Ok so this seems to be a point of confusion, so let's clarify. As some have noted the Doctor actually lied about the issue with the fluid link in The Daleks so that he could pretend they couldn't leave and have the time to look around and investigate. HOWEVER people then seem to have forgotten that later on the fluid link does actually fall into the hands of the Daleks and they truly can't leave Skaro without it because it was in fact essential. TL:DR - I didn't mis-remember, the rest of you did. So ha!
I just rewatched it and found it to be phenomenal. It's one of the more underrated stories, not only in Capaldi's era but the series in general. I liked how James Mathieson and Steven Moffat put a new spin on the Zombie/Walking Dead genre, by having their dead crewmember being kept mobile due to their suits. Besides The Waters of Mars which you cited, I think they're a bit reminiscent of the Haemovores from The Curse of Fenric as well as the cloned, disease carriers from New Earth, and the Vashta Narada in Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead, and the Gelth using corpses as transport for them in The Unquiet Dead. They're an ominous presence, and bring that requisite amount of horror that has always been part and parcel of the series. I also love the political and social commentary about capitalism. It put me in mind how the sci-fi action classic Robocop tackled the same themes of capitalism and corporations. In a way, the dehumanization of those who have been killed by the corporation after their death is very astute in this episode. It's as if the corporation that created the suits and who the crew worked for, see them as nothing more than lifeless puppets or mere products that they own and can control. That's pretty much what happens to the character of Alex Murphy in Robocop when he is killed in the line of duty, and then taken by OCP and brought back to life, as the cybernetic law enforcer, Robocop. A repackaged product that the corporation now owns. There's so much more I'd love to say about this episode as it is indeed amazing, but I'd be here all day. Lol.
“Bill, I’ve got no TARDIS, no sonic, about 10 minutes of Oxygen left, and now I’m blind. Can you imagine how unbearable I’m going to be when I pull this off?”
Hey don’t dis orphan 55. We all know the environmental message was just a backdrop for the groundbreaking, tearjerking , heart shattering romance of Benni and Vilma
After Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline and The Girl Who Died, this is once again another brilliant story from Jamie Mathieson. Capitalism being taken to its extreme like this is fascinating concept to see in a Doctor Who story, plus it has a clever way to resolve the situation. Pearl Mackie's performance in this episode was incredible, and that ending was unexpected!
@@longnoseboi Idk. Didn't Moffat only write The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink, before he ACTUALLY became showrunner? I don't think, Mathieson is ever gonna be a showrunner. So these two examples seem completely different to me...
A line I love from this story is when Capaldi says: “Bill, look at me. You’re about to be exposed to the Vacuum of space.” The deadly serious delivery, the way it harks to back the beginning of the episode, twisting it from a quippy jokey moment to cold harsh reality and Bill’s terrified reaction. It’s fantastic!
@@jmurray1110 He took the fluid link with him when they went exploring because he said it was empty and needing refilling which was a lie but then the daleks took it from him and they actually couldn't take off.
It's crazy to me that people get angry online about the newest seasons of Doctor Who being too woke since Whitaker arrived when previous seasons have episodes like this! Great episode btw.
The new series is in a way not political enough. It tries to act political but it ends up being quite surface level and not integrated well into a story.
@@KatzePiano Kerblam was an excellent episode imo. But I definitely agree the message was mixed. I thought it was more anti-terrorism than anti-union. But then kinda like 'sometimes terrorism does good, but it's still bad.' Actually to be fair that's not that bad a message, I mean at least it's true. But as for the Space Amazon Robot having a conscience and reaching out for help... pfft it was just looking after its own interests. Also 13 straight up executes a guy. Still enjoyed it though.
"Dying well" and "Space is trying to kill you" are two of my favourite mini speeches. Also apparently Capaldi filmed lots of scenes doing uni presentations and there out there somewhere. Also also, the doctor lied about the fluid link originally to see the daleks even in the 60s. To think if he had just swallowed his pride and moved on, he would never know about the daleks
Not exactly. He lied about it at first because he wanted to see the city but the lie required that he take it with him out of the Tardis and when they got captured the daleks took it from him which actually did ground the Tardis.
People: Corporations wouldn't kill us just for profit in the future! 19th century History: HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA How many examples would you like??
That line of the Doctor reminds me of some other doctors. Specifically, there is this German band called Die Ärzte (literally "the (medical) doctors") that have a song called "Deine Schuld" - "your fault". The chorus of that song goes "it's not your fault that the world is like it is, it would only be your fault if it remained that way".
Hello I haven’t finished watching this yet but I was struck with inspiration to comment and I’m cranking this out before I lose steam. Gotta appease the almighty algorithm. Just wanted to say I’ve been watching your videos for about two years now and I absolutely adore your content (and you!). You’re so intelligent and well spoken, and even though I don’t agree with your Doctor Who opinions (call me basic but 10 is the best ;P ) I love watching your videos because you’re so articulate, you usually have me reconsider my opinions at the end of a video. Ahh I’m not really a commenting person but I’m happy I managed to write this one. I love your cold opens for the Doctor Who review videos you do. Also since I’ve been watching you for a while now, I have noticed that you’re editing more clips of the show or pictures into your video and that little extra thing definitely enhances the overall quality. I love seeing you evolve and get better. Okay ramble over thank you for the work that you do and sorry for being so shy/lazy about commenting before. Have a nice day. ❤️
The operation of the space station in this episode very much reminded me of the history of company towns. While some may say that a business, and by extension capitalism, wouldn't go this far that history of company towns says we basically already have.
I've always said I respect a very well done cliche just as much as something totally new. A Town Called Mercy came close, but to a certain extent it just felt like it was joyously cycling through cliches, which isn't enough for me. Oxygen, on the other hand, gets everything perfect to me. The dialogue, the set design, the performances, the stakes, the beats, the themes, the subtext - not to mention one of the most inspired cliffhangers! It just nails everything. An adequate story polished to brilliance -The best series of Doctor Who- _Series 10_ has a lot of contenders, but Oxygen is up there as one of my favourites. Fun fact! Last time I watched this story was on the plane back from Greece with my friends, last summer. Not scary at all (:
4:02, well the Doctor was the one to sabotage the ship and say they couldn't leave without it because he wanted to explore the city, he could have been lying then as well
@@CouncilofGeeks I haven't watched the story in like a year, so I forgot about that, and I haven't wanted to rewatch it (I love the Daleks, and I respect the story, but it's boring, way too drawn out)
Hey I have a video idea that might make a good discussion. Do Fan Theories Create Inevitable Disappointment? Mainly bc WandaVision is about to end and the director just made a statement that a lot of people will be disappointed in the finale.
