Oxygen (Doctor Who)

The Twelfth Doctor, Bill and an angry Nardole travel in the TARDIS to follow a distress call to a deep-space mining station.

The surviving crew warn them that some suits have received instructions to "deactivate" their "organic components", killing the wearer via an electrical discharge but remaining autonomous.

The Doctor reveals the limit of breaths is an algorithm to stop people "wasting" oxygen, part of the company's automated profit-making system; killing the wearers was just the logical endpoint of corporate profit over human life.

The computers recognise this threat to corporate profits and recalculate the suits' programming, and the zombies turn over their oxygen supplies to the survivors.

The TARDIS is recovered, and they drop the survivors off at their head office to confront the company; the Doctor notes there was a revolution six months later.

[4] In his newsletter, Jamie Mathieson revealed that "Oxygen" was originally intended as a prequel to his 2014 episode "Mummy on the Orient Express".

In earlier drafts, Kline, a corporate representative, appears on a monitor to offer the characters promotions and stock options if they will spare the ship.

The consensus on the website states, "Ambitious and critical, 'Oxygen' is a showcase of writer Jamie Mathieson's deep understanding of what makes Doctor Who work.

[12] Scott Collura of IGN gave an 8.1, admiring the continuation of standalone stories in the tenth series and the work involving the spacesuits keeping the Doctor and the other characters alive, but also noting the controversial aspect of capitalism that was investigated throughout the episode, stating that "this time around the resolution feels a little pat, even if the underlying themes of the episode might resonate strongly for certain viewers."

He praised the writer for his mature script, stating that "Jamie Mathieson writes great, thought-provoking Doctor Who episodes and "Oxygen" is no exception."

[15] Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times gave the episode 3 out of 5 stars, praising the story for its truthfulness to the fundamental themes of the show, but criticizing it for lack of novelty, articulating his "struggle with the central conceit that in the future, in space, oxygen will be a commodity that you pay for dearly, even with your life."