The Doctor takes Bill and a reluctant Nardole out into deep space – where the only sensible unit of measurement is the number of breaths you have remaining…

If you know anyone who’s not been convinced by Peter Capaldi’s Doctor up to now, then sit them in front of a TV screen and make them watch this episode. Yes, he was great in Heaven Sent… but Jamie Mathieson’s script calls for more from him than perhaps any other actor in the role so far. And that’s only part of why Oxygen turns the dial up on this season even more.

The dialogue between Capaldi, Pearl Mackie as Bill and Matt Lucas as Nardole zings, the threat that they face on the space station is made credible by the reactions of all those involved, and Murray Gold’s score is up there with some of his best (not something that I’ve felt about a lot of this season to date). Charles Palmer’s direction keeps everything taut with the lighting in particular used to good effect, and the camera deployed in a way we’re just not accustomed to on Doctor Who. It makes for 45 minutes of tense drama – the series firing on all cylinders.

Verdict: Probably the most engaging of all the episodes so far this season, and it’s one that I suspect will be looked back on as a key part of the Twelfth Doctor’s tenure, with all the elements seeming to come together. 9/10

Paul Simpson