Doctor Who: Cobra - 2022

 

‘Doctor Who: Cobra’ was the second special of 2022 airing on July 10th and the special starred Sacha Dhawan as the 15th Doctor and Rose Leslie as Jean Apperley.

The special was written by Toby Whithouse and was directed by Damon Thomas, who directed Killing Eve and 2020’s Dracula.

For the special a new companion was introduced for the special and Rose Leslie was cast as Jean Apperley, other additional characters were reintroduced in the special with Ace Bhatti playing Haresh Chandra and General Wilson returning in this special.

Cobra

By Chris Chibnall

We begin with Jean Apperley waking up and getting ready for work as the TV plays in the background, she drives to work where she is the Prime Minister’s private secretary and we see her working with the Prime Minister and focusing on her job.

We then see the inside of a satellite room, the people are working hard as there is panic. We then see a red dot entering the solar system and then stopping - a rogue planet.

The TARDIS lands in London as the Doctor walks out, he then walks down a street as a newspaper headline reads ‘ROGUE PLANET DETECTED’  UNIT then arrive and the Doctor is informed that he must come with them as they cut to the opening credits.

The Doctor arrives at an English countryside mansion called Langmoor House where we learn it is a place for all important members of the Government, the army and other organisations in a time of national emergencies. The Doctor is reunited with the Prime Minister Haresh Chandra, General Wilson, Jean and David Smith, played by Nikesh Patel, who is a high ranking member of UNIT, the meeting begins and it becomes clear to the Doctor that a rogue planet is not a threat for now. They ask the Doctor if he has any ideas and he suggests that he goes to the planet and investigates, Smith isn’t particularly welcome to the idea but Chandra, Wilson and Smith says that if he has to know what’s there he should investigate, Jean volunteers but after a bit of reluctance, everyone agrees.

The TARDIS then lands on the rogue planet, it’s a futuristic dystopian nightmare. The Doctor and Jean explore the main city and they find it deserted, the duo keep exploring and they go underground where they find dead Humanoids, the Doctor investigates and discovers a rusted sign and the only clear thing on it reads “Est. 1955” and the Doctor realises that this is a version of Earth from a parallel universe.

The trio then hear a noise coming from ahead of them, the Doctor tells Jean to get back to the TARDIS as they escape from mutants. The Doctor seals off the entrance to the underground with his sonic screwdriver but the mutants break through just as the Doctor and Jean escape back to the TARDIS.

The TARDIS lands outside Langmoor House, the Doctor tells everyone what he saw on the rogue planet and tells them that it’s a version of Earth from a parallel universe and it’s full of mutants. The Doctor tells Wilson to put UNIT on high alert and Chandra says he’ll declare this as a national emergency, UNIT soldiers get ready for a possible invasion. The Mutant Humans arrive in London due to a portal and start to attack the random civilians and UNIT soldiers.

Back in Langmoor House the Doctor talks with Jean, Wilson, David Smith and Haresh Chandra on what they can do, as the Doctor talks to everyone several members turn into Mutants, they explain they are from the Alternate Earth and in 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated and a nuclear war erupted, half the world were wiped out and over time the Humans who were born over decades mutated and became an entirely different species and they are called the Anarchumans.

The Doctor, Jean, Wilson and Chandra escape the house as David orders the UNIT soldiers to fight the Anarchumans but David is killed, the Doctor, Jean, Wilson and Chandra go in the TARDIS and arrive at UNIT HQ and several UNIT members and the Prime Minister put the Doctor in charge as he is a known UNIT associate. The Doctor asks UNIT to scan the planet and after a while the scan comes back, it turns out the planet is so unstable because it’s travelled across universes by possibly using several giant propulsion engines, this means the planet can easily be destroyed but they need to close the portals connecting the two Earths.

The Doctor and Jean land back on the Alternate Earth, the Doctor tracks the giant propulsion engines and discovers it to be in a 1950s style lab. The Doctor works with several computers and teleports all the Anarchumans back to the Alternate Earth, the Anarchumans discover what’s going and try to invade the lab but the Doctor reverses the giant propulsion engines and the planet starts to move away. The Doctor says he’s got one more thing to do and he realises that this lab also has a nuclear reactor and he overloads it.

The Doctor and Jean run back to the TARDIS, but Jean trips and is killed by a swarm of Anarchumans as the Doctor screams, he goes inside and the Doctor dematerialises the TARDIS as we see the reactor explode and the planet rapidly move away from out the Universe.

In the TARDIS the Doctor walks to the console, he’s lost so many and he can’t bear it. He screams as he punches the console enraged as the TARDIS floats through the vortex. The TARDIS lands back in UNIT HQ where the Doctor gives Wilson and Chandra a knowing look as they understand what has happened to Jean.

We then see Jean’s funeral and the Doctor, Wilson and Chandra are all in attendance, at the end of the funeral Chandra thanks the Doctor and Wilson for what they’ve done and he leaves in the car going back to downing street, Wilson asks what will the Doctor do now and he says he’s going to travel for a bit and Wilson says good luck as he leaves in the TARDIS, the final shot of the episode is Wilson walking down the road as the TARDIS dematerialises.

The special was received positively as the high stakes mixed with politics, sci fi and drama worked really well. Many felt that this episode was better than Empire’s End in terms of storytelling. After the special ended, a short teaser for the Centenary aired which caused a lot of anticipation, the special would air in October as ‘Doctor Who: After Travels' would air in September.