At the time of writing, this episode has around forty people voting it as 10/10 and roughly a similar number voting it 1/10 and almost nothing in between and I'm going to be honest, this makes me really angry.
It's a great episode. A nine and a half. I'm giving it a ten because so many people are trying to drag its ratings down because it has a non-white gay actor in the lead. And let's not pretend it's any other reason, because there is no world in which this isn't a stormer of an episode
Set on an alien planet in the middle of a war, the doctor finds himself standing on a land mine as all hell breaks loose around him. How will he save himself, how will he save the people around him, how will he keep his companion safe. That's what we're here to find out over the course of fifty minutes.
It feels like a bottle episode. There aren't many sets. It's all on a soundstage. There aren't many characters. And I'll be honest some of the effects are a bit shonky. But like so many other bottle episodes in Doctor Who, it's extraordinary. Questions of loss, faith, justification for war, exploitation by profiteers, the limits of AI, the ethics of expediency, lost love, found love, the importance of family. It's all here and it's so gripping.
It might not be for the youngest kids. I'd keep this one for maybe 12+c particularly if they're sensitive. It's a proper scary, intimidating, epic one. But for everyone else it's amazing. So far in this season we've had the full range of Who aeathetics - from silly, to operatic, from comedy to darkest wars. This show never stops blowing the bloody doors off what a sci fi show should be and going way way out there in every damn direction. Loved it. Amazing.
