User reviews

I do not usually write reviews but this hate against DW and this episode is straight outrageous and ridiculous at the same time. It is not that the episode was not without faults. The writing was weak, the characters had potential but eventually fell flat, some of the decisions were straight nonsensical. At worst Orphan 55 is a forgettable episode, that had a good idea that failed to execute. People who complain about that probably review it with a 5 or 6, for being mediocre. But people who review it with 1 star, don't complain about that: They complain about "agendas" and "the political correctness" as if climate change (the issue that the episode adresses) is a left or right thing, or as if climate change it's a conspiracy theory of the liberals of BBC. Get real and stop being this toxic. Doctor Who does not need your kind of toxicity. Orphan 55 is a mediocre episode, with a good message. Just that.

This episode is a good standard Doctor Who episode, and it challenges another thing going on in society. In this instance, global warming. As a result, this episode has been unfairly attacked by toxic fans, reaches so bad that even people who liked it, get attacked.

I liked the episode, and I don't care what they say. It's standard who fare which is why it gets a seven instead of higher. Terrible things abound and the Doctor has to in this case simply survive and save what she can.

There is nothing inherently wrong here. If you agree with the views of the episode, then it's no problem. If you don't agree, just let it go... like people have done for near 60 years of political Doctor Who stories.

If a Science Fiction TV show isn't challenging our society and the way that it is composed, then it's not a Sci Fi show worth watching...

Keep challenging us, Doctor Who!

The bad

Unconvincing aliens (but this has been part of Dr Who throughout the years).

Curious timing; as noted in one of the more negative reviews there is a scene where a boy storms off, the Doctor does a bit of talking and then the boy is still storming off.

Wackiness to provide comic relief at the expense of plausibility (something that Who has frequently been guilty of): the incompetent maintenance guy and his highly competent kid; Hyph3n with a 3 (see also 'Unconvincing aliens') .

Overly preachy in places.



The good

Exciting storyline with a genuine sense of peril.

Interesting twist.

Interesting message even if overstated.

Interesting setting.

To the reviewer complaining about the 'one possible timeline' line, I would say that, although Who talks about fixed points in history and the line did make me think 'Eh!' for a moment, it has always been quite fluid about possible futures. If not, the series is riddled with inconsistency. I think the ethos is that you can't mess with your past because that has already happened in your timeline but feel free to try to change your future.

Graham accumulated some coupons for an idyllic holiday at the Tranquility Spa. Before they know it the Tardis team is transported there.

However there is a Hopper virus in the vending machine, the orphan planet is not devoid of life. The aliens are in fact not tourist friendly and there is a saboteur with parental issues.

It is a base under siege episode. It looked wonderful, the monsters were great. Not sure about the father and son with green hair though. There was plenty of peril with running away from monsters and lots of self sacrifice. There was even a nod to a Colin Baker story. It was all done at a breakneck pace, handy if you do not want to think too long about the technobabble.

Chris Chibnall as showrunner really needs to rein in the preachiness from his writers. Even if it is something worthy like environmental destruction. I note that this has been a feature since the Pertwee days but here it was not very subtle.

This wasn't a bad episode as lots of reviewers have been saying. If you're a fan of science fiction, and grew up with watching Doctor Who, this is filled with that same stuff: monsters, aliens, explosions, fear, dead planet, techno talk, a holiday inside a bubble and a creepy electric worm. The complaints on this episode are astronomical and maybe none of them have even watched the entire episode. I thought the monsters were grotesque and nightmarish at the same time. The aliens were an electrician and his son who both sported natural green hair. There was also an alien cat woman. This was quite a sad background story that I won't go into but the Doctor reminded us all at the end that there are many possibilities.

I actually enjoyed this one. Good plot, not as annoying as usual. I think the doctor is pretty good but she's let down by lame acting and lame writing for her companions.

In a nutshell. Whilst watching I was beginning to feel a sence of s11 ep5, the whatsit conundrum or whatever but, as it builds our expectations are subverted. Theres some daft dr who trying to be typical dr who too much moments but once the all be it mild action takes off, theres a couple of nice twists and turns in there. In short, not sure about the presentation or directing but the story wasn't too bad and it was a nice little play on the idea that time is in a constant state of flux and the future isn't written in stone. Not amazing but good who, better than we've had.

A little disappointing after last week's episode... Enjoyable to watch, but not in the same league as Spyfall... More of a filler episode...

OK, let me say I really hated season 11 and the first two episodes of season 12, but this one, for all the shallowness and predictability, is actually a return to the very first season in terms of fun. It is interesting enough to keep you watching, which says a lot given how bad the previous two were. Unfortunately, there are a ton of characters around the Doctor whom nobody will care about or can relate to, but at least there is some depth here ant there!

There is a lot that didn't make a lot of sense in this episode, and I didn't like the preachy bits about climate change (even though I agree with what the writers are trying to say.) This episode had a feel to me like the old 9th-10th Doctor seasons, and I enjoyed it.

I feel inclined to defend Orphan 55.

Is it didactic and blunt about its environmental message? Very much so. Are all the supporting characters underdeveloped with confusing relationships? Yes. Does the episode's writer mangle a key point about the Doctor's anatomy? Guilty! Is the story weighed down by poor pacing, which makes it drag? Undoubtedly. But, is it really as bad as everyone is claiming? No. Yet, I recognize the complaints leveled against it as completely valid.

The space where I feel inclined to defend this episode is in the context of 56 years of Doctor Who lore and tropes. Within the chronology of the show, this is what hardcore fans would call a 'base under siege' story. This type of Who story could be described as, "A group of marauding humans on one of Earth's colonies in the future get into trouble with the planet's natural inhabitants and/or creatures they've awakened." All you need is a germ of an idea and you will have essentially created your own Doctor Who story. A great Who story use this framework to weave in a sneaky political commentary, using a liberal ideology to tell an effective story.

Within that context, Orphan 55 is nothing new. It's a modest success on the curve we've graded the show within the last season and a half, since the Whittaker/Chibnall Era began. When you judge it upon 5 to 10 similar stories the new Modern Era has knocked out of the park, it really suffers.

I didn't actively hate this episode as I watched it unfolded and developed, which is more than what I can say for the majority of this era of the show.