I didn't realize that the fluid link was a callback to that. I thought it was a callback to the whole idea that the doctor lies, especially since he will end up lying about his blindness later
The way you described Capitalism and your issues with it made me think of a quote from A Christmas Carol "If they are going to die they better do it quickly and decrease the surplus population" That full quote is Capitalism in a nutshell and I feel it fits with this episode so well. I also love this episode. I watched it with my mum and she was really gripped by it. we were both in shock about the Doctor going blind. It is just great. I likes it a lot.
This is the first time I've actually gotten the hype around Mathieson as a writer. While I didn't have anything to really complain about with Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline I just wasn't as enthusiastic about them as everyone else was. This however really clicked with me. The concept is neat, very Bioshock, it's a subject matter that is always going to be important. It looks great, 12 is at his best, the fakeout death with Bill was horrifying, Nardole is great and the ending had my jaw drop. My only complaint is from memory the guest cast wasn't remarkable.
Am I lucky today or am I lucky today, caught the new vid the very minute! I also may have pushed a magic button because I was just painting my nails rainbow! :) Much love 💚💚💚💚💚🌈
My biggest nitpick was the zoom-out to the full circular station from a window pointed towards the inside of the circle because the characters are seen standing vertical to how the artificial gravity would work x) Like, it would've been so easy to just make that shot work out logically, I can't fathom why they wouldn't.
I remember while this season was going on i had really bad internet and found the intro predictable (and remember hearing it was part 2 of sleep no more) and skipping it. Big mistake. Huge! Didnt come back until the whole season was over and I desperately needed more Capaldi and it’s one of my favourite episodes in the series
They really should have brought Charles Palmer back more often; possibly my favourite Doctor Who director. At this point in Series 10, I think it's time to address it as the best looking series of the show to date (closely followed by Series 3, in my opinion). My main issue with Series 11 and 12 is they both have a very strict, bland aesthetic which they stick to like the plague. There's no variety, no individual voice to any episode. The closest we get is The Haunting of Villa Diadati, so no surprise we all love the cinematography so much. It's like how any other show is shot. Series 3 and 10 kinda get the best of both worlds, in that the look of each episode is so distinct... _and yet both seasons are consistent in that every single story looks phenomenal._
@beef business - Series 1's direction is great too, with five installments from the brilliant Joe Aherne, and two from Euros. But because of production issues more than anything else, it is a little limited. The Parting of the Ways remains to be one of my favourites ever though. Just watch Lynda with a Y's death. The sound design especially is something to awe. Series 2 is the worst looking series to date for me. Fear Her, Love and Monsters, New Earth, The Idiot's Lantern - even Army of Ghosts looks a little shoddy. Very inconsistent, even if Tooth and Claw and The Impossible Planet are as good as they are. Series 4 is how I imagine most people _assume_ Doctor Who would look like. Nothing particularly ambitious, other than Midnight and Silence in the Library. It looks good, but almost too consistent, like what I was talking about with Series 11 and 12. Series 3 on the other hand...bar the Dalek two-parter, every single story is gorgeous. Human Nature, Gridlock, and Utopia are definitely the stand-outs, I could analyse them all day. But every story brings something new. I love Series 3, and the direction has got to be the highlight.
With the Daleks wasn’t there a thing that the Doctor tricked the companions into going to explore Skaro because he wanted to explore. Didn’t he pretend that the TARDIS couldn’t take off and that they had to go into the city for parts or something? I can’t quite remember but I like the fact it’s basically the other way round. (In the Daleks the companions wanted to leave but the doctor didn’t) Do you think that Capaldi included that reference being the mega-fan he is?
At the start he didn't pretend that the fluid link was necessary for the Tardis to work, he pretended that there was something wrong with it. When they lost the fluid link later they had to go back for it so it was genuinely needed for the Tardis to work
This was such a good episode and I'm kinda ashamed to admit I haven't watched it since it aired. And yes I totally agree, this is a logical slippery slope of capitalism, and agree that, well there's no getting out of it peacefully in 6 months.
Amazing characters,concept and story Love this one a lot. The doctor going blind is a bit dumb though like cant he go to some duper futuristic space hospital?
That final scene is a huge display of just how good an actor Peter Capaldi is, as he finds all kinds of subtle ways to show the Doctor is still blind that become obvious on a rewatch, yet it's totally believable that Bill wouldn't notice.
Honestly, I think the fluid link was just an excuse for the Doctor to take the OG fam to explore the creepy alien City on Skaro. He could have flown away at the beginning if he really wanted to.
I think the genius of the cold open is that we get a loving couple, with the woman having decided they should start a family, get brutally murdered as they near safety, for no obvious reason, so we know from the off that no character, no matter how sympathetic, is safe, this being in keeping with the overall horror vibe of the season. I believe the decision to show it in a Spring-Summer run was jarringly at odds with these dark tones and Autumn-Winter broadcasts with dark evenings would have led to a better reception for many of the episodes.
^^^^ IAN: But don't you remember? We can't move the ship until we find the mercury for the fluid link! DOCTOR: For the fluid link, yes. Yes, I'm afraid I cheated a little on that. I was determined to see the city, but everybody wanted to go on and, well, to avoid arguments... in short, there's nothing wrong with the fluid link.
Small correction: You said that the fluid link actually grounded the TARDIS in The Daleks. This is only an excuse 1 makes so he can go outside and explore. Which imo make the scene in Oxygen even better.
The fluid link actually does ground the Tardis. The Doctor's excuse for going to explore the city was that the link was broken and the city might have what they needed to repair it. When the daleks later capture them and confiscate it they have to go back for it because it is actually needed for the operation of the Tardis.
I think this one is really good, effective with its commentary and an interesting premise, but for whatever reason the resolution lets me down a bit. It feels...I dunno, too easy?
It's a good solid, tho not spectacular story. I love how blindness sticks for a while. The actors are uniformly great with Nardole taking a more pivotal role which is nice.
