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The Tsuranga Conundrum is the fifth episode of Doctor Who Series 11, and the Scooby Doo gang are at Sockport tip looking for something when, instead, they find they’re on a sonic mine and it’s about to blow up and kill them…
…but they wake up in some medical facility, in the 67th Century, after being put back together.
It feels more like they’re on the Starship Enterprise since, while it has a handful of humans onboard, it also has a token android, Ronan (Well, I thought his music was a bit robotic and monotonous). And yes, just a few to run a whole spaceship… because of the casting budget, presumably. Oh, and the set budget, since it looks like it was put together for £50 on 60-Minute Makeover.
The Tsuranga Conundrum boils down to an alien – called a Pting – on the ship that’s causing problems for everyone, and lots of running down corridors. Yes, an alien amongst a group of panicking individuals. That’s new(!)
There’s one amusing line when the Doctor explains something late on, to which comes in reply:
- Ronan (to Yaz): “Are you also experiencing comprehension difficulty?”
- Yaz: “Oh, every day, now, mate”
Beyond that, there’s a pregnant man (Junior, The Young Ones), the divisive topics of adoption and drug abuse, and Ryan and Yaz have a heart-to-heart, which means she’s putting him in the ‘friend zone’.
The ship is powered by an anti-matter drive, with the Doctor giving us a physics lesson about it along the way, and time is of the essence to get to their destination (Resus One) before the Pting eats its way through the ship, including said anti-matter drive.
By the end of it all, I won’t say how they sorted out the alien, but if you’ve seen Alien, then you’ll have an idea how the alien situation was resolved…
Once again, the Doctor digs out her trusty screwdriver too often to solve a problem, first off by accessing a map on the ship, and it leaves me wondering that since the series has started off well and then gone downhill, showrunner Chris Chibnall has let me down and I’m wondering how long he’s going to write each episode and not let others take an episode to themselves.
Only episodes one and two of this series were available for preview… and I’m starting to see why.
This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.
Next time: They’re in 1947, Pakistan and the partition of India, and Yaz meets her grandmother attempts to discover her grandmother’s hidden history, but wouldntchaknowit, there’s demons demonising everyone.
The Tsuranga Conundrum is available on the BBC iPlayer for a month.
You can also pre-order it on Blu-ray, Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook and DVD.
Individual episodes can be bought in HD and SD here.
Score: 2/10
Director: Jennifer Perrott
Producer: Nikki Wilson
Writer: Chris Chibnall
Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens
Music: Segun Akinola
Cast:
The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker
Graham O’Brien: Bradley Walsh
Ryan Sinclair: Tosin Cole
Yasmin Khan: Mandip Gill
Astos: Brett Goldstein
Mabli: Lois Chimimba
Eve Cicero: Suzanne Packer
Durkas Cicero: Ben Bailey-Smith
Ronan: David Shields
Yoss Inkl: Jack Shalloo
Previously on DVDfever:
October 28th:
The Tsuranga Conundrum, is the fifth episode of Doctor Who Series 11, and has a trailer which shows the gang are in a sonic mine, which is in a hospital, and The Doctor’s being shot at and… more Scooby Doo-type ‘action’?
Injured and stranded in the wilds of a far-flung galaxy, the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan must band together with a group of strangers to survive against one of the universe’s most deadly – and unusual – creatures.
The Tsuranga Conundrum is broadcast at 7.00pm on BBC1 next Sunday.
Read our review for Arachnids In The UK.
Director: Jennifer Perrott
Producer: Nikki Wilson
Writer: Chris Chibnall
Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall, Matt Strevens
Music: Segun Akinola
Cast:
The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker
Graham O’Brien: Bradley Walsh
Ryan Sinclair: Tosin Cole
Yasmin Khan: Mandip Gill
Astos: Brett Goldstein
Mabli: Lois Chimimba
Eve Cicero: Suzanne Packer
Durkas Cicero: Ben Bailey-Smith
Ronan: David Shields
Yoss Inkl: Jack Shalloo
Check out the brand new trailer below along with a look at what police officer Yasmin Khan has on file about Krasko from episode three.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.