I didn’t know if I would make it, but I’m back for a 2nd
week of reviewing Season 12 of Dr Who. “Orphan 55” gives me a bunch mixed feelings. On
one hand, the story is decent but on the other hand the execution of it was
horrible. I honestly think this episode was a little better than “Spyfail”, but
is this what Dr Who has become? A mediocre show that if not for its long rich history,
I would have turned off a long time ago.
"Orphan 55" sees the Doctor and crew taking a vacation (does
this ever work out for the Doctor and his/her companions?) to a relaxing spa that
just so happens to have a slight problem of flesh eating creatures trying to
break into it on a constant basis. The story premise itself was not bad per say,
but this was so rushed and frantic that it took away from the story itself.
There is no buildup of a threat, we are just thrown right into the threat right
away. I know Dr Who is only an hour show, but maybe cut out some of those chase scenes and we might actually have a good episode here. Unfortunately, that's not what happens here. Instead it felt like as soon as they got off the Tardis, the crew are running for their lives or chasing after someone. Slow down!!!!
Later on in the episode, everyone who is in the resort
travel outside to search for an elderly guest. Why did everyone in the resort
have to go? That made no sense whatsoever. Let’s leave this semi-safe building
and take a 12-year-old kid, a maintenance guy and another elderly person and
travel to a very unsafe portion of the planet. That is just ridiculous. Then finally, we get the big reveal that this
planet is actually Earth and these creatures are mutated humans, thanks to global warming. I was hoping
we would see Graham get down on his knees and yell “God Damn you! God Damn you
all to Hell!”, just like in Planet of the Apes. At least that would have been more
entertaining.
So far for season 12, it’s been more of the same as last
year. Bad writing, bad acting, bad directing and the list goes on. One has to
wonder how much longer the BBC will allow this to go on. From the 1st
episode to this episode viewership in the UK had dropped over 700k. This cannot
make the execs over the BBC happy and I feel there will be some major changes coming for season 13. If there is a season 13.
I would give “Orphan 55” a 2 out of 5 Tardises. Better than “Spyfail”,
but I feel that I grade these episodes on a curve. After watching so many
terrible episodes in a row, one tends to overvalue mediocre episodes and value
them higher than they really are.