The Robot Revolution

[Craig @craig Emperor]

A brand new series, and a brand new companion.

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.

This introduces Varada Sethu as the new companion Belinda. Interestingly she was also in last season’s “Boom”. Is there something strange going on again, with the same face popping up in different times.

Also, Mrs Flood is back.

This is, unsurprisingly, written by Russell T Davies, and it’s directed by Peter Hoar. He’s a double BAFTA winning, Emmy nominated British director, known for his work on “Daredevil”, Davis’ own “It’s a Sin” and “The Last of Us”.

More importantly for us, he directed the classic episode “A Good Man Goes to War” and says “Doctor Who” played a pivotal role in his life. “I grew up with that show, and I’m here because of that show. And from that, I just span out into all kinds of science fiction.”

I hope it’s a good ‘un.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

Is it just me or is Ncuti Gatwa just a little bit more of his native Scottish now.

Anyway, please go bonkers with the theories.

I have also started a discussion about when I should now open comments on the new episodes which you can find here, and welcome your comments / suggestions.

Website comments (2)

[ScaryB @scaryb]

Well that was fun. 🙂

Not perfect, but a good season opener.

I liked the twist of it not being an AI problem but an AL(an) problem. I was getting creepy vibes off Alan in the opening but could have done with there being a bit more of it seeded thro the episode to fully earn the ending (without then having to make the connection quite so explicit).

I liked the war zone hospital scene – good character beats with the Doctor and Belinda, but also real world hospitals in war zones (that got me more than the battle scenes above ground).

There’s a sinister edge to the Doctor, and Ncuti plays it  well, – the parallel with Alan – he wants Belinda to travel with him (and expects her to want to come with him).

The final scene – London taxis are tough… can even survive the apocalypse…??! 😉 So who blew/will blow up the earth?

Final thought – is Mrs Flood Romana? Or the Master…?

@craig – is he getting more Scottish? I think it was always there, but with the kilt n everything, possibly leaning into it more. Fine by me! 🙂

Final final thought – Thank you RTD for the “Polish, Polish” roomba – <3 (where can I get one??). But it doesn’t quite absolve him for killing the CAT!!

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Some immediate random thoughts.

* I think it would have worked better if they had been brazen enough to have  called the episode “Planet of the Incels.”

* Never kill a cat and expect a laudatory review from me.

* I assume RTD2 is pitching his stories to the generation that constantly plays video games. Alas, I am not part of that cohort.

*  I confess that I am finding the brief appearance of Mrs Flood in every episode more tiresome than intriguing.

* But I really liked the bit about “every 9th word”. For me, that worked really well.

* In both this opener and the opener to the previous season, the Doctor is consciously searching out the person who will become his companion. I will be interested to see what RTD2 does with that, and why he is doing it.

 

 

 

 

 

[WhoHar @whohar]

Well, it’s good to have it back on screen.

[Devilishrobby @devilishrobby]

In the main I enjoyed the episode.  I had a brief moment I had the thought oh no not another Clara (don’t get me wrong I liked Clara as a character) but RTD recovered it by stressing that Belinda was the genetic ancestor not the actual character  Veranda played, ok the Doctor once again has the feeling that they were fated/linked in some fashion and were bound to meet which had unfortunate echos of   A(I)lans coceirive  behaviour towards Belinda. There is obviously  some force preventing the Doctor & Belinda from returning to the Earth on the specific date though could that not be the Tardis itself it’s not as if it’s not a sentient entity with an innate knowledge all space and time 😉

[Devilishrobby @devilishrobby]

Did any of you catch the BBC 3 Doctor Who Unleashed, RTD appeared to admit that he is thinking multiple seasons in advance which gives me hope regarding there being life for Dr Who beyond the current season.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

Hmmm. RTD2 seems to be trending slightly to the incoherent… NOT Chibnall crayon scrawl incoherence but it ain’t exactly the chutzpah laden clockwork of old is it?

But fair, if not VERY good.

Planet of The Incels would be a give away. Using the ‘I’ word was redundant really. We didn’t really need the Coercive Control Bomb either. The Testament of Russ was pretty clear, and Tin Plated Alan was doing what was said on the tin.

The seventeen years later/seven years later exposition was forced, as if the mechanics of the plot got away from Russ. Not sure how the Diploma worked or where and why the ‘schwup’ time rift started… was that explained or will it be or should we just not think too hard about it?

‘Egg and sperm’… “polish polish” was almost Elton Popish. Otherwise, either the naughty kitten cats have been chomping Russ’ garden birds or he’s a secret fan of Hale and Pace.

