Doctor Who – Praxeus

By starrymag | February 9, 2020

By: Ellie Dolan-Yates

 

 

British astronaut Adam Lang (Matthew McNulty) is free-falling towards Earth. Down below Jake (Warren Brown) is chasing a thieving teenager through a supermarket. He still feels it’s his duty, even though he’s on a break from the police force. Meanwhile, in Peru we see Gabriela (Joana Borja) is showing Jamila (Gabriela Toloi) “the most beautiful river in the world.” This is a river which is now covered in plastic and other rubbish. Jamila says there’s no way they’re camping there, but she wakes in the tent in the middle of the night to a swarm of squawking birds. She falls amongst the rubbish before the birds attack her.

 

Back in the UK we watch Jake drinking in a bar when he hears the new of Adam’s crash on the news. After crashing in the Indian ocean he’s now missing, presumed dead. As he’s taking in the news, a text flashes on his phone saying “HELP ME.” It’s Adam and he’s in Hong Kong!

 

Gabriela wakes to find Jamila gone. As she shouts for her a dead bird falls from the sky. She goes to pick it up, but Ryan (Tosin Cole) tells her not to touch it as something’s wrong with the birds. In Hong Kong Jake has reached the location Adam sent to him. Whilst he’s trying to kick the door down, Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Graham (Bradley Walsh) appear with a set of keys. Jake tells them that he’s the police and there’s a missing person inside the building. Yaz explains that her and Graham are there to investigate unusual energy patterns. Over in Madagascar The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) is running across the beach, screaming for help. Suki (Molly Harris) and Aramu (Thapelo Maropefela) rush to help her as she drags a body out of the sea.

 

Gabriela accuses Ryan of taking Jamila. He hands her his bag to show that he’s not armed and she pats him down to be sure. Gabriela has asked her friends to access emergency services to see if they can find where Jamila is. Gabriela finally introduces herself to Ryan and is shocked when he hasn’t heard of her and Jamila’s travel vlog “Two Girls Roaming.” As Ryan puts the bird in his bag Gabriela has news that an ambulance was called out that morning. They head to the nearest hospital to find Jamila.

 

As Suki is explaining that her lab is just at the top of the beach, the body gasps for air. Struggling to breath, Zach (Tristan de Beer) explains that after an impact their captain tried to raise their submarine, but it was too late as “it” was already inside. He doesn’t have chance to explain what that “it” was as his body is consumed by shell-like material and then explodes! The Doctor tries to piece together how a naval officer in Madagascar, birds going haywire in Peru and alien technology in Hong Kong can all be related. She also thinks a talking cat in Ontario is involved, but she’s ruling him out for now.

 

Ryan and Gabriela find the hospital in Peru deserted. Ryan finds a dead bird in one of the corridors and a bang comes from a quarantined room. Ryan and an apprehensive Gabriela enter to find Jamila’s body, the shell-like material on her face. Ryan uses his earpiece to call The Doctor. She’s too late though. Ryan touches the markings on Jamila’s face causing them to cover her whole body before she explodes. The Doctor is concerned for Yaz and Graham.

 

After a bit of help from Yaz we watch Graham use his detector to find the source of the energy readings. Jake kicks the door in and they find a set-up of alien tech. Yaz presses something on a panel and a light shines on Adam in his astronaut suit. Jake goes to rip the wires from him, but Yaz and Graham advise him to wait until they know what it is. They soon change their mind when they are shot at by humanoids in gas masks. Yaz uses the panel as a bargaining tool and realizes it must be important. After a bit of panic and managing to get Adam away, Jake steals one of the laser rifles and shoots the humanoids. What is it with aliens and laser rifles?! As Graham implies that Adam should be more grateful that Jake has flown half-way across the world to rescue him, The Doctor is in the background trying to make sense of the humanoids. The Doctor leads the team to the TARDIS. Cue everybody losing their heads at it being bigger on the inside. Yaz tells The Doctor that the device she found must be important. She asks The Doctor to come back for her in an hour and Gabriela says she’ll help Yaz as she’s ready to fight something. The Doctor reluctantly agrees. Suki calls the TARDIS, something unusual is happening.

