Oxygen

"You realise life can be so brief."

Writer: Jamie Mathieson
Format: TV
Broadcast: 13th May 2017
Series: 10.05

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole

Synopsis

Space Station Chasm Forge is cold and airless, but not empty. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole answer a distress call and find four survivors - plus another three dozen walking dead, a relentless space-suited army seeking to claim more lives. Can the Doctor and his party stay one step ahead of the horde? In a future where oxygen is currency, save your breath - it could make all the difference.

Verdict

Oxygen was another excellent episode that has continued this tenth series of Doctor Who in some style. The standard for the series really has been quite high thus far and when I was reading the preview in DWM and saw that Jamie Mathieson had written the script, I just knew that what I was going to watch would be brilliant. He's a favoured writer of mine ever since his superb Mummy on the Orient Express and his two episodes since then didn't fail. This is another great one to add to the list and it definitely lived up to its preview. I thought setting a story in space was excellent and using the Doctor's position as a lecturer at the university to explain its dangers was a really good inclusion. The Doctor as a lecturer definitely works and I liked the scene in the TARDIS where he goes against Nardole's instructions, that were actually given to him by the Doctor himself, and goes offworld and answers a distress call. It was good to actually get Nardole in a companion role for the first time of the series and I really did like the change in dynamic with his addition to the TARDIS trio. He was actually quite funny, as you'd expect with Matt Lucas, but I also liked how angry he was with the Doctor once they were back on Earth. The idea of a future where oxygen could only be obtained by payment was really quite extraordinary but it's something I won't be surprised to see happen in the distant future. Capitalism in space is such a great concept and Mathieson pulled it off brilliantly. Bill's reaction to the realisation that the TARDIS had flooded the ship with unauthorised oxygen was terrific and I really must say that Pearl Mackie has been outstanding in her first five episodes. The crew's reaction to seeing the Doctor and co was good and I liked how the Doctor utilised the psychic paper to justify that they had answered the distress call. Bill getting a faulty spacesuit was a good plot twist, especially once her helmet was off. The Doctor sacrificed his own and somehow survived but he did so at an extraordinary and unexpected cost. The Doctor was blind! That was something I really did not expect and I must say I thought it was superb. His confidence in how it wouldn't stop him from resolving things was wonderful and his comment about how unbearable he'd be when he solved it is my favourite line of the series so far. Pure brilliance that suited Peter Capaldi's Doctor perfectly. The way he worked out that human life was seen as worthless on the ship was brilliant and the suits had been programmed all along to get rid of the organic components. The Doctor though had linked that to the ship and if they died then the whole ship went with it. The incoming replacements would have no destination and the expense would be heavy. This story was all about greed and money and I thought that was a fantastic theme for an episode set in space. The resolution really was great. The ending of the episode though really shocked me which was great! The Doctor's blindness was not cured as first thought and where that leaves things for the future, I'm not too sure. I'd like to think it's cured before the Twelfth Doctor regenerates but this has set things up in a very intriguing way for the future! Overall, another superb episode from Jamie Mathieson and I really do hope that we see more of this writer once Chris Chibnall takes over the helm.

Rating: 9/10