C+Q - Orphan 55 (2020)
Whenever anyone shows concern over Doctor Who's episode count getting cut, the response is always 'But it's fine! Episodes are longer now!' And yet here we have a standard 45-minute episode. Mmmm. Interesting...
What I really wanted from Orphan 55 was something as amazing and weird as It Takes You Away, so I could safely file Ed Hime away in my brain under 'Good Exciting Doctor Who Writers'. In the absence of every writer from the RTD and Moffat eras, having just one name I can cling to would really help me relax and not worry about the quality of literally every single episode. Ultimately, I don't like this nearly as much as I like It Takes You Away. But it's fine. It got the job done: a low-stakes breather after a big eventful two-parter.
First things first: this is the funniest Doctor Who has been in ages. The whole slapstick routine with the hopper virus, ending with Ryan sitting in the corner sucking his thumb, then turning to the left to see someone else sitting sucking their thumb in another corner is gold. "If I had crayons and half a can of spam I could build YOU from scratch!" is also gold. As is basically everything Graham says or does. Graham's the best, and his chemistry with Ryan, both here and in Spyfall, is just delightful. I love how these four are growing together. That's really my main takeaway from Orphan 55: this TARDIS crew are really damn good. Their interactions are way more natural than in Series 11 (not that they were ever particularly stilted) and they're just fun to watch every week. The standout here is the Doctor herself. Whittaker's incarnation really needed Spyfall, or something like it, to give her some big emotional problem to be working away on. She feels a shade darker and more conflicted while still being her usual hopeful self. It's like the range of what her character is capable of has increased. She's in a mood at the beginning and is a lot more direct and commanding with supporting characters than she usually is. It's a subtle shift, but it's detectable. Series 12 is doing a fine job so far of pushing the main four to new places, deepening both the characters and the actors' performances.
Following on from Spyfall, a big epic Earth-based adventure, I wish Orphan 55 was a bit more alien. The twist that we're actually on an alternate timeline version of Earth is kinda disappointing. There's just so much Earth coming up this series, I could've done with something truly alien. Instead of taking the Ravalox twist from The Trial of a Time Lord, I wish they'd taken the pink ocean and green sky with visible planets in it instead. Hyph3n is great, but only one quirky alien? At an alien spa? Where are the big prosthetic heads? This era feels too tame, too afraid to be really out there. But whatever, that's the story I want it to be, not the story it actually is. Alternate Earth is the concept, and they did it justice. On the subject of prosthetic heads, the Dregs look wonderful. They're really creepy when only seen in extreme close-up but totally hold up in full-body wide shots. Properly great monster design beautifully realised. 10 outta 10.
The global warming message is obvious, but there's a far more subtle secondary theme going on with "Be better than what made you". The supporting cast is kinda way too big, but it does allow for some nice personal stories that back up this theme, like the green-haired mechanic and his way more competent kid. It's a nice secondary thing that brings the episode together nicely. Although, speaking of the supporting cast, the whole thing with Benni kinda makes no sense. Why do the Dregs keep him alive? He wants someone to kill him, so has he been mutated into a Dreg or is he in pain? If he's been mutated into a Dreg, how is he still able to talk? If he's in pain, how is he still able to talk? On first viewing I thought the Dregs were using Benni's voice, either as part of their evil plan like Angel Bob in Flesh and Stone or as an automatic part of their powerset like the bear from Annihilation, both of which would've been more interesting.
The biggest problem I have with this episode is just how many different people and locations there are. Keeping track of what's going on is a real challenge sometimes. The moment at the end when Bella's mother came back to save her didn't land for me at all. When she popped up my reaction was "Oh, they have someone else with them I forgot about" followed by "Wait who's she?" for a few seconds before I finally got it. I mentioned that this episode is only 45 minutes long instead of however long they're supposed to be to make up for the reduced episode count, and this really did need more time. Just a few more moments in each location to let the whole thing breathe.
Orphan 55 is fine. It started off really exceptionally well with some nice banter between the main cast, but slowly got more and more bogged down with supporting characters who only existed to die. The result is an episode I found just okay. Next week looks good though.