Fun episode. A sort of Fourth Doctor feel to it. (Kinda Nerva station, kinda Robots of Death.) It is odd for the episode to feel both crowded and empty at the same time. There needed to be a few other people on the ship, make it feel like there were more stakes. I liked the Doctor having an "equal number" in Cicero for a few scenes. I will say, poor Yas feels a little forgotten about. She did have some cool moments, but largely seems an afterthought much of time. Hopefully next week corrects that. Ryan and Graham were great. The pregnancy storyline either needed a trim or more drama. Not bad, but I would have liked more time with Cicero Siblings.
Ronan (Roman? It felt like everyone had a different take on it.) was sort of an odd choice. Could have easily been another medtech/nurse on the ship or been a sacrificial player. I thought Jodie's Doctor got some much needed time to shine with smaller moments away from the companions. I tend to think of McGann as the "Man of Infinite Compassion" incarnation of the Doctor, and Jodie seems to be vying for the "Empathy is Infinite and Contagious" incarnation. Her joy at the antimatter engine was great. I also enjoy her penchant for turning rote exposition of "future history" into excitement, something some of the other Doctors have struggled with from an acting standpoint. The only weird thing I've noticed is Jodie tends to crouch down a lot and sort of fold in as a character trait and it seems sort of odd. I tend not to think of her as tall.
The bridge of the ship reminded me a lot of the Dalek ship from Victory of the Daleks for some reason.I actually think the Pting was a little too cutesy and their reactions were disproportionate to it. (Especially the initial crowd shot of them where they seem to be reacting to it being about waist high.) I had fun with it. I also enjoy the relative non-violent nature of the episode. Killing the lead medic felt off and like bad false drama. I wish he'd been sent off in one of the pods in the asteroid belt rather than just blowing up. Especially as the Pting didn't seem to be capable of the type of work to get the escape pod to explode.
Interesting that we've had a Predator pastiche, Alien pastiche (with a healthy dose of Futurama's Nibbler), a Quantum Leap homage and several episodes folks have noted resemble Star Trek.