Oxygen is possible the safest Doctor Who episode so far. It's a very standard episode, stuck on a spaceship, something's trying to kill them, very few members of the original crew survive. It's very much like series 2's 'The Impossible Planet' or series 3's '42'. The Doctor and Co are trapped on a space station, unable to use the Tardis or Sonic Screwdriver because of one reason or another, they run into a rag tag group of forgettable survivors who are just there to be killed off, and by the end of the episode nothing of consequence has been lost...Oh wait.
So, The Doctor has lost his eyesight. I'll be honest I won't be surprised if this only lasts for one more episode before he's healed for good, it just seems like one of those things that would be an interesting gimmick for a one off episode but would be tedious for the writers to try and find a path around his ailment. It's like how they have to find a reason why the Tardis and screwdriver can't help, they're the kind of plot devices that hurt a writer more than they aid. Though this episode certainly had its fair share of conveniences, like how the oxygen didn't get expelled from the space station until the trio realised that was about to happen.
Nardole finally plays a significant role in an episode, in a way. In reality he didn't actually do that much to help The Doctor or other characters, but at least he was actually there, rather than just showing up at the end of the episode, tells a joke and then leaves. Though his final scene where he was telling off The Doctor was actually quite effective.
I'm not entirely sure how to rank this episode, it was a very by-the-numbers type of episode, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad, it just makes it safe. Nothing sticks out one way or the other, so I'll say a strong 5/10. But even then that feels a tad too low, but it's an average rating for an average episode.
-Danny
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