REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 11 Episode Five 'The Tsuranga Conundrum'

 REVIEW: Doctor Who, Series 11 Episode Five 'The Tsuranga Conundrum'

In honour of my recent rewatch of 'The Tsuranga Conundrum', here is my review from the initial time of broadcast.

I've seen a lot of negativity towards this episode on the internet, and I'm not sure why. It's far from a terrible - or even average - episode in my opinion, and there aren't really many flaws I can find in the narrative. Series 11 by this point in its run has remained a strong and vibrant series full of fun and thrills, and five episodes into the series I think it's impressive that there isn't one single story I would consider a bit 'meh'.

Possibly one of the stand-outs of this episode is the twist that comes about ten minutes' through, for it is revealed that the hospital isn't a hospital but actually a spaceship. I totally did not see that coming, and I thought that was a really neat bait-and-switch that helped add some peril to the situation.

And just how 'Glorious' (Glorious!) did that spaceship look? The visual effects of this episode were absolutely stunning, with some truly breath-taking CGI; arguably some of the best space exterior shots to ever appear in Doctor Who. I loved the lasers from the guns, the computer displays, the junkyard planet at the beginning, the P'ting...everything just sat really well on the eye.

Speaking of the P'ting, how adorable did that creature look? A really nice design from the VFX team there, combining a mixture of the Adipose and the Slitheen into one cute little alien being. At times it did feel like there could have been more menace - perhaps if there had been more P'tings chewing through wires and sending the ship hurtling through space - but the monster this week did its job. It was fun, and you felt how much of a threat this alien being could be. It just would have been nice to see more of it. More scenes of the creature chewing through wires and messing everything up.

It's hardly like they would have been short of things to cut in order to add in more of the P'ting either. For a start, there's the pointless pregnant man subplot which never seems to go anywhere or add any impact on the plot. Mabli with her pilot's heart condition came across as filler - it is never explained properly what pilot heart is, and feels like a pointless addition just to add greater stakes to the conclusion of the story.

Where the story excels is in the main cast, who are - as always - absolutely fantastic. Jodie Whittaker has completely nailed the role of the Doctor; it is impossible not to think of her as the character by this point, she simply just is. Bradley Walsh is given less material this week, but still leaves an impression with what little he has to work with. Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole really shine with their exchange about Ryan's parentage - I really felt for Ryan, having discovered his mother had a heart attack at only thirteen years' old, and Mandip Gill makes Yaz an extremely likeable presence with the way she comforts Ryan, and offers her support.

Overall, a solid entry in what is turning out to be a very strong series for the Chibnall era. The Tsuranga Conundrum is a fun base-under-siege story, that maybe could have benefitted from a little more threat from the P'ting in place of the meandering subplots which really don't go anywhere.

What are your thoughts in The Tsuranga Conundrum? Let me know in the comments.