Obviously, Belinda is Martha mark 2. Though without the one sided flirting. The Doc getting ticked off about DNA sampling was a nice contrast to Roger Williamson/RFK jnr state genetic fascism. BUT we seem to have bought an lp of Russ’ greatest hits. Or perhaps he’s saying ‘honestly guys. Didn’t think I’d be back here; there’s only so many stories you know.’

Last thought… Taxis… Eiffel Tower… is The Doc just saying there’s something in the way or does he know The Earth has gone? But he can’t tell Belinda?

[WhoHar @whohar]

@ps1l0v3y0u @blenkinsopthebrave @devilishrobby @scaryb @craig

Eiffel Tower? I thought it was Blackpool Tower 🙂

I think the schwup is something to do with the reason that they can’t get back to Earth on 24th May – incidentally that’s the air date of the penultimate episode (“penultimate” from the old Latin meaning “the ep we all get excited about before the crushing letdown of the finale”)

The schwup is a similar device to that used for Amy and Rory’s last episode in that the Tardis can’t land at a certain time / place because of in-story reasons. What’s unclear is how wide this window of restriction (needs a better name) is. Are we talking a couple of days, a week? 10 years? 100 years? I’d presume it’s quite large otherwise they’d just go back to the 23rd May (say) and just hang around for a few hours.

Bigger question is how this happened and by whom?

I suspect the destroyed Earth can / will be prevented by crossing the time schwup and ending up back in time and prior to the catastrophe.

That’s all I’ve got. I did like the retro future visuals. And, at risk of sounding like a terrible person, the cat death made me actually laugh.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@whohar

Eiffel Tower = Romana. Is Scaroth riding on the coattails of Stupid Sutekh?

Blackpool = Clara. Perhaps a ‘new’ American Diner is opening up on the Prom!

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

More thoughts:

Tonally, I felt it was all over the place, The robots were killing machines, but looked like large, cuddly toys. The same goes for the spaceship that kidnaps Belinda from Earth.

The Doctor inadvertently causes a power outage in a major London hospital,  and it is played for humour (aka the cat).

Why did RTD2 feel the necessity to come up with a phenomenally complicated story to explain that Belinda was related to the soldier in the 51st century? Different characters are often played by the same actor in TV shows.

When RTD brought back Who after the show was cancelled, in large part because of the excesses of John Nathan-Turner in the late ’80s, RTD’s revival of Who really felt like Doctor Who, but this feels like the cartoon excesses of JNT on speed.

As RTD said in “The Five(ish) Doctors”: quel dommage.

 

 

 

 

[WhoHar @whohar]

@ps1l0v3y0u

Nice linking of Romana there. I know there’s a lot of talk re Mrs Flood, but I’m hoping she’s a new character (or Omega!), rather than an old favourite. And, as @blenkinsopthebrave alluded to, she really needs a bit more agency – the 4th wall breaking monologue is looking somewhat old now.

@blenkinsopthebrave

I didn’t have an issue with the explanation for Belinda – it’s been done before with other characters (Martha, Doc 12), and probably was done because the actor has only recently appeared in the show. This bit of the scene was a late-ish addition I think (RTD had originally written the character as Belinda Finch (?), or a similarly Anglo sounding name) but changed his mind once he’d seen Sethu in Boom. May be why it didn’t fully work…

@devilishrobby

Interesting insight into RTDs writing process and his long-term view. Hopefully the Disney execs have a similar POV. It’s weird that we’ve had no announcement about the next season. I believe RTD is writing / has written some scripts though. Maybe the execs at The House of Mouse are waiting to see how the current run goes. Either way, given there is no filming happening atm (I believe), there will be a couple of years until the next season as and when it returns. If Disney don’t want it and the BBC have the will and the £££ to take it back in house, it’ll likely be 3-4 years I reckon. Hopefully not.

And I’m calling it now: Regeneration at the end of this season.

[WhoHar @whohar]

@blenkinsopthebrave

When RTD brought back Who after the show was cancelled, in large part because of the excesses of John Nathan-Turner in the late ’80s, RTD’s revival of Who really felt like Doctor Who, but this feels like the cartoon excesses of JNT on speed.

Oh the irony if RTD is both the person who brought Who back and the one to oversee it’s demise.

There are some rumours floating about that the Tardis set at Bad Wolf studios has been dismantled. This is potentially a very bad omen, as the thing was expensive (so unlikely to have been built for only 2 seasons). Of course they could be moving it somewhere…

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@whohar

All good points. And if they really are dismantling the studio that does, indeed, sound ominous.

But for tonight, watching Jean Marsh in a Who story is where this evening is heading.

