"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" is the fourth episode of the twelfth series of Doctor Who, and was first broadcast in January of 2020. As the name suggests, it is a historical episode, based on the life of Nikola Tesla and his rivalry with Thomas Edison, although, of course, put in a science-fiction context.
The Doctor has picked up some weird energy readings, which brings her to Niagara Falls, in 1903. We are introduced to Nikola Tesla, who is trying to raise money for what seems far-fetched proposals at the time. Tesla's disappointment at financial matters is soon overcome by the problem of aliens chasing him. Luckily The Doctor finds him and rescues him, and they, along with the Doctor's companions, flee in a train to New York City, to confront Thomas Edison, who they suspect is behind the sabotage. But Edison, despite being an unethical businessman and rival of Tesla, is not in league with aliens. We find out the real culprits--- scorpion shaped aliens with a very hammy queen (reminiscent, to me, of the Racnoss and their queen from "The Runaway Bride") who needs an engineer of Tesla's genius to operate the hodgepodge of stolen technology on her ship. These aliens, called "The Skithra" steal technology from other races, but have no inventiveness themselves. Luckily, between the genius of Nikola Tesla and The Doctor, defeating a race of arachnid pirates isn't too difficult.
There were things to like about this episode. The period costumes and scenery were good. The mystery developed nicely. Goran Višnjić manages to communicate Tesla's serious, real world problems while also going along for a somewhat cheesy science-fiction adventure. The CGI of the scorpion aliens is done well. And the show manages to communicate its message well that creative people can be exploited.
There were a few things that were missing: The Doctor has three companions, and for the most part, they are given little to do, and no character development. I also feel that if the episode is trying to be educational, throwing in a science-fiction plot kind of confuses the issue. It also simplifies the conflict between Edison and Tesla---I don't know the details, but I assume that Tesla wasn't a totally pure hero in the matter. Personally, the closer a Doctor Who historical story occurs to the present, the less fitting I feel it is to mix up the dynamics of a Doctor Who story with real life people. But overall, the worst problem with this story is it is just that it is ground we have covered before, in Vincent and The Doctor. The Doctor visits a historical figure, gushes over what a genius they are, mixes them in with a light science-fiction story, and that is about it. In Jodie Whittaker's first season, I thought they were trying to temper having a female Doctor by having traditional stories. This story is a well done Doctor Who story, but much of it feels like it would have been exactly the same in the Russel T Davies era, a decade previously. This is good, but it doesn't translate the magic of Doctor Who that I felt a decade ago.