Ooh boy, this one. I was really excited for this story - the name seemed fun, and I usually enjoy Jacqueline Rayner's work a lot, but sadly, this story did disappoint. It started off really fun, with the idea of an (SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT!) auton left over from the invasions and hiding out in Madamme Tussaud's as a waxwork, learning to appreciate humanity, being a fantastic premise. It was a fun, campy kind of start, filled with Elvis puns (most of which I had to look up) and strong spirit. We seemed to be being set up to explore what humanity really is, following the classic example of a robot or alien trying to fit in with humanity. I was excited to see where it was going, but sadly, where it was going was into an unfortunately anti-environmental/anti-activism message that even the survival of everyone's favourite Auton duplicate of Elvis can't make up for. The villain being, *checks notes*, oh yes, the *woman who wants to save all the bees* felt like a pointless attack on the kind of activism and preservation that Doctor Who typically celebrates. Elvis's ending was sweet and fitting - finally finding a way to protect the planet he's grown to care so much about - and the thing about the Auton signals not being able to reach through the sheidl so he'd be safe in the bee sanctuary felt like exactly the kind of thing I'd expect to find in an Eleventh Doctor-era episode. However, many of the characters felt quite two-dimensional, with Elvis (who entirely, ahem, belongs to my heart) and River being the exceptions.

Overall, a good start, interesting premise, and sweet ending can't change my rating of 2.5/5, not with such a fool, fool, fool... ish presentation of climate activism! I think, as we reach the no-turning-back point of climate change, presenting climate activists as extremist villains can cause a lot of harm. The people fighting for our planet's survival already receive a lot of flack from deniers - stories like these, especially stories aimed at younger readers, can influence people entirely in the wrong direction on important political issues like climate change. What we read impacts how we think, and how we live our lives - we need to consider the impact of our stories carefully.