"We need you as our queen."
Writer: Russell T Davies
Format: TV
Broadcast: 12 April 2025
Series: 15.02
Featuring: Fifteenth Doctor, Belinda
Synopsis
When robots from outer space kidnap nurse Belinda Chandra, the Doctor embarks on an epic intergalactic quest to get his new friend back home to Earth.
Verdict
The Robot Revolution a great start to the brand new series of Doctor Who! I have been quietly anticipating the debut of what is (incorrectly) dubbed Season 2 and despite all the negativity in fandom about when a new series will air, I’ve been keen to just sit back and enjoy! That’s exactly what I did this morning as I watched right on cue for the 8am drop on iPlayer. My three-year-old boy was also in the room and whilst he was more interested in watching Blippi on his tablet, he did take an interest in the Missbelindachandrabots and their spaceship which is a memory I will hold forever. I hope he now becomes a fan and think the nature of what’s to come next week might help in keep him having an interest. The robots themselves look perfect for children and there’s bound to be a figure produced of them! Their name is just too long to keep typing out but I think the concept behind them and the episode is a little silly but it works as great fun. In terms of the companion story, this is a sublime introduction for Belinda Chandra. I feel like I know her well already given the nature of the promotion of the series and the fact we’ve already seen Varada Sethu in Boom, but this was just excellent. After just one episode I think she’s absolutely brilliant. Her maturity is fantastic and she is such a contrast to the Doctor. She isn’t interested in travelling in the TARDIS and just wants to get home. That’s admirable and she owns her name in this episode after the death that occurs in it. She is no monarch and doesn’t want to be married in the slightest, but when she realises what is happening to innocents she knows what is required. I think the Doctor looking out for her is intriguing and I hope we find out who gave him her name. I got strong vibes of Smith and Jones with this outing with Belinda being a nurse and the hospital backdrop before having her transported elsewhere with some very intriguing law enforcement! The history behind Belinda being gifted a star by Alan becomes very powerful for what is such a sweet and awkward moment seventeen years prior. The Margate and Stargate confusion is quite amusing although the AI Generator actually being AL and Alan returning to try and weld with Belinda is baffling. It’s probably a bit too silly but Belinda sells it so well. The time fracture on the border between Earth and Missbelindachandra One is a really good concept and I was surprised that this wasn’t the cause of the repellant at the end of the episode. I’m a huge fan of the Mrs Flood cameo and it’s such good fun that she is now Belinda’s neighbour! Her breaking the fourth wall to the viewer and hiding from the Doctor is just sensationally naughty. It’s breaking all of the rules and that’s what makes it so exciting. I can’t wait to find out all about her as the series goes on! There’s so much potential. I thought the way Alan was defeated by having the two same versions of the star certificate touch from different points in time was good and the Doctor helping Belinda in being a Time Lord to take the timey-wimey load was very well done. Belinda’s retort to that phrase of her being six hit me hard though! I felt offended. I’m twenty-eight and love those two non-words. The way Alan was then polished up by the cleaning bot was very humorous, so much for being a sperm and an egg! I like how now with the Fifteenth Doctor being very established he almost feels like he’s in the background with Belinda the standout. She absolutely shines and the way she challenges the Doctor about what happened to Sasha 55 after she trusted him was such a change of tone. Her reaction to the TARDIS interior was wonderful but she wasn’t one of the Doctor’s adventures. That was so powerful. She was offended at the Doctor taking her DNA without permission and it’s really interesting that Mundy is her descendant. The Doctor seems to think it’s destiny that they met and now he can’t get her home as intended for her shift. I’m fascinated to explore their connection moving forward, especially with the Doctor seeing her entire life. The debris in space containing iconic landmarks points towards Earth being destroyed, now I look forward to finding out how! And who put the star certificate into the future? The time fracture to see how it became loaded in myth and Alan sparking the revolution was really good, but there’s just so much more I now want to know. Having that with a stellar companion introduction makes for a fun season opener! Overall, no complaints. Let’s get Belinda home!
Rating: 8/10
This may be the first Doctor Who I thought to be boring. The Doctor's upset at the death of Sasha is a prime example of why the writing is bland to some people to me. Not only did the words spoken to her 20 seconds before her death reek of death's ringtone, it really show how some reviewers are critical of the Fifteenth Doctor's characterisation, or the scripts of Gatwa's tenure. By "Joy to the World", Martin Robinson felt the Doctor had failed to find his footing, and felt his showing emotion regularly "started to come across as meaningless", citing the character as lacking warmth in his various scenes. I also disliked Alan's appearance; it has nothing to with the actor but the character's appearance. He looked like a half terminator with a human skull. The concept I can deal with but ripping off the look, that's low!
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I do think Alan’s appearance was a metallic version of T’zim Sha and didn’t offer much. I don’t mind the emotion from 15 and I think that will come to define his incarnation, but it would be more impactful if used sparingly.
ReplyDelete