This episode is mostly set in the conference hall, as Barclay begins his task of acting as intermediary for the human race in their negotiations with Homo Aqua. As such it is a bit more talky - though there's a big VFX set-piece before the end. We also get to see some shady politicking developing, as a British businessman / MP enters into a conspiracy with military personnel representing the USA and France.
Gung-ho US military are a bit of a cliché in these sort of things, and I'm assuming the fact that one of the co-conspirators is French is a nod to their sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior in Auckland in 1985 - for this episode sets out the anti-pollution of the seas message in stark terms.
The French officer leaks Barclay's identity to the press (for no discernible reason) whilst the MP (Sir Keith Spears, played by Patrick Baladi) obtains some Homo Aqua DNA by devious means (acquired through a lab assistant examining one of their still-born eggs).
Kate Stewart still doesn't trust Barclay to just be himself and, as expected, he decides to go off-script and speak to Salt from the heart - just as we could see coming. She responds well to this but the agreement to hold these talks was never to be a sharing of ideas and meeting of minds. Homo Aqua have come with a list of grievances which they want resolved right now, rather than a promised 50% reduction in pollutants in 40 years time as Barclay is compelled to propose.
Salt lets it be known that what belongs to the human race in the oceans will be returned to it - and so we get our big VFX set-piece. Except it's not all that impressive.
Basically lots of plastic bags and bottles fall out of the sky over London, along with a big anchor. One person is seen to be killed, and St Paul's Cathedral gets a hole in its dome. The Titanic finally arriving in New York is at least funny. Visually, I found this all a bit of a let-down.
The question also has to be asked: if Homo Aqua had the technology do this, why not do it a lot sooner?
They could have done it without even showing their faces, and if they didn't want humans to notice them then they could simply have dumped it all in the middle of the Sahara or somewhere similarly remote, to remain a bizarre unsolved mystery.
Salt then states that the waters of the world belong to them and they want complete control over them. The human race are landlubbers, and that's where they will have to stay. They can't go into the oceans, lakes and rivers, and can no longer cross them - even by air.
Naturally this provokes outrage amongst the delegates from across the world who are in attendance, especially as it will affect trade and local / global economies. Sir Keith and his co-conspirators have already let it be known to the viewers that trade is all that matters to them.
Barclay is able to east tensions.
Salt's final demand is that next time they meet it must be in their domain, so there will be a resumption of talks at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean - to which Barclay agrees.
So the scene is set, with Salt's demands never going to be agreed to as many nations rely on intercontinental trade, and we've already seen some shady individuals working against Homo Aqua before any of this episode's events have even taken place.
Doctor Who has already addressed plastics pollution of the oceans, as Pete McTighe very well knows since he wrote Praxeus for Series 12. Then, the Doctor gave humanity a right good talking to about it - and nothing has been done about it at all, so obviously this sort of drama is not necessarily the best way to address these issues. Lecturing / hectoring fans of Doctor Who, or its spin-offs, about environmental issues really is preaching to the converted, in my opinion. (We all knew pollution was bad from watching The Green Death in 1973, so no need to tell us again).
No doubt Western nations will be presented as the chief culprits, but a quick search on-line reveals that Asian and South American nations are far and away the biggest polluters of the seas. Will this be addressed in the series? I'd like to think that some basic research has gone into this if messages are going to be pushed.
I've read that some 2.82 million viewers watched Homo Aqua, dropping to 2.05 for this instalment. Might look bad but Sunday night also saw the finale of I'm A Has-Been, Get Me Out Of Here on ITV, so audience share will be more important.
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