So I finally watched an episode last night with my family–Dot and Bubble.
That’s one of the good episodes?
Lord. This show isn’t for me.
I found the metaphor ham-fisted, the social commentary trite, the aliens laughable. But worst of all, the in-universe logic made no goddamned sense. The super-intelligent AI wanted to kill everyone, right? And it controlled these highly mobile spheres that orbited people’s heads and could demonstrably kill them by just whamming into them really fast. Take a minute and see if you can come up with a better strategy for killing people than the AI came up with. If you need a hint, think September.
But okay, the AI doesn’t want to sacrifice all its orbs. Okay, it just likes the idea of slug aliens. It distributes them around, and it needs to come up with a heuristic for killing people. It doesn’t go opportunistically, nor does it go geographically, nor does it direct everyone to a center where they can be killed. No, it goes alphabetically.
And it’s deliberately hiding the aliens from everyone. Except that it shows the aliens eating people online.
I kept my mouth shut during the episode because I didn’t want to yuck my family’s yum–but goddamn, I think I’m done with the show.
I was at a convention in the 80s and one of the panels I went to was someone convinced that sex was happening in the TARDIS, either with the Doctor and companions or the companions. Did a full video presentation, trying to highlight looks given or the lines used. I don’t think I bought it but it was interesting.
I don’t think they had a companion like Rose in the original run who loved the Doctor. Sarah Jane is maybe the closest but I’m not sure if it was love. Maybe it was. The bigger issue is that they never dealt with sex/sexuality before NuWho and even then they had the Doctor take a step back from it until now.
I think what is jarring about Ncuti’s Doctor, is they are not only having sexuality but leaning into it. Otherwise, I think Nine and Jack would have worked well as a couple. Maybe Eleven and Amy? I think that’s coming more from Smith and Gillan than the characters. Twelve and River would have been awesome to see.
In the end, I don’t know why they are showcasing this side of the Doctor. Not sure what they are trying to say. He called Susan his granddaughter but I don’t know if we have ever seen how Gallifreyans reproduce. When I see advanced long lived culture, I think of cloning or test tube not natural birth.
I liked the episode, I liked Rogue, but I think what bothered me was that the Doctor wasn’t going to try and find him. Within minutes I had a solution for this, same as what we saw in the 50th anniversary episode. Create something to scan every dimension for Rogue, go forward a billion years, look at the results, then go back and rescue him. What they did was depressing that the Doctor gave up on someone.
I also liked the tech to fit in, like the psychic earrings to teach the dance on top of the TARDIS translating everything. I do note that I don’t think this Doctor has had the same outfit in a single episode. Unlike past Doctors, this one dresses to blend in.
Here’s my question to those who haven’t liked it. How do you rate them compared to Moffat or Chubnell’s time as showrunner?
I’m a giant nerd and have been for nearly half a century, and with every new doctor I try to get into the show, hoping this’ll be the time it works for me. With the exception of maybe three episodes (Blink, and a Christmas special or two), it never has. So my disappointment with Bubble & Dot isn’t saying it’s worse than others, just that this time–like every time before–my hopes have been dashed.
I understand and thanks for answering! Are you a fan of classic Who?
I’m impressed you are still watching if so few have impressed you. I think when the first series came out, I watched some Classic, and thought the main difference was that the older shows did show more and explain more. For example, The Silurians had the Doctor rewire a computer and there is a minute of footage of Pertwee doing so. In contrast, new Who has the Doctor wave the sonic or maybe wire in one quick thing. I say this because when I saw that, I had to decide if I wanted that extra time to show the Doctor actually redoing the wiring or if I was okay with the short hand. For the most part, it works for me.
My first problem with it is that the emotional connection is unearned. This Doctor is behaving much more like Gatwa’s adolescent character in Sex Education, confusing lust and chemistry for love, than The Doctor. They’ve barely had a complete conversation, mostly The Doctor trying to not get executed and flirting. Oh we can bond over our losses! Mines bigger than yours! Fly away with me! Marry me! The emotions with River at least felt earned. I wasn’t a fan of Rose love but that was with a very traumatized Doctor and wasn’t Doctor on the prowl.
I’m also wondering if it should bother us that they make the first Doctor who is Black and gay the first sexually lustful one? (13 acknowledged romantic feelings for Yaz, but with a complete lack of chemistry or sexual energy demonstrated by either of them.)
But most of all it was just cheap fan service to those crushing on this Doctor, both gay men and girls who seem to be the biggest fans of gay male romantic fiction.
As far as rating? Well I’m one who does like it but I’ll still answer. Three excellent episodes, two fair, one clunker, good chemistry developed between The Doctor and the Companion, and an arc that has us guessing … too early to give a grade but if they stick the landing on the two parter then I’ll rank it up there with the best.
Amy overtly had Rory. And they definitely had sex in the TARDIS. Eleven/Twelve had River. Ten married QE I, albeit briefly and it didn’t end well although they did apparently have sex (albeit not in the TARDIS). And Rose and an alternate version of Ten also are shacking up off in another universe.
(Come to think of it, this means that there are now three Tennant-related Doctor clones floating around, including “Jenny”. Funny, that.).
@DSeid I didn’t see Sex Education. I have only seen him in Barbie before this and he didn’t have a ton of screen time to compare. Good points, though.
I have wondered about the perception on Ncuti himself and what they are having the Doctor be. Not sure what to say on that.
It’s weird. Sometimes I see “stilted and bad” dialog and other times it works for me. A lot of people are saying that about The Acolyte’s dialog but nothing jumped out at me when I watched it. Not that I don’t see bad dialog at times but it could be I have to be looking for it and I’m trying to be entertained by Doctor Who.
I say that because I saw love in Yaz but not 13. At best platonic with 13. My problem with 13 is probably best summed up in the writing of Donna and how she was able to give up power. 13 didn’t seem to come at things differently than a male Doctor. Is that writing the Doctor like the Doctor, regardless of gender? Or should they have taken that into account?
Church on Ruby Road grew on me with subsequent viewings. I didn’t like Space Babies a lot but the social commentary was good in it. Same for Boom, really. It was good but the comments on the military industrial complex were what elevated it for me. I like Maestro and didn’t know Jinx beforehand. I just found it a fun call back to Toymaker. 73 yards was okay. I thought Millie carried it well, even if it was a collapsed timeline, which I don’t like. Rogue was fun but as I said, I was disappointed how quickly the Doctor gave up. Dot and Bubble was good as well, for its social commentary on many things.
My apologies. I agree with what you said. I was thinking of the Doctor not the companions. lol - I did rewatch the scene where ten speaks of QE I. It’s too easy to take that as him being glib because he shut Jack down.
“Stop it.”
“I was only saying hello.”
“I don’t mind.”
I even read Cat’s Cradle back in the day! Didn’t stick with me, though. Thanks for the link!
Well, the big twist at the end was probably more of a gasp moment for people more familiar with the deep lore than me. (For me it was “who?” And off to Google.)