'Doctor Who' Series 12 Episode 3: Climate change story has fans divided with some finding it 'too preachy'
Spoilers alert for 'Doctor Who' Series 12 Episode 3
'Doctor Who' Series 12 Episode 3 'Orphan 55' has got the fans divided with its climate change narrative. While it's quite nice that the writers thought to bring up the climate emergency and the possible consequences of humanity's actions in the present day, some fans believe that it got just a little bit too preachy by the end. Here's how one fan summed up the episode on Twitter:
"Let's cook some #DoctorWho! Take 1⃣ 'Midnight', 2⃣ 'Utopia', 3⃣ 'Planet of the Apes', 4⃣ an old woman who shouts 'Benni' a lot, 5⃣ some family issues, and 6⃣ a few lines of a Greta Thunberg speech. Put them in a blender for an hour. Now you have #Orphan55."
However, not all the fans were disappointed and quite a few came out in defense of the episode. Here's what they had to say:
One fan tweeted, "I wonder if those proclaiming this week’s #DoctorWho to be ‘too preachy’ aren’t those exact same people who close their ears to every blunt statement of the s*** situation we’ve got the world in (all ‘too preachy’)," while another wrote, "Idgaf if you like #DoctorWho or not, watch the newest episode. Get your f***ing s*** together and care for our Earth before it's too late."
That said though, some of the fans who criticized the episode did raise some interesting points. And not all of them were climate change deniers.
"The message was already pretty clear, it didn’t need to break the fourth wall with a patronizing monologue at the end, even if it is essentially aimed at kids," one fan wrote. "Bit of a ham-fisted episode really, not great. Side note: Burning fire = oxygen."
"Yes, we know climate change is bad, but I'm saying the writing in this episode is worse," another fan tweeted. "No sense of peril or threat. 'Apex Predators' who seem to do nothing. It's just a load of tropes."
Another fan wrote, "'Orphan 55 is Earth. Your future.' The writers could have done a better job focusing on climate change. I’m disappointed."
"Orphan55 will go down as one of my top 5 worst episodes of Nu Who. The characters in this episode range from annoying to straight-up selfish," yet another fan tweeted. "Plus the post-apocalyptic Earth twist comes right the fuck out of nowhere Shyamalan style and turns this episode from bad Doctor Who ep. to bad Captain Planet ep. I half expected the Doctor to say at the very end of the episode to say... 'But power is yours'!"
'Doctor Who' Series 12 Episode 4 'Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror' will arrive on BBC America on January 19.