I wrote my first installment in the WAS IT SO BAD? series a while back. I discussed the frequently-maligned Warriors of the Deep and admitted to the poor plot structure of Episode Three and the utter ridiculousness of foam bulkheads and pantomime Myrkas. But I also pointed out some really great pacing and story flow and a mega-cool ending that symbolized the futility of the Cold War we were living in at the time the story was made. While I'm sure some people still remained unconvinced, I think I managed to prove to most that Warriors of the Deep wasn't really so bad as some of us try to say it is.
If you've been following this blog for any amount of time, you'll recognize that I sometimes get obsessed about balance. For instance: I try to give a proportionate amount of attention to New Who and Classic Who (Classic Who still gets talked about a bit more than New cause there's still more of it). So if I do a WAS IT SO BAD? essay about a story from the old series, it stands to reason that I must, eventually, talk about something from the modern series, too. Balance is important.
Since a lot of folks seem to be unhappy with Series 11, I thought it best to look more closely at one of the more heavily detested episodes from that season and discuss it in greater detail. My hopes are that I manage to show off some of its greater strengths that a lot of you seem to be ignoring.
UTTER DISBELIEF
To be quite honest, I'm not sure why I'm writing a WAS IT SO BAD? about this story. There's nothing I find all that particularly bad about it.
Personally, I try to watch every new episode in a vacuum. This can be quite tricky when you don't actually live in Britain. Inevitably, we don't get to see the latest ep until, at least, a few hours after the Brits do. Which means all kinds of opinions or even spoilers can spring forth on the internet and have a bearing on how the overseas fans will perceive the new story.
Which is why I will go to great lengths to avoid social media until I can see the episode for myself. I want to form my own opinion and not be influenced by what General Fan Consensus has already decided on the matter.
So imagine my surprise when I, at last, looked on various fan pages after Tsuranga Conundrum was done. I thought it was a very solid episode. Very fun with a few interesting twists and the sort of monster that was meant for Doctor Who. Some more interesting developments occur with Ryan and Graham. The Doctor solves the main conflict in a clever way that is very suitable to the character (using one problem to solve another). It was a rather simple story in some ways and it would probably never garner the title of "Classic". But I felt it was still quite strong.
The rest of Fandom doesn't seem to feel that way. The story seems to rank at the bottom of most peoples' lists for how they liked the episodes of Series 11. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why. On my own list, it's quite nearer to the top.
GROWING PAST ITS INFLUENCES
Tsuranga Conundrum draws heavily from two different types of New Who stories. We'll discuss both of those influences in detail and show how well the episode uses the formulae.
1) Some might dub Tsuranaga a traditional base-under-siege story. I wouldn't quite call it that, though. It does have a lot of those trappings, yes. But I'd be more inclined to call it a small group of futuristic characters in danger tale. It follows a mold first established in Impossible Planet/Satan Pit. A small band of people from somewhere in the distant future are stranded in a life-threatening situation. They're not, necessarily, trying to secure their environment against an outside threat (as is the case with a base-under-siege scenario) but they are trying to keep alive as something is killing them off. Most specifically, it is a very limited number of people dealing with the threat. Which makes the whole story more personal. With only a few people facing the menace, we connect with them more deeply. We get to know them better.
New Who does do base under siege. Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways is the best example of this. And it shows, quite succinctly, the difference between it and small group of futuristic characters in danger. The danger in Impossible Planet/Satan Pit does seem more internal. The menace is breeding in a deep pit below the base but it's still already among the people populating it. They can't really keep it out. It's even possessing some of them. And it is only a small group of people fighting the threat. We become quite familiar with the characters because of this.
Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways involves a large group of people who are, ultimately, trying to keep the Daleks out. The greater-sized cast means we don't get much of a chance to get attached to a whole lot of people. We actually get to know the Anne Droid better than we do some of the human characters!
The difference between these two styles of stories seems quite clear. I might even go so far to say that small group of futuristic characters works better than base-under-siege. Which is why we see this story pattern more often, these days. Other tales that have followed this motif include 42, The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People and Sleep No More. To name a few.