[WhoHar @whohar]

@blenkinsopthebrave

Yes, hopefully there’s another explanation for the set, or its simply not true.

I saw your post on the other thread about Jean Marsh. I’d not linked her with Who, as she’s best known for Upstairs Downstairs.

What are you watching? Sara Kingdom from The Daleks Master Plan? Most of it is missing, although I recently listened to an audio of that story, which used the original soundtrack and with added narration by Peter Purvis.

Or The Crusades? Or Battlefield?

(yes I have been using Google)

Apparently she also appeared in cameo in An Adventure in Space and Time too. Anyhoo, enjoy.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@blenkinsopthebrave @whohar

RTD2 = JNT?? One fried cat does not an unfortunate partnership of an overpromoted showrunner and a script editor with a penchant for violence make.

It’s the presence of all those obvious construction lines that concerns me. Cartmel also made his construction lines very obvious and I’m not sure that always worked but it did go someway towards saving the original show.

This is a bit different: does Russ think he really needs to trumpet what he’s about in the face of lead brain online criticism? Is he ramming home WHO’s ‘spikier’ traditions… you know, concrete slabs, shouting ‘ginger’ at fey flanneled fools, sly comments about Victoria and werewolves, the Doctor Dancing… right there between the ears of The Mouse?

Is this JNT bad? Have we had a Warriors of The Deep yet? That spin off is looking a bit ominous. And Empire of Death was quite bad. But not Twin Dilemma or Time Flight bad. Not as consistently nonsensical as Chib.

In terms of my recent rewatches Hand of Fear and Underworld were pretty bad, and that’s the golden era, Robert Holmes in harness, what could go wrong? Hmmm quite a lot as it turned out. Will these new writers be up to Moff, Mathieson or even Whithouse? Maxine Alderton can obviously write dialogue… not even Chib could mess up Villa of The Diodati. Where is she? How did Chris Boucher only ever write three shows? No ona HAS to write for WHO; there are other gigs out there.

So, Robot Revolution was cartoony. It has a big neon message. Husbands of River Song, Good Man goes to War and Pirate Planet were cartoony too. So was Time Lash; the problem there was the writing. Alright… and the glove puppet, too.

[WhoHar @whohar]

@ps1l0v3y0u @blenkinsopthebrave

“History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”
Samuel Langhorne Clemens

You are right in that we are no where near Twin Dilemma levels of storytelling. Or that we have a showrunner actively trying to kill the show. The way contemporary televisin works, I don’t think those levels of Who will be plumbed again. However…

There are some similarities between now and then.

• We have passed peak Doctor (Baker [T] vs Tennant [10])
• We have just come off the back of a Doctor that wasn’t well received (Baker [C] vs Whittaker)
• Falling Ratings
• A production team / decision makers that aren’t all that committed to the show (Internal BBC politics / Michael Grade vs Disney)
• Showrunner hubris (arguably)

Rhymes everywhere you look.

Coupled with the other rumours and it’s easy to make the case that Who will be out on hiatus. That doesn’t mean it will happen of course but I’d expect a 2-year gap at minimum.

I have to say I am more than a little concerned.

But back to the ep. I’d agree that the hospital power failure was a bit of a mis-step. Surely people would have died (unless backup power, which we didn’t see), and the Doc was responsible. As @blenkinsopthebrave said earlier, tonally all over the place.

More tears from the Doc too. They didn’t feel earned imo, as Sasha 55 was there and gone in the blink of an eye. Crying is definitely this Docs thing…

[Juniperfish @juniperfish]

I want to love this era, I do, but I really dislike the Disney 8 episodes per series formula.

In fact, I really dislike the death of the long-form television show, where you could fall in love with characters over 5, 6 or 7 years.

I’d barely begun to know and love Millie Gibson/ Ruby Sunday before she was gone.

Gatwa continues to be an accomplished, nay incandescent actor, but RTD2 seems to have forgotten his own wisdom – we need the companion(s) to anchor the heart(s) of the show. And with only 8 episodes per series, unless there is some kind of consistency and longevity beyond one series, the emotional through-line is broken too soon to have meaning, and then it doesn’t matter how cool the VFX is.

Gatwa-Doc can call a bevy of maiden besties “babes” on his adventures, but if the affection doesn’t have time develop in the story-world, what, really, is the point of a show about time?!

He may have cared for Anita (Steph de Whalley) in Joy to the World, but we hardly knew her.  And now the pattern repeats with Sasha 55 (Evelyn Miller).

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods – but that’s just not interesting, unless we care about the love (of whatever kind) between the latest fly and this particular god.

