The Zygon Isolation

"You should always trust the Doctor's advice."

Writer: Peter Harness
Format: Webcast
Released: 10 May 2020
Series: #DoctorWhoLockdown

Featuring: Osgood

Synopsis

Osgood is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: The Zygon Isolation
Time: May 10, 2020 06:30 PM London

Verdict

The Zygon Isolation was a terrific little lead in to the #TruthOrConsequences watch-along of The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion. I was very disappointed to have missed this viewing as I fully intended on being a part of it, but it just totally slipped my mind on a busy Sunday evening and when I remembered, it was already too late which is a big shame. I haven't watched a Twelfth Doctor story out of broadcast order yet so even though I still remembered this one pretty well, I was looking forward to that dynamic. However, it wasn't to be and I now just have to hope for a future re-watch featuring Peter Capaldi's incarnation of the Doctor. I'm sure it will happen! Anyway, I thought this served as a wonderful little introduction to that watch-along and it was absolutely brilliant in representing the current state of society. I am no stranger to Zoom calls given my job in finance as a research analyst so it's either been video calls on that or audios on Skype. It all looked very familiar which was definitely a bonus for the story. It wasn't long at all which worked and I was hugely impressed with the filming in having both the human and Zygon version of Osgood talking in perfectly flowing conversation. I can't imagine that would have been easy for Ingrid Oliver to have performed and would surely have taken more than a single take, but it was admirable to have her basically talking to herself. That was a lot of fun. I thought the Doctor's involvement from afar was fantastic and I liked that Osgood now knows that the Doctor is female. Having Osgood return in a future episode with the Thirteenth Doctor would be wonderful as I think the chemistry between the pair would be spectacular. The conversation between the two Osgoods was entertaining and I liked that they too were also experiencing lockdown, presumably because of the coronavirus as well. The Doctor getting a message in about how she was listening in on the conversation was great and exactly what you'd expect, especially when she interrupted the claim that she was listening in, to confirm that she wasn't which actually confirmed that she was. Good humour. It was intriguing to have the Osgood in the top video chat to reveal that she was in fact the Zygon version, but of course that actually means very little in the grand scheme of things with all that went on in the Twelfth Doctor's era. I really did love her phone cover being that of the Twelfth Doctor though! I do wonder how that incarnation would approve of his face being used in that way. He does have a soft spot for Osgood though so it may just about pass. The way the story led into watching The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion with the use of BBC iPlayer was terrific and whilst I wasn't too thrilled about The Day of the Doctor recap being included, its use as a way to keep action going and interest for the closing credits was decent. The humour that came with Osgood taking a little too long to confirm whether she had a TV license or not was excellent as well! Overall, I thought this was an impressive little webcast and I am delighted to say I am now all caught up on #DoctorWhoLockdown bonus stories to go along with the watch-alongs! It's been a thrilling ride, and I look forward to #VolcanoDay.

Rating: 8/10