Doctor Who Is NEW!: The Tsuranga Conundrum

Last week, Doctor Who saw the Doctor get her friends back home to the right planet, the right country and the right time period.  

But the friends weren't all that keen to stay home in Sheffield and asked the Doctor if they could keep travelling with her. 

The Doctor does give them fair warning that there are danger to life exploring time and space, that she couldn't guarantee their safety. 

Graham, Ryan and Yaz all agree to accept the risks and the Doctor, her misgivings aside, is not eager to leave these friends behind. Their hands on the lever of the TARDIS, the Doctor and her friends go on a quest for adventure.  

So how is life for our gang from Sheffield in the company of the Doctor? As we head into week five of Doctor Who Series 11, we pick up with the gang as they explore the mysteries of an alien hospital in outer space. 

More info after the break. And you better get a shift on; there will be spoilers. 

The Tsuranga Conundrum

by Chris Chibnall 

Our adventure this time with the Doctor and friends is  NOT the most recent adventure of the Doctor and her friends since they left Sheffield in last week's episode. I do like that they're are adventures off screen between episodes. With only 10 episodes in the season, I like the hints and references to other exploits which can be filled in later with books, comics and audio plays.  

The Doctor is looking for a gizmo on a junkyard planet when the gang stumbles across a sonic mine. My but Doctor Who does love sonic gadgets. Anyway, the mine goes off with no chance for our four travellers to escape. 

But somehow they are found and brought back to life and health on Tsuranga, a spaceship hospital. Well, not perfect health. The Doctor still has a really bad pain in her side which is problematic as she is determined to run around the ship.... well, more like limping around the ship, looking for an exit so she can get back to the TARDIS.  

Astos and Mabli are two medics on board the otherwise automated ship, tending to a heavily pregnant man named Yoss and an ailing space pilot hero, General Eve Cicero. The Tsuranga is on a locked in course for its home planet. 

Then things take a thing for the worse when a Pting latches onto the ship.

A thing or two about the Pting. The Pting is a short dumpling of an alien that is bad tempered, can survive in the vacuum of space, has poisonous skin and pretty much eats what ever is in front of it. The Pting is like Stitch from Disney's Lilo and Stitch. 

There's a bit when the Doctor accesses a computer profile on the Pting. The long list of things that are bad about the Pting reminds me of a pharmaceutical ad listing all the side effects that can kill you if you take the drug. 

It also brought to mind the Hitchhiker;s Guide to the Galaxy entry on Vogons.  

The Doctor remarks, "Well, the good news is I feel very well informed." 

There are two threats facing the Tsuranga. One is the Pting which has already killed Astos, his chewing through the ship with its beady eyes on the anti-matter core. If Pting isn't stopped, it will destroy the ship and everyone dies.

Meanwhile, if the Tsuranga's home planet thinks the ship is a danger, the ship will be blown up in deep space. Intergalactic governmental red tape that kills? But of course.  

The Doctor uses one problem (the Tsuranga's self destruct bomb) to solve another problem. The Pting eats the bomb and the Doctor sends the little critter, well fed and for now satiated, back into space. 

Once more, family is a big factor in the episode. General Eve Cicero is trying to keep her brother in the dark about the real nature of her illness, a potentially fatal disease that will ends her time as a space pilot. 

Yoss is terrified about giving birth. He's not ready to become a dad/mom/whatever. 

Ryan's efforts to console Yoss through his labor forces him to confront his feelings about this own father. Ryan shares with Yaz the story of how his mother died when he was 13 years old and how that pushed his dad away.   

Graham thinks he can help Yoss through childbirth because he's watched ever episode of Call the Midwife. Except he did look away during the squishy bits.  

The Doctor says "get a shift on" again. Apparently this is going to be her own "alons-y" or "geronimo".   She also reveals she's a big fan of Hamilton and has seen all 900 casts.  

Yas is dependable as always. I'm sure some fans may complain there is not a lot of development for her but I think next week's episode will put some focus on Yasmin Kahn. 

"The Tsuranga Conumdrum" is a clever puzzle for the Doctor to solve and there is a lot for the Doctor and her friends to do. I'm a little concerned with the plot contrivance that puts Team TARDIS on the Tsuranga in the first place. The team gets hurt by an explosion but they get saved by a spaceship hospital that was just passing by?  Coincidence has played too big of a role in every episode at crucial plot points. 


Still, I enjoyed the episode. I think that Series 11 continues on a strong path so far.

Coming up on the blog: 

I'm going to focus the blog on Doctor Who for a week starting tomorrow.

Doctor Who: Is Christmas Cancelled? 

And then other Whovian related topics until next Monday's new episode post.  

There will be posts on other subjects as events warrant. 

There will be a post on the aftermath of the mid term elections on Wednesday or Thursday.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another. 


And also be ready to get a shift on.