Kerblam!

"Work gives us purpose."

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

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

A mysterious message arrives in the TARDIS in a package addressed to the Doctor. It's the Kerblam Man and there's a message for help. This leads the Doctor to take herself and her companions to the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, the home of the galaxy's largest and leading retailer.

Verdict

Kerblam! was yet another great episode of Series 11! I have thoroughly been enjoying my rewatch and whilst this is the first story to actually see its rating drop, it was only by a slight margin and still stands as a thoroughly enjoyable adventure. The series has been incredibly consistent which is always a good thing and I believe that is more noticeable when watching the entire series in succession. The idea of doing Amazon in space is just wonderful and the execution works mostly well. The action packed start in the TARDIS set the scene straight away and it went from the Doctor trying to escape something that was following them to being overjoyed by seeing the Kerblam Man enter her ship. The Doctor having ordered a fez was a nice throwback to the Eleventh Doctor and I have to say though, the accessory absolutely suited Jodie Whittaker! The Thirteenth Doctor in a fez, who wouldn't want that? I am all for it. Sadly, she didn't take it far out of the TARDIS but with a message for help, I really liked that it was all of the companions who wanted to go and investigate and see if there was anything they could do. If someone was in danger, they were keen to offer their hand which was really nice. This was probably Ryan's best episode as companion with him returning to something that resembled his workplace back on 21st century Earth. I maintain that he is by far the weakest character of Team TARDIS, but he has some moments in this episode. His dyspraxia came up again which was good and it was refreshing for him to know the goings on of the warehouse environment rather than always being the one to ask the questions. Judy was a nice character as Head of People and I liked the initial meeting with the Doctor and her companions and how the former was quick to get themselves involved and part of the workforce. They had their way in and the humour that came with some of their roles was great with Graham particularly not too pleased with his role as janitor. Kira was another lovely character and the Doctor loving her take on life was really nice. Her fate was quite horrific though and I was left stunned once again by a character death in the series for all of the right reasons. Dan was another terrific character played tremendously well by Lee Mack and it's just a shame that he doesn't get to stick around for longer! The relationship he quickly created with Yaz was brilliant and it was powerful to know that he switched places with her which meant that he died instead. The use of the differing Kerblam Men was good and they reminded me a little of the Smilers from The Beast Below. The system being the one to send the message to the Doctor was an unexpected twist, but I wasn't overly a fan of Charlie being the threat. I appreciate that he is not a stereotypical enemy but it just was a little underwhelming to be honest. What I did like was the going back to the retro systems and Graham's gaining of the map, but why would Charlie have aided him in getting that in the first place? It was good that he'd fallen in love with Kira and seeing her die must have been horrible, especially knowing that it was his plan that caused it. The idea of making bubble wrap scary and explosive is quite amusing, particularly now with it being Christmas time, but it is probably a tad too silly for me to take it entirely seriously. I did though really like that all of the customers were at threat and it was the unexpected material in every delivery that was responsible. Overall, a very good episode!

Rating: 8/10