This article contains spoilers for “Praxeus,” episode six of Doctor Who season 12.
Another week, another virtuous message from Chris Chibnall.
Following a season of not-so-subliminal messages of social justice (and a less-than-veiled takedown of Amazon), the showrunner remounted his high horse this year to confront big tech, climate change, and now: plastic pollution.
(The topical episode also fits handily into the global coronavirus outbreak—what with its alien pathogen infecting and killing people. But that’s just a coincidence … right?)
Though a direct continuation of “Fugitive of the Judoon,” this episode does absolutely nothing to answer the mind-bending questions raised last Sunday.
Rather, the stand-alone chapter follows a fairly standard Chibnallian construct: Team TARDIS investigate unusual occurrences, become entangled in lives of strangers, identify new friend-cum big bad, fight back, save the planet.
Gabriela (Joana Borja) is the remaining half of Two Girls Roaming (via BBC)
Spread across the globe, the Doc and her mates are trying to piece together seemingly unrelated events revolving around alien energy signals.
Having found success splitting up the team in season 11’s “Kerblam!,” writer Pete McTighe once more tears apart the fearless foursome, giving each character their own moment in the spotlight.
Ryan flirts with travel blogger Gabriela (Joana Borja) on a polluted river in South America. Yaz and Graham meet action cop Jake (Warren Brown) and his estranged husband, astronaut Adam Lang (Matthew McNulty) in an abandoned warehouse in Hong Kong.
And the Thirteenth Doctor pulls a U.S. Naval officer (Tristan de Beer) on a Madagascan beach—with the help of local scientists Aramu (Thapelo Maropefela) and Suki (Molly Harris).
Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor (via BBC)
I’ve been loving the new divide-and-conquer attitude. But, as with “Orphan 55,” too many supporting (and often useless) characters can bog down the storyline.
The hands-down best part of “Praxeus” is Yaz’s mostly solo adventure—joined only by the remaining half of Two Girls Roaming. After 11 episodes spent mostly on the bench, PC Khan is finally getting some like-a-boss storylines this series.
“Look at you, going off on your own and not getting killed,” the Doctor patronizes Yaz once they regroup in what the young companion hopes is the alien colony she discovered on her own.
(Spoiler alert: It’s not.)
I don’t typically like a kiss ass. But Yaz—a sort of Time Lord apprentice—is genuinely curious and endearing. And that under-her-breath “Yes!” when the Doctor hands out figurative gold stars for a job well done is just too sweet to hate.
The twist comes when the Doctor realizes fellow “brilliant scientist” Suki Cheng is not quite who she appears to be.
After Praxeus devastated her home planet, she and the few remaining survivors dispersed to search for an antidote. Suki and her dying crew found the perfect laboratory: Earth—a world saturated in plastics, off of which the disease feeds.
An alien pathogen is infecting and killing people (via BBC)
Polymers aren’t just choking wildlife, though.
Over time, plastic breaks down into tiny pieces of synthetic material (smaller than a sesame seed) that come from degraded or shredded bottles, packaging, and clothes.
“It’s in the air, it’s in your food, it’s in your water,” the Doctor warned. “Humans have flooded this planet with plastics that can’t be fully broken down. So much so that you’re ingesting microparticles, whether you know it or not.”
A person’s average microplastic consumption—depending on their dietary requirements, of course—is somewhere between 70,000 and 121,000 particles per year.
Rates rise by 100,000 for those who drink only bottled water. (Which just seems like karma, really.)
“You’re poisoning yourselves as well as your planet,” the Time Lord continued. “An alien bacteria has come to this planet, and it found a feast.”
Jake (Warren Brown) and Adam (Matthew McNulty) help save the world (via BBC)
The disease manifests as shards of plastic—bone-like pieces that cover the skin and eventually cause the victim to disintegrate into a cloud of dust.
Because Praxeus isn’t a traditional villain, there’s no final confrontation with the virus. (Unless you count Suki’s sudden consumption, which is a pretty anticlimactic end to a fairly unremarkable story.)
The roller-coaster of an episode offers one last thrill: Jake’s heroic sacrifice (almost) to deploy the antidote—his final grand romantic gesture for Adam. Until the Doctor spoils it by saving the former copper’s life, with mere milliseconds to spare.
“Praxeus” never really stood a chance following “Fugitive of the Judoon.” But, short of another “Blink,” nothing really could have.
I kept waiting for Jo Martin to appear, in her dazzling shirt and withering scoul, with all the right answers.
Sadly, there are at least two more filler episodes before I expect any sort of relief from the stress of trying to piece together the Impossible Doctor’s place in the Whoniverse.
Missed Doctor Who episode five? Check out our recap of “Fugitive of the Judoon.”
Doctor Who Glossary (for all your British-to-American English needs):
- Keen: Having or showing eagerness or enthusiasm
- Lad: A boy or young man
- DI [Detective Inspector]: A police detective of middle rank, above a sergeant and below a chief inspector
- Copper: Police officer
- Inspector Morse: Fictional detective in novels by Colin Dexter/TV drama series Inspector Morse (1987-2000)
- Knackered: Extremely tired or worn out
- In good nick: In good condition
Doctor Who airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on BBC America.
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