I did enjoy Robot AI Alan as a send-up of Marvel’s Ultron. And I would like to believe that “every 9th word is hidden” has a larger meaning in the series (but don’t hold out much hope). For example, 9 is sacred in Hinduism as the completion of a cycle. and in Norse mythology there are 9 worlds and Odin hung on the world tree, Yggdrassil, for 9 days.

 

 

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@juniperfish Excellent critique, with spot on examples. I totally agree with you about the death of the long-form TV story telling. It provided a way of immersing yourself, getting to know characters, and reflecting on their actions. Slowly, and over time. Indeed, it was a little bit like reading a novel. But what is now on offer is more like the instant gratification  of a video game. In a long-form TV story you come to understand why a character experiences loss. Here, the Doctor simply sheds a tear. That’s it. Was any viewer thinking about Sasha 55 when the final credits rolled?

Thanks for your perceptive analysis, and great to see you back on the board.

 

[winston @winston]

I enjoyed it most of the time. It was fast paced and timey- wimey and had lots of running down corridors. The Doctor has a reluctant companion who just wants to go home but it looks like home has been destroyed. Wanting to go home feels very real  because if all of that had happened to me that is exactly what I would want. Now the Doctor is trapped with a pissed off women who needs to get to work.Look out.

Why are there still no chairs in the Tardis?

The Doctor has a great wardrobe.

RTD is not very subtle.

Smiley faced robots are creepy.

Those are my thoughts so far but I will watch it again soon.

stay safe

[Whisht @whisht]

Hi all
:¬)

So… thoughts on The Robot Revolution.
I agree with so much that people have said far better than I.
Tonally I felt it was all over the place.
– Nasty coercive control/ incel/ war & death.
– Retro 50’s toy-like robots and cutesy cleaner-bot.
Great for the merch though ($$£$$).

I liked the kernel of an idea (“honey I bought you a star” who becomes the queen of the star-system). But… not sure about how that fits with all the other bits.

Hard agree on Anita Dobson’s ‘character’. Its tiring and hasn’t progressed; there’s no new ‘new’.
It’s almost as if he doesn’t know who she is or what her character is.
However, at least it informed my music choice.
:¬D

Nice to see you all again (too many to tag!)
;¬)

[Charlie Cook @cookgroom]

Very interesting theory on Facebook Dr Who Classic about Mrs Flood being Kamelion, written by Faith Kelly/Dougie Simpson
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=640999398924761&set=a.453235687701134&type=3

[BobbyFatv2 @bobbyfatv2]

@cookgroom now that is interesting;.. made me look up he mind robber and found this (cbr.com)

 

” When the Second Doctor and his friends encounter this unusual villain, he is attached to a computer known as the Master Brain, which produces the Land of Fiction from the Master Of The Land Of Fiction’s imagination. The Doctor Who baddie composes the scripts for everyone who resides in this fantasy world, pre-determining their actions through the course of the adventure.”

very reminiscent of AL

did I dream it or in one episode mrs flood was narrating and turning the pages of a fairy tale book?

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@bobbyfatv2

Yes v interesting! The Mind Robber was one of the only 3 DW serials broadcast on Oct 5th… the date quoted by 15 in Boom. The other 2 serials were Paradise Towers and Remembrance of the Daleks.

And the penultimate story of this season is ‘Wish World’?

Still wondering about Valeyard, Villengard and the Vlinx though.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@bobbyfatv2 @cookgroom @whohar

also, the similarities of Mrs Flood’s dress sense to Romana 1 and Clara shown on the link does echo a recent debate about whether we saw the remains of the Blackpool or Eiffel Tower at the end of Robot Revolution. Although the Eiffel Tower actually links to Romana 2 of course.

On the other hand this debate is shaping up like last year. I feel like a puppy continually charging at some closed patio doors.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@bobbyfatv2 @ps1l0v3yOu

“The Mind Robber” is one of the great original Who stories (with a real “Alice Through the Looking Glass” feel to it) and could well be related to the way RTD2 wants to play in the land of fiction.

As for Mrs Flood, while Mrs Blenkinsop and I were sitting out in the garden room this evening, I pronounced to her (after the second glass of wine) that Mrs Flood was obviously the Doctor’s original Nanny from Gallifrey watching over him. And as we know anything said after the second glass of wine must be true…

[WhoHar @whohar]

@bobbyfatv2 @ps1l0v3y0u @blenkinsopthebrave

 the Land of Fiction

This was mentioned during in the last season’s comments (somewhere…maybe even by me), so it might have some legs. I wonder if RTD will go back to the well of old Who for a second season on the run.

