REACTION! DOCTOR WHO 11x5, Gallifrey Gals Get Wibbly Wobbly! S11Ep5, THE TSURANGA CONUNDRUM 

"I can't wait to cosplay as..." Say the Pting, say the Pting "...the 13th Doctor" Aww

The bloke who played Astos played opposite Jodie in 'Adult Life Skills.' The chemistry between them in the film Carried over into this episode.

14:48 I also thought this was a reference to Futurama, the cartoon, with Nibbler the creature that eats everything. Looks similar too.

The 5th Doctor had three companions and each of them were well established, partially because they each stood out by arriving in different stories during the previous season with the 4th Doctor (the last two arrived in 4's preultimate and final stories).

When you were mentioning about a Doctor Who/Star Trek Crossover there actually is Star Trek/Doctor Who Crossover Graphic Novel the first part features The 4th Doctor interacting with Captain Kirk and the Original Series Enterprise than it fast forwards to the 11th Doctor interacting and working with Picard and the TNG Enterprise Crew. It's called Star Trek The Next Generation/Doctor Who Assimilation and it is an 8 issue series.

"He's here! He's there! He's every-f-ing-where! Roy Kent! Roy Kent!"

Alien, but what if the Xenomorph is Stich from Lilo and Stich!! & there was a pregnant man subplot!

The reason this episode isn't as good is because the tone is all over the place like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be and this is quite jarring. One minute is it trying to be serious drama, then comedy then hard sci-fi.

"IT'S JUST ATE MA SONIC!!!"

Definitely a divisive episode at the time, in large part I think because of the cutesy monster. I have no problem with that, it makes a change from the overused scary xenomorph trope. Also the Thirteenth Doctor had stolen my heart by this point. I really enjoy the enthusiasm, animation and life that Jodie Whitaker brings to the role. For me, very endearing.

I enjoyed this episode from the first time I saw it. Never understood the hate around it. The P'Ting needed a little work. But otherwise I thought it was well-paced and fun and exciting. I thought when the doc mentioned the "volume" with about her she still said it more modestly than the men would have!

I would like to place an order for a Stardis as soon as they become available please.

Pting 🥰

I love the Pting and I love that speech from the Doctor about the Anti-Matter engine. That's the moment where Whittaker became The Doctor for me.

The Pting looks un-nervingly similar to my old line manager, especially when it's happy with a full belly.

the STITCH episode!!!!!

Fun episode with Lord Nibbler from Futurama. :-)

On a side note, you used to be able to get the 13th doctors outfit at Hot Topic.

"It's not played for laughs" unlike that ONE Trek episode in a later series

The first thing i thought of when paula mentions things she can't get past my initial thought was "Clara's existence" as an almost joke 😅guess I hit the nail on the head there

You guys need to watch jay exci’s parody.

The Third Doctor was quite selfish in the beginning, all he wanted to do was fix his TARDIS so he could finally leave his exile on Earth.

I have no issues with these early Jodie episodes. I was perfectly willing to let the writers, cast and crew settle down into their roles. Its only when I got to the halfway point of Chibnail's run before I felt I could properly get a grasp of the show. All the actors were great, as is the behind the scene crew. It's really the writing that was a failure.

People didn't like this episode when it came out, but I think it ages well! I liked it more than Arachnids. Admittedly, it's a lot of characters, and may have benefitted from being a two-parter, but still kind of works here. The Pting reminds me of Stitch, which for some is a turn on, where for others it's a turn off, and I think you guys hit on that aspect of it well. Chris Chibnall wrote 42 as well as this episode, so that might be why you got similar vibes! Astos the medic reminds me a bit of Rory and Martha, in this moments when they challenge the Doctor on the basis that they are both competent medical professionals who sometimes have to protect the Doctor from themselves. (Also, his actor later won an Emmy for playing Roy Kent in Ted Lasso!) The Doctor's pure joy over how the hyperdrive works and Graham being a casual fan of Call the Midwife also delighted me this episode. I think a lot of people did get turned off by the pregnant dude, despite how well it was handled, which... I can think of a few reasons why that is, but perhaps best not to go down that rabbit hole.

DOCTOR: On the plus side, I now feel very well informed. Seven minutes. Get everyone into the assessment area. MABLI: Why seven minutes? CHIBNALL- Because I don't know how to have companions talk about their feelings in the main story.

Not mentioned, but we're already half done the season! These shorter seasons definitely hurt Jodie's Doctor. A longer season could support a bunch of new writers as they find their way, or you needed veteran writers who could produce stronger stuff more quickly.