9:36 people complain saying “it’s too extreme!” Capitalism during COVID: Another quote from Council of Geeks’ review of Revolution of the Daleks: it is... depressingly fitting
But it isn't my fault! I was given those means! You persuaded me to trade away my soul for means, And without those means, Of production, There'd have been no capital in the first place!
On the unrealism of the capitolism in oxygen killing the workers. That's not even that extreme for our society's version of capitolism. Yes it is an extrapolated extreme but not by much. Capitolism's entire goal is to be efficient as possible in making money and the first people to be made to suffer from that are the workers. Workers are treated as a disposable resource, something that can be easily replaced. Now that normally means firing, not death but it isn't as though there aren't companies that have pushed workers into working unsafe conditions or an unsafe number of hours because it was more profitable for them. We aren't at a stage were capitolism intentionally kills anyone but the entire system is designed to dispose of workers who can't keep up with it and in essence, everyone falls behind eventually. I mean, there's a rule in the US labour code that says employers can't store hazardous material in the same room as they house workers. That rule exists because some company did that and people died from radiation poisoning. The workers lives were considered less essential than the money the company would save by not having to arrange for separate storage for their hazardous material. Capitolism already kills people, it just isn't written into their mandate that they're allowed to do that at the moment.
We already commodify food, water, and other essential things for human survival. Why not oxygen? If there was such a system where they could justify how dispensing the oxygen costs them money, it being a paid for commodity isn't unrealistic
For the record, this portrayal of capitalism is not an exaggeration at all or even a slippery slope argument. Predictable disasters happen all the time because corporations have calculated that it would be more expensive to fix the cause than it would be to pay compensation to the families of the dead, and they know the "justice" system will never give them jail time. Grenfell Tower here in the UK is a tragic example and happened only a single month after this episode aired. The "suits" knew the building's cladding was outdated and highly flammable, that a disaster was inevitable. They chose to let it happen because it was cheaper, they killed 72 people to keep their bottom line, and not a single one of them was held accountable. That's _worse_ than what happened in this episode. The fictional future dystopia is less extreme than the reality.
Going through the 10th Season my first time around, I was okay with it but thought it was a little dull. More recently, I've come to really like several episodes, such as Smile, Thin Ice (even back on my first viewing, I loved Thin Ice) and now Oxygen. I'm a Capitalist and I love this episode. (I'm kind of a "Capitalism is the worst idea ever, except for all the others" kind of guy) Was going to mention The Thirteen's Doctor's rant in Orphan 55 but you did it already! Still, the preachiness of Orphan 55 was awful, much like every other moment of that episode. But Oxygen was so much better and subtler in it's approach at the end. It made me think, whereas Orphan 55 made me think that slamming a baseball bat into my TV would be a good idea.
This is definitely one of my fave Doctor Who stories! (And as a lefty super-queer peep, I'm generally super-down for anti-Capitalist stuff on my telly).
I dunno, on the one hand, with enough deregulation, or just ineffective enforcement of existing regulation, something like this could totally happen. And deregulation and/or undermining state capacity are things that businesses have obvious incentives to push for. And they would likely appeal to broadly Libertarian arguments to justify it. I don't find it unrealistic at all! On the other hand most people who identify with "capitalism" (whether that means your basic centre-right mixed economy approach or a much more radical kind of Libertarianism) shouldn't have any trouble explaining why they're _not_ committed to endorsing the actions of this company and they're probably going to look at this episode and say "well no, that's not what my position is". I think if I was writing this, I would have either left out the part where they explicitly say the C-word and let the story speak for itself, or spent some time exploring how this society got the way that it is and maybe had something about how big businesses cynically appealed to ideals like freedom and personal autonomy while building this fairly oppressive and extractive system.
I have been having recurring dreams about Doctor Who most recently... Even until last night. 13 is going to regenerate into a man again. A bit older man, but not Capaldi old. And he has some fancy outfit aspects about him (I think it was his hat) and a thing that he always repeats saying... I'll probably turn out to be wrong on all of these "predictions", it's just how 14 is in my dreams. And he starts travelling ALONE!...
Um, can we on the Left please not use terminology that was coined by Gamergaters, alt-righters and literal Neo-Nazis? Other Lefties will give me shit about my tattoo of a Viking compass because Norse history and mythology has been appropriated and bastardized by Nazis and then turn around and use slang that was literally invented by those scumbags...
Honestly its too realistic, air in space, is valuable, An while unionizing there is a nice thing, its personally still cruel from him to let it happen, even when later its, same as smile, i dont like the doctor just letting people e in their doom, even if they die less likely there.
Its funny how the opening to this episode can make you feel more for the couple doing the space walk than orphan55 makes you feel about BENNY!!!!! which is just sloppily done then half the episode is wasted trying to save a character you dont give 2 shits about and essentially just a lazy plot device to try and get you off the base so they can discover this waste land is Earth....... I was down for the resort, base under siege plot, the second they left the base i was like nope...... garbage
I love this episode, it's probably my second favourite of series 10 behind World Enough and Time. And as a bonus it pissed off my capitalism loving friend
As absurd as it is to directly compare two different versions of the show with completely different goals, I can't watch Kerblam and see the Doctor side with/be apathetic towards evil space amazon without Capaldi's passionate 'Capitalism is death' speech ringing in my ears.
What annoys me about this story is that it hinges on The Doctor being unable to reach The TARDIS and take everyone to safety, but we see in Time Of The Doctor that he can summon The TARDIS using the key, so that basically leaves the whole plot null and void. I think that this is the first story since TOTD to have a straight “trapped in a base” storyline, so I was willing to give the homing TARDIS key a pass for episodes like 42 and World War 3, on account of the same theory that you have about The Doctor constantly tinkering with The TARDIS and adding new features, but this episode really has no excuse.
I'd be more peeved by the fact that the "TARIS-summoning" feature had never appeared before, not that I am. Doctor Who has often invented plot conveniences only to forget/drop them later. Re the importance of the fluid-link to the TARDIS, it was probably a bluff by Hartnell as an excuse to stay on Skaro. We only had his word for it, after all :)
@@ftumschk It makes sense if you subscribe to the theory mentioned in this video that The Doctor is constantly adding new features to The TARDIS (I’d say upgrading it but.. you know) and assume that he created the homing TARDIS key shortly before he went to Trenzalore.
