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Praxeus
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292 – "Praxeus"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Others
  • Warren Brown – Jake Willis
  • Matthew McNulty – Adam Lang
  • Joana Borja – Gabriela Camara
  • Molly Harris – Suki Cheng
  • Gabriela Toloi – Jamila Velez
  • Soo Drauet – Joyce
  • Tristan de Beer – Zach Olsen
  • Thapelo Maropefela – Aramu
Production
Directed byJamie Magnus Stone
Written byPete McTighe and Chris Chibnall
Produced byNikki Wilson
Executive producers
  • Chris Chibnall
  • Matt Strevens
Music bySegun Akinola
SeriesSeries 12
Running time49 minutes
First broadcast2 February 2020 (2020-02-02)
Chronology
← Preceded by
"Fugitive of the Judoon"
Followed by →
"Can You Hear Me?"
List of episodes (2005–present)

"Praxeus" is the sixth episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 2 February 2020. It was written by Pete McTighe and Chris Chibnall, and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companions Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) search across multiple countries to investigate strange phenomena, including birds acting strangely and a British astronaut, Adam Lang.

The episode was watched by 5.22 million viewers, and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

[edit]

The Doctor and her companions, joined by ex-police officer Jake, video blogger Gabriela, and medical researchers Suki and Amaru, investigate a new bacterium infecting people in Peru, Hong Kong, and Madagascar. Those infected become covered by grey scales before their bodies explode. Birds in the local areas have also started acting aggressively towards humans.

The group finds Adam, Jake’s husband and an astronaut, is infected and held in a Hong Kong lab. While rescuing him, they are attacked by humanoids in biohazard suits. Yaz and Gabriela remain behind to investigate further while the rest go to Suki’s Madagascar lab via TARDIS to study Adam. Yaz and Gabriela see another humanoid use a panel to teleport somewhere and follow him, ending up in an alien-looking place.

The Doctor determines that the bacterium is drawn to microplastics that have saturated living beings, and that the birds’ natural enzymes are trying to fight it, causing them to become violent. As she generates an antidote, she realizes Suki’s lab is perfectly equipped for this task, and Suki reveals she is one of the remnants of an alien race ravaged by Praxeus, their name for the bacterium. When Yaz informs the Doctor of their discovery, Suki teleports away. After the birds kill Amaru on the beach and burst into the lab, the Doctor and the others flee to the TARDIS and subsequently to Yaz’s location. Adam volunteers as a test subject for the antidote, and the Doctor programs the TARDIS to synthesize more, should it be successful.

When they arrive, the Doctor determines that they are at the bottom of the sea in a shell of plastic made from the Indian Ocean garbage patch. They find Suki aboard her ship and learn that her kind came to Earth, rich in plastics, to study Praxeus and create their own antidote. When Suki demands the antidote from the Doctor, she is told that it will only work on humans. Suki suddenly succumbs to Praxeus and is killed. The Doctor finds that the ship runs on organic fuel, and with Adam successfully cured, has her allies load the batch of antidote into the ship and sets it on course to explode in the atmosphere to distribute it via the jet stream. The autopilot fails, however, and Jake stays behind to pilot the ship on its course, while the others retreat to the TARDIS. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to rescue Jake in the millisecond before the ship's destruction. With the cure successfully spread, the Doctor drops Jake, Adam, and Gabriela off, and Ryan suggests that they travel the world together.

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

"Praxeus" was written by Pete McTighe and Chris Chibnall, McTighe wrote an episode of the previous series, "Kerblam!".[1][2] According to McTighe, the episode had been intended to bring the Autons back.[3]

Casting

[edit]

Molly Harris appeared as a character named Suki Cheng.[2][4] Further cast members were announced in Doctor Who Magazine #547 in early January 2020.[2] Warren Brown was also cast in the episode.[5]

Filming

[edit]

Jamie Magnus Stone directed the third block, consisting of the first and sixth episodes.[2][4][6] "Praxeus" was filmed in part in South Africa, including Cape Town, along with "Spyfall" as part of first filming block.[5][7]

