Fugitive of the Judoon [TV/2020.1.26]

(artwork by Caroline Tankersley)

★★★★☆

  Fugitive of the Judoon could have done so many things wrong, and yet what's miraculous is that it comes off as a very polished and thoughtful episode on its own as well as a tantalising teaser for the big revelations to come at the tail end of Series 12. With whispers of foundation-shaking twists to come, it's an episode packed with almost nothing but foreshadowing (with some golden moments detached from those elements, such as the Doctor and her friends telling some Judoon off), and I can understand some people being left cold by this adventure. The actual bones of it all, the structure of the piece (if one wishes to boil such a packed joyride down to its basics like that) is actually very simplistic, but it's the added layers that make Fugitive of the Judoon for me. I had fun on first viewing, and this most recent rewatch proved to me that there's still much love for this episode from me.

  Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor is an inspired choice, and blow me if she doesn't deliver wholesale. She's the Doctor, plain and simple from the moment she breaks the Chameleon Arch, whether she's in the future of Thirteenth or in the past (well the word from above now suggests she's in the past, but that doesn't bother me at all -- I've said countless times that Doctor Who 'canon' is something I ignore) -- and Martin visibly relishes the part as she stomps into our screens with power. Her presence could well have taken the spotlight from any less confident an actor, but Jodie Whittaker's too good at this point to be taken her show from her. She's still the Doctor we trust (although I'm not sure the TARDIS fam should, given how closed off she is), and some of her best moments in her tenure come from this episode: her banter with the Fugitive Doctor, her reaction to the ever-increasing mystery, her melancholy state by the end of the episode, the list goes on. Her very deft hand at sarcasm reminds me very much of Peter Davison, and how his Doctor too was often written as this youthful figure when both he and Whittaker are naturally better at being old fogies tired of the shenanigans of fools. In any case, this is a strong showcase of the Thirteenth Doctor.

  Oh yeah, Jack Harkness is in this too, and I lost my rocker back in 2020. Who says Fugitive of the Judoon isn't enjoyable? That can't be right -- this has a kind of drive, a momentum to it that hasn't quite been touched before in the new series. 'Something big's coming,' the episode seems to be saying to us, 'and you'd better be ready.' This is a landmark episode, hitting all the high notes with confidence and leaving us viewers with tantalising questions. Watching this after the Whittaker/Chibnall era has come and gone, it still holds up remarkably well as a story filled with pure fun.