Oxygen
- Episode aired May 13, 2017
- TV-PG
- 44m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
5.2K
YOUR RATING
When the Doctor, Bill and Nardole become trapped on a space station without oxygen, they discover the spacesuits are trying to kill them.When the Doctor, Bill and Nardole become trapped on a space station without oxygen, they discover the spacesuits are trying to kill them.When the Doctor, Bill and Nardole become trapped on a space station without oxygen, they discover the spacesuits are trying to kill them.
Mimî M Khayisa
- Abby
- (as Mimi Ndiweni)
Mickey Lewis
- Space Corpse
- (uncredited)
Lewis McGowan
- Brother
- (uncredited)
Lauren Pate
- Student
- (uncredited)
Clem So
- White-Haired Corpse
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe original outline involved crystalline space parasites, whose queen could mimic the sound of a distress signal in order to draw spaceships to their doom. The parasites could leap from vessel to vessel, and their gaze allowed them to influence people's thoughts. When the Doctor and Bill arrived, several ships, including some that were at war with each other, had been lured to the parasites' nest. As the parasites picked off the ship's crews one by one, the survivors were forced to make difficult decisions due to their limited reserves of oxygen. Another source of drama was the paranoia which stemmed from the uncertainty over which individuals had been brainwashed by the parasites. There would also be a climactic conflict about whether the parasite queen should be allowed to survive. Considering the original brief, Jamie Mathieson decided to reemphasise the theme of space as the enemy. Instead of the mind-controlling parasites, the ships would now be plagued by their own dead, who had turned into zombies after being exposed to the absence of air pressure in the vacuum. Forming an uneasy alliance with a group of survivors led by Kline, the Doctor and Bill found a variety of ways to navigate between the different vessels. The Doctor eventually discovered that the zombies were being created by a crystalline entity living in a nearby asteroid, which he convinced to cease its attack.
- GoofsIn the beginning scene, two dead crew members land behind the live female crew member. However, there is nowhere they could have landed FROM, since there's nothing above to drop down from. This cannot be explained by the two dead crew members seen a moment earlier, as they were tumbling in a parallel direction to the station's roof, and the two who landed dropped straight down without tumbling.
- Quotes
The Doctor: We're fighting... the suits.
- ConnectionsReferences Star Trek (1966)
Featured review
Oxygen
A critique on zero breath contracts? The 'Alien' series of films have mined this field of an unscrupulous corporate employer. In Oxygen the suits kill you if you become unproductive, just before a new ship carrying your replacement arrives.
Jamie Mathieson has been a reliable writer for Doctor Who and he sure has fun here. The opening lines by the Doctor is borrowed from the opening from Star Trek but without that show's optimism. The Doctor tells the students that space wants to kill you. The pre-credit sequence featuring zombies in a spacesuit would had sent younger children rushing behind the sofa.
This episode has Nardole travelling with Bill and the Doctor which makes me wonder who was guarding the vault? Bill continues to impress as her fear is real. She is new to space travel and her suit is malfunctioning so she cannot breathe.
It is a base under siege episode with a zombie crew in pursuit. Not easy to pull off in a family adventure show, this is undercut by some humour such as Bill getting accused of being a racist by a blue man.
There are proper perils here and the finale is a real blinder.
Jamie Mathieson has been a reliable writer for Doctor Who and he sure has fun here. The opening lines by the Doctor is borrowed from the opening from Star Trek but without that show's optimism. The Doctor tells the students that space wants to kill you. The pre-credit sequence featuring zombies in a spacesuit would had sent younger children rushing behind the sofa.
This episode has Nardole travelling with Bill and the Doctor which makes me wonder who was guarding the vault? Bill continues to impress as her fear is real. She is new to space travel and her suit is malfunctioning so she cannot breathe.
It is a base under siege episode with a zombie crew in pursuit. Not easy to pull off in a family adventure show, this is undercut by some humour such as Bill getting accused of being a racist by a blue man.
There are proper perils here and the finale is a real blinder.
- Prismark10
- May 12, 2017
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- National Museum Cardiff, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, UK(University lecture hall)
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime44 minutes
- Color
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content