Here is one of Tsuranga Conundrum's greatest strengths: Of all the small group of futuristic characters in danger stories: this set of characters seems the most interesting and distinctive. For the most part, I can't remember what a lot of the characters were like in stories like Impossible Planet/Satan Pit or Rebel Flesh/Almost People. I certainly have a really hard time with recalling anyone from 42. Admittedly, some of them do stand out a bit. Particularly when they're very unusual like, say, the Grunt in Sleep No More. But, in general, it's a pretty generic blend of engineers and techies. They can almost be swapped out with each other. We could pull someone from 42 and exchange them with a character from Impossible/Pit and it wouldn't really interfere with cast dynamics much. A smaller cast does help the audience with connecting to the characters more, but those characters are still fairly indistinct from each other.
Not the case with Tsuranga Conundrum. Yes, it is a more recent story so it's easier to remember them - but I'm pretty sure I will still recall what everyone was like even a few years from now. Each character is very distinctly-drawn. They even have some fairly strong backstories. This is what impresses me the most with this episode. All the characters stand out strongly and make a legitimate impact on the whole adventure. Even the doctor that dies fairly early on in the escape pod is firmly etched in our memories before he's lost. Some of this is due to the performances of the actual actors. Again, Astos is a great example of this. Brett Goldstein recognizes his lack of presence in the overall plot and compensates by giving the role as much gravitas as possible. In the little time he's given, he does a great job of bringing Astos to life for us and making him memorable.
But I also think the writing has a strong bearing in this, too. The characters are well-crafted with clearly-defined personalities and even some interesting dynamics that are created between them. The brother/sister/android drama is the best example of this sort of scenario. A good chunk of the storyline is propelled by these three. Their banter and the ultimate peace that they find among each other makes for some great subplot. This trait, alone, sets the story on a higher level for me. I look at how well this supporting cast comes together and find myself baffled by the amount of criticism people seem to have about them.
2) The second type of story structure that Tsuranga borrows from is really only seen in one other New Who story that's been aired, thus far. I suppose if we truly want to give it a label, it might be something like: slightly kitschy futuristic story that we're still meant to take quite seriously. The only other story that I feel really fits this mold is The Girl Who Waited. Yes there are other stories that take place in the future and go for a bit of campiness. There is even one right in the same season (Kerblam). But these stories are played a bit harder for the comedy. Tsuranga and Girl, for the most part, keep it pretty straight but add just a hint of absurdity. In both cases, it's the aesthetics of the monsters that lend to the comedic effect. Both the handbots and the Pting look just a bit cuter and/or sillier than they ought to if they're meant to inspire menace. But, otherwise, we're meant to see the tale as being quite dramatic. Even quite heartfelt, in places.
The other similarity between both stories is set design. There's just a lot of white going on. Like the production team really loved the Organa family's Blockade Runner in Star Wars and want to emulate it as much as possible. It does, to some extent, add ever-so-slightly to the kitschiness of it all, I suppose. But, again, the actors aren't really acknowledging it. They're playing it all as straight as possible. Whereas other stories that have this element to it tend to get done with a bit more of a wink and a nod from the cast. Like some of the stuff in Sylvester McCoy era (Paradise Towers, Happiness Patrol etc...), they're noticing the silly sets and costumes and they're having fun with it. But in both Tsuranga and Girl, they're playing it pretty straight.
Here's the thing: I adored The Girl Who Waited. I loved its overall sensibility. That slight aura of humor that doesn't go too far but still gives us a vibe that the show doesn't take itself too seriously is actually quite sublime. To have another story like Tsuranga Conundrum come along and emulate it just filled my heart with joy. As far as I'm concerned, we need more Who stories like this. Two is not enough.
I particularly love how both tales use the idea of a menace that doesn't really look all that menacing. It somehow makes the whole thing seem scarier and deadlier. Something that can't quite be regarded as dangerous but still is quite deadly creates a very different sort of scary. And, for some reason, I love that breed of frightening.
So, in the case of where Tsuranga Conundrum comes from, I find it supersedes its influences and gives us something thoroughly delightful. It's a story that takes its cue from certain sources from the show's past and improves upon them. That, in my book, is pretty damned good TV.
