Kerblam!

"Pick it, click it... Kerblam it!"

Writer: Pete McTighe
Format: TV
Broadcast: 18th November 2018
Series: 11.07

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

After receiving a mysterious package, the Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan investigate the moon orbiting Kandoka and find that there's something amiss going on at the galaxy's biggest retailer. What role do the Teammates play? And why is the System asking for help?

Verdict

Kerblam! was a fantastic episode to continue the eleventh series of Doctor Who very nicely! It was quite unique in terms of previous Doctor Who episodes and I liked how there was finally an episode with an exclamation mark in its title. It didn't really seem like it needed one but that was beside the point. The Doctor's reaction to the Kablam Man entering the TARDIS was truly wonderful and I really am loving Jodie Whittaker's performances as the Thirteenth Doctor. She continues to shine but I also thought the companions all had great moments in the story too which was a big positive. The Doctor having ordered a fez a long time ago was great paying homage to the Eleventh Doctor and I also really liked the reference to The Unicorn and the Wasp. Judy was a delightful character and I liked how the presence of the Doctor and co was making her blab away. She was quite embarrassed by it all. Ryan and the Doctor meeting Kira was good and I loved just how nice she was. The Doctor commended her on that in a lovely moment. The referencing of Ryan's dyspraxia was better than most episodes since the first and I thought he had a relatively strong episode has he knew the environment quite well due to his past employment history. Graham getting to know Charlie as a cleaner was very good and I liked how devious he was in getting the plans of the Kerblam buildings. Yaz getting on with Dan was touching and when he became a victim of the Teammates I liked how she wanted to honour him for his daughter and return the key chain. Slade was an intriguing character and his demeanour definitely made me think he was the one behind the mysterious happenings at Kerblam. Judy wanting to help Team TARDIS was nice and I was quite surprised that Slade joined in to help too. The Doctor's warning to them both when she thought they might be behind it all was excellent. I really can't compliment Jodie Whittaker enough. I was very surprised that Charlie turned out to be the one behind the help needed at Kerblam and that was brilliant. I didn't see it coming at all but seeing his devastated reaction to Kira's death was very good. He would get what he was dishing out. The concept of killer bubblewrap was certainly unique and the prospect of Kerblam inadvertently killing their customers to ensure a distrust towards automation and a return to favouring organic control was really very good. I liked it a lot and I was quite stunned by the Doctor almost ensuring that Charlie perished with the rest of the Teammates. Overall, a fantastic episode!

Rating: 9/10