Praxeus

"Whatever caused her death is still attacking her body."

Writers: Pete McTighe & Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 2 February 2020

Series: 12.06

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

What connects a missing astronaut in the Indian Ocean, birds behaving strangely in Peru and a US naval officer who washes up on a Madagascan beach? Team TARDIS investigate.

Verdict

Praxeus was a decent little episode to continue the twelfth series of Doctor Who, but this is definitely my least favourite so far on my rewatch mission. I thought it actually started off pretty well and the global scale of events was actually really good. It gave credence to the threat which I thought was certainly a valid one. Praxeus itself looked impressive and the speed at which it worked in the final moments was quite incredible! The imagery of one's body simply disintegrating into nothingness was beyond shocking. I was a huge fan of that. I thought it was good to split the fam up and have Ryan in Peru with the mysterious birds, Yaz and Graham in Hong Kong with the alien signal and the Doctor in Madagascar with the submarine. The choice of settings for these was something I liked because there haven't exactly been many Doctor Who stories set in Peru! The same goes for the other locations. I like exploring more of the planet rather than just a standard London-based outing. Or in this series Sheffield. Some of the characters in this episode were strong with Gabriela probably my favourite, although I still can't believe that she wasn't more effected by the death of her vlog partner Jamila. Surely if they had a travel vlog and went around the world together then they would be incredibly close, especially considering how long it takes to get famous or recognised. But considering what happened to Jamila, she was far too happy by the end of the episode and just throughout it in general. That was a big negative for me. Zach and Aramu were good with the Doctor on the beach and once again I thought Jodie Whittaker was magnificent as the Thirteenth Doctor. She really does shine in the role and I also love her purple/berry t-shirt! Jake and Adam's relationship was good and I liked the idea of the Doctor being a romantic. It was unexpected that the pair were actually married which was a nice little twist. I thought the use of plastic and pollution in the episode was good, even if it is obvious that it is similar to Orphan 55 in the message it is promoting. The prospect of the Autons being behind Praxeus was excellent and I think the Nestene Consciousness using plastic pollution to its gain would be outstanding! However, what we got instead was a little too winded and farfetched for my liking. The birds being controlled by the plastic within them was a little disappointing in my eyes and I wasn't a massive fan of the micro plastic infiltration. It required a lengthy explanation from the Doctor which showed that it wasn't simple and that's never good from the off. I understand the message and its importance, and the Doctor's reaction to working things out was a lot of fun, but I do think we could have got more answers regarding the arrival of the infection. Suki was a very good character and the moment Yaz reveals she isn't all she makes out to be was superb. Her using the Doctor to get the cure was great and I loved the contrast and sudden shift in the Doctor's emotion when she realised the truth. She still wanted to help though which was nice and her reaction when Suki had used the cure on herself without testing was terrific. Of course, Adam was the guinea pig for the vaccine and it was successful which was a really nice moment. Jake taking command of the ship to release the vaccine in the atmosphere was very good, although I think it would have been better if he didn't make it out alive. Still, it was a nice moment in the TARDIS for the Doctor to bring he and Adam back together. Overall, a fast and exciting start but maybe a little too much going on. Still, a more than decent episode!

Rating: 7/10