The Doctor and her fam visit an all-inclusive resort – whose secrets are spilling out even as they arrive…

There’s been a lot of hatred – and I don’t think that’s too strong a word – expressed online for Ed Hime’s second script for Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, with many of the episode’s elements torn apart, and a great deal of opprobrium aimed at its ‘in your face’ ending. Those of us who actually enjoyed the episode as it was broadcast may well have wondered if we were watching the same 50 minutes of television.

But start to think about it, and no two ways about it, though, there was far too much packed into those 50 minutes – this had enough material for an old four-parter, with the first episode allowing the story time to breathe before it became a frantic chase. It meant that choices were made directorially and in the edit suite that, to be polite, didn’t aid the storytelling! Even before it got that far, the script needed more work – Julia Foster and James Buckley seemed basically wasted in roles that could have been beefed up further.

The positives were a great performance from Whittaker, whose Doctor is far more proactive this season than last, and some very effective use of the location work on Tenerife – the director notes in the latest DWM that conditions weren’t as great for filming in April as they had been for the recce two months earlier, but that actually helped the atmosphere. There’s also increasing tension within the TARDIS crew – hopefully this isn’t something that will get overlooked as we move through the season.

The idea of some sort of idyllic place actually not being what it seems has its roots in Doctor Who back as early as The Keys of Marinus (Wayward Pines – which this has been accused of ripping off – was simply the most recent version we’ve had in the genre), and the concept of it being Earth all along… for the younger generation not steeped in Doctor Who’s history, this is their Mysterious Planet and/or The Curse of Fenric. And Fenric’s horror elements are definitely accessed in this with the (Metro/Extro-like) Dregs basically being Haemovores with the serial numbers filed off! As to the rewriting of Earth’s future, and the way that it could change – does this link into what we’ve learned about Gallifrey?

And yes, that final speech by the Doctor was preachy – but that’s something this show has done across its history. Don’t believe me – just check out The Green Death…

Verdict: A frenetic fifty minutes. 7/10

Paul Simpson