Broadcast and reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)71%[8]
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)6.3/10[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubB+[9]
Entertainment WeeklyB[10]
MetroStarStarHalf star[11]
Radio TimesStarStar[12]
The IndependentStarStarStarStar[13]
The TelegraphStarStar[14]

Television

[edit]

"Praxeus" aired on 2 February 2020.[5]

Ratings

[edit]

"Praxeus" was watched by 3.97 million viewers overnight, making it the fourth most watched programme for the day in the United Kingdom.[15] The episode had an Audience Appreciation Index score of 78.[16] The episode received an official total of 5.22 million viewers across all UK channels.[16]

Critical reception

[edit]

The episode received a 71% approval rating, and an average rating of 6.3/10, on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews from critics. The consensus on the website reads, "A step back from the previous installment, 'Praxeus' is a mystery box that doesn't add up to much, but it's still a fun enough return to basics for Doctor Who."[8]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
"Praxeus" is the sixth episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, written by Pete McTighe and Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, and first broadcast on BBC One on 2 February 2020. In the story, the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions investigate seemingly disparate events on contemporary Earth—a missing astronaut in the Indian Ocean, unusual bird behavior in Peru, and a U.S. naval officer discovered on a Madagascan beach—which converge on a synthetic bacterium called Praxeus, engineered by extraterrestrial scientists to consume plastic pollutants but mutated to fatally infect organisms containing synthetic materials. The episode highlights the perils of deploying untested biological solutions to environmental crises like plastic waste accumulation, while featuring action sequences across international locations and emphasizing the Doctor's role in averting planetary catastrophe through scientific deduction and confrontation with alien perpetrators.

Synopsis

Plot Summary

The and her companions—Yasmin Khan, , and —detect anomalous energy signals emanating from in the early , prompting the Doctor to divide the team for parallel investigations into disparate global incidents. Ryan travels to , where he encounters travel vlogger Gabriela Sosa, whose partner has been attacked by erratic, diseased birds near a polluted river; and Yaz head to to locate missing astronaut Adam Lang, who ejects from his malfunctioning shuttle and distress-texts his husband, suspended detective Jake Willis; the Doctor proceeds to to examine reports of bizarre bird behavior and a washed-up infected naval officer. In , Ryan and Gabriela discover Jamila's corpse, which erupts in a cloud of dust due to a rapidly progressing characterized by scaly growths and tissue disintegration. In , Graham, Yaz, and Jake infiltrate a canal-based facility guarded by security droids, rescuing the weakened , who reveals exposure to an unknown during his mission. The Doctor traces the outbreaks to Praxeus, an extraterrestrial bacterium that bonds symbiotically with in the bloodstream—exacerbated by Earth's —causing fatal mutations; infected birds serve as vectors, spreading the contagion via scratches. The investigations converge at a submerged alien research outpost in the , operated by Suki Cheng, a survivor from a distant wholly devastated by Praxeus; her team had transported samples to in hopes of leveraging local plastic-degrading microbes for a cure, but the bacterium mutated into a hybrid superpathogen. As Suki succumbs to the infection while attempting a self-experiment, the Doctor synthesizes an derived from an uninfected bird's and organic fuel cells from Suki's shuttle. Jake pilots the vessel to aerially disperse the cure worldwide, neutralizing the threat and restoring to , while the Doctor admonishes humanity's environmental negligence as a contributing factor.

Production

Development and Writing

Pete McTighe co-wrote "Praxeus" with showrunner , marking McTighe's second contribution to the series following "Kerblam!" in series 11. The episode originated as McTighe's pitch for a story reviving the Autons, plastic-based aliens controlled by the Nestene Consciousness, a concept from the classic era first introduced in 1970. This was revised early in development after Chibnall opted to restrict returning elements to avoid overcrowding series 12, which already incorporated the Master, Gallifrey, , Judoon, and ; additionally, McTighe acknowledged that effective Auton visuals would demand a higher . McTighe later reflected, "Originally, that was going to be an Auton story… it didn’t become that, which is a shame," while noting the budgetary limitations. The final script shifted to a self-contained narrative centered on Praxeus, an alien bacterium that metabolizes and infects organic hosts, linking disparate global incidents into a planetary threat. This motif, emphasizing and microbial horror, was developed collaboratively between McTighe and Chibnall prior to the 2020 outbreak, rendering its themes inadvertently prophetic. The writing process aligned with Chibnall's approach for series 12, which included targeted pitches from established contributors like McTighe to balance fresh ideas with series constraints.

