Martyn, Sam, and Chris are back. On episode 223 of The Bad WIlf Podcast, they discuss the Doctor Who episodes “Praxeus” and “Can you hear me?”.
In Praxeus, The Doctor and her companions investigate a bacterium that covers human bodies in a crystalline substance before disintegrating them. Aided by ex-police officer Jake, blogger Gabriela, and medical researcher Suki, they find Jake’s husband Adam in the early stages and take him to Suki’s lab to evaluate while Yaz and Gabriela explore the site where they found Jake, eventually finding a teleport to an alien location. The Doctor determines the bacterium is drawn to microplastics. Suki reveals she is from an alien race devastated by the bacterium they called Praxeus, and had come to Earth to evaluate it further for a cure. While the Doctor finds a cure for humans, using a willing Adam to test it, it cannot stop Praxeus from affecting Suki and soon disintegrates her. Travelling to Yaz’ location, they find they are under the Indian Ocean garbage patch, where Suki’s ship is located. They load the ship’s reserves with the antidote and set the ship to self-destruct in the atmosphere to disperse it, but Jake willingly pilots the vessel when the autopilot fails. The Doctor materialises the TARDIS around Jake, saving him moments before the explosion. With Praxeus stopped, the Doctor suggests Jake, Adam, and Gabriela travel the world together.
In ‘Can you hear me?’ The Doctor returns her companions home, where they simultaneously begin to experience supernatural events. Graham sees visions of an imprisoned girl telling him to find her, Ryan sees a mysterious figure cause his friend to vanish, and Yaz sees an unfamiliar woman among memories of her past. The Doctor, still in the TARDIS, receives a signal from 14th century Aleppo, where she meets a young woman named Tahira, a mental patient. Following their strange experiences, the companions contact the Doctor, who uses Graham’s visions to track the source of the nightmares. They are led to a ship in the future piloted by Zellin, who claims to be immortal and omnipotent.[4] After putting the companions and Tahira out of action, Zellin uses the Doctor’s instincts to free the imprisoned girl, Rakaya, another immortal being like himself, who has been feeding on their dreams. The Doctor tricks Zellin and Rakaya back into their imprisonment. Yaz repays an old debt to a police officer she met three years earlier.
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