I didn't always like this one, but over several years and a few rewatches, I've managed to do something to my brain to make me appreciate it. So let me present my lens through which to view Orphan 55, and see it for the masterpiece it truly is:

This is a story about stupidity. People have pointed out that the plot is full of people making stupid decisions, but this is actually a good thing, because the theme is that human beings are stupid. Building Tranquility Spa on an orphan planet was stupid. Bella's scheme to ruin her mother was stupid. Taking everyone outside the spa was stupid. Sylas stepping out of the room into danger was stupid. And it all leads up in the stupidest act of all: a species destroying its own planet out of greed and short-sightedness.

I am aware that most people won't see it this way, and it may not have been intentional. But I like seeing the patterns. I like this, others won't and that’s fine.

On other aspects of the episode, I know the ending speech leaves a bad taste in many people's mouths. I don't mind it. It’s not subtle, but to my mind this subject shouldn't be treated subtly. We need to be reminded that we're all causing climate change, because it's still so easy for us to forget it and go about our lives. So I have no problem with the Doctor just saying so. I do have a few problems with it though: it's directed at the viewers rather than the governments and corporations who have more power over climate-damaging activities, and I don't like the message of “change now or else Dregs” – the real-world consequences should be scary enough.

I don’t really think it’s a masterpiece. It's not perfect. But it's also, in my view, not nearly as bad as some people say. At the very least, it's a story that's trying to say something valuable. For me, that puts it above many more highly-rated stories that don’t seem to be about anything.

Time Heist is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories. I’ve not watched or read many other heist stories, but I do love the way this episode commits to that style of story, particularly with the music. I especially love this because it’s given a twist: the main characters aren’t there to steal, but to rescue two oppressed creatures. I think this the perfect way to do a heist in Doctor Who: it’s not motivated by greed but by a desire to help someone in need.

One of my favourite things about the episode is the Teller. Firstly, it looks good and is quite intimidating as soon as it’s revealed. The Teller’s powers make it even scarier, putting the main characters in danger as even feeling guilty is a risk. But it’s also very easy to sympathise with it: it’s imprisoned and forced to torture people. When we find out the reason it’s there – the second Teller held hostage – it becomes even more tragic. It’s an intelligent creature that’s being exploited. I think the Teller is used very well: at first it’s a cool monster, then we realise that the whole episode revolves around it.

But there’s lots of other interesting characters in this episode. There’s the Doctor and Clara’s fellow bank-robbers, Psi and Saibra. Both are characters with cool abilities that serve not only as tools to break into the bank, but as their motivations: they have both experienced tragedies and need help. The heist is a rescue mission for them as well as for the two Tellers. And in some ways Karabraxos, the villain, is also rescued by the end, as we see her regretting her actions at the end of her life. She’s a great villain: we can see she does awful things, but we learn that over the course of many years she changes and learns to sympathise with those she harms. I think that’s really nice.

I also like how the episode uses time travel. The characters perform a heist and work out why they want to do a heist out of order. The heist is prompted by a future Karabraxos and planned by a future Doctor, who has to keep his past self in the dark to preserve the timeline.

It’s not a perfect story, of course. The Doctor is able to work out the identity of the Architect by the logic “I hate the Architect in the same way that I hate myself, hence the Architect is me”. This is nonsense. But the episode is fun enough that I don’t mind.

Yeah, it’s just really fun. That’s my main message. I had fun watching it and then it stuck in my brain and became one of my favourite episodes.