WiC Watches: Doctor Who season 12

Goran Visnjic as Nikola Tesla – Doctor Who _ Season 12, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/BBC America

Episode 1204: “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”

Doctor Who is on a roll this season, with each episode bigger and better than the last. This week’s Nikola Tesla-centric episode was my second favorite after “Spyfall, Part 2” simply because of the historical component.

Nikola Tesla is at the heart of this episode, which highlights his immense contributions to modern science. The great thing about historical figures being a part of a Doctor Who episode is how excited the Doctor herself gets. She can’t contain her enthusiasm and it’s absolutely adorable.

The interaction between the Doctor and Tesla makes for some riveting moments as they work together to fight this week’s big bad: the Skithras, a race of scorpion aliens. While Thomas Edison, Tesla’s nemesis, is also a part of the episode, the aliens are the real threat, and can’t wait to get their hands on the genius behind alternating current.

“Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror” focuses heavily on Tesla’s innovative accomplishments and how they were overshadowed by the more popular and well-known Edison. As someone who didn’t really know how extreme their rivalry was, this was fun and informative. And in the end, it was Tesla who was left forgotten and penniless.

The plot of this episode is pretty predictable; it won’t shock anyone to learn the Skithra end up defeated, although I loved the Doctor deceiving the Skithra Queen into thinking she had won and then ZAP! It was over.

Instead, the dynamic between the Doctor and Tesla was the focus, and I loved it. Seeing the Doctor geek out and connect with Tesla is all kinds of fun, especially because as a character, the Doctor doesn’t always get to lose her cool around others.

Jodie Whittaker does such a great job selling the Doctor’s excitement, and the episode does justice to Tesla’s accomplishments. The Doctor wasn’t able to change his fate, but she was able to give him the confidence he needed to follow his dreams, however short-lived they were.

I hope we continue to get profound, deep episodes of Doctor Who. I think they’ve been some of the series’ strongest in a long time. Can Jodie Whitaker stay here forever?