@@ftumschk ok I’ll give you that. I guess since we haven’t seen The Doctor use it since, he/she didn’t feel the need to fix it like with the fluid link.
Ah, perhaps the most explicitly leftist Doctor Who story of all time. Love it. As for if it's realistic or not... It's only (relatively) recently people stopped firing children for getting seriously injured on factory floors or up chimneys.
I get what you are saying about the blue alien, however I have witnessed, and I will add that it's not everyone it's never everyone, but I have seen those who're on the "left" be incredibly racist and sexist. Usually when it comes to disagreements of ideology. It's why that scene didn't bother me, because, and just a theory on my part, I think people who are abused don't recognize the blind spots they develop. Or how they become what they hate. Because how could they be sexist and racist, they're fighting sexism and racism? Or how could they be the above, because they're part of the marginalized group. It's very to be sexist and racist sadly, and I don't as many people are self reflective as they should be. Like I think that's why that scene is important. Bill's actions can be racists, even if she's not trying to.
I felt like the critique was too on the nose in that is they literally said what they were critiquing. To me that's just gratuitous. In my view, critiques ought to be more allegorical, so if the writers want to critique capitalism, they demonstrate how this one corporation's business model is exploitative or whatever and have the characters discover the ins and outs of it. And to be sure, the writing did a decent job of that. The writers didn't need to jump in and say "And this is all about capitalism"; if the audience doesn't get understand that from the story being told to them, then either the point isn't that strong to begin with or the story hasn't been told very well. To be sure, as you say, it's not as on the nose as Orphan 55, but it still felt like the Doctor was interrupting the story to tell us what the message was, which to me feels like a mark of bad storytelling.
That whole thing with the blue alien definitely was coming from the same place as the post racism society trope. Which is so disappointing, not only because of this episode being so great, but because of what a missed opportunity that moment was. Similarly to the mood patches during Tennant's era, it could have been it's own episode. Yes we've had the constant theme of speciesism in scifi for as long as it has existed, but always with white people. The whole point of speciesism in scifi is to be an allegory to racism. And that scene mocks that trope in a way that seems to indicate the writers think that entire trope is a joke. We could have had a real conversation about intersectionalism and colorism, but instead they spit on that trope. That scene and the hasty 6 month timeline really exemplifies what the real problems of performative wokeness. These writers do not understand the underlying problem enough to see their mistakes. They know just enough to fool the majority of their audience. That scene played out like the feminist episode of B99. Its clunky because they are just repeating what they've heard, without understanding the meaning behind it. And then with the 6 months of instant problem solved, its Harry Potter all over again. They don't know how to write a satisfying solution, because they like things the way they are. (This was way longer than I intended, but it really got me thinking)
You speak out against capitalism but at the end of your video you hawk your patreon account that is a form of the capitalistic model. Not saying your a bad person for doing so but maybe you should recognize that capitalism allows you to do what you enjoy. Still love your work.
You know that in such a capitalistic society it's essential to participate to some degree to prevent yourself from starving to death. That's the whole point and what she talks about in the middle of the video.
Woke & progressive insanity, hatred, bigotry and terrible writing, had already started to infect Matt Smith's Doctor Who. By the time Capaldi came around, they were committing to it in a more significant way and it wrecked Capaldi's run which could have been really great. DOCTOR WHO ISN'T DEAD. IT WAS INTENTIONALLY MURDERED. 2 GENERATIONS AGO.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Ok so this seems to be a point of confusion, so let's clarify. As some have noted the Doctor actually lied about the issue with the fluid link in The Daleks so that he could pretend they couldn't leave and have the time to look around and investigate. HOWEVER people then seem to have forgotten that later on the fluid link does actually fall into the hands of the Daleks and they truly can't leave Skaro without it because it was in fact essential.
TL:DR - I didn't mis-remember, the rest of you did. So ha!
Spiteful nickpickyness nil Vera 1
I must apologise. I was one of those ppl
Ha!
I just rewatched it and found it to be phenomenal. It's one of the more underrated stories, not only in Capaldi's era but the series in general. I liked how James Mathieson and Steven Moffat put a new spin on the Zombie/Walking Dead genre, by having their dead crewmember being kept mobile due to their suits. Besides The Waters of Mars which you cited, I think they're a bit reminiscent of the Haemovores from The Curse of Fenric as well as the cloned, disease carriers from New Earth, and the Vashta Narada in Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead, and the Gelth using corpses as transport for them in The Unquiet Dead. They're an ominous presence, and bring that requisite amount of horror that has always been part and parcel of the series.
I also love the political and social commentary about capitalism. It put me in mind how the sci-fi action classic Robocop tackled the same themes of capitalism and corporations. In a way, the dehumanization of those who have been killed by the corporation after their death is very astute in this episode. It's as if the corporation that created the suits and who the crew worked for, see them as nothing more than lifeless puppets or mere products that they own and can control. That's pretty much what happens to the character of Alex Murphy in Robocop when he is killed in the line of duty, and then taken by OCP and brought back to life, as the cybernetic law enforcer, Robocop. A repackaged product that the corporation now owns. There's so much more I'd love to say about this episode as it is indeed amazing, but I'd be here all day. Lol.
“Bill, I’ve got no TARDIS, no sonic, about 10 minutes of Oxygen left, and now I’m blind. Can you imagine how unbearable I’m going to be when I pull this off?”
That’s such a great line, it both reassures Bill while also showing the doctors determination. No matter what, he won’t accept defeat.
I miss him.... SO. MUCH....
Hey don’t dis orphan 55. We all know the environmental message was just a backdrop for the groundbreaking, tearjerking , heart shattering romance of Benni and Vilma
Bennyyyyyyy!
"Knock it off, Rory."
Not a Doctor Who reference, just to be clear.
After Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline and The Girl Who Died, this is once again another brilliant story from Jamie Mathieson. Capitalism being taken to its extreme like this is fascinating concept to see in a Doctor Who story, plus it has a clever way to resolve the situation. Pearl Mackie's performance in this episode was incredible, and that ending was unexpected!
I hated The Girl Who Died, it’s in my bottom 5 Capaldi stories.
Wait, Mathieson has written ALL of those? Holy shit... He should be showrunner....
