It's nearly a week since The Tsuranga Conundrum was broadcast. I watched it again today to see whether it was as bad as I originally thought. It was.
Last Friday I had lunch with my former colleague, who told me he really wasn't enjoying the new series. I tried to convince him that it was better than he thought. On Sunday evening, I texted him to concede that this particular episode was bad. He hadn't even bothered to watch it. On the basis that our opinions of the new series were diametrically opposed, he then decided to see it after all. He can't say I didn't warn him.
For me, nothing about the episode really worked. It was never made clear what Team TARDIS were looking for on the planet of the dumps in the first place. Then the whole concept of the Tsurunga seemed weird. Why would a society that is civilised and caring enough to create automated emergency medical transport vessels include a protocol to self-destruct when remote sensors suggest something is wrong. Wouldn't quarantine be a more usual response?
The plot felt like one of the lesser Star Trek episodes and the tone was all over the place. The P'Ting seemed like a sort of cross between the cuteness of an Adipose and the menace of thing from Midnight. It also reminded me a bit of Yoda, as Luke Skywalker first encountered him in the Dagobah system. The pacing was also off. One minute there was an urgent threat as the ship is being devoured by an unstoppable creature, and the next everything stopped for clunky exposition, a lesson on antimatter or an episode of Call the Space Midwife.
Ronan was not the only one experiencing a comprehension deficiency by the end.
I hope for more from Demons of the Punjab.
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