Orphan 55
"Orphan 55" is the third episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, written by Ed Hime and directed by Lee Haven Jones.[1] First broadcast on BBC One on 12 January 2020, it stars Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor alongside companions Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill).[2][3] The episode follows the TARDIS crew's arrival at Tranquillity Spa, a seemingly idyllic luxury resort on the planet Orphan 55, which hides deadly secrets including attacks by ferocious mutated creatures called Dregs and a human-led regime exploiting survivors.[2] The narrative builds to a revelation that Orphan 55 is a future Earth rendered uninhabitable by a combination of unchecked global warming, resource depletion, and nuclear conflict resulting from political denialism.[4] The Doctor confronts the resort's owner, underscoring personal and collective responsibility to avert such a timeline through immediate action on environmental threats.[5] Notable for its overt ecological messaging, "Orphan 55" depicts a speculative dystopia where human shortsightedness leads to societal collapse, featuring practical effects for the barren wasteland exteriors and underground lairs.[1] However, it drew significant criticism for didactic dialogue, particularly the Doctor's extended speeches on climate inaction, which some reviewers found preachy and disruptive to pacing and character development.[6] Aggregate scores reflect divided reception, with Rotten Tomatoes at 47% from critics and audience metrics on IMDb at 4.1/10, often cited as one of the series' weaker entries due to contrived plotting and underdeveloped antagonists.[7][3] Despite this, elements like the episode's ambition in blending horror with moral allegory received praise in select analyses for attempting timely relevance amid real-world debates on sustainability.[4]Synopsis
Plot Summary
The Thirteenth Doctor and her companions—Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair, and Yasmin Khan—arrive at the luxury resort Tranquility Spa after Graham accidentally wins a teleportation prize during a game show broadcast.[1] Upon landing, they join other guests, including the resort's scarred administrator Kane, her employee Nevi, and a young woman named Bella with whom Ryan begins a flirtation. The idyll shatters when the resort's systems malfunction due to a "Hopper" virus that Ryan contracts from a vending machine, and aggressive, humanoid mutants known as the Dregs breach the perimeter, killing several guests including Nevi during the chaos.[8][4] The Doctor identifies the planet as Orphan 55, a barren wasteland revealed to be a possible future Earth ravaged by solar radiation, wars, and environmental collapse stemming from prolonged human denial of climate threats and corporate prioritization of profit over sustainability.[8] Kane discloses her plan to terraform the planet using resort profits, but Bella—Kane's estranged daughter, who believes she was abandoned—sabotages the systems to destroy the spa in revenge, inadvertently aiding the Dreg invasion. The Doctor repels the Dregs with a non-lethal plan involving pure oxygen, which proves toxic to them, but efforts to avert the timeline fail as it represents only one potential outcome. The TARDIS team escapes, leaving Kane and Bella to continue the terraforming struggle, while the Doctor urges humanity in the present to act decisively against self-inflicted ruin.[4][9]Production
Development and Writing
"Orphan 55" was written by Ed Hime as the third episode of Doctor Who's twelfth series, produced for broadcast on BBC One.[10] This marked Hime's second script for the programme, following "It Takes You Away" from series 11 in 2018.[11] The narrative structure draws on the "base under siege" trope, a recurring format in Doctor Who where protagonists defend a confined location against external threats, here featuring a resort overrun by mutated creatures known as Dregs.[12] Hime incorporated themes of environmental collapse, portraying the titular Orphan 55 as a future Earth devastated by unchecked climate change compounded by nuclear war, serving as a cautionary vision of humanity's potential trajectory absent corrective action.[4] The script was developed prior to principal photography commencing in late 2019, with adjustments to align with the established dynamics of Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor and her companions, emphasizing ensemble interactions amid escalating peril.[10] Unlike contiguous episodes that seeded elements of the series' central Timeless Child storyline, "Orphan 55" remains standalone, focusing on immediate survival and revelation without advancing broader mythological arcs. The finalized script adhered to the 60-minute episode format, balancing action sequences, dialogue-driven exposition, and a climactic address by the Doctor urging collective responsibility.[13]Casting
Jodie Whittaker reprised her role as the Thirteenth Doctor, leading the TARDIS team alongside returning companions Bradley Walsh as Graham O'Brien, Tosin Cole as Ryan Sinclair, and Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan.[3] These actors, established in the series since 2018, provided continuity for the episode's ensemble dynamics, with Whittaker's portrayal emphasizing the Doctor's quick-thinking leadership amid the resort crisis.[14] Laura Fraser was selected for the key guest role of Kane, the pragmatic manager of Tranquility Spa, with her casting announced in December 2019 ahead of the episode's production wrap.[15] Fraser, known from roles in Casanova and Breaking Bad, underwent makeup application to depict Kane's facial scarring from a prior Dregun encounter, enhancing the character's hardened survivor persona without relying on full prosthetics.[16][17] The supporting cast included Gia Ré as Bella, Kane's daughter and a resort worker who aids the Doctor's group; James Buckley as Nevi, an inept engineer; Julia Foster as the elderly Vilma; Amy Booth-Steel as the tech-savvy Hyph3n; and Lewin Lloyd as Sylas, among others portraying resort patrons and staff.[17] Additional performers embodied the Dregun mutants, requiring detailed makeup and creature suits to convey their feral, post-apocalyptic threat, though individual credits for these roles were limited due to the episode's focus on the human ensemble.[17] The large number of guest actors—over a dozen in minor capacities—reflected the script's resort setting but contributed to some characters receiving underdeveloped screen time, prioritizing the core TARDIS interactions.[1] Further casting details for the ensemble were revealed in Doctor Who Magazine issue 547, published in early January 2020.[18]Filming and Visual Effects
Principal filming for "Orphan 55" occurred at BBC Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff Bay, Wales, where sets replicating the interior of the Tranquillity Spa resort were built to mimic a luxurious futuristic holiday destination.[3] Exterior shots of the resort dome utilized the distinctive architecture of the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, providing a striking, wave-like structure for the spa's facade.[14][19] The desolate, post-apocalyptic exteriors of Orphan 55, portraying a irradiated wasteland, were filmed in Teide National Park on Tenerife, leveraging the volcanic terrain and barren landscapes to convey environmental devastation.[14] Tunnel sequences depicting the Dreg nest were captured in a disused underground bunker repurposed as a shooting range on Barry Island, Wales.[19] The episode was directed by Lee Haven Jones, whose work emphasized dynamic action within the confined resort sets and expansive location shoots.[2] Visual effects integrated practical elements with digital enhancements, particularly for the Dregun creatures—humanoid mutants designed by Millennium FX using prosthetic suits for performers, supplemented by CGI to refine movements and environmental interactions.[17] Additional VFX, including the resort's protective dome, escape vehicles, and explosive action sequences, were produced by the BBC Wales Visual Effects team, achieving a blend of on-location footage and post-production compositing completed ahead of the January 2020 broadcast.[20] These effects aimed to balance the episode's base-under-siege tension with its speculative future setting, though some sequences relied on established Doctor Who asset libraries for efficiency.[14]