1 Up & 5 Downs From Doctor Who Series 12 - Orphan 55
1. The Episode's Final Message Falls Flat
The entirety of Orphan 55 revolves around our time. The 20th into 21st century. Climate change is a hot (pun intended) topic in modern society, and Ed Hime's script all plays up on what happens when we're busy arguing over the washing up whilst the house is on fire. The planet 'Orphan 55' turns out to be a future Earth, after everything went south because climate change kicked mother nature's arse.
This scenario with Tranquility Spa and the Dregs was but one timeline of what could happen if we don't step up right now and fix our pollution problems. This was all delivered in a monologue that went straight through Graham, Yaz, and Ryan, and directly toward the viewer at home. It felt horrifically jarring. As much as the message itself was a good thing to say on a platform with such a huge audience, being placed alongside literally everything else present in the episode made this almost moving message seem even less effective.