History Recap / DoctorWhoS38E6Praxeus

* BreatherEpisode: A standalone episode after half of a plot-heavy season where 13 gets put through the wringer.
* CallBack:

* AudienceSurrogate: The word "pathogen" is a reasonably common one. And while many people will not know it's full scientific meaning (given that, to be fair, it's a scientific term that doesn't come up much), the companions are once again completely clueless to what it means, which was, once again, done so the Doctor can explain its meaning in more detail to the audience. Especially egregious for Graham, who was not only married to a nurse but also went through cancer treatments and the resulting immunosuppression, ''and'' bare minutes later "knows his way around an IV".

* AudienceSurrogate: The word "pathogen" is a reasonably common one. And while many people will not know it's full scientific meaning (given that, to be fair, it's a scientific term that doesn't come up much), the companions are once again completely clueless to what it means, which was, once again, done so the Doctor can explain its meaning in more detail to the audience.

* [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance SciFi Writers Have No Sense Of Distance]]: Suki states that she and her crew traveled across three galaxies before finding a suitable planet - Earth. As most galaxies are about six million light years apart or more, Suki must have been using hyperbole for dramatic effect.

* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted. The name “Auton” is said for the first time since the revival began, despite them being the StarterVillain for this era and having reappeared twice since hen.

* AudienceSurrogate: The word "pathogen" is a reasonably common one. And while many people will not know it's full scientific meaning (given that, to be fair, it's a scientific term that doesn't come up much), the companions are once again completely clueless to what it means, which was, once again, done so the Doctor can explain its meaning in more detail to the audience.

* IdiotBall: The word "pathogen" is reasonably common. But so the Doctor can explain its meaning to the audience, her companions claim to have no knowledge of it.

* NotUsingTheZWord: Although Autons do not appear in the episode, this is notably the first time in the ''entire'' run of the new series where the word "Auton" is used instead of "Nestene" or "Nestene duplicate".

** Like Clara in season eight and season nine, Yaz has a go at being the Doctor. Thirteen sounds both impressed and annoyed at Yaz putting herself in danger.

* CreepyCrows: Praxeus is spreading itself across the planet by hijacking the bodies of birds that ingest plastic waste, resulting in murders of infected crows flying around the polluted river in Peru and Suki's lab in Madagascar. Late in the episode the Doctor and her companions are forced to flee when the infected crows attack the lab to try and stop her developing a cure.

* NoodleIncident: The Doctor twice mentions a talking cat in Ontario that she's ruled out as connected to the events of the episode.

* TheVirus: Praxeus is a pathogen with the ability to hijack the bodies of other lifeforms, spread through ingesting plastic or though injuries the infected cause to the healthy. According to Suki, it's also aware of any attempt to cure it and takes steps to sabotage the cure using its hosts.

Above the Indian Ocean, British astronaut Adam Lang's Soyuz descent capsule malfunctions suddenly, causing him to go missing. In Peru, travelling vloggers Gabriela and Jamila camp by a beautiful river has become a polluted dump site, but when Jamila wakes up in the middle of the night, she's suddenly attacked by a bird. When Gabriela wakes up and finds her friend missing and dead birds lying about, she tries to touch the bird... only for Ryan to suddenly turn up and warn her not to do so. In the UK, troubled ex-policeman Jake discovers that Adam — his husband — is missing, presumed dead, just before receiving a text message from Adam asking for help and placing him in Hong Kong. When Jake arrives, he tries to kick down the door to the building where Adam apparently is, only to be met by Yaz and Graham, who have the skeleton keys to enter. In Madagascar, scientist Suki Cheng is annoyed when she is yet again beaten to work by her colleague Aramu, when they are called to help rescue a man floating in the surf by the Doctor. The man, survivor of a missing US submarine, panics about something that got inside the vessel before his body is taken over by white scale-like growths and disintegrates.

* ChekhovsGun: Jake is trying to kick down a door when Yaz and Graham arrive. Inside the building, Yaz and Graham find another locked door and try to figure out how to bypass it... when Jake kicks it in.

** Gabriela asking people if they recognize her from her vlog "Two Girls Roamin'".

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Suki is trying to save what remains of her species, and is willing to destroy humanity to do it.

* OneWordTitle: "Praxeus".

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Suki is trying to save what remains of her species, and is willing to destroy humanity to do it.

