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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 5: Fugitive Of The Judoon

January 27th, 2020 by Todd Black Comments

So yeah…I have NO IDEA what to make of what just happened. “Fugitive Of The Judoon” might just go down as one of the most controversial or brilliant episodes of Doctor Who in history depending on how this all plays out, while also being a Whovian’s dream in terms of numerous callbacks to Doctor Who history.

Everything starts out in basic form, with humanity (England) being overrun by Judoon (first seen in the Tennant run of Doctor Who!) and after a “fugitive”, who we “know” from the beginning…until it’s revealed it’s a woman named Ruth! That is…until we find out it’s NOT a woman named Ruth…because Ruth…IS THE DOCTOR!!!

Yep, Doctor Ruth is apparently another version of The Doctor, and that’s where things get tricky. Because we think she’s from the future (aka another regeneration down the line), but Ruth doesn’t recognize Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, which means she’s from the past…and yet that makes no sense with the current Doctor Who timeline. William Hartnell WAS the first Doctor, and the Tardis looks like it does because of him.

But then again, The Master teased that “everything we were taught was a lie” and there’s still the “Timeless Child” to figure out. So…maybe it’s all connected. And don’t forget, Spyfall introduced us to the Doctor Who MULTIVERSE, so it’s possible that this Doctor is from another timeline on another Earth.

Of course, ALL OF THIS raises mind-numbing questions that we NEED answers to. Though to be clear, Doctor Who has teased other Doctor that didn’t come into play (The Valeyard for example) and revealed “New Doctors” that we didn’t know about until we needed to (The War Doctor), so technically this is fair game. But, if not played right, all the previous seasons and regenerations of The Doctor are basically lies, and that’s a dangerous path to go down.

Oh yeah, and did I mention Captain Jack Harkness is back? Because he is! Yes, John Barrowman is back, and he’s back in top form. He’s literally not missed a beat, and he brought several teases of the future, and the hope that he’ll get to meet Jodie’s Doctor (which will be a hoot I guarantee it!), so that was very fun.

After the horror (in how bad it was) in “Orphan 55” and then the fair bounceback with “Tesla’s Night Of Terror), “Fugitive Of Judoon” was the powerful and exciting Doctor Who episode we needed to really cement this season on the path it needed to be on. I’m pumped (though admittedly a little scared) to see where this all goes.

4.5 out of 5 nerds

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!