An Hour of Who a Day: September 6: "Praxeus"

September 6: "Praxeus"

Promotional photo for "Praxeus" (from BBC One - Doctor Who, Praxeus
gallery) ©BBC

All around the world, birds are falling out of the sky, while people in Madagascar and Peru are dying of a strange disease that causes them to spontaneously explode. What's going on? And what does all this have to do with a kidnapped British astronaut being held in Hong Kong?

It's interesting; in many ways this episode feels like a sister piece to "Orphan 55", but while that often seemed like it went out of its way to make the guest characters as irritating as possible while hammering home its climate change message, "Praxeus" is much more content to let the drama to arise naturally from the situation that's predicated on the spread of plastics throughout the entire planet, and to let us actually like its cast. Even Jake, the cop on sabbatical who starts the episode out as abrasive and reckless, has us firmly on his side by the end of things -- due in no small part, it should be noted, to Warren Brown's performance, which provides a sympathetic component for us to latch on to. And the relationship between him and his husband, the astronaut Adam Lang (Hooray! Finally, another goodie named Adam!), is handled very well, being realistic and touching without being overbearing or maudlin. I also love how the story doesn't go for the emotional heartbreak of having Jake sacrifice himself to save the planet but instead goes for the last-millisecond rescue at the end, allowing them to have their cake and eat it too: "What can I say? I'm a romantic," the Doctor says.

There's also Gabriela, who's constantly (and amusingly) annoyed that no one's heard of her travel vlog, while even Suki, who turns out to be part of the people who brought the Praxeus pathogen to Earth in the first place, engenders sympathy by ultimately trying to save her race rather than just destroying Earth for fun. "Look at us, Suki," the Doctor says. "Two brilliant scientists. We can fix this. Work together, find a cure for you, and then we can stop Earth from being taken over by Praxeus." The Doctor doesn't condemn Suki for the accidents and mistakes that were made, and so neither do we -- although she does end up succumbing to Praxeus in the end, so there is a modicum of poetic justice there if you're looking for it.

In fact, the only real thing worth noting regarding the characters is actually how Yaz behaves. We've gotten some hints that Yaz is behaving a little more recklessly (such as her eagerness to be a spy in Spyfall, even after she's been transported into the Kasaavian realm), but that seems to be cranked up a notch here, with her wanting to go back into the warehouse to recover the alien tech and to follow the alien through the transport pad. She feels a bit more forceful than before, and not necessarily in a good way. Maybe she's looking to be considered as more of a leader, or more independent? But regardless, she seems a bit more argumentative and a bit more upset about things than she has in the past. I'm curious to see if that's deliberate (perhaps they're preparing the ground for Yaz to leave the TARDIS?) or just something of a coincidence.

But as I said, the main issue here involves the spread of plastics all over Earth -- but while it brings it up and makes it the focus of the alien pathogen, it doesn't get overly preachy about it. "Praxeus breeds in plastic, and this planet is saturated in it," Suki tells the others. "We travelled across three galaxies to find the perfect living laboratory." It brings up the point, makes it the focus of the SF problem they've created, but it doesn't beat us over the head with it. It's a more subtle approach that benefits the episode, and so that also helps put us on its side.

I also like how expansive the setting feels. We're in Madagascar, Hong Kong, England, Peru, and somewhere in the Indian Ocean all in the same episode, without feeling rushed or superfluous. In fact, it gives the proceedings a more urgent feel, because Praxeus is an issue that affects the entire globe, not just one particular region with the possibility of its spreading. It's the sort of thing that the production teams don't tend to use that often, which is why it's really neat to see it put to good use here, with the wide distribution of the locations reinforcing that feeling of a global pandemic about to break out -- a subject which has a much greater resonance just a few months after this episode first aired, with the COVID-19 pandemic still (here in the United States, at least) showing no signs of being controlled. (Although the original airdate -- 2 February 2020 -- was late enough for some to note the similarities between Praxeus and COVID, even if COVID hadn't been declared a pandemic at that point (that would happen on 11 March) and had only just been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO a couple days earlier.) It kind of makes you wish the Doctor could cook up a cure for us that could be dispersed throughout the atmosphere the way the Praxeus antidote particles are done here. But either way, an unintentional byproduct of the global pandemic is that it helps that aspect of "Praxeus" connect with the audience even more than it did before.

I don't know that this is the most brilliant or flashy episode of the show, or even of series 12, but "Praxeus" does what it sets out to do with a minimum of fuss and a lot of sophistication. The lack of a "proper" monster or villain means that this might not rate as highly as some other stories in fandom, and maybe that does hurt it a little bit (after all, how would kids act this story out on the playground?), and maybe the situation feels a bit slight compared to other episodes (although again, I think the 2020 pandemic has made that part of the story age better than anyone would have perhaps realized). But none of that is the worst of sins. "Praxeus" may therefore not be the most impressive story ever, but nevertheless it's still quietly wonderful.