Praxeus - The First Review

WARNING! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 12 EPISODE 6! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

"Guys, we're going to need a bigger bat..."

Starring Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole, with Warren Brown, Matthew McNulty, Joana Borja and Molly Harris.

Written by Pete McTighe & Chris Chibnall.
Directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

What connects a missing astronaut in the Indian Ocean, birds behaving strangely in Peru and a US naval officer who washes up on a Madagascan beach? Team TARDIS investigate.

After my very severe reaction to last week's episode, Doctor Who needed to do something exciting and interesting to really get my attention again. And, as far as I'm concerned, "Praxeus" was the pallet cleanser that was needed for me. Sure, it wasn't perfect, and there were definitely a number of plot holes and moments that didn't work. However, for the most part, it was a decent mystery plot, with a fast pace and some interesting characters, and an environmental message that was a lot stronger than the one "Orphan 55" delivered.

The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) runs across the beach, as she
notices someone littering.

Set across four different continents, this is a story that isn't afraid to play with scale. With a number of seemingly random events happening at once, the TARDIS team are divided across the world, attempting to piece together the mystery before whatever is happening affects the whole world... Now, I can't deny it, the first twenty minutes or so are kind of confusing, with the audience thrown into a fast-moving story with little chance to catch up. You basically just have to go with the situation and the characters, although you're aren't really given any reason to invest in what is going on. However, the story does start coming together in the last twenty minutes, and kind of pays off your trust to begin with, much to this reviewer's delight. Despite the fact that the threads seem so disparate that they couldn't be pulled together in time, writer Pete McTighe somehow does it, and leaves the viewer feeling satisfied. That is no easy thing, especially when you've only got fifty minutes, and have spent twenty of those minutes setting up the scenario and everything that is going on. Killer birds, missing astronauts, dissolving bodies and haz-mat killing aliens is a lot to deal with, and even just two of these ideas on their own would make a compelling story. As it is, I do think that a number of them didn't quite get the chance to shine, and, as such, maybe they weren't as developed as well as they could have been. That being said, what was there was interesting, and I applaud McTighe for trying something so packed, when many writers in the show's past have done the same thing and faltered. In fact, "Praxeus" brings to mind a story from a few years ago, "The Pyramid at the End of the World", which is set on a similar scale, and features similar ideas. However, Peter Harness (the writer of "Pyramid"), struggled to bring all its elements together, and it found itself struggling with its many ideas as a consequence. "Praxeus", by comparison, manages to knit everything together, even if, at times, it's slightly crow-barred together in order to get it to work. There are a number of coincidences that the story has to pivot on in order for it to work, and, as such, it does take away from the experience ever so slightly. The sub-plot (if you'll pardon the pun) about the American submarine, for example, doesn't really lead anywhere, and ends up feeling thrown away when we reach the end. One thing I will say is that the environmental message in "Praxeus" is much better and integrated into the story better than "Orphan 55", where it felt tacked on and unnecessary. Here, the whole story is centered around the plastic pollution problem, and the threat comes from that situation. There was no lecturing, no attempt to force a message upon the audience. They used it as  a plot element right from the beginning, and it worked a lot better because of it.

"Ugh, mate, that is disgusting. I'd get that looked at if we're
you."

Because of the complicated nature of the plot, the characters in this story very much fall into stereotypes and archetypes. However, the story treats them interestingly, and does manage to make you care about them, despite the fact that they not really developed in any meaningful way. Warren Brown and Matthew McNulty make for a wonderful couple, who have been trapped in a relationship nearing rock bottom before they meet the Doctor. Their relationship, and how the Doctor and her friends help fix it, is wonderfully realised, and it isn't treated as something exceptional, but rather something that is perfectly normal and ordinary. Brown's scene with Bradley Walsh is great, despite it slowing the pace of the story somewhat, and adds some much needed heart into the piece. Molly Harris acquits herself well, although the idea that her character could come across as an amoral scientist doesn't quite convince, and so those sections of the episode fall flat a little. But the standout, for this reviewer at least, was Joana Borja as Gabriela. Despite the fact the character is the standard kind of stock character for this type of story, Borja gives an engaging performance that is the perfect balance between wonder and scepticism. In fact, she might be the first supporting character since Grace in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" who would be worthy of stepping aboard the TARDIS full time. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if this story wasn't a dry run for the character before she joins the Doctor full-time next season. It would be nice to see, as the character is interesting and shows potential, just like Donna did in "The Runaway Bride". The regulars are fairly well treated here as well: Pete McTighe manages, just like in "Kerblam!" to give something for each member of the team to do. Sure, they basically play to the stereotypical roles that we've seen them in before (Graham provides the comedy and the questions, Yaz goes off exploring, Ryan gets to develop a relationship with a new character), but McTighe manages to make them feel natural. The regulars, especially Jodie, are wonderful, and once again demonstrate why they are a great TARDIS teams in terms of acting ability. I do wish that they would be given material that pushed them, and gave them something interesting to do a bit more, but they bring this story to life with gumption and power, and it helps make the story as engaging as it is.

Yaz (Mandip Gill), Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Jake (Warren Brown) find themselves in a darkened warehouse. Their first day at Amazon wasn't what they were expecting.

The production is also once again standout, with director Jamie Magnus Stone making it look more and more like a feature film with each passing shot. The sweeping shots of the location work are amazing, while the darkened parts of the plastic caverns are wonderfully lit, and look like some otherworldly location. The set design work this year has been fantastic, something that is helped by direction that manages to bring the stories to life. It isn't just Stone, but all the directors of this era. Sure, Doctor Who has been looking like a feature film for quite a few years now, but it's only been since the beginning of the Chibnall era that I feel like the show has had access to the technology to really bring it up to the movie standard it has been aiming for. Directors like Nick Hurran and Rachel Talalay pushed the show as far as they could under the old standard, but now, they could probably go even further. And the current crop know how to use this to their advantage: even episodes I haven't been massively keen on like "Resolution" or "Fugitive of the Judoon" look amazing, and show just how far the show has come in a just a few years. And "Praxeus" is a perfect example of that.

Will Gabriela (Joana Borja) become the new companion? If I
was a betting man...

Overall, while I have some problems with "Praxeus", this is a much stronger showing for Doctor Who than last week. There's more to enjoy, the story, while being messy and convoluted, is engaging, the characters are interesting, and the acting and production work is superb. This isn't one for the history books, and, to be honest, we will probably have forgotten all about this one in two week's time. But after last week's high-revelation, high-continuity piece, this was a nice, standalone story for us to enjoy. And, for me, this was a return to, if not top form, then decent form. Some may dislike it, but "Praxeus" is alright by me.

All pictures copyright to the BBC. Thank you very much for reading.