Doctor Who: After what we saw in Praxeus, could the Doctor have saved Adric?
By James Aggas
This week’s episode Praxeus seems to contradict an earlier Doctor Who story where a companion died. Or at least, that’s what some fans seem to think…
One thing that a lot of fans have been talking lately is Adric. In case you missed Sunday’s episode Praxeus, it isn’t because Matthew Waterhouse made an unexpected appearance. (Although after Captain Jack’s sudden return to Doctor Who, anything’s possible, really.)
No, it’s because of what happened at the very end of the story. During the episode’s climax, Jake makes a heroic sacrifice to save the Earth by manually flying a ship that’s ready to explode. Or rather, he almost sacrifices himself, before the TARDIS materializes around him just in time.
Whether you think it’s a nice subversion of a typical Doctor Who cliché or a cheap cop-out, the moment has got a lot of fans asking one thing: why didn’t the Doctor do the same for Adric? In the TV serial Earthshock, Adric died on an exploding spaceship at the end of the story. That’s the part that a lot of people seem to remember, or at least know of. So a lot of fans are confused as to why the Doctor seemingly allowed a companion to die. But there’s actually a little more to it than that…
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An easy answer
As you can see in the clip above, there’s actually a very simple explanation for why the Doctor was able to save Jake, but not their own companion. And that’s mainly because of the state of the TARDIS console. During Earthshock‘s final moments, the Cyber Leader shoots at it. It more than likely was a stray shot due to the Leader choking on the gold from Adric’s badge – which the Doctor had smashed into his chest plate – but it was still horrifyingly effective. The TARDIS console was completely damaged, and the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa could only watch helplessly as their friend died.
So it’s not just a shocking death, but a well thought out one. More than that: it also adds impact to why the Doctor was so desperate to save Jake. Perhaps the writers had intended for fans to be reminded of Adric’s death. Perhaps not. (Certainly, I doubt they’d intended for fans to misremember it.)
Regardless, with Jake on a crashing spaceship, it’s not hard to imagine the Thirteenth Doctor remembering a time when they were unable to save a friend, and promising themselves that it would never happen again. Rather than weaken Earthshock‘s ending, Praxeus felt like a great nod to it, with the Doctor being able to save someone this time, even when it’s someone they hardly know.
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What do you think? Do you think Praxeus felt like an intentional nod to Earthshock? Do you think Adric’s death could have been prevented? Let us know in the comments below.