This is like back to back Dr Who episodes hitting y'all right in the feels, the heart muscle

yeah this is pretty weird and out of the blue. They lean into the idea that it's just the doctor's head being in a weird place after the explosion but it feels strange and out of place--almost unecessary moment in the episode that doesn't go anywhere. Which is a shame because I think this is the ONLY time the show frames 13 as being in the wrong. That's one of my biggest pet peeves about 13th doctor is that she's always right & is never challanges by the companions or antagonists (the moral ambiguity of the doctor is the best part of the doctor's character in RTD & Moffat eras & the compainons job (besides being audience stand-ins are meant to help remind the Doctor of their humanity) Remeber the last episode where the Doctor agreed to let all the Spiders starve to death rather & called it humane? And when the Trump guy shot the big spider as a mercy killing the Doctor & show acted as if it was evil just because gun are objectively bad? (As if Chibnall is trying to replicate the 10th Doctor's hatred of guns but doesn't understand the context of why) So its a shame that the only time 13 is made to realise she's in the wrong is this wrid 2 minute scene where she's very out of character.

Surprised the Gals didn't comment on the two most divisive elements of this episode. Not the FX nor pregnant man but: 1. The Doctor's prayer to "“the saints of all the stars and constellations". It's one thing for the show to get preachy, another to have the Doctor turn astrologically Catholic. 2. A breach of the Promise when the Doctor leaves the Pting free to kill more ships rather than confining it to an inert asteroid somewhere. She just gives up and leaves. Even if you'd like to imagine Thirteen returned to sort the Pting out ... It Takes You Away is coming up fast. No spoilers but ... cowardly, cruel, gives up, gives in ... in ITYA this betrayal of the Promise really comes home to roost.

After "Arachnids in the UK" turned out to be a colossal failure, series 11 desperately needed a massive hit in order to get it back on the right track. Ultimately we'd have to wait a little bit longer to get that, because "The Tsuranga Conundrum" is yet another misfire for this series, albeit a very different type of failure. While the previous episode fucked up on every single level in such a weird fashion, this episode fails because it is so...so...so...BOOOOOOORRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGG. The first 10 minutes are easily the strongest part of the episode. I've commented on this before, but I've always really liked episodes that allow the Doctor and companions to wander around their new location before things really kick off, and this is no exception. After an incredibly contrived setup involving the sonic mine (seriously, it's counting down to destruction, just run like hell guys), the scenes of the Doctor and the companions wandering around the hospital and bumping into the various other characters is a lot of fun. There's some pretty fun lines during this bit, such as her response to the General's questions about her role in the Big Book of War or whatever it was called, and the set design has a really nice minimalist aesthetic. I also like the dramatic side of things, after four episodes of the Doctor being treated unambiguously as a hero despite some rather dodgy actions, it's nice to get an episode in which a character actually calls the Doctor out, even if it is just a guest character as opposed to one of the companions. I really like the dynamic between the Doctor and Astos, the dialogue between the pair is actually rather well-written, and the chemistry between Jodie Whittaker and future Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein is really strong. With that in mind, it's a shame that after this strong start, Astos gets abruptly killed off and the episode quickly falls off once we're introduced to the Pting. At this point, another big problem with the Chibnall era rears its ugly head. I've mentioned a lot of the issues before - the scant characterisation, the underdeveloped villains, the overreliance on exposition, the dodgy sense of morality - but one that I don't think I've brought up yet is the era's insistence on taking itself completely seriously. As the pair of you have pointed out multiple times before, Doctor Who is an inherently goofy show, with the Classic show and both Davies and Moffat's runs often indulging in silliness and camp. But for some reason, Chibnall absolutely refuses to follow suit, and thus his era is incredibly dour and po-faced, which proves to be a real problem for this episode in particular, because the monster is essentially Experiment 626 (Stitch). With that in mind, you'd almost expect this to be a sort of parody of the base-under-siege format that the show often indulges in, where the monster attacking the cast doesn't even look scary, and is more of a nuisance than a general threat. That's a goldmine for potential comedy there, but of course Chibnall's insistence on taking this all super seriously means we're left with a base-under-siege story where the base is under siege from a complete non-threat, and there's no tension at all because of it (though given later episodes will demonstrate how utterly crap Chibnall is at comedy, maybe that's a blessing in disguise). The lack of tension is further demonstrated in all these weird incongruous scenes where the story grinds to a complete halt so the characters can ask each other "how do you feel?", with Ryan's exposition dump about his mother's death being a particularly egregious example. And because there's no sense of urgency or suspense, yet the episode is so thoroughly devoid of humour and levity, it just results in the episode painfully dragging itself along to its anticlimactic ending. I think "The Tsuranga Conundrum" was the point where I knew that Chibnall's era wasn't going to work for me. The best his era had been able to manage at this point was the well-intentioned but highly misguided "Rosa", and at the halfway point of his first series as showrunner, he gave us the lifeless inert piece of storytelling that, with its contrived plot points, tedious pace, and utterly pointless characters (seriously, Ryan and Graham are literally shunted into a different storyline during the climax), was very likely a first draft that Chibnall thought was good enough to air. Compare that to his two predecessors - not only did the first halves of series 1 and 5 have a significantly higher rate of hits to misses, but both series marked their midpoints by producing an absolute masterpiece ("Dalek" and "Amy's Choice" respectively) that offered plenty of highly compelling character drama and pushed the main relationship between the Doctor and their companion(s) forward in a meaningful and emotional fashion. "The Tsuranga Conundrum" is far from the worst episode of the show - hell, it isn't even the worst episode of this series - but it is nonetheless a dull, hollow and thoroughly empty affair, and one of the most lifeless pieces of drama ever put on television

"Why does he have a butt?" So he can poop, Paula. So he can poop. This episode got a lot of hate when it first came out, but I've always thought it was a perfectly serviceable episode. Trapped on a spaceship that is being systematically destroyed by what is essentially a gremlin. I'm good with that.