Casting

Jodie Whittaker reprised her role as the , with companions Graham O'Brien (), (), and () also returning from prior episodes in series 12. Guest roles were filled by Warren Brown as Jake Willis, a former soldier and activist; as Adam Lang, a stranded ; Joana Borja as Gabriela Camara, a blogger and ; Molly Harris as Suki Cheng, a teenager affected by the episode's central threat; Gabriela Toloi as Jamila Velez; Thapelo Maropefela as Aramu; Soo Drouet as Joyce; and Tristan de Beer as Zach Olson. Brown and McNulty's involvement was first publicly announced on January 10, 2020, followed by details on the full guest ensemble on January 22, 2020.

Filming and Design

for "Praxeus" occurred in , , and , , as part of the first production block shared with the episode "Spyfall" to facilitate international location work for a global narrative scope. In , Riebeek Lane in doubled as a street market, while Kogel Bay provided beach exteriors for scenes involving stranded wildlife. Cardiff locations included the Cardiff Food Centre, used for interior shop sequences. The production was directed by , with Dafydd Shurmer serving as overseeing sets that depicted polluted beaches, military bases, and infected interiors. Ray Holman handled and , creating the Praxeus-infected humans—victims encased in hardened exoskeletons derived from the alien bacterium's consumption of environmental plastics. Practical effects for the creatures were crafted by Millennium FX, led by Neill Gorton, who designed the infection prosthetics; a account noted how a 's structural flaw, causing it to collapse comically, disrupted filming due to uncontrollable laughter from the cast. Visual effects, including bird swarms, bacterial animations, and digital enhancements to the Praxeus transformations, were produced by , integrating seamlessly with practical elements to depict the pathogen's rapid spread and plastic-assimilating behavior. Make-up designer Claire Pritchard-Jones contributed to the grotesque, textured appearances of infected characters, emphasizing the episode's theme of through visceral, tangible prosthetics.

Broadcast and Release

Television Broadcast

"Praxeus" was first broadcast on in the on 2 February 2020 at 19:10 GMT, as the sixth episode of the twelfth series of the revived . The episode aired in the traditional Sunday evening slot for the series, following the previous installment "Apostles of Doom" from 26 January 2020. A repeat transmission occurred on BBC Two on 8 February 2020 at 01:35 GMT. In the United States, the episode premiered simultaneously on on 2 February 2020, aligning with the co-production agreement between and the American broadcaster for international distribution of the series. This same-day release maintained the global synchronization strategy employed for series 12, allowing audiences in multiple regions to access new episodes concurrently with the UK transmission. The broadcast occurred amid the early stages of the , though the episode's production had concluded prior to the virus's widespread recognition.

Ratings and Viewership

"Praxeus" recorded an overnight viewership of 3.97 million in the , marking the first occasion in series 12 where the figure dipped below 4 million. The consolidated BARB rating, accounting for seven-day time-shifted viewing across television and online platforms, totaled 5.22 million viewers with an audience share of 23.5 percent. This final figure comprised 5.09 million viewers on conventional television sets, supplemented by 63,000 on personal computers, 38,000 on tablets, and 30,000 on smartphones. The episode's Appreciation Index score stood at , reflecting viewer engagement and satisfaction as measured by BARB. "Praxeus" outperformed rival ITV program Dancing on Ice, which drew 5.06 million viewers, and ranked as the 12th most-watched broadcast on for the week, placing 28th overall across UK television. Relative to the prior episode, "Fugitive of the Judoon", which achieved 5.57 million consolidated viewers, "Praxeus" experienced a decline of approximately 350,000.

