Written by Brian McNamara
‘Fugitive of the Judoon’ is an impossible episode. It’s not the plot itself is so difficult to describe or that it functions on some wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey logic. In fact, it’s pretty straightforward. In one sense, it works as a masterstroke in misdirection – it builds and leads towards expectations that don’t pan out quite the way the audience thinks. ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’ is impossible because it does something most assumed the show – across its 56 years – would never do.
There is no functional way to talk about this episode without spoiling a few key things. The plot, such as it is, revolves around the Judoon, a returning group of Rhino space-cops-for-hire, who like to shoot first and question in rhyming Judonese second, tracking down a fugitive in Gloucester, England. We get snippets of the everyday life of Ruth, a tour guide, and her husband Lee as the Judoon begin to beam in and search for the fugitive. Only, Lee’s not quite acting like the innocent human he presumes to be. The Doctor and company are able to sneak past the Judoon’s cordon only to run head on into the platoon of Judoon by a lagoon and head first into an unraveling mystery with the Doctor at the center.
The Judoon, as the headlining returning aliens, get a nice spotlight but are really here as cover for a number of other elements going on. The Judoon look more animated than their appearance a decade ago, but are largely the same. Graham, Ryan and Yas are pretty much superfluous to the plot as they are whisked away to meet Captain Jack Harkness. Another appearance from the Tenant-era, Jack’s cameo came as quite a surprise. His energy is great and his interactions with the companions all felt spot-on. Jack’s main purpose is to provide insight into some future fight for The Doctor, but the snippets we get are good. That we are denied a Jack/Doctor moment is somewhat frustrating, but given the main plot it makes total sense.
The sense that something was going on below the surface of the episode was probably evident from the inordinate focus on Ruth early on. The plots aren’t normally built like this in Who. However, she’s clearly an engaging character with glimpses of a broader and bigger personality bubbling up below the surface. Jo Martin does a great job of playing the character as out of sorts, out of depth, while still maintaining heart. Her sense of dread as she and the Doctor drive to the lighthouse stands out as a strong moment. However, the episode fundamentally changes in the third act.
We learn that Ruth is who the fugitive the Judoon are after and not her husband, Lee. A brief flash of who she may be comes as she performs some Venusian Aikido and dishonors the lead Judoon by stealing his horn. As the Doctor and Ruth reach the lighthouse, it begins to become clear. Ruth… is The Doctor. Only, she’s not our Doctor. Ruth breaks a glass fire alarm and unlocks her true self (Another element from the Tenant-era, the Chameleon Arch, rears it head). Martin’s Doctor is more assertive and brusque than Whittaker’s, brandishing a big gun and even reworking it to misfire to take out one of their pursuers. She’s immediately different from the usual Doctor but quickly falls into some of the traits.
Whittaker and Martin play at odds but character-wise and plot-wise. While the Doctors generally don’t get along at first whenever more than one cross paths, they always reach an understanding because they’re fundamentally shades of the same person. Even John Hurt’s Warrior *becomes* the Doctor again in his one-off appearance. But Martin’s Doctor is antagonistic toward Whittaker, and they part on rocky terms. Neither remembers the other, and at least one of them should as one is the other’s past. Martin’s Doctor is being chased by someone from Gallifrey, which must place it in the past, as Whittaker’s Doctor knows the planet is dead (again.)
What exactly is going on is left unresolved. Surely it will be the basis for the ongoing plot for the season – an outgrowth of the hinted “Timeless Child” last year – but the mystery is surely enticing. Martin’s Doctor is poised to be ensconced in the show’s mythology as well – she’s given the traditional “Introducing as the Doctor” credit in the closing credits.
Who exactly her Doctor will turn out to be is still somewhat up for grabs. There’s been a rumor of the show runners introducing regenerations before William Hartnell’s Doctor since last year, but that seems like a lot for audiences to take in. Parallel universe Doctor? A change in the time-stream to a “new” path? Possibly the long-held fan theory of a secret season between the Second and Third Doctors because they don’t actually regenerate on screen – sometimes called Season 6B? It could be anything but it’s interesting.
The episode is certainly daring. It pulls the trigger on the “A new Doctor appears before and old one leaves” story trope that no one ever thought they would try. It plays with the show’s mythology in new and interesting ways without ever feeling like homework. And it presents interesting storytelling opportunities. Could we have two Doctors at once? Martin’s TARDIS is also pretty fantastic and I wouldn’t mind if it stayed around.
All the reveals and hints for the future aside, it’s hard not to notice that the episode itself is pretty thin. The companions are literally pulled out of the episode to hear the story pitch for an upcoming episode and have almost no bearing on the plot. Even the Judoon’s presence feels like a mask on a mask, to hide the two other reveals. The episode is still very good, though, and those surprises work so well that the telling of the tale makes up for a basic plot.
Rating: 9/10