I dont know if the comparison between Tsuranga and Waters of Mars of Doctors being 'a jerk' is really justifiable. Like when the Doctor is a jerk in season 8 its character development, we are explicitly exploring why the Doctor has started to dislike himself and humanity. Why is Whittaker being selfish here? Why doesnt it feed in better to the episode?? There are a lot of performance or character choices made in Chibnall's run that dont feel justified. Capaldi doesn't forget that he's trying to save people! And doesnt that jar with her bubbly personality?? I guess its just hard to get any read on how Whittaker's Doctor will handle a situation. Sometimes she's unintentionally cold, other times she's bouncy and joyful when the situation is meant to be deadly serious! Usually the actors fall into a rhythm that the audience becomes accustomed to.

This one is probably one of the more solid episodes of this season. But it was just OK. Acting could have been better, story needed some polishing. Monster was ok. I hate the names Chibnail creates for monsters and places this season. This definitely needed better build up for Yaz and Doctor and more of just talking? Episodes are hour or more long or whatever - they have time for most obscure stuff, but never for proper ending, beginning and building up relations and talking. Like after a season that was so good with dialogues and monologues between Doctor and companions - this hurts me. What I didn't like the most about this episode - I think it's that no one was that concerned for the android dude - where PTing would first go for him as it loves mechanical stuff. What I liked - the pilot was fun, set was kinda fun, male pregnancy in Humans in 60-whatever century? I wish. Like I said - it's ok. Would be fun in normal seasons that are stronger overall. Kinda like Love and Monsters or the one about Agatha Christie. But for this to be one of the episodes to hold the quality of the season? Nah. 17:05 That has been always my take on those three seasons and Jodie's run. Like her Doctor borrows a lot from other incarnations, but it isn't consistent at least when we talk about one episode. I actually really like her Doctor in comics or some better episodes in Chibnail's run. But that's just not enough in the long run. I really need to see Jodie under different writer in some future multiple Doctors story. Like I hate how inconsistent she is. When she goes from bloodthirsty time lord with no empathy to cutesy fun quirky Doctor in a span of minutes. Like I would only accept this - if she was Valeyard. But those things are not intentional and that's annoying to me.

“I hope I’m pronouncing it right”. Close enough for jazz!

was the Pting needed?

I like the Pting. It has a sort of Wah Chang Outer Limits feel to it.

Not too much wrong with this one , with good writing and acting you can get away with the monster , in fact it's an asset as it doesn't look threatening at first . By this point in a series I usually had got used to a new doctor . The problem with this series is that to me it doesn't feel right . Certainly Chibnall always tries to pack more action in and there is less time to establish characters perhaps. It's interesting to hear Paula and Katrina's views , as they aren't judging a programme that's a lifetime of memories for many older followers who don't like change , if it has a future then it has to appeal to everyone , six out of ten seems fair.

It's fine for a one and done episode. Nice to see The Doctor show some humility before someone dies. Sometimes, long running characters never seem to learn anything. The guy being pregnant cold have been explained better. He looks human but obviously is not. How exactly did he give birth? Little by little, we do get to know the companions. Although, the weakest as it goes along seemed to be Yaz. Overall, it's one of the many okay episodes in the history of the show. Watchable but by no means a classic. Oh, and it's nice to see a different view of Katrina's place. lol

Can't wait for her regeneration

I feel like the desire to support the female Doctor is causing you to overlook a lot of bad shit. If anything as bad as the last two eps had gone out under Moffat there's no way you'd be cutting it this much slack.

16 minutes in, and we get another rant about Clara. Talk about not being to get past stuff, this is becoming that about these reviews for me. The offending item is gone. Can we just move on, please?

It was an OK episode this was one of my least favourite Jodie episodes the P-Ting I feel was a thing aimed for 5 year olds and the praying at end i found cringey but the rest was ok but not memorable.

I really wanted to be moved by Ryan’s story about his family but it’s just delivered so poorly, like a massive plank of wood trying to form a cognitive thought. 🤦🏻‍♂️ how didn’t anybody anywhere flag up the fact that one of the main character actors….can’t act

Well! The Alien was, let's be honest, a joke. That was the only thing which spoiled it for me. The rest was a good story.