Home Media and Streaming

"Praxeus" was included in the home video release of Doctor Who: The Complete Twelfth Series, which encompasses all ten episodes of the season plus the 2019 special "Resolution". In the United Kingdom, the set was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 4 May 2020, with a steelbook edition of the Blu-ray also available. In the United States, the DVD version followed on 9 June 2020. The Blu-ray edition for the complete series became available in the US on 5 November 2020. No standalone home media release for the individual episode has been issued. For streaming, "Praxeus" remains accessible on in the , where the full series 12 is available on demand. Internationally, including , the episode streams on Disney+ as part of the 2005 revival series catalog, following the consolidation of rights on the platform by October 2025. Prior to this, it had been available on services like HBO Max in the until its removal at the end of July 2025, and on in select regions. Availability may vary by territory and require subscription or regional licensing.

Reception

Critical Reviews

Critical reception to Praxeus, the sixth episode of Doctor Who series 12, was generally mixed, with critics appreciating its global scope, diverse ensemble, and brisk pacing while critiquing the plot's contrivances and underdeveloped resolution. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode holds a 71% approval rating from 14 reviews, described as a "fun enough return to basics" despite feeling like a step back from prior installments. The Guardian highlighted the episode's rare scale in Doctor Who, praising its large, diverse guest cast—including actors from , , and the —and how it convincingly interconnected multiple storylines across continents. In contrast, found the central mystery ambitious but undermined by a resolution lacking a satisfying "ah-ha" revelation, noting the environmental theme of felt underdeveloped relative to the episode's planetary stakes. Eruditorum Press viewed Praxeus as "vaguely competent" with minimal narrative trauma, marking it as a relative success in series 12's latter half under showrunner Chris Chibnall, who contributed rewrites. Alex Moreland rated it 6/10, calling it comfortable but unremarkable—"nothing special" yet potentially rewarding on rewatch—as a "year two" episode settling into the Whittaker era's rhythms. Critical Popcorn commended director Julia Barker's work, the guest performances, and overall brisk energy, positioning it as another strong entry in the season. Some reviewers noted tonal inconsistencies, such as the m0vie blog's criticism of the earnest handling of a key character's , which disrupted the episode's momentum before a hasty reversal. Mainstream outlets beyond the UK provided limited coverage, reflecting 's niche status in the U.S., though fan-oriented sites like Bradley's appreciated the horror elements despite overall disappointment in execution. Critics from progressive-leaning publications, such as , emphasized representational aspects, potentially overlooking structural weaknesses amid enthusiasm for the episode's internationalism—a pattern observed in coverage of Chibnall-era stories prioritizing diversity over tighter plotting.

Audience and Fan Reactions

Audience reception to "Praxeus" was mixed, with fans appreciating elements like its global scope and guest performances while criticizing the episode's pacing and heavy-handed messaging. On , the episode holds an average user rating of 5.2 out of 10, based on over 5,500 votes, placing it among the lower-rated entries in series 12. Audience reviews there highlighted frustrations with excessive exposition and underdeveloped characters, though some praised it as a return to politically charged storytelling reminiscent of early episodes. Fan discussions on platforms like emphasized the episode's frantic pace and perceived preachiness on environmental themes, with commenters describing it as "vaguely competent" but lacking emotional depth or innovation compared to prior eras. Positive notes included the for the Praxeus and Alan Cumming's portrayal of the villainous King Vadok, which added campy flair amid the chaos. Critics within , such as those on review blogs, noted it as a step up from immediately preceding episodes like "" but still emblematic of series 12's rushed scripting under showrunner . The episode's score of 78 indicated lukewarm engagement, aligning with broader fan sentiment that it delivered a serviceable adventure but failed to inspire enthusiasm or memorable twists. In rankings of series 12 episodes by scores, "Praxeus" trailed behind stronger outings like "Spyfall," reflecting a consensus that while not the season's , it underscored ongoing issues with companion dynamics and plot resolution.

Awards and Nominations

"Praxeus" did not receive any major industry awards or nominations, such as those from the Hugo Awards, BAFTA, or Saturn Awards specifically for the episode. The episode's director, Jamie Magnus Stone, was recognized in a fan-voted category at the Doctor Who TV Best of 2020-21 Awards for his work on multiple series 12 episodes, including "Praxeus," but this was not an official industry accolade. Overall, while Doctor Who series 12 earned a Saturn Award nomination for Best Science Fiction Television Series, no individual recognition extended to "Praxeus."

