Doctor Who recap: series 38, episode four – Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

‘You’re going to change the world, but first you’re going to save it’

Holy Elon Musk! For this year’s first ‘celebrity historical’, Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who continues its noble tradition of celebrating underappreciated figures from history. But shining a light on the pioneering inventor Nikola Tesla, who gave us AC electricity though never achieved due acclaim in his lifetime … well it’s hardly The Shakespeare Code is it? For those of us largely unbothered by details of electrical current, Night of Terror is a classic story of realising your true potential. This reimagining sees Tesla (in a charismatic performance from ER’s Goran Višnjić) targeted for his expertise by unpleasant scorpion race the Skithra.

It’s not a great predicament, with the destruction of the Earth a possibility. But his rival, the far more lucrative Thomas Edison, is nevertheless peeved that they didn’t choose him to aid their plot. Edison (Robert Glenister) is portrayed broadly as a twerp – I don’t know enough about the specifics to be sure if this is accurate, but he does make for a compelling not-quite-baddie.

The upshot is an enjoyable enough knockabout, which reaches a frustratingly by-the-numbers resolution after a compelling setup. After the epic scale of Spyfall and last week’s horrorfest Orphan 55, this does rather feel a touch straightforward. But, at the very least, it’s an intriguing history lesson. And lest we forget, that’s one of the things Doctor Who is there for.

Life aboard the Tardis

The team are getting their fair share of jollies lately, what with last week’s doomed trip to Tranquility and this week’s doomed jaunt on the Orient Express (has the Doctor forgotten what happened last time she boarded that train?) Meanwhile, it’s refreshing to see Yaz given something palpable to do, with her police training proving crucial in resolving this particular pickle.

Fear factor

Things were never going to match the high watermark of last week’s Dregs – the scariest beings we’d witnessed in several years. But high-speed giant scorpion monsters the Skithra were still a winningly realised menace … even if there was something slightly off about their queen’s cockney twang.

Mysteries and questions

Jodie Whittaker made some interesting comments last week about this year’s supposed big story arc. But she suggested that the foreshadowed mystery of the Timeless Child may not be resolved this series. Speaking on a panel in New York, she said: “I think the beauty of Chris [Chibnall’s] writing is that nothing is an accident … I think you don’t necessarily always rush to get the answer. So it’s not to say you won’t discover something. You’re not going to be denied.”

Not quite curiouser and curiouser then, but certainly an indication that Whittaker and Chibnall are planning on sticking around.

Deeper into the vortex

• Continuity corner: the Skithra have scavenged a gun from lizard-types the Silurians. Definitely better value for the producers than building a whole new prop.

• The period setting of 1903 New York was recreated in the immersive Bulgarian studio Nu Boyana, the set of London Has Fallen and various Sylvester Stallone movies. It sure keeps up the handsome nature of this current era of Doctor Who.
  

• The episode is lifted by some lovely moments of dialogue from writer Nina Metivier, among them: “Just because you’re a genius doesn’t mean you have to figure everything out on your own.”
  

• In other Who news, interactive VR experience The Runaway is now available, if you’re one of those people who enjoys using cardboard headsets.

Next time

A curious choice of returning monster, as our favourite rhino-headed mercenaries rock up in Fugitive of the Judoon.