My Review of Doctor Who: "Lucky Day"

 

Written by Pete McTighe 

Directed by Peter Hoar 

Conrad: "I don't accept your reality, Doctor. I reject it. So put me back in my prison and get off my world."

In one episode, Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King)  managed to cement him as possibly the nastiest character in the era of the Fifteenth Doctor and dont think I've forgotten about Lindy Pepper-Bean from last season. He might also be one of the most fascinating characters too.

At the start of the episode, the eight year old version of Conrad (Benjamin Chivers) encountered the Doctor and Belinda and told his mum, Moira (Kirsty Hoiles) about them. His mother accused him of ruining her night but Conrad was obsessed with the Doctor.

That one encounter informed his whole life and a second encounter with the Doctor and Ruby had Conrad using the internet to find the latter for his podcast. Ruby instead found Conrad and agreed to be interviewed for him. She also wanted to protect Conrad from the Shreek by giving him an antidote he'd refuse to use. Already the red flags were showing up with Conrad.

As Ruby entered a relationship with Conrad, much to Carla, Cherry and Louise's encouragement, things should've been going well for her. Instead the episode made a point of highlighting Ruby's PTSD and worse than that was her not so nice new boyfriend exploiting her trauma for his own agenda. Yes, Conrad really was the absolute worst.

Conrad being revealed as a Think_Tank conspiracy nut who wanted to effectively get the returning UNIT cancelled after Kate Stewart rejected him for a job was something else. His vitriol towards Ruby and Shirley in particular was rather uncomfortable to watch. More than that, he even succeeded in his goal for the most part.

However like every villain, Conrad made the mistake of overplaying his hand and using his mole, Jordan Lang (Kareem Alexander) ended up being his downfall. Personally, I loved that Conrad's action and unwise dissing of the Brigadier brought out Kate's darker side. Allowing the Shreek to attack him was drastic but it's also the most interesting thing that Kate has done in the thirteen years she's been on the show. 

As for Ruby, I'll give the episode points for authentically exploring her post Doctor life as best as it could and I loved her scenes with Kate and Shirley.  I wish she had scenes with the Doctor and Belinda but we've got the finale for that team up. However the best scenes were the last two.

First of all, how bad do you have to be to get on the Doctor's bad side that he angrily tells you how you'll die. Conrad found out the hard way when he finally got to see the inside of the TARDIS and at the receiving end of the Doctor's wrath. Oh and Mrs Flood just happened to be the governor at the prison Conrad was residing in and she let him go free?  They've definitely upped the ante here.

- The Vindicator has been used in every episode so far this season but it ain't getting Belinda home.

- Mel was away in Sydney on a mission but where were Morris and Rose? What happened with Susan Triad? Did Ruby actually meet her dad?

- Trinity Wells (Lachele Carl) popped up and she was very team Conrad. Other guests included Joel Dommett, Jonathan Ross, Alex Jones and Reeta Chakrabarti. The Vlinx had a brief appearance too.

- Yet again, there's hints that Kate might be having a friends with benefits relationship with Colonel Ibrahim. I'm betting The War Between The Land And The Sea will be more direct about that.

- Think_Tank must have been a nod to the organisation from Robot.

- Chronology: Conrad met the Doctor and Belinda during New Year's 2007. He then encountered the Doctor and Ruby in 2024 (between The Devil's Chord and Boom) before the main action took place in 2025, before May 24th.

Lucky Day has taken last week's place as my favourite episode this season. I've enjoyed Pete McTighe's previous episodes but he outdid himself with this one. This episode easily is up there with Blink, Turn Left and 73 Yards in terms of Doctor lite episode. Not to mention the stuff it expertly set up for both the finale and upcoming spin off.

Rating: 10 out of 10