S12 E4 Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

[Nyder]

What did you think of it?

[ninjaconor]

I'm giving an OK just for the concept, other than that I was not impressed at all.

Aliens who live entirely off scavenged technology and ideas is a great idea. And the idea that they would would want to kidnap Nikola Tesla to fix their ship is perfect fuel for a Doctor Who episode.

The Skethra (sp?) looked very cool, except for their queen who looked like someone in a halloween costume and chewed the scenery like she was in a Christmas panto, and not in a good way. Was it actually the same actor who played the Raknoss Queen in Runaway Bride or is there some sort of rule that everyone who plays an insectoid alien has to do that stupid wide eyed toothy grin and twitch their head about like they're having a fit?

Tesla had such potential as a historical figure of the week but they played him in the most boring way possible. He so flat it was like wastching a Wikipedia article than a character.

Which brings me to the next point: The awkward expositiony dialogue. So much "Nikola Tesla? Who's that?" or "Thomas Edison? Who's that?" from Ryan, Graham and Yaz, followed by the Doctor reciting the first paragraph of their wikipedia pages. It felt really unnatural and was a prime example of telling rather than showing. I mean, even if I didn't know who Tesla was going into the episode, they've already shown him trying to pitch a crazy invention ahead of its time and getting rejected by investors. That's pretty much all you need to know for the story to work. The history lesson isn't necessary.

And then that scee between The Doctor and Tesla and the "Nikola Tesala: You change the world!" line. Didn't she already use that with Rosa Parks? It felt very recycled.

I've always been a strong defender of Chris Chibnall's tenure as showrunner, and I've watched almost all of the classic series and understand the show goes through ups abd downs. In general make it my business to enjoy Doctor Who for whatever it is in a given episode. The last two episodes though have been so disappointing, especially after such a strong season opener. I really hope it picks up next week.

[thereviewer]

For me personally, this was an improvement over last week's episode. There was a lot more that I learned about Nikola Tesla in this. Prior to this episode, my only other exposure was in an IDW Event Comic Series Infestation 2 which saw Lovecraftian Monsters invade more IDW Properties after the previous Infestation Event. One of these worlds was Transformers: Hearts of Steel; a then-alternate reality series for the Transformers which saw them awaken from their slumber during the industrial revolution rather than the 1980's (eventually, IDW retconned this to fit in with their first TF series by explaining the Transformers in that series were brainwashed into believing themselves to be the real Autobot and Deception warriors). In the Infestation 2 Comic, Tesla actually helped the main character by using the Tesla Tower (transported thanks to the Autobot forces) in order to reawaken Hearts of Steel's Optimus Prime.

So it was very satisfying to get to see another story that focused more on Tesla as a person and his struggles as an inventor. I'll talk more in details later, but I also love the alien creature design. I saw a bit of the Racnoss in there, but also a fusion of the Borg and a hint of Mad Max in there. Of course, I've only seen Mad Max 1 & 2. I've never managed to get Beyond Thunderdome.

Sorry. I couldn't help it.

Anyways, loved this episode. Looks like next week we'll be seeing more friction between Team TARDIS along with the Judoon and... say is that an upgrade I see? Probably not. But it'd be cool if it was!

[markrand]

Got to agree with thereviewer. It was better than the previous episode.

[Eryx]

I thought it was okay. A nice historical story with a rather weak alien addition. The historical elements were great but as others have said, the aliens felt like a weak rip off of the Rachnos. I would have liked something a bit different - perhaps even a purely historical story this time despite my usual dislike of them.

[senko]

Am I the only one who thought it was the Racnoss at first? They just look so similar.

[Stormcrow]

Everyone thought about that.

[senko]

Good to know it wasn't just me.