Doctor Who Series 12 Episode 3 - Orphan 55 - Review

Starring: Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole & Mandip Gill

Written By: Ed Hime

Directed By: Lee Haven Jones

After the grand two-part opener, 'Orphan 55' appears to take things a bit slower and be its own self-contained story. I've been interested to get to this episode, not just because it's penned by Ed Hime (writer of one of the best Series 11 stories, 'It Takes You Away') but because of the "ferocious" monsters teased by the production team. BBC America's social media have also teased an ending that's supposedly unmissable, so the question remains: is 'Orphan 55' the blast it's been built up to be? Let's find out. 

Graham has collected enough coupons to win an all-inclusive holiday at Tranquillity Spa, and deciding that the group need a break, the four regulars arrive via teleport cube. As is always the case whenever the Doctor opts for a holiday, something is indeed very wrong - the spa is surrounded by shields and the linen cupboard is in fact an armoury and a security room. But when the shields are breached, the holidaymakers at Tranquillity Spa are about come under a deadly attack...

As if Graham couldn't be any more loveable, he begins this episode by collecting coupons to go to a holiday spa … while he's standing in a machine that could literally take him anywhere and any time … I love it. We get barely a minute in the TARDIS before we're thrust straight into Tranquillity Spa, and I must confess that the episode gets off to a bumpy start. The first character we meet there is Hyph3n, and holy crap I though we'd arrived in Season 24. For the record, Hyph3n is a furry right? I don't think it's ever explicitly said if she's supposed to be a furry or actual alien species, but I really hope it's the former because if not, that is a terrible makeup job. When we arrive at a leisure resort and are immediately introduced to a character is such an awful costume, surely you can forgive me for thinking we've stepped into 'Paradise Towers'? In fairness, the spa itself looks lovely and reminded me more of Series 10's 'Smile'. But when the episode's already invoked comparisons to Season 24 (in my opinion easily the weakest run of stories the show has offered), I can't call that a good start. 

Fortunately things pick up relatively soon when the spa's security systems are breached and we're introduced to the Dregs. The Dregs are one of the biggest successes of 'Orphan 55' and they make a strong first impression. Credit to director Lee Haven Jones, a lot of their initial impact comes from the way the Dregs are filmed upon their first attack. It takes a while before we get to see what they fully look like, and in the meantime they're kept unseen or in tight close-ups that obscure the rest of their body. The camera is placed literally right in front of their mouths as they snarl and drool. When we get to see them more fully, they don't disappoint. Oddly they reminded me of the love child of the Hoix from 'Love & Monsters' and a xenomorph from the 'Alien' films. It's a great design and it feels like such a while since we last had big dumb, roaring monsters for the Doctor and friends to face. They live up to their "ferocious" label too - 'Orphan 55's kill count is high and from the moment the Dregs are first introduced, it never feels completely safe for everyone in the spa until we get back to the TARDIS at the end of the episode. 

Following the Dregs' first attack, we encounter the first twist of the episode, that Tranquillity Spa is a "fakation" - a little bubble of paradise on a desolate world populated by the Dregs. With this reveal, the Doctor, her companions and the survivors of the initial attack journey out of the dome into the inhospitable wastes of the planet, hoping to recover a guest who's been kidnapped. From here this is where the biggest problem with 'Orphan 55' becomes crystal clear - it's got way, way too much going on. We have that aforementioned twist, followed by further twists such as the fact that this desolate planet is Earth in the far future; that the Dregs are the advanced mutated remains of humanity and that one of the guests is in fact Kane's daughter and wants to blow up the spa as revenge for her being abandoned as a child. Add to that a grand total of roughly eleven characters that go out in search of Benni … and you've got an episode trying to do far too much. 

'Orphan 55' is structured around multiple twists which range from mildly effective to negligible at best. The reveal about what the Spa truly is is a pretty interesting one, and there's potential for social commentary about the rich fabricating little bubbles of luxury and perfection while the world outside goes to sh*t. However the reveal that Orphan 55 is in fact Earth doesn't come across as the big monumental moment it's intended as. It harks back to films like 'Planet Of The Apes' and even 'Doctor Who's own 'The Mysterious Planet', and while there's nothing wrong with it being set on Earth, treating it as a grand reveal when it's already this familiar doesn't work. But then there's another twist! One of the guests, Bella, is actually the daughter of the spa's owner, Kane. Out for revenge, Bella is planning to blow up the spa. This twist especially doesn't work for three reasons. 1 - When the rest of the episode is made up of twist after twist, you get to a point where you become desensitized and stop caring about any further twists. 2 - In this already busy episode, Bella and Kane have had nowhere near enough screen time for me to be invested in this subplot. 3 - The leap from Bella hating her mother to wanting to blow up the spa (the only mildly safe place on this planet for everyone) is never justified or feels earned. Yes I get that it's her mother's life work and all the symbolism that entails, but there's not enough necessary context on the two to prevent it from feeling like a "cracking a walnut with a sledgehammer" approach. 

So what's the solution to all this? Well if you only have forty-five/fifty minutes to play with, you've got to economize and cut some things out. Personally, I'd scrap the whole Bella and Kane subplot and the poor romantic subplot between Bella and Ryan. While the huge number of characters in this episode does wonders for the Dregs' kill count, morbid as it sounds, I'd have gotten rid of more characters in their initial attack. Lose Hyph3n, Bella, and as glad as I am to see James Buckley in the show, I'd lose the redundant Nevi and Sylas too. The same could be said of Benni and Vilma, but honestly they've spawned so many great memes that I couldn't bare to lose them. But lose some of this dead weight and 'Orphan 55' would have much more breathing room. One thing I wouldn't want to lose however is this episode's brilliant sense of urgency and danger. It flew by on my first viewing, and while it does partly feel so fast because of just how much it has going on, I still wouldn't want to sacrifice that rapidity and tension. By the time the Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz make it back to the TARDIS, it feels like they've been through a proper ordeal and they only make it back by the skin of their teeth. Incidentally, before I wrap this up, the last scene in the TARDIS was a bit divisive with some people reckoning the Doctor "lectured" the audience on climate change and the damage we're doing to the world. The old "It wasn't very subtle" argument resurfaced, and … I agree. It wasn't subtle at all and it veered on being a direct address to the camera. But how can I put this delicately? F*ck subtlety. More subtle environmental themes can be found in 'Doctor Who' and in film and television more generally … and that doesn't always get picked up on does it? When it was first broadcast, and as I write this, Australia is currently on fire and climate change is one of, if not the biggest threat currently facing us. If you weren't keen on the Doctor spelling out this episode's themes, fair enough. Personally however, I'd say media has tried being subtle about this for long enough - maybe the more blatant approach is worth a go. 

'Orphan 55' is a shame. The pieces are there - it's got a great dumb snarly threat with the Dregs, a fantastic sense of urgency, with room for some decent social commentary too. Yet it lets itself down by trying to do too much in a far too short space of time. This badly needed to trim down certain subplots and even entire characters to reach its full potential. As it stands, it's fit to burst and probably the weakest story to come from the 13th Doctor's run so far. But it's not the biblical failure some people are trying to spin it as either, and despite its flaws, I have some appreciation for it. Kudos to Ed Hime for trying something so different from his last story.

Orphan 55

5/10