Orphan 55

SPOILERS ABOUND!!!

Production Details

• Doctor: The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)
• Companions: Graham O’Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill)
• Writer: Ed Hime
• Director: Lee Haven Jones
• Producer: Alex Mercer
• Guest Starring: Laura Fraser (Kane), Gia Ré (Bella), James Buckley (Nevi), Julia Foster (Vilma), Amy Booth-Steel (Hyp3en), Will Austin (Vorm), Col Farrell (Benni), Lewin Lloyd (Sylas), Spencer Wilding (The Lead Dreg and Creature Movements)
• Music: Segun Akinola
• Script Editor: Fiona McAllister
• Executive Producers: Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevans
• Running Time: 46 minutes
• Release Date: 12th January 2020

Introduction

Out of all of series 11, Ed Hime’s It Takes You Away was easily standout. It was imaginative and unpredictable with memorable characters, strong pacing and an even strong emotional core. Its exploration of the self-destructive nature of grief is something to behold and whilst it’s not perfect as it does feel like three episodes in one, it is a highlight in a mostly empty season.

So you can imagine I was excited when Ed Hime was among the first guest writers confirmed for series 12 and when I discovered that he will be writing episode 3, Orphan 55, I was intrigued, especially after the trailers. However, like Neil Gaiman before him, Ed Hime went from writing one of the best episodes of series 11 to the absolute worst episode of series 12…

Trailers

Next Time Trailer

TV Trailer

Synopsis

A teleport cube transports the Doctor and her friends to Tranquility Spa, where they enjoy an all-inclusive stay. No sooner do they arrive however than things start to go wrong. The spa’s systems have been infected by a Hopper Virus, allowing the local apex predators known as Dregs to attack and kill the guests. When one guest is taken away, the Doctor leads a rescue mission onto the barren surface of Orphan 55 where she discovers the terrible truth behind the Dregs’ origins…

Review

The worst thing about this episode is the pacing. When I said ‘no sooner do they arrive’ I meant it! It literally takes the episode 2 minutes for the plot to get going, leaving no time to establish the characters and settings. The supporting characters are all underdeveloped and that’s mostly because there are too many of them. Belle and Kane I get because they move the plot along as do Benni, Vilma and Sylas but the rest such as Hyph3n, Vorm and Nevi could either have been killed off in the opening massacre or cut from the episode entirely. As is, it’s too crowded and the episode feels messy as a result. It doesn’t help that they’re all unlikable, badly written and in some cases, badly acted (looking at you Julia ‘BENNI!’ Foster).

The main cast don’t fair much better either as Graham and Yaz get practically nothing to do. Ryan is a bit better as he gets a love interest in Belle but even that is clumsily done as Ryan comes across as a bit desperate and Belle doesn’t believably fall in love with him. The saving grace is the Doctor. Jodie Whittaker continues to be great (even if she is starting to get choked a lot) and there are genuinely tense moments involving her and an oxygen tank, which brilliantly uses her defining feature, her talkative nature, against her.

The monsters are surprisingly really good as well. The make-up job and costume job is fantastic and the design is truly grotesque. They are genuinely freaky and are responsible for some truly chilling and horrifying scenes. They’re not the best monsters the show has had as they lack a distinct personality but they get the job done and look good while doing it.

As for the plot, its biggest issue, as I mentioned, is the pacing but the structure doesn’t help either as it constantly shifts around from premise to premise. This was the case in It Takes You Away but due to a slower pace and smaller cast, it flowed much better. Here, the episode doesn’t breathe and the plethora of characters keeps things cluttered. It’s a shame as well because the inital premise, a spa under attack, is gripping despite the pacing due to some genuinely funny moments and some downright horrifying scenes involving the Dregs.

But the biggest point of contention is the episode’s message against climate change. Now I’m personally for environmental messages in Doctor Who… if done well. Because climate change is the biggest threat to humanity right now, Doctor Who had every right to address this but like the rest of the episode, it’s clumsy and awkwardly done. They do the whole ‘it was Earth all along’ twist that was done so many times and done better in other sci-fi media and the Doctor just tells us to change the future… without telling us how. It also fails on a structural level because the Earth twist was introduced too late with little time to develop with everything else going on and the message itself was just dumped on us at the end. Again, I’m fine with the message itself but it’s done so badly that it just irks me.

As for the production values, they really are a mixed bag. Like I said, the Dregs look fantastic but the rest of the make-up and costuming is laughably bad (especially with Hyph3n who looks like she walked off an amateur production of Cats). Lee Haven Jones’ directing can be effective in some scenes, like the opening massacre, but incomprehensible in others and the effects set design feels been there, done that. Segun Akinola’s music keeps the tension high but it’s not very memorable either.

Conclusion

Fans have called Orphan 55 the worst episode of Doctor Who and I disagree. Episodes such as Fear Her, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, Asylum of the Daleks, Nightmare in Silver, The Time of the Doctor, The Caretaker, Kill the Moon, In the Forest of the Night, Hell Bent, Twice Upon a Time, Arachnids in the UK and The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos had all proved to be worse than this. But it’s still bad.

It has some strong moments, legitimately horrifying monsters and a lot of ironic enjoyment (BENNI!) but the structure and pacing is all over the place leading to a overblown cast of poorly-written characters, a tacked-on climate change message, inconsistent direction and a messy plot. This really needed to be edited down and streamlined for it to work. As is, it’s a colossal mess and a blemish on an otherwise promising series.

Score: 4/10