Cliff Notes – Doctor Who’s new season could be spectacular if it heeds this warning
- The introduction of Belinda Chandra as a new companion offers a fresh dynamic, with her strong-willed personality and medical expertise adding depth to the storyline.
- While the episode maintains the high-budget aesthetic and emotional arcs of the previous season, some character motivations appear unclear, potentially detracting from the overall narrative.
- The Doctor’s emotional journey feels forced at times, risking the development of a compelling relationship with Belinda unless addressed in future episodes.
Doctor Who’s new season could be spectacular if it heeds this warning
Robots on a rampage, a companion with a chin-scratching mystery and no way for the Tardis to get home?
The new season of Doctor Who has all the ingredients to be great.
In the first episode of Ncuti Gatwa’s second season, The Robot Revolution, we meet Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) – an A&E nurse who gets caught up in an intergalactic mystery far beyond her pay grade.
And, as we got a taste of in the trailer, we are quickly introduced to Belinda’s vivacious personality, someone who is thoroughly unimpressed with extraterrestrial threats but has just enough curiosity to keep her hooked to the Doctor’s manic life.
The plot of the episode follows Belinda who has a star named after her as a gift from her ex-boyfriend. Years later, robots kidnap Belinda and ferry her to a planet orbiting her star of which she is now the unintended queen.
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Oh, and they want to force her to marry a villainous machine known as the AI Generator. So, business as usual.
Of course, the Doctor is there to save the day as the pair work together along with the other terrorised inhabitants to overthrow the Robot overlords. It’s a classic adventure episode filled with some fun reveals as you wait to see the outcome.
Russell T Davies is maintaining season one’s tone and aesthetic, from the high-budget feel to the accelerated emotional arcs, so for those who enjoyed Ncuti’s first set of episodes, you won’t go far wrong here.
There are a few moments where the writing lets itself down, however, and the motivations of the characters are occasionally difficult to follow – seemingly deciding a course of action without any clear reason why.
And there is a particular emotional arc the Doctor undergoes in this episode which comes across as slightly forced and out-of-nowhere that takes you out of the moment every time it is mentioned.
It had the potential to tug at heartstrings but has nowhere near the legwork or prominence in the plot to warrant the Doctor’s reaction, making it fall totally flat.
As for Belinda and the Doctor, they have a handful of heartfelt interactions that builds their chemistry as she tries to wrap her head around the absolutely bonkers path her life has gone down.
And, just as we saw Martha (Freeman Agyeman) flex her medical knowledge, Belinda whips out her own expertise which further fleshes out her companion qualities and strong-willed personality.
In an attitude reminiscent of Donna (Catherine Tate) in The Runaway Bride, we see Belinda voice her doubts about the kind of life the Doctor leads and her resolution to get back to Earth. There’s just one problem, the Tardis just can’t seem to break through.
Trapped together, there is a lot of potential to explore this confusing dynamic between the duo as long we don’t immediately abandon this friction in the next episode.
It’s a refreshing change of pace from Ruby’s season, who enthusiastically went along with all of the Doctor’s madhat schemes.
And, considering Ncuti’s Doctor seems to pride himself on his friendly and charming personality, we have the opportunity to enter unchartered territory for this iteration of the Time Lord.
However, just as the last season fell foul to a total lack of character development (whether due to the shortened amount of episodes or skipping the first several weeks of Ruby’s time on the Tardis), a promising first episode is no guarantee for the rest of the season.
And unless the upcoming season fully invests in Belinda as a character and how exactly the Doctor wins her over, we could be in trouble.
But, with an intriguing premise, the promise of terrifying new foes and a seldom-seen Tardis dynamic, there’s plenty to be optimistic about.
So, strap in and enjoy the ride!
Doctor Who returns on April 12 at 8am on BBC iPlayer and at 6:50pm on BBC One.