After the backlash against the supposed "wokeness" of the first two episodes, Doctor Who finally delivers a tense and old-fashioned bottle style episode focusing on the two main characters in one main set. The forced humor is gone and the Doctor shows his serious side as he faces the possibility of death for real. The whole episode actually functions quite well as a metaphor for death and loss.
Shortly after the TARDIS arrives on a war-torn planet, the Doctor accidentally steps on a landmine, starting the activation process that will explode it, however, he doesn't set his second foot down, delaying the detonation while the landmine tech searches for a complete target body. The Doctor spends the majority of the episode balancing on the landmine, desperate to keep it from detonating, while also being forced to find a solution to the war destroying the planet.
Companion Ruby gets some character development here as we see how unafraid she is to save the Doctor even though she realizes she may very well be killed. She is shaping up to be as fearless as any classic companion like Leela or Sara Jane. The Doctor shows us his Zen Master technique, slowing his pulse and temperature to keep the bomb from igniting. Ncuti Gatwa puts on a master class of acting here, with the Doctor desperately trying to fight for his life. See? Real stakes, not some nonsense about space babies and booger monsters.
The creepy medical robots (SPOILER) which turn out to be the real villains, are suitably upsetting, murderous tanks with a grandmotherly face plastered on. And the resolution of the story is actually quite clever and thought-out, unlike the weak resolution of the last couple of episodes. Fifteen's happy speech at the end is actually deserved and moving. Please keep the new episodes like this! This one's a classic. My Rating: A-
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