Analysis

Themes and Messaging

"Praxeus" centers on the perils of , depicting a bacterium engineered by aliens to consume waste that mutates into a lethal due to the ubiquity of in Earth's oceans and environment. The narrative frames human-generated debris as a catalyst for interstellar intervention, with the aliens' failed experiment highlighting how excessive pollution creates vulnerabilities exploited by . The episode conveys a didactic message urging viewers to reduce plastic use, as the Doctor explicitly warns that humanity's "addiction" to single-use plastics has polluted global ecosystems, attracting the aliens' attention and enabling the crisis. This environmental cautionary tale parallels earlier Doctor Who stories like "The Green Death" but focuses on contemporary issues such as ocean microplastic accumulation, with birds acting as vectors for the disease after ingesting contaminated waste. Interwoven with the ecological theme is an emphasis on interconnectedness, as disparate global events—erratic bird behavior in , explosive infections in , and a submerged alien facility in the —converge through personal relationships and cooperative problem-solving among the Doctor's companions and guest characters. This messaging promotes themes of unity and empathy across divides, exemplified by subplots involving between separated lovers and cross-cultural alliances to avert planetary catastrophe.

Scientific Plausibility and Accuracy

The episode's central premise involves Praxeus, a bacterium initially capable of degrading plastics but which mutates to infect and rapidly kill organic hosts, including seabirds, humans, and other animals, by breaking down cellular structures. This draws partial inspiration from real plastic-degrading microorganisms, such as , which uses enzymes to hydrolyze (PET) plastics into usable carbon sources, a discovery reported in 2016 from samples near a Japanese plastic bottle recycling facility. Similarly, marine bacteria like species have been engineered or isolated to target specific plastics in saltwater environments, though degradation rates remain slow—often requiring weeks or months for measurable breakdown of thin films—and limited to particular polymer types. However, no known bacterium degrades the diverse array of plastics depicted (e.g., , , PVC) indiscriminately or at the accelerated pace shown, where materials dissolve almost instantly; real microbial action produces partial without fully assimilating untreated bulk plastics akin to organic substrates. The mutation enabling Praxeus to shift from plastic specificity to broad pathogenicity lacks empirical support. Plastic-degraders rely on specialized hydrolases (e.g., ) evolved for inert hydrocarbons, not the factors needed for eukaryotic , such as adhesion proteins, toxins, or immune evasion mechanisms. While bacteria can acquire new traits via or mutation, transitioning to systemic human would demand coordinated genomic changes improbable in short timescales; historical zoonotic jumps, like those of , involved pre-existing adaptations over millennia, not abrupt host-switching from xenobiotic degraders. Recent findings of opportunistic pathogens like degrading medical-grade plastics in hospital settings highlight formation on polymers but represent metabolic versatility in established pathogens, not novel mutations conferring lethality from plastic-eaters. Speculative risks of engineered degraders "going rogue" exist in theoretical discussions, but no verified cases link plastic-focused microbes to human outbreaks. Transmission via seabirds ingesting plastic-laden sewage aligns with documented environmental pathways but exaggerates causal chains. Seabirds worldwide ingest plastics at high rates—projected to affect 99% of by 2050—leading to physical blockages, reduced nutrient absorption, and conditions like "plasticosis," a fibrotic from chronic . in seabird guts correlate with elevated levels of pathogenic bacteria (e.g., spp.), potentially via surface colonization, but this manifests as localized rather than vectoring a plastic-degrading superpathogen to distant populations. Real facilitates microbial hitchhiking, including antibiotic-resistant strains, yet no evidence supports birds as efficient dispersers of infectiously mutated degraders; seabird die-offs from plastics stem from mechanical and toxic effects, not bacterial contagion mirroring the episode's global cascade. The depicted rapid onset of symptoms—blindness and cellular disintegration within hours—contrasts with bacterial infections, which typically incubate days to weeks and require specific portals of entry, not airborne or fecal-oral spread from plastic vectors alone. Overall, while Praxeus accurately underscores the perils of and research, its core mechanics prioritize dramatic escalation over causal fidelity, rendering the threat scientifically implausible without invoking unspecified enhancements beyond known .

References

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