* Sci Fi Writers Have / No Sense of Distance- Suki states that she and her crew traveled across three galaxies before finding a suitable planet - Earth. As most galaxies are about six million light years apart or more, Suki must have been using hyperbole for dramatic effect.














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** Praxeus, similar to the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Autons]], is drawn to Earth due to heavy amounts of plastic pollution. The Doctor even suggests that the Aut
ons might be behind the plot, but rejects it on the grounds that they don't work like this.

** The Doctor materializes the TARDIS [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek around a ship about to explode, saving its occupant]].

** Praxeus, similar to the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Autons]], is drawn to Earth due to heavy amounts of plastic pollution. The Doctor even suggests that the Autons might be behind the plot, but rejects it on the grounds that they don't work like this.

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** Praxeus, similar to the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Autons]], is drawn to Earth due to heavy amounts of plastic pollution.

* NoodleIncident: The Doctor twice mentions a talking cat in Ontario that she's ruled out as unconnected to the events of the episode.

* TheVirus: Praxeus is a pathogen with the ability to hijack the bodies of other lifeforms, spread through ingesting plastic or though injuries the infected cause to the healthy. According to Suki, it's also aware of any attempt to cure it and takes step to sabotage the cure using its hosts.

Above the Indian Ocean, British astronaut Adam Lang's Soyuz descent capsule malfunctions suddenly, causing him to go missing. In Peru, travelling vloggers Gabriela and Jamila camp by a beautiful river has become a polluted dump site, but when Jamila wakes up in the middle of the night, she's suddenly attacked by a bird. When Gabriela wakes up and finds her friend missing and dead birds lying about, she tries to touch the bird... only for Ryan to suddenly turn up and warn her not to do so. In the UK, troubled ex-policeman Jake discovers that Adam — his husband — is missing, presumed dead, just before receiving a text message from Adam asking for help and placing him in Hong Kong. When Jake arrives, he tries to kick down the door to the building where Adam apparently is, only to be met by Yaz and Graham, who have the skeleton keys to enter. In Madagascar, scientist Suki Cheng is annoyed when she is yet again beaten to work by her colleague Aramu, when they are called to help rescue a man floating in the surf by the Doctor. The man, a survivor of a missing US submarine, panics about something that got inside the vessel before his body is taken over by white scale-like growths and disintegrates.

All of these events, around the world, have a connection... but what is it?

* GreenAesop: Gabriela takes Jamila to a river in Peru which she describes as the most beautiful river in the world, and finds its banks have become strewn with trash in the 3 years she was last there. Plastic pollution turns out to be central to the threat posed by Praxeus, and there are a few rants against humans introducing plastic into the food-chain.

* RunningGag: Gabriela asking people if they recognize her from her vlog "Two Girls Roamin'".

Written by Pete [=McTighe=]. This episode first aired February 2, 2020.

''Across Peru, Madagascar and Hong Kong, the Doctor and friends face a deadly global threat.\\\
What connects a missing astronaut in the Indian Ocean, birds behaving strangely in Peru and a US naval officer who washes up on a Madagascan beach? Team TARDIS investigates.''

* BreatherEpisode: A standalone episode after a half of a plot-heavy season where 13 gets put through the wringer.

* CallBack: Like Clara in season eight and season nine, Yaz has a go at being the Doctor. Thirteen sounds both impressed and annoyed at Yaz putting herself in danger.
* CreepyCrows: Praxeus is spreading itself across the planet by hijacking the bodies of birds that ingest plastic waste, resulting in murders of infected crows flying around the polluted river in Peru and Suki's lab in Madagascar. Late in the episode the Doctor and her companions are forced to flee when the infected crows attack the lab to try and stop her developing a cure.
* ContinuityNod: When the Doctor discovers that plastics are closely linked to the threat of Praxeus, her first thought is to suspect Auton involvement, but she quickly dismisses that because the Autons aren't bacterial in nature.
* GreenAesop: Gabriela takes Jamila to a river in Peru which she describes as the most beautiful river in the world, and finds its banks strewn with trash since the 3 years she was last there. Plastic pollution turns out to be central to the threat posed by Praxeus, and there are a few rants against humans introducing plastic into the food-chain.

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Played with. Praxeus is equally as deadly to earth lifeforms as it is to Suki's species, but the cure the Doctor develops is specific to humans and Suki is killed by an advanced Praxeus infection when she tries to use the cure on herself.

* {{Understatement}}: Aramu's response to the TARDIS materialising in front of him is a surprisingly calm "Suki, this is not an ordinary day".