‘Benni, where are you?’ Given that Benni (not that one) barely features, his name comes up a lot in this episode. Which is probably the thing most people remember about it – Vilma repeatedly calling out for her beloved Benni, wondering where Benni is, wanting to know what’s happened to Benni. Of course, even when Benni’s not on screen his presence looms large, because Benni has been captured by the Dregs – Hoix-like creatures that have invaded the spa where Benni is planning to propose to Vilma.

The search for Benni takes the survivors of the Dreg attack into the wastelands of Orphan 55, the mysterious planet abandoned by its ruling elite. While Benni’s fate hangs in the balance, Ryan flirts with feisty eco-terrorist Bella – a woman with her own grudge against the authorities of the planet. There is an attempt at characterisation beyond Benni – Bella and Kane are a feuding family similar to the one we saw in The Tsuranga Conundrum (the Chibnall years over-index on family feuds). But while RTD might have spent some time on the spa before everything goes to hell, showing us some likeable and hateable guests, this jumps straight into the crisis, picking up incidental characters like limpets: Benni and Vilma, obviously; the first of Chibnall’s dog-people, Hyph3n, that guy from The Inbetweeners with a cheap green wig and a boy. Apparently, Yaz and Graham also appear in this episode. None of them gets any real development, and it’s hard to care – even about Benni.

Then comes the big twist – moments after Benni’s sad fate, the Doctor and Fam discover this is a Planet of the Apes scenario. Orphan 55 is Earth. We are the Dregs! This is what happens if we don’t listen to Extinction Rebellion. Luckily it turns out this is – perhaps – all a dream. It implies every Doctor Who story set in the future is just a glimpse of what might be, a sort of Christmas Carol warning if we don’t heed the Doctor’s stunningly insipid words of wisdom: ‘The future depends on people stepping up… Lives change worlds… Be the best of humanity.’ If only Benni had lived to hear this.

After the come-down of Spyfall – Part Two, this one nearly killed my interest in the series. Despite a fun opening (and the great joke of ‘don’t pick at it’ when Ryan gets infected by a worm) it’s a bad episode where every flaw of the previous series comes together. The characterisation, even of Benni, is thinner than Orphan 55’s atmosphere. The location looks even more like a Pertwee quarry than Ranskoor Av Kolos. The twist is risible. The dialogue is vapid, and the story is undercooked (typical beat – Ryan lies about his job to impress Bella then randomly admits the truth in their next scene, so what was the point of this dialogue?). Not even the Benni gags can save this one.

Benni.

Next Time: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror