Hello and welcome to another Doctor Who review were after an exciting episode last week, despite the controversy by the plot twist at the end it seems we go into this week's episode believing everything is back to normal.
I know there is a lot of divided opinion on this story, some people like it where as others hated it. Even though I agree with some of the things that are being said on both sides, Praxeus particularly amazing story by any stretch of the imagination. But it is a lot better if you think some Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi episodes.
Having read the synopsis in advance for Praxeus and that isn't something I do very much off is read the synopsis of Doctor Who episodes because I don't really want to know much about the episode before I watch it, I like to go in feeling refreshed. Having read the synopsis in advance for Praxeus it all sounded quite intriguing, almost reminiscent to that of a script by Terry Nation.
Actually watching it, it sets off on a very good pace and the episode did get off to a very good start for me. I appreciated the hold off from seeing the Doctor, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz straight away and quite enjoyed how they came into the story, a bit like in Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror.
To see Jodie Whittaker's doctor running across a beach in desperation was a great way to introduce the Doctor into the episode as we see the Doctor getting straight into the action, which makes a change from the usual thing of they arrive, things start to go wrong and then they start acting on what to do.
There were great elements of mystery to this which I loved, and the travel between locations, we basically go around the world in this story visiting multiple destinations which are all very well linked together and their significance to the plot.
What I liked about this one was the simple fact that there is no main villain, enemy, or monster in this. The TARDIS crew plus a few are working together to help fight an alien infection from destroying the earth, and as the mystery elements begin to unravel throughout the sense of desperation grows as the viewer realises they've only got a limited amount of time, this became apparent towards the end of the episode.
Splitting the companions up is usually a great way to help their characters develop. Yaz gets her moment to shine and actually do some proper investigating of her own into what Praxeus is, to the extent where she believes she found an alien world all on her own only to be let down in the realisation that she has actually found a ship at the bottom of the Indian ocean. The look on her face suggested she was let down and annoyed.
Graham has very little to do in this episode, however, he does have a nice moment where he gives Jake a pep talk on the beech, and it's moments like this that take me back to memories of Donna and Wilf. Bradley Walsh shows with characters like Graham, older people have their place on the TARDIS team too.
I didn't feel anything new or exciting from the Doctor in this. It's not Jodie Whittaker's finest moment.
If there is such a thing as a template for an episode of Doctor Who from the Chris Chibnall era, we're seeing it in full this week. We have varied location shoots, the threat of a worldwide conspiracy, great production values and some excellent character moments - but there's also some really thankless exposition from the Doctor, especially near the end of the episode. Praxeus may span the planet, but the idea at the heart of this week's story isn't quite big enough support the ambitious mystery it's trying to weave, leaving us with an episode that's decent but far from amazing. Which is why I will give it a 7/10.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this review, and I will see you again next time for another Doctor Who review.