@@QuokkaCore I hear ya... but the actual character development for the Doctor AND Clara in that episode?? Fuuuuuuckin **MWAH** 🤌
@@longnoseboi Idk. Didn't Moffat only write The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink, before he ACTUALLY became showrunner?
I don't think, Mathieson is ever gonna be a showrunner. So these two examples seem completely different to me...
@@longnoseboi Shit, you're right.
But also: Hell Bent is currently like my #2 all time favourite episode... So.........
A line I love from this story is when Capaldi says:
“Bill, look at me. You’re about to be exposed to the Vacuum of space.”
The deadly serious delivery, the way it harks to back the beginning of the episode, twisting it from a quippy jokey moment to cold harsh reality and Bill’s terrified reaction. It’s fantastic!
I could have sworn that the fluid link in the Daleks was an excuse for the doctor to poke around skaro a bit more?
It was at first. And then it went missing for real and they couldn't take off.
Not that it went missing it’s just he didnt have any back up mercury after he removed the link letting spill on the consol
@@jmurray1110 He took the fluid link with him when they went exploring because he said it was empty and needing refilling which was a lie but then the daleks took it from him and they actually couldn't take off.
It's crazy to me that people get angry online about the newest seasons of Doctor Who being too woke since Whitaker arrived when previous seasons have episodes like this! Great episode btw.
It would involve paying attention for them not to...
The new series is in a way not political enough. It tries to act political but it ends up being quite surface level and not integrated well into a story.
@@ishaandw I agree, eg. the weird pro-Space-Amazon/anti-union message of Kerblam vs something like Oxygen
@@KatzePiano Kerblam was an excellent episode imo. But I definitely agree the message was mixed. I thought it was more anti-terrorism than anti-union. But then kinda like 'sometimes terrorism does good, but it's still bad.' Actually to be fair that's not that bad a message, I mean at least it's true. But as for the Space Amazon Robot having a conscience and reaching out for help... pfft it was just looking after its own interests. Also 13 straight up executes a guy. Still enjoyed it though.
"We would never let it get there"
Wall St is trading water futures as you speak.
"Capitalism, more like Crapitalism. Am I right ladies" -Carl Marks
"Pass the mayonnaise" -Chairman Mayo
This episode took my breath away.......
I’ll show my self out
** Cue Berlin **
"Dying well" and "Space is trying to kill you" are two of my favourite mini speeches.
Also apparently Capaldi filmed lots of scenes doing uni presentations and there out there somewhere.
Also also, the doctor lied about the fluid link originally to see the daleks even in the 60s. To think if he had just swallowed his pride and moved on, he would never know about the daleks
Not exactly. He lied about it at first because he wanted to see the city but the lie required that he take it with him out of the Tardis and when they got captured the daleks took it from him which actually did ground the Tardis.
The visual direction of this season is so phenomenal. Just love looking at every shot of it, the lighting and framing is 👌👌
People: Corporations wouldn't kill us just for profit in the future!
19th century History: HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA How many examples would you like??
Triangle Shirtwaist factory says hi!
Not Cuyamel taking over the government of Honduras.
That line of the Doctor reminds me of some other doctors. Specifically, there is this German band called Die Ärzte (literally "the (medical) doctors") that have a song called "Deine Schuld" - "your fault". The chorus of that song goes "it's not your fault that the world is like it is, it would only be your fault if it remained that way".
Jinx! I was reminded of that song, too!
Hello I haven’t finished watching this yet but I was struck with inspiration to comment and I’m cranking this out before I lose steam. Gotta appease the almighty algorithm. Just wanted to say I’ve been watching your videos for about two years now and I absolutely adore your content (and you!). You’re so intelligent and well spoken, and even though I don’t agree with your Doctor Who opinions (call me basic but 10 is the best ;P ) I love watching your videos because you’re so articulate, you usually have me reconsider my opinions at the end of a video. Ahh I’m not really a commenting person but I’m happy I managed to write this one. I love your cold opens for the Doctor Who review videos you do. Also since I’ve been watching you for a while now, I have noticed that you’re editing more clips of the show or pictures into your video and that little extra thing definitely enhances the overall quality. I love seeing you evolve and get better. Okay ramble over thank you for the work that you do and sorry for being so shy/lazy about commenting before. Have a nice day. ❤️
The operation of the space station in this episode very much reminded me of the history of company towns. While some may say that a business, and by extension capitalism, wouldn't go this far that history of company towns says we basically already have.
I loved the Doctor's line near the end, "It is us against the suits".
This is the second line from this episode that I've been reminded about because of this video!
@@henryg4377 What was the first?
Professory Doctor is my favourite Doctor! I love a good lecture!
This and World enough and time are my favourite episodes of the series.
Jamie Mathieson is 4/4 and I wish they would bring him back to write for Jodie
I've always said I respect a very well done cliche just as much as something totally new.
A Town Called Mercy came close, but to a certain extent it just felt like it was joyously cycling through cliches, which isn't enough for me. Oxygen, on the other hand, gets everything perfect to me. The dialogue, the set design, the performances, the stakes, the beats, the themes, the subtext - not to mention one of the most inspired cliffhangers! It just nails everything. An adequate story polished to brilliance
-The best series of Doctor Who- _Series 10_ has a lot of contenders, but Oxygen is up there as one of my favourites. Fun fact! Last time I watched this story was on the plane back from Greece with my friends, last summer. Not scary at all (:
11:44 *Kerblam-Man intensifies*
4:02, well the Doctor was the one to sabotage the ship and say they couldn't leave without it because he wanted to explore the city, he could have been lying then as well
Not really because later that same story it goes missing for real and they can’t leave.
@@CouncilofGeeks I haven't watched the story in like a year, so I forgot about that, and I haven't wanted to rewatch it (I love the Daleks, and I respect the story, but it's boring, way too drawn out)
This episode is one of those rare thematic masterpieces of doctor who.
Those automated suits remind me of the override harnesses from Old World Blues in F:NV
I kinda want a video about your favorite bits of head canon. Ranked or un-ranked, I'm highly interested in your head canons.
Best kind of Sci-Fi, taking an accepted norm and then taking it to the extreme breaking point.
Hey I have a video idea that might make a good discussion.
Do Fan Theories Create Inevitable Disappointment?
Mainly bc WandaVision is about to end and the director just made a statement that a lot of people will be disappointed in the finale.
