Wild Animals

A brilliant story that proves you don't need alien threats to make Doctor Who interesting, even in the modern day!

After him being largely absent and secluding himself for the events of the first story in the set, Wild Animals gives us a chance to see more of Eight's character and how he feels about the situation they find themselves in. the comparison he makes to the caged animals in the zoo is great, giving us a view into his mind, and a great explanation for why he acts the way he does in this story, seeking 'enrichment' of some kind.

And then everything else in this story is also great, The struggle that London jobhunting is (as someone currently doing exactly that) is depicted really well, I love Liv and Tania's flourishing relationship, how nonplussed Liv is by Tania being trans, and how much Tania cares for her when she's hospitalised. I love Helen going out of her way to go to the shop Liv's working at to tease her, and the killing of a side character is incredibly effective for how little time we had with them, especially with the effect it has on the rest of the cast (Eight especially).

Lastly, I really appreciate the ending. Eight trying to catch the killer (another wild animal) doesn't really help at all, but hey, at least he still caught someone, and then finding out that he let free the birds from the zoo that'd be able to live in london's environment is just a really sweet way to end.