, he’s keeping his affliction from Bill. This looks like it may lead to some bad comedy in the next episode, but he’s also going to be meeting a Renaissance pope and possibly visiting the library from Doctor Strange. Even more foreboding though: Missy is back, and the Doctor is not going to be able to see her coming.
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