I didn't realize that the fluid link was a callback to that. I thought it was a callback to the whole idea that the doctor lies, especially since he will end up lying about his blindness later
Looks like Capitalism has caught up with Tim Curry by now.
I see what you did there
NO
Capitalism is... just a.... blue... mackerel?? (Congrats to the ONE person who’s gonna get this! 🥳 )
@@unclegumbald989sounds like a Douglas Adams esque line but I don't get the reference sadly :(
@@elizataylor1726 It's sorta the mirror-version of "Communism is just a red herring" from the 1985 movie "Clue" lol
Fantastic episode. One of my top Capaldi episodes full stop.
The way you described Capitalism and your issues with it made me think of a quote from A Christmas Carol "If they are going to die they better do it quickly and decrease the surplus population" That full quote is Capitalism in a nutshell and I feel it fits with this episode so well. I also love this episode. I watched it with my mum and she was really gripped by it. we were both in shock about the Doctor going blind. It is just great. I likes it a lot.
Speaking of the slippery slope of union actions, have you read any into the Battle of Blair Mountain and the Appalachian Coal Wars?
This is the first time I've actually gotten the hype around Mathieson as a writer. While I didn't have anything to really complain about with Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline I just wasn't as enthusiastic about them as everyone else was. This however really clicked with me. The concept is neat, very Bioshock, it's a subject matter that is always going to be important. It looks great, 12 is at his best, the fakeout death with Bill was horrifying, Nardole is great and the ending had my jaw drop. My only complaint is from memory the guest cast wasn't remarkable.
Am I lucky today or am I lucky today, caught the new vid the very minute! I also may have pushed a magic button because I was just painting my nails rainbow! :) Much love 💚💚💚💚💚🌈
8:55 I mean either we shack up in the woods and bury our social securities numbers, or we bide our time and cry hahaha
My biggest nitpick was the zoom-out to the full circular station from a window pointed towards the inside of the circle because the characters are seen standing vertical to how the artificial gravity would work x) Like, it would've been so easy to just make that shot work out logically, I can't fathom why they wouldn't.
Oh I forgot about the Fluid link, rewatched the Daleks recently myself so that's nice.
"this one has a good atmosphere..."
😏
I remember while this season was going on i had really bad internet and found the intro predictable (and remember hearing it was part 2 of sleep no more) and skipping it. Big mistake. Huge! Didnt come back until the whole season was over and I desperately needed more Capaldi and it’s one of my favourite episodes in the series
I love the speeches in this episode
Oooooh yeeeeees!
"Actual businesses wouldn't do that."
*remembers seeing portable oxygen tanks being sold in the grocery store*
hahaha
They really should have brought Charles Palmer back more often; possibly my favourite Doctor Who director.
At this point in Series 10, I think it's time to address it as the best looking series of the show to date (closely followed by Series 3, in my opinion).
My main issue with Series 11 and 12 is they both have a very strict, bland aesthetic which they stick to like the plague. There's no variety, no individual voice to any episode. The closest we get is The Haunting of Villa Diadati, so no surprise we all love the cinematography so much. It's like how any other show is shot.
Series 3 and 10 kinda get the best of both worlds, in that the look of each episode is so distinct... _and yet both seasons are consistent in that every single story looks phenomenal._
@beef business - Series 1's direction is great too, with five installments from the brilliant Joe Aherne, and two from Euros. But because of production issues more than anything else, it is a little limited. The Parting of the Ways remains to be one of my favourites ever though. Just watch Lynda with a Y's death. The sound design especially is something to awe.
Series 2 is the worst looking series to date for me. Fear Her, Love and Monsters, New Earth, The Idiot's Lantern - even Army of Ghosts looks a little shoddy. Very inconsistent, even if Tooth and Claw and The Impossible Planet are as good as they are.
Series 4 is how I imagine most people _assume_ Doctor Who would look like. Nothing particularly ambitious, other than Midnight and Silence in the Library. It looks good, but almost too consistent, like what I was talking about with Series 11 and 12.
Series 3 on the other hand...bar the Dalek two-parter, every single story is gorgeous. Human Nature, Gridlock, and Utopia are definitely the stand-outs, I could analyse them all day. But every story brings something new. I love Series 3, and the direction has got to be the highlight.
With the Daleks wasn’t there a thing that the Doctor tricked the companions into going to explore Skaro because he wanted to explore.
Didn’t he pretend that the TARDIS couldn’t take off and that they had to go into the city for parts or something?
I can’t quite remember but I like the fact it’s basically the other way round. (In the Daleks the companions wanted to leave but the doctor didn’t)
Do you think that Capaldi included that reference being the mega-fan he is?
At the start he didn't pretend that the fluid link was necessary for the Tardis to work, he pretended that there was something wrong with it. When they lost the fluid link later they had to go back for it so it was genuinely needed for the Tardis to work
This was such a good episode and I'm kinda ashamed to admit I haven't watched it since it aired. And yes I totally agree, this is a logical slippery slope of capitalism, and agree that, well there's no getting out of it peacefully in 6 months.
Amazing characters,concept and story
Love this one a lot.
The doctor going blind is a bit dumb though like cant he go to some duper futuristic space hospital?
Because their attempts to fix his eyes with futuristic medical technology don't work.
I'm afraid the Tsuranga had no free beds available at the time. Something called COVID-6619, I think ;)
If I recall that first Doctor story, the TARDIS wasn't really grounded--the Doctor lied so as to have an excuse to go exploring.
Initially but then it became an issue due to the darkens confiscating it from Ian and a lack of back up mercury
That final scene is a huge display of just how good an actor Peter Capaldi is, as he finds all kinds of subtle ways to show the Doctor is still blind that become obvious on a rewatch, yet it's totally believable that Bill wouldn't notice.
Honestly, I think the fluid link was just an excuse for the Doctor to take the OG fam to explore the creepy alien City on Skaro. He could have flown away at the beginning if he really wanted to.
Love this one!
the Doctor was lying about the Fluid link in Daleks too!
I think the genius of the cold open is that we get a loving couple, with the woman having decided they should start a family, get brutally murdered as they near safety, for no obvious reason, so we know from the off that no character, no matter how sympathetic, is safe, this being in keeping with the overall horror vibe of the season. I believe the decision to show it in a Spring-Summer run was jarringly at odds with these dark tones and Autumn-Winter broadcasts with dark evenings would have led to a better reception for many of the episodes.
