Previously on Next Episode… Planet of Giants | Dangerous Journey

‘Some person has invented a way of destroying a planet. Totally destroying it. I cannot – will not – stand by and allow a whole planet to be emptied of life.’ The Doctor’s impassioned plea for his fellow travellers to brace themselves to their duties, even in their desperately reduced circumstances, is a highlight of the episode, and another milestone in his progress from cantankerous anti-hero to Time’s Champion.

Elsewhere, this is a mixed bag. On the plus side, Marks continues to find ways to menace his miniaturised companions – hand washing in a sink hasn’t seemed such a matter of life and death since the early days of Covid, plus the presence of the prowling cat, choking fag smoke and Barbara dying from DN6 exposure (although she doesn’t want to make a fuss) provide jeopardy.

But elsewhere, we seem to be circling the point like water round a plughole. Smithers and Forester laboriously plot the disposal of Farrow’s corpse, while Hilda and Bert’s gossipy discussions about goings-on at the cottage are way too slow, albeit charmingly Dixon of Dock Green. Worst of all, the sequence of the Doctor and friends having to ‘map out’ the DN6 formula from a notepad involves Carole Ann Ford and William Russell reading out strings of letters and numbers while hopping around, which makes some of the Celestial Toymaker’s less-entertaining games seem gripping in comparison.

So, the progress is as slow as last time, even as the scale of the threat grows in inverse proportion to the regulars. This is the first time the Doctor has had to save all life on Earth itself. Failure will result in the Sixth Extinction – prosaically wrapped up in ‘all sorts of byelaws and regulations’…

Next Episode: The Urge to Live