 

Mrs Flood was obviously the Doctor’s original Nanny

That would be a really interesting take, although I suspect all the talk about her being Susan / The Master / River / The Rani / Who else have I missed? would mean lots of viewers may be disappointed in the reveal. That said, it didn’t stop RTD last season (i.e. Ruby’s mum’s reveal as an ordinary person)

 

 I feel like a puppy continually charging at some closed patio doors

Hahaha. Yes absolutely. Will we never learn.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

Ok. I’m willing to stick my neck out on The Mindrobber link on the basis of October 5th from Boom. But the comic book robots do echo TMR’s weird clockwork soldiers. October 5th was episode 4 I think, have to rewatch it.

Otherwise the costume montage for Mrs Flood is quite startling.

And I’m still expecting a Vlinx reveal.

 

[ScaryB @scaryb]

Love this! (Sorry – don’t know how to make it preview on here (for info, it’s a TikTok tribute to my new fave robot cleaner 😉 )

https://www.tiktok.com/@misslucif/video/7492531331608382738?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

[ScaryB @scaryb]

I love you guys!! (Waves at everyone).

I nip off for a couple of days and I come back to a whole bunch of bonkers theories! (Puppies, doors, maybe – but it’s still great fun).

@ps1l0v3y0u – Mrs Flood is actually the Vlinx…?!

I’m liking the whole Mind Robber/Land of Fiction ideas. And there’s still the loose ends of mavity and 14’s letting in of “stranger things” with the salt in Wild Blue Yonder. (Are we getting too far away from that for it be picked up now, or is it  (very) long game?)

@juniperfish @blenkinsopthebrave – I’m with you on wishing for longer series. TBH I find some of the 20 episode, multi season runs of some series just too much of a time investment, but 8 for DW definitely feels too short to get to know anyone. Is this a budgeting thing do we know?

@whohar yes, there do seem to be some worrying rumours flying around about dismantling sets and RTD mentioning “pauses”… there again, there are always rumours flying around in the Whoniverse (rarely good ones!)

Final comment for now – I don’t think RTD’s Who writing is necessarily getting more childish – burping wheelie bins in S1 anyone?

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@winston

The Doctor has a great wardrobe.

Agreed.

Actually the TARDIS always had a great wardrobe, all the way back to Hartnell. Maybe they just lost the keys, or it relocated itself for a bit 😉

Belinda needs to go and investigate it urgently – she spent the whole of the first episode in her jammies!

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@scaryb

Mrs Flood is the Vlinx? Nooo…

The Vlinx is the hardware running a Matrix or Data Slice on behalf the Valeyard, CEO of Villengard, and probably an incarnation of Dr Simeon, who was presumably also responsible for The Land of Fiction after he took time off from possessing Buddhists and Squaddies, and creating giant android hamsters aka The Yetis.

Mrs Flood, I still think, is a matrix style projection of pre-Melody River Song… why she’s presenting as Romana1, Clara, Rory… maybe ALL the companions I dunno. Do I really want to see her channeling Zoe, Leela or Peri?? This could be last taboo for Russ, couldn’t it?

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@ps1l0v3y0u

Haha. (Hey! Whaddya mean Yetis are giant android hamsters??!! We are SO much more!)

Meanwhile (just before we all head into the world of cartoons) love this piece about my new fave bot – now named as Scoot 😉 (Q&A with the designer. and a link to the official Behind The Scenes video at the end)

“polish, polish” 😀

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/polish-polish-qa-with-the-designer-of-scoot-the-polish-bot

[WhoHar @whohar]

@ps1l0v3y0u

….maybe ALL the companions I dunno

(Cough, cough) Susan.

[winston @winston]

@scaryb  I like your new picture. Scoot is perfect, he cleans and polishes and he is so cute. This little guy has oodles of personality and I want him.

Stay safe

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@whohar @scaryb

Was Susan a companion? Really? Just a Clara style e Missian lapdog? Wasn’t she the Original Time Lady?

Otherwise, this time around Varada Sethu is channeling Nichola Bryant circa Caves of Androzani. Sorry, I did look.

Not sure who Anita was dressed as…

Hold on… just twigged, there was an Anita in Joy to the World and we all loved her. Is Mrs Flood the facilitator… the MANAGER… of the whole cockamamy AI romp?? Or are there just so many lady names?

Scoot’s little hands remind me of the Robot Oven from ‘Grand Day Out.’

No ‘Lux’ page yet??? Get yet calculators out…

 

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@ps1l0v3y0u

Was Susan a companion?

Very definitely! She was the original you might say 😉 (Whether she was also a Time Lady is up for discussion)

[Author]

Posts