'The Tsuranga Conundrum' (Story Code 11.05) by Chris Chibnall

“Condensed advice: never engage with Pting. Risk to life: ultimate.” – Tsuranga computer

In the sixty-seventh century, the Doctor and her friends take up metal detectors to search the junk planet Cephalon 27 for parts for the TARDIS; unfortunately, Graham finds a sonic mine, which promptly detonates… The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham awake in a medical facility, where they are examined by two medics, Astos and Mabli; the team learn that they were found by robot dredgers and brought to Tsuranga for treatment. Having been closest to the bomb, the Doctor is more shaken up than her friends; dazed and confused as her body heals itself, she tries to find the exit so that she can return to her TARDIS – only to learn that the Tsuranga is a spaceship, a Quadzone rescue craft currently four days’ flight away from Cephalon. When the Doctor tries to alter the ship’s course, she is remonstrated by Chief Medic Astos: he explains how the Tsuranga’s automatic controls are locked in to the Rhesus 1 hospital, and any alteration to its destination will risk the lives of the other patients aboard. As the Tsuranga flies into the edge of disputed territory a missile-like craft approaches the ship; something gets aboard the Tsuranga, something that moves very, very fast between the port and starboard life pods. The Doctor and Astos split up to search for the life-form; but when Astos checks the portside pod, the cunning creature locks him inside – the medic just has time to call Mabli before the pod is jettisoned into space, where it immediately explodes. The Doctor soon locates the life-form: a small, angry, gremlin-like creatures that is capable of eating anything - including the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver; luckily for the Doctor, the alien spits out her sonic, now drained of power. Retreating to the automated navigation chamber with the others, the Doctor watches as Mabli replays her ocular feed into the ship’s systems, which identify the intruder as a Pting: a creature that is impossible to kill, has toxic skin and can eat through any non-organic material in the universe. While the Doctor deliberates on a course of action, her friends round up the other patients aboard the Tsuranga: the ailing General Eve Cicero, accompanied by her brother Durjkas and her android consort Ronan, and a pregnant Giftan man named Yoss. As the Doctor tries to figure out what the Pting wants, the creature in question interferes with the Tsuranga’s controls, causing the ship to change course towards an asteroid field. The Doctor and Mabli’s problems continue to mount, as the Tsuranga’s systems demand confirmation that an alien life-form is aboard; validation will cause the ship to self-destruct, and the Doctor and Mabli only have three attempts to deny the Pting’s presence before the vessel destroys itself… Gathering everyone in the assessment bay, the Doctor explains the situation and promises to get them all safely to Rhesus 1; but General Cicero is unconvinced, having had an entire fleet massacred by one of the ravenous aliens. With the Pting loose inside the Tsuranga’s control systems, the Doctor entrusts Yas and Ronan with protecting the ship’s anti-matter drive. Following up on advice from Mabli, the Doctor examines Eve and diagnoses that she is much sicker than she is letting on: she is suffering from Pilot’s Heart, and is using blockers stolen by Ronan to prevent the adrenaline surges that could kill her. Their conversation is overheard by Durkas, an explanation that confirms his worst fears. Accompanying the Doctor and Eve to the nav chamber, Durkas puts his engineering skills to good use by rigging up a neuro-pilot bypass to allow his sister to operate the ship using haptic controls. Meanwhile, Yoss’ waters break, and Graham and Ryan find themselves roped in to help with the birth. While Mabli prepares for delivery, Ryan is disappointed by Yoss’ decision not to keep the child… The Pting breaks into the drive room, but Yas and Ronan manage to stun it with staser guns; wrapping the alien in a protective medical blanket, Yaz punts it away down the corridor outside. After deducing that the hungry Pting wants all of the Tsuranga’s energy, the Doctor enters the final denial of contamination into the ship’s control system. Joining Yaz and Ronan in the drive chamber, the Doctor searches for the bomb she suspects is located within the engine – just as the ship sets the anti-matter drive on self-destruct. Happy that her sonic screwdriver has rebooted itself, the Doctor uses it to remove the bomb, which she carries gingerly out of the room. Back in the nav chamber, Eve starts to suffer from the efforts of guiding the Tsuranga through the asteroid field and back on course to Rhesus 1… Placing the bomb inside an airlock, the Doctor sets its timer to a random number from Yaz; the Pting soon appears, drawn to the mounting energy within the explosive device. To the Doctor’s joy the Pting enters the airlock and eats the bomb; the Doctor seals the door just in time – but instead of exploding, the Pting just absorbs the energy from the blast, smiling contentedly after its feast. With the creature satiated for the moment, the Doctor ejects it into space; but the situation is not over yet: Eve has collapsed from the strain of piloting the Tsuranga. Back in the med-bay, Mabli delivers Yoss’ baby. Learning that the new father has now decided to keep his child, Ryan and Graham delightedly cut the birth cords. In the nav chamber, Eve dies from heart failure; it falls to her brother to take over the controls and make an emergency landing at the Rhesus 1 space station… After arriving safely at the hospital, Mabli informs the Doctor that once the ship has been quarantined, she and her friends will be teleported by back to Cephalon. While Yoss informs Ryan and Graham that his new child will be called Avocado, Durkas thanks Ronan for helping his sister, and asks the android to give the eulogy for Eve. The Doctor and her friends join Mabli, Durkas and Yoss, as Ronan recites a prayer for Eve’s safe passage on her next journey…


Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brian), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), Brett Goldstein (Astos), Lois Chimimba (Mabli), Suzanne Packer (General Eve Cicero), Ben Bailey-Smith (Durkas Cicero), David Shields (Ronan), Jack Shalloo (Yoss Inkl)

Directed by Jennifer Perrott
Produced by Nikki Wilson
Executive Producers Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
4th November 2018 @ 7.00 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz