It has that exact right combination of seriousness and absurdity and body horror and science fiction that is Dr Who. They nailed it.
That whole entirely unnecessary gravity bit, ridiculous and absurd, but funny.
Donna almost getting left behind, the captain commiting fucking suicide shows the seriousness of the episode.
I just loved it.
The more I think about it, the more I think the mavity bit is more than just a silly time travel joke. They didn’t have to sacrifice several minutes of precious story time just to land briefly in Newton’s orchard to set that up.
The episode wouldn’t have been any different without that cold open. But they went out of their way for it. I think there’s a good chance it’s either a tease or a primer for some other change to come in the future.
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