TV Review: Doctor Who Series 10 Episode Five - "Oxygen"

"You Sent Out A Distress Call, You Should Be Expecting Company..."

When half of the population of the UK tuned into BBC One last night to get ready for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, they probably would have witnessed a concluding scene of this week's Doctor Who which left our time travelling hero in a state which can only be regarded as less than desired after a 45 minute science fiction spectacle which mixed in elements of horror, capitalism and a very rare sense of unapologetic threat which put our leading heroes in one of the toughest situations of the series so far. With (SPOILERS INCOMING) our beloved Time Lord suffering from the effects of being exposed to the vacuum of space in order to save Bill from a similar or even worse fate, "Oxygen", written by Jamie Mathieson, the creative mind behind two of Series 8's best episodes in the form of "Flatline" and "Mummy on the Orient Express", served up the most thrilling story yet, placing our leading trio within the confines of a claustrophobic future space station where the crew have been replaced with a literal incarnation of the walking dead and the oxygen levels are determined by wealth rather than the importance of the human life. Cue a distress beacon and an eagerly excited Doctor, "Oxygen" proves that Mr. Mathieson is one of the leading writers of the moment when it comes to contemporary Who.

Directed by Who veteran Charles Palmer, "Oxygen" is arguably the most beautifully shot episode of the series so far, with the set design and outside shots of space a real positive of the episode, highlighting how far Doctor Who has come since the days of rubber Sea Devils and hokey dinosaur special effects. Whilst not directly the main villains of the episode, the scenes in which our heroes are being stalked by the deceased corpse's of the station's previous occupants is eerily effective, taking cues from previous Who episodes such as Series 9's "Under the Lake" and "Sleep No More" whilst the narrative structure of the Doctor being trapped aboard a lonely vessel is a blueprint of which many of the classic Who tales are wholly indebted to, particularly "The Ark in Space" and one of my personal classic serials in the form of "The Caves of Androzani". When the concluding twist does arrive, the notion of the Doctor's blindness is an interesting development, particularly with the upcoming regeneration not exactly far off, and in a similar vein to Peter Davison's regeneration within his final story, Capaldi's incarnation could be set for a slow burning regeneration within a series which continues to impress.

Overall Score: 8/10