Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Big Questions After Episode 5

According to the Doctor, the TARDIS team have been busy since Ryan, Yaz and Graham bid farewell to Sheffield. They’ve been to all kinds of worlds, but this is the first pit stop deemed worthy of our attention. From a waste disposal planet (picking up on one of last week’s themes), to the flying ambulance Tsuranga, the design work continues to impress. But was this a story worth 51 minutes of our time?

We learnt that the Doctor has a geekish fondness for the anti-matter drive. To her it is brilliant conceptually and actually. The same cannot be said of this episode, for while the concepts behind it have terrific potential the execution doesn’t do them justice.

The fault is not that of actors, who all put in a good shift. It’s just that there isn’t enough in the script for us to feel much empathy with their characters. The tone of the piece was uneven, there was some truly cringe-inducing dialogue, and there was far too much telling than showing going on, leaving the Pting somewhat underused. The humour was presumably meant to provide some relief from the gravitas of the situation, but it ended up making the whole thing feel rather silly.

That said, the episode did throw up some interesting questions especially when it comes to the Doctor herself.

The break from past iterations of Doctor Who has never seemed as sharp as it did in this one. The Doctor never references adventures, aliens or planets we’ve heard of before, even when the opportunity arises. If the Doctor is famous for anything wouldn’t it have been for fighting against such formidable foes? It almost feels like this is a new universe devoid of the Daleks and the Cybermen, who let’s face it were more than just footnotes before.

We are introduced to a fair number of species and organisations for the first time, from the Keban pilot society to the Gifdan, and the other places visited by the Doctor and her companions don’t appear to have included known haunts such as the Eye of Orion. It’s not that the Doctor is on a quest to only go to previously unexplored realms. She knows about the junk planets, she knows of the Tsuranga, and she knows the Keban and their legendary pilot.

There was, however, one easter egg for long-term fans of the show – a blink and you’d miss it selection of old enemies are displayed in the medic databank as it quickly cycled to the Pting. It covers some of Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat’s most recognisable creations, including the Slitheen, the Weeping Angels and the Silence. More interestingly, it also featured a ‘classic’ Silurian. This one sticks out because other aliens resurrected in the 21st century are depicted with their latest design such as a Cyberman, a Sontaran, and a Zygon. The Daleks, however, are conspicuously absent, old school or new paradigm.