 

In Madagascar Graham asks Adam and Jake how they know each other. Adam says they’re married, but Jake says they’re separated. Graham notes one of them is in for a shock… Aramu explains that the swarm of birds above the beach aren’t native. The Doctor says she needs to get hold of a bird to analyse it. Good job as Ryan has one in his backpack! The Doctor says she thought Ryan smelt of dead bird, but thought he might have changed his shower gel. Aramu tells everyone to go inside as he’ll keep his eye on the birds. Inside The Doctor tells Ryan to dissect his bird whilst Graham sorts giving Adam an IV drip. The Doctor uses Suki’s laptop to find out what’s wrong with Adam. Suki explains that she’s working on a marine filtration system. Unfortunately, The Doctor finds that Adam’s bloodstream has been infected with an alien pathogen.

 

Yaz and Gabriela find the panel and Yaz concludes that the lab is part of a triangulation of signals. She doesn’t get long to analyse it though before a humanoid appears and teleports itself away. Yaz and Gabriela follow it. They end up in what Yaz believes to be an alien planet. They discover the missing submarine amongst fishing nets and plastic.

 

On the Madagascan beach, Jake is confiding in Graham. He tells him that being with someone as amazing as Adam makes him feel inferior. He’s also afraid of commitment and hates travelling abroad, which is why he missed Adam’s launch. Back inside, Jake worries about Adam’s condition worsening and Graham says the birds are getting angry. Ryan has found that the dead bird is full of plastic. This triggers a lightbulb moment for The Doctor. She explains that the alien pathogens attacked the plastic which has then spread. She concludes that the pathogens can also attach themselves to microplastics, which are inside humans due to us drinking water and eating food contaminated by plastic.

 

The birds descend on Aramu as The Doctor realizes that the enzymes in the birds are fighting back against the alien pathogens. Suki tells The Doctor that if they isolate the enzymes and splice them they’ll have a supercharged virus. The Doctor calls Yaz who tells her not to panic, but she thinks she’s found an alien planet and the missing submarine. She also tells her that the alien lab was sending signals to two locations, one of them being Madagascar. At this The Doctor understands that Suki has an over-equipped lab for a reason. Suki reveals that she was using Adam as an experiment to find a cure for the infection, which they call “Praxeus” before teleporting away. The birds attack the lab and The Doctor grabs the samples. As they get Adam to the safety of the TARDIS, Jake says this is why he doesn’t go abroad!

 

In the TARDIS Adam tells The Doctor to test the cure on him, but Jake says that he won’t let it happen. Adam tells The Doctor to stop faffing and she administers him with the cure. They land at Yaz’s location and The Doctor tells Jake to stay with Adam. They have a heart to heart and hold each other’s hands. Adam tells Jake to “stop dodging life.” Yaz is excited to tell The Doctor that she’s found an alien colony, but The Doctor tells her they’re underneath the Indian Ocean. They’re under a gyre of plastic pollution, which the Praxeus is attracted to causing it to build the environment they’re in now. They find Suki beside what is left of her spaceship. She explains that her race has nearly been wiped out due to Praxeus and she came to Earth, filled with plastic, to find a cure. As Suki tells The Doctor that she’s already administered the cure to what’s left of her race, The Doctor warns her that the antidote was made for humans. At this Suki is consumed by the Praxeus and explodes.

 

Adam and Jake join the team at Suki’s ship, the antidote has worked. The team get to work on powering up Suki’s ship in order to use its organic fuel cells to disperse the antidote into the atmosphere. The Doctor has set the ship to autopilot so that when it explodes, they don’t get crushed and buried under the Indian Ocean. Well, she thought she did. As the team take cover in the TARDIS, they realize that Jake has flown the ship away. He taps into the TARDIS comms and tells a pleading Adam that he’s not dodging life. However, The Doctor isn’t going to let Jake die. She materializes the TARDIS around the ship with a millisecond to spare and saves him.

 

The Doctor drops Jake, Adam and Gabriela back in Madagascar and tells them to keep the planet safe. Jake wants a statue for his efforts. Adam says he wants a honeymoon with Jake whilst they’re abroad. Gabriela says she’ll go with them, leaving Jake to wonder how that would be a honeymoon. Graham says they can be “Three Idiots Roaming.”