I thought the Doctor was lying about the fluid link so he could explore Skaro
At first, then they genuinely lost it and had to go back for it
^^^^
IAN: But don't you remember? We can't move the ship until we find the mercury for the fluid link!
DOCTOR: For the fluid link, yes. Yes, I'm afraid I cheated a little on that. I was determined to see the city, but everybody wanted to go on and, well, to avoid arguments... in short, there's nothing wrong with the fluid link.
@@ftumschk Yeah nothing wrong, but it was still required to leave hence the part four cliffhanger
This is one of my favourite Doctor Who Episodes ever.
He didn't expand on how it changed and into what it changed. Things can fall to sh*t a lot faster than they can changed for the better.
I really love this episode, such a great story
Crop rotation in the 14th century was considerably more widespread after... John.
Small correction: You said that the fluid link actually grounded the TARDIS in The Daleks. This is only an excuse 1 makes so he can go outside and explore. Which imo make the scene in Oxygen even better.
The fluid link actually does ground the Tardis. The Doctor's excuse for going to explore the city was that the link was broken and the city might have what they needed to repair it. When the daleks later capture them and confiscate it they have to go back for it because it is actually needed for the operation of the Tardis.
One of my favourites
Maybe the company exists in the same time/place as PTMC?
...And anybody who gets *that* one deservers a flying armoured cookie!
I think this one is really good, effective with its commentary and an interesting premise, but for whatever reason the resolution lets me down a bit. It feels...I dunno, too easy?
It's a good solid, tho not spectacular story. I love how blindness sticks for a while. The actors are uniformly great with Nardole taking a more pivotal role which is nice.
Total crime that Bill was only on for 1 season... ☹️
9:36 people complain saying “it’s too extreme!”
Capitalism during COVID:
Another quote from Council of Geeks’ review of Revolution of the Daleks: it is... depressingly fitting
But it isn't my fault!
I was given those means!
You persuaded me to trade away my soul for means,
And without those means,
Of production,
There'd have been no capital in the first place!
This episode was fucking great.
I do wish the doctor being blind stuck to the next regeneration cause I doubt it would stick for good
Lots of crybabies who can’t handle rational social commentary hate this, but I think it’s a wonderful episode.
And oh yeah, join a Union!
On the unrealism of the capitolism in oxygen killing the workers. That's not even that extreme for our society's version of capitolism. Yes it is an extrapolated extreme but not by much.
Capitolism's entire goal is to be efficient as possible in making money and the first people to be made to suffer from that are the workers. Workers are treated as a disposable resource, something that can be easily replaced. Now that normally means firing, not death but it isn't as though there aren't companies that have pushed workers into working unsafe conditions or an unsafe number of hours because it was more profitable for them. We aren't at a stage were capitolism intentionally kills anyone but the entire system is designed to dispose of workers who can't keep up with it and in essence, everyone falls behind eventually.
I mean, there's a rule in the US labour code that says employers can't store hazardous material in the same room as they house workers. That rule exists because some company did that and people died from radiation poisoning. The workers lives were considered less essential than the money the company would save by not having to arrange for separate storage for their hazardous material. Capitolism already kills people, it just isn't written into their mandate that they're allowed to do that at the moment.
i always kinda didn't like the vibe of this one, don't know why, but I appreciate it more after this, thankyou!
Pretty sure we'd all be replaced by robots by then.
We already commodify food, water, and other essential things for human survival. Why not oxygen? If there was such a system where they could justify how dispensing the oxygen costs them money, it being a paid for commodity isn't unrealistic
For the record, this portrayal of capitalism is not an exaggeration at all or even a slippery slope argument. Predictable disasters happen all the time because corporations have calculated that it would be more expensive to fix the cause than it would be to pay compensation to the families of the dead, and they know the "justice" system will never give them jail time.
Grenfell Tower here in the UK is a tragic example and happened only a single month after this episode aired. The "suits" knew the building's cladding was outdated and highly flammable, that a disaster was inevitable. They chose to let it happen because it was cheaper, they killed 72 people to keep their bottom line, and not a single one of them was held accountable. That's _worse_ than what happened in this episode. The fictional future dystopia is less extreme than the reality.
Going through the 10th Season my first time around, I was okay with it but thought it was a little dull. More recently, I've come to really like several episodes, such as Smile, Thin Ice (even back on my first viewing, I loved Thin Ice) and now Oxygen. I'm a Capitalist and I love this episode. (I'm kind of a "Capitalism is the worst idea ever, except for all the others" kind of guy) Was going to mention The Thirteen's Doctor's rant in Orphan 55 but you did it already! Still, the preachiness of Orphan 55 was awful, much like every other moment of that episode. But Oxygen was so much better and subtler in it's approach at the end. It made me think, whereas Orphan 55 made me think that slamming a baseball bat into my TV would be a good idea.
This is definitely one of my fave Doctor Who stories! (And as a lefty super-queer peep, I'm generally super-down for anti-Capitalist stuff on my telly).
I dunno, on the one hand, with enough deregulation, or just ineffective enforcement of existing regulation, something like this could totally happen. And deregulation and/or undermining state capacity are things that businesses have obvious incentives to push for. And they would likely appeal to broadly Libertarian arguments to justify it. I don't find it unrealistic at all!
On the other hand most people who identify with "capitalism" (whether that means your basic centre-right mixed economy approach or a much more radical kind of Libertarianism) shouldn't have any trouble explaining why they're _not_ committed to endorsing the actions of this company and they're probably going to look at this episode and say "well no, that's not what my position is".
I think if I was writing this, I would have either left out the part where they explicitly say the C-word and let the story speak for itself, or spent some time exploring how this society got the way that it is and maybe had something about how big businesses cynically appealed to ideals like freedom and personal autonomy while building this fairly oppressive and extractive system.
I have been having recurring dreams about Doctor Who most recently... Even until last night.
13 is going to regenerate into a man again. A bit older man, but not Capaldi old. And he has some fancy outfit aspects about him (I think it was his hat) and a thing that he always repeats saying...
I'll probably turn out to be wrong on all of these "predictions", it's just how 14 is in my dreams. And he starts travelling ALONE!...
