Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

"Changing the world takes time."

Writer: Nina Metivier

Format: TV

Broadcast: 19th January 2020

Series: 12.04

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

1903. On the edge of Niagara Falls, something is wrong at Nikola Tesla's generator plant. Who or what is sabotaging the maverick inventor's work? Has he really received a message from Mars? And where does his great rival Thomas Edison fit into these events? The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham must join forces with one of history's great minds to save both him and planet Earth

Verdict

Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror was a very good episode to continue Series 12! I was a big fan of the historical setting in this story and it was nice for me personally to get to know Nikola Tesla. His name was something that was familiar to me, but I will admit that before reading the episode preview in DWM, I couldn't quite pinpoint where I knew his name from. I am sure it must have come up in a science lesson at school so getting to know all about him here was a real treat. I thought he was a terrific historical figure and it was so good to see how excited the Doctor was at the prospect of meeting the great mind. With Tesla also came his great inventor rival in the form of Thomas Edison. Now, he's a name that pretty much everybody knows and it was nice to see some of their rivalry in action. It worked well knowing that Tesla used to be in the employ of Edison and using the newspapers and protests against his alternating current experiments was very good. The 1903 setting of New York looked wonderful and it was a brilliant move to have the companions looking splendent in their early twentieth century attire. They all seemed to suit it in quite different ways, with Graham particularly seeming to enjoy himself. His knowledge on Tesla was rather the same as mine which was humorous when prompted by Yaz. The use of a Silurian gun in the episode was really great and I was hoping for a second that we were going to get a return of potentially an older Madame Vastra. Alas, it wasn't to be but that was absolutely fine. It was just nice to have some more continuity, something there has definitely been more of during this series. Dorothy was a very good little character as Tesla's assistant and it was nice to learn how much her boss had opened up her eyes. That as a really nice moment. Her relationship with Ryan was very good throughout but I was a little surprised to see him getting quite comfortable with another woman after what he went through in Orphan 55. Yaz's relationship with Tesla was excellent throughout and I liked how she was getting on with things by herself. The Skithra made for a pretty decent enemy, particularly the Queen, but I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of their appearance. Honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of them either. I honestly don't know what's wrong with a pure historical! There is so much in a story containing Tesla and Edison that you don't need alien involvement. Or maybe just the sphere, but not a whole race. I did love that the Skithra wanting Tesla instead of Edison was eating up the latter though. That was a really nice touch. I was a big fan of both inventors getting to go in the TARDIS and the irony of Tesla being the one to grasp the dimensions was terrific. I thought the sets in this one as a whole were magnificent with all of the labs and where Tesla received the message from Mars. It being revealed that he'd actually sent a signal back to the Skithra was an unexpected moment that worked very well. Ryan likening his idea for a wireless global system to WiFi was very good as well. The ending was well done and with pace which was exciting, whilst also being a very serious conversation. Just when it looked like the Skithra Queen had turned things on their head, the Doctor brilliantly tricks her back into being on her ship and subjected to the lightning bolt. Without their Queen, the Skithra fell in typical hive fashion. The moment at the end with the Doctor telling Tesla to never give up was a wonderful little line. Speaking of lines, the little eluding to the Doctor seeing a dead planet was fantastic. Overall, a very solid episode!

Rating: 8/10