‘The systems aren’t the problem. How people use and exploit the system, that’s the problem.’ I really like the starting point for this one: what happens if Amazon goes wrong? It feels very much like something from the McCoy years, with the Doctor and friends looking to investigate and if necessary bring down a corrupt system in a day while facing off against perma-happy robots, bland corporate logos and something nasty in the basement. It’s Stephen Wyatt meets Graeme Curry, updated for the 21^st Century and ripping ideas from the headlines around the rise of automation.

The pay off is surprisingly subtle. Pete McTighe avoids concentrating all the faults of ‘the system’ in one easy target, a corporate fat-cat leeching off the masses. The script clearly shows the system is a problem – the requisite 10 per cent of ‘organic’ employees are stuck in unfulfilling roles while the great masses outside struggle to find jobs, and the denouement involves the Kerblam managers facing into the issue to become a ‘people-led company’. However, it’s the individual exploitation of the system that generates the crisis point. Charlie, working outside the law and willing to destroy lives ‘for the cause’ because he’s sure he knows best what is good and right, is this planets Chief Caretaker or Kandyman. He didn’t make the system, but he can use it to get what he wants.

The point is, rather than creating a ‘people-led’ demand for change Charlie has exploited the system to try to bend the world to his will – the method of the tyrant through the ages. I liked McTighe’s focus on principle rather than the easy trope of the “evil corporation”. It’s wrapped up in a memorable setting with creepy robots (and a cute one), and a decent action sequence on the Kerblam conveyor belts. It’s well cast, with familiar faces Lee Mack and Julie Hesmondhalgh helping to give some life and audience investment in some relatively thinly written characters. The problem of too many companions persists (McTighe could happily have merged Yaz and Ryan’s roles here), but this is a colourful, thoughtful and fun episode.

Next Time: The Witchfinders