Oxygen

The Tardis lands on a remote space station in deep space and right away the Doctor and co realise something is very wrong

"Hey Theo what you doing watching old Doctor Who vids. I thought you were going to review the latest NuWho episode"

Well of course I am and for the second week in a row I'm commentating on an extremely traditional DOCTOR WHO story that feels the need to traumatise the little ones. This time it's written by Jamie Mathieson who I was very impressed with - along with the rest of fandom - with his two scripts from the Capaldi debut season. There's very little in the way of radical storytelling but when the narrative seen here is old school horror film inspired narrative like we had in the Hinchcliffe era this doesn't really matter

"Hey Theo it sounds like you're really enjoying the show again. What's going on ? There's got to be a catch right ?"

Well sadly yes and that is there is a blatant political statement made in a very clumsy manner one of telling without showing . That is capitalism is wrong and feels out of place especially if it's delivered in such a hamfisted way

"Hey Theo I take it you've never seen classic stories like Colony In Space ? "

Of course but in the classic show there is an element of subtext. It was never all that subtle but at least it didn't feel like right on student politics either. The lines also conflates oppressive corporate greed with everyday capitalism when in reality the two concepts are completely different. After all even Lenin and Trotsky brought in capitalism for the individual even though they changed the name of the brand to "New Economic Policy" . I'll take Lenin and Trotsky over the Guardian reading Islington dinner party mobsters any day of the week . Incidentally we will be getting a religious themed tale set in the Vatican next week. Will the production team via the Doctor be making statements involving religion being the worst man made invention that has negated the lives of billions over millennia ? What do you think ?

Anyway despite this small jarring effect Oxygen is an outstanding episode from the Moffat era which leaves me puzzled why we haven't had such a consistent high quality show until now

A critique on zero breath contracts? The 'Alien' series of films have mined this field of an unscrupulous corporate employer. In Oxygen the suits kill you if you become unproductive, just before a new ship carrying your replacement arrives.

Jamie Mathieson has been a reliable writer for Doctor Who and he sure has fun here. The opening lines by the Doctor is borrowed from the opening from Star Trek but without that show's optimism. The Doctor tells the students that space wants to kill you. The pre-credit sequence featuring zombies in a spacesuit would had sent younger children rushing behind the sofa.

This episode has Nardole travelling with Bill and the Doctor which makes me wonder who was guarding the vault? Bill continues to impress as her fear is real. She is new to space travel and her suit is malfunctioning so she cannot breathe.

It is a base under siege episode with a zombie crew in pursuit. Not easy to pull off in a family adventure show, this is undercut by some humour such as Bill getting accused of being a racist by a blue man.

There are proper perils here and the finale is a real blinder.

Often when you tune into Doctor Who, you're not expecting any huge concerns. Oh, sure, towards the end of a season you might have to worry about a companion dying or a Doctor regenerating, but it's usually low stakes, even when they seam high. And yet this made the danger feel real. Anyone saying the commentary on capitalism being inaccurate or overblown hasn't looked into where the cobalt and tin for their devices come from, who built them, or what happened to people making semiconductors early in the industry. And that's just tech. Car manufacturers knowingly allowing dangerous defects because recalls are more expensive than settlements, or lobbying for more roads and less public transport despite the thousands of deaths every year from car travel. Let's not get started on your ridiculous healthcare, Americans. Capitalism has always been about the price of a life, this just makes you think about it for every breath. It's a tension that'll carry you through this episode, at the edge of your seat... and perhaps counting your breaths.

Certainly a highlight of this Series so far, as Jamie Mathieson writes another great story for Doctor Who. Mackie was exceptional at portraying fear throughout the episode; Lucas was great on his first adventure through time and space in the TARDIS; Capaldi was outstanding as usual, while the audience is treated with another one of his wonderful lectures; the rest of the cast were brilliantly unique and amazing in their own way. One great thing this Series has done exceptionally is the visuals, which really shows on the nightmarish zombies.

The capitalism concept was very interesting also, making for a unique base-under-siege story. The Vault storyline is going quite nicely throughout the Series, making it feel very grounded and reminiscent to the UNIT Pertwee era in the 70s. Series 10 continues to get somewhat stronger each story. Also, the Monks look great for next week!

Episode 5 "Oxygen" - 9/10

This episode reminds me of hit indie video game among us