Praxeus

"It's smart, it's relentless, and it knows you're onto it."

Writers: Pete McTighe & Chris Chibnall
Format: TV
Broadcast: 2nd February 2020
Series: 12.06

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

What connects a missing astronaut, birds behaving strangely in Peru, and a US naval officer who washes up on a Madagascan beach? The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham split up to investigate mysterious events across 21st century planet Earth. As the mystery deepens, and lives are put at risk, the TARDIS team face a deadly race against time to save humanity.

Verdict

Praxeus was a decent episode of Doctor Who but I think it was comfortably the worst Thirteenth Doctor episode yet which was a bit of a shame. Following on from the end of Fugitive of the Judoon, I really was expecting a bit more with the prospect of a threat that spanned three continents and seemed to be on a global scale, but it never really felt that way. Splitting the TARDIS team into three and placing them in different locations across the planet was a really good concept, but it just seemed to come to an end far too quickly. Ryan was in Peru and investigating the mystery surrounding the birds that were swarming and acting weirdly which was a little boring if I'm honest. There needed to be some background regarding them to have more of an impact and even when they swarmed on the beach to cause death, the directing was a bit off for me which is something I never usually notice. Now, I'll try and focus on some of the positives and the one that stands out for me immediately was Jodie Whittaker's performance as the Thirteenth Doctor. I thought she was outstanding and was definitely a shining light. She tried to make the episode great instead of just good, but sadly it just didn't happen. My personal timing is quite interesting because I think highlight a global threat and the impending global warming effects was actually better captured in my recent reading of Snowglobe 7. I can appreciate the use of the praxeus infection homing in on plastic, but that's already the playground of the Autons in Doctor Who and I think it would have been much more fun to have the Nestene Consciousness taking advantage of humanity's self destruction. We've already had a global warming episode this series with Orphan 55 and whilst I appreciate that it's an important issue, it came very soon after the issue was already addressed which made themes a little repetitive. Despite the ongoing issues, I was struggling to get emotionally invested in some aspects of the story. I liked the idea of Adam Lang and his crash landing on return from the International Space Station, but I thought the revelation that Jake was actually his husband seemed force and just unnecessary. Yaz and Graham were humorous in meeting him as he was trying to bash down a door and they had the skeleton key. That was a lot of fun. Gabriela was a decent character and I enjoyed her interaction with both Yaz and Ryan, but I couldn't believe how okay she was after watching her vlog-partner literally disintegrate in front of her. The speed with which the praxeus infection took over and obliterated its victim was incredible and the look on the Doctor's face when Suki succumbed to that fate spoke volumes. That's where the power lay in the story for me and where I found a lot of enjoyment. Her actually being an alien was a little left field, but the Doctor's reaction to finding out that her species had brought praxeus to Earth and were using it as a Petri dish was sublime. She was having none of it. The Thirteenth Doctor does humour and seriousness better than most of her predecessors which says a lot. The ending was pacy and exciting with the launch and Jake staying behind to pilot the ship after the automatic failed was commendable, but I kind of wish he wasn't saved. It would have made things more raw and real. Overall, good in parts but it only just sneaks the rating I gave.

Rating: 7/10