CHARACTER GROWTH
Aside from evolving beyond its sources, there's a few other things that this episode accomplishes nicely. One of the most valuable contributions it makes is the development of Ryan's character.
Ryan meets a pregnant man who is not ready to have the child he's bearing.He wants to judge him for being willing to put his child up for adoption. To all intents and purposes, he's seeing his father in this character. But, before he can judge too harshly based on his own experiences, he steps back and has this nice talk with Yaz in one of the many gleaming white corridors of the spaceship. He suddenly finds himself understanding why his Dad might have run away and is able to see him as something else than a villain. It's a great moment in the story. And one that can only happen because of the change Chibnall has made in the format. A nice long episode that can run for nearly an hour allows for glorious character moments such as these. And it gives the proper time that is needed for companions to develop and grow.
I much prefer this to the "shoehorning" of moments like these that were done in pre-Chibnall New Who. Things needed to move so quickly in those days. But now the story is given time to breathe a bit. It's in these sort of moments, that some of the best character development is able to occur at a very gorgeous and natural pace. Ryan suddenly finding empathy for his father is one of the stronger examples of these sort of moments. I love that time is taken in this story to give Ryan this scene. It's the sort of stuff we weren't able to see much in the RTD or Moff eras.
In this same vein, we see some great development with the strained relationship between Ryan and Graham. I love that, as the Doctor takes down the Pting and saves the day, Ryan and Graham help deliver a baby. Both threads are treated with equal importance (as well they should be). As the two men work together to help bring new life into the world, the bond between them strengthens. They're still not ready for the fist punch, but they're getting there. It's a beautiful moment that makes Tsuranga into something much more than just a thrilling sci-fi adventure aboard an endangered spaceship. It's a story about people growing and developing. We see this idea echoed in smaller subplots like the brother and sister telling each other some important things that need to be said between them. But it's great that this tale also takes care of some bigger character arcs in the season, too.
A FEW OTHER STRONG POINTS
1) Pacing:
This is another really outstanding trait of Tsuranga Conundrum. It hits the ground running and just keeps moving at a really nice speed. The TARDIS crew getting blown up by a mine the Doctor can't defuse in time is a great way to grab our attention. Sending them to a spaceship with advanced enough technology to save them from such a fate keeps us interested. We then get a clever way to introduce us to the other characters on the ship. The Doctor trying to barge her way out not only gets us to meet the supporting cast but also establishes the main location of the story in a fun way, too.
And then, along comes the Pting. Once our cute-but-deadly central plot conflict is introduced, the story really swings into gear and keeps a great pace. Even that previously mentioned character moment with Yaz and Ryan that I love so much is kept economical so as not to interfere with the overall speed of things. The whole tale is a race against time as the Doctor must stop the Pting from tearing the ship apart and the stop the ship, itself, from blowing up.
2) Resolution
The actual method the Doctor uses to resolve the main conflicts of the story is brilliant. It's not so much the traditional "using the enemy's own energy against itself" technique, Instead, it's using two problems to cancel each other out. A very clever way to save the day. I'd even go so far to say that it's one of, if not, the best endings to an episode for that season. The prayer group in the very last scene is also quite touching. Particularly as it re-enforces the Doctor's whole idea that there is always hope in any situation. The speech she delivers earlier to Mabil on the subject is also one of the stronger monologues of the season.
CONCLUSION
I could go on, here. There are plenty of other things I could bring up about the episode that I think make it very strong. But I think I've heaped enough praise to make my point. When I employed this style of analysis on Warriors of the Deep, I was quick to admit its flaws. But, quite honestly, I'm not finding a lot of flaws to Tsuranga Conundrum. Do I regard it as an absolute classic? Of course not. It's a nice strong middle-of-the-season story that delivers all its meant to. And then some.
Like so much of the other criticism I've seen leveled at Series 11, I'm just not sure what the problem is....
There we go, Balance re-dressed. Other WAS IT SO BAD? essays will, no doubt, get written in the future. We'll continue to dip into New and Old Who as we do.
Want to read the first one? Here it is:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/09/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-was-it.html