Said this once will say this again the blindness was pointless/ wasted
Based Nathaniel
Um, can we on the Left please not use terminology that was coined by Gamergaters, alt-righters and literal Neo-Nazis? Other Lefties will give me shit about my tattoo of a Viking compass because Norse history and mythology has been appropriated and bastardized by Nazis and then turn around and use slang that was literally invented by those scumbags...
I mostly disagree with what the message is implying, but for sure it's well delivered.
Honestly its too realistic, air in space, is valuable,
An while unionizing there is a nice thing, its personally still cruel from him to let it happen, even when later its, same as smile, i dont like the doctor just letting people e in their doom, even if they die less likely there.
Renegade Cut fan?
Its funny how the opening to this episode can make you feel more for the couple doing the space walk than orphan55 makes you feel about BENNY!!!!! which is just sloppily done then half the episode is wasted trying to save a character you dont give 2 shits about and essentially just a lazy plot device to try and get you off the base so they can discover this waste land is Earth....... I was down for the resort, base under siege plot, the second they left the base i was like nope...... garbage
I love this episode, it's probably my second favourite of series 10 behind World Enough and Time. And as a bonus it pissed off my capitalism loving friend
"Actual business wouldn't do that."
Someone (ones?) skipped a lot of history.
As absurd as it is to directly compare two different versions of the show with completely different goals, I can't watch Kerblam and see the Doctor side with/be apathetic towards evil space amazon without Capaldi's passionate 'Capitalism is death' speech ringing in my ears.
What annoys me about this story is that it hinges on The Doctor being unable to reach The TARDIS and take everyone to safety, but we see in Time Of The Doctor that he can summon The TARDIS using the key, so that basically leaves the whole plot null and void.
I think that this is the first story since TOTD to have a straight “trapped in a base” storyline, so I was willing to give the homing TARDIS key a pass for episodes like 42 and World War 3, on account of the same theory that you have about The Doctor constantly tinkering with The TARDIS and adding new features, but this episode really has no excuse.
I'd be more peeved by the fact that the "TARIS-summoning" feature had never appeared before, not that I am. Doctor Who has often invented plot conveniences only to forget/drop them later.
Re the importance of the fluid-link to the TARDIS, it was probably a bluff by Hartnell as an excuse to stay on Skaro. We only had his word for it, after all :)
@@ftumschk It makes sense if you subscribe to the theory mentioned in this video that The Doctor is constantly adding new features to The TARDIS (I’d say upgrading it but.. you know) and assume that he created the homing TARDIS key shortly before he went to Trenzalore.
@@jackaylward-williams9064 That being the case, I'll assume that the summoning mechanism had since ceased to work :)
@@ftumschk ok I’ll give you that. I guess since we haven’t seen The Doctor use it since, he/she didn’t feel the need to fix it like with the fluid link.
Ah, perhaps the most explicitly leftist Doctor Who story of all time. Love it.
As for if it's realistic or not... It's only (relatively) recently people stopped firing children for getting seriously injured on factory floors or up chimneys.
The horror is that on a global level, they haven't even stopped doing that...
I get what you are saying about the blue alien, however I have witnessed, and I will add that it's not everyone it's never everyone, but I have seen those who're on the "left" be incredibly racist and sexist. Usually when it comes to disagreements of ideology. It's why that scene didn't bother me, because, and just a theory on my part, I think people who are abused don't recognize the blind spots they develop. Or how they become what they hate. Because how could they be sexist and racist, they're fighting sexism and racism? Or how could they be the above, because they're part of the marginalized group. It's very to be sexist and racist sadly, and I don't as many people are self reflective as they should be. Like I think that's why that scene is important. Bill's actions can be racists, even if she's not trying to.
I felt like the critique was too on the nose in that is they literally said what they were critiquing. To me that's just gratuitous.
In my view, critiques ought to be more allegorical, so if the writers want to critique capitalism, they demonstrate how this one corporation's business model is exploitative or whatever and have the characters discover the ins and outs of it. And to be sure, the writing did a decent job of that. The writers didn't need to jump in and say "And this is all about capitalism"; if the audience doesn't get understand that from the story being told to them, then either the point isn't that strong to begin with or the story hasn't been told very well.
To be sure, as you say, it's not as on the nose as Orphan 55, but it still felt like the Doctor was interrupting the story to tell us what the message was, which to me feels like a mark of bad storytelling.
It's just based on the coal industry from 60 plus years ago listen to song 16 Tons
That whole thing with the blue alien definitely was coming from the same place as the post racism society trope.
Which is so disappointing, not only because of this episode being so great, but because of what a missed opportunity that moment was. Similarly to the mood patches during Tennant's era, it could have been it's own episode.
Yes we've had the constant theme of speciesism in scifi for as long as it has existed, but always with white people. The whole point of speciesism in scifi is to be an allegory to racism. And that scene mocks that trope in a way that seems to indicate the writers think that entire trope is a joke.
We could have had a real conversation about intersectionalism and colorism, but instead they spit on that trope.
That scene and the hasty 6 month timeline really exemplifies what the real problems of performative wokeness. These writers do not understand the underlying problem enough to see their mistakes. They know just enough to fool the majority of their audience.
That scene played out like the feminist episode of B99. Its clunky because they are just repeating what they've heard, without understanding the meaning behind it.
And then with the 6 months of instant problem solved, its Harry Potter all over again. They don't know how to write a satisfying solution, because they like things the way they are.
(This was way longer than I intended, but it really got me thinking)
You speak out against capitalism but at the end of your video you hawk your patreon account that is a form of the capitalistic model. Not saying your a bad person for doing so but maybe you should recognize that capitalism allows you to do what you enjoy. Still love your work.
She did acknowledge it, 8:51-9:03
You know that in such a capitalistic society it's essential to participate to some degree to prevent yourself from starving to death. That's the whole point and what she talks about in the middle of the video.
I was not big on this episode... or this entire season, to be honest. All the individual parts work but the whole never left me feeling fulfilled.
Oh yeah. The boring one.
Not enough action for you. It's a great episode.
Woke & progressive insanity, hatred, bigotry and terrible writing, had already started to infect Matt Smith's Doctor Who. By the time Capaldi came around, they were committing to it in a more significant way and it wrecked Capaldi's run which could have been really great. DOCTOR WHO ISN'T DEAD. IT WAS INTENTIONALLY MURDERED. 2 GENERATIONS AGO.