Doctor Who Reviews – Page 2 – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episode 8 – Empire of Death

“Every sun is dead. The universe has come to a halt. And it is my fault.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Well, if it wasn’t obvious before, it certainly is now – Russell T Davies is definitely back. Empire of Death was everything we’d gotten used to from RTD season finales of old: a deadly threat to the entire universe; a ‘Davies ex machina’ McGuffin appearing out of nowhere to save the day; and a Big Reset Button that meant you could kill off whatever beloved character you like, because you could always bring them back. It was a rollicking rollercoaster ride of action and emotion that doesn’t really bear scrutiny if you stop to actually think about it too much. Just like all the season finales from 2005-2009, the last time Russell was in charge.

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episode 7 – The Legend of Ruby Sunday

“You’ve seen my life. I bring disaster, Kate, disaster.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It seems like the new season of Doctor Who has barely started, but we’re already into the endgame with this jaw-dropping penultimate episode, the first of a big two-parter. A run of eight episodes is, sadly, pretty short to flesh out a new Doctor, particularly when he’s been virtually absent for two of those eight episodes – but Ncuti Gatwa has been as superb as I always knew he would be. This episode showed us more of that irrepressible joie de vivre, but coupled with the melancholy we’ve seen in the past, drawn from centuries of bad experiences which, rightly or wrongly, the Doctor considers himself responsible for.

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episode 6 – Rogue

“Oh my Bridgerton – this is my actual dream!”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

So, this week’s Doctor Who was the much-anticipated “Bridgerton episode”. Just in case you weren’t aware of its inspiration, Ruby and the Doctor helpfully dropped the name of the show they were imitating over and over again – “it’s just like Bridgerton!” I wasn’t entirely clear, but it seemed at one point that even the villains were mentioning their love of Netflix’s hit Regency drama.

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episode 5 – Dot and Bubble

“Bubble down, Dot off.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

We’ve all seen them. Perhaps you even are one. Those people walking along the street, headphones on, heads down, immersed in their smartphones, utterly oblivious to what’s happening around them – in both a literal and a wider sense. Where I live, in central Barcelona, I often find myself having to dodge them as I walk along, as otherwise they would just walk right into me before they noticed I was there.

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episode 4 – 73 Yards

“It’s taken me all this time to realise what I’m here to do.”
“And what is that?”
“I’m gonna save the world.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Well, that was a weird one. As if on a mission to demonstrate just how flexible a show Doctor Who can be, this week Russell T Davies veered away from cutesy babies, musical numbers and earnest anti-war polemic to deliver a genuinely creepy, off-kilter ghost story that deserves a place in the show’s long history of nightmare fuel for its child viewers.

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episode 3 – Boom

“War is business. And business is booming.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Old school Who fans who were (perhaps understandably) concerned that last week’s brightly coloured deluge of space babies, farting space stations and musical numbers signalled a show more in the style of CBeebies will have been reassured by the massive tonal shift in the show this week, courtesy of returning alumnus Steven Moffat.

Doctor Who: Season 14, Episodes 1 & 2 – Space Babies / The Devil’s Chord

“I don’t have a people, I don’t have a home – but I don’t have a job either. I don’t have a boss, or taxes, or rent or bills to pay. I don’t have a purpose, or a cause, or a mission, but I have… freedom. That’s what keeps me going. To see the next thing. And the next, and the next.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

So, it’s back, the show I started to write this blog about – and it’s confusing. Not so much the plot – though we’ll get to that later – but as to what exactly the numbering should be. It’s the 14^th full season since the show’s return in 2005. I always thought it was justifiable to refer to the 2005 season as “Series 1”, given the 16 year gap since the end of the original run’s “Season 26”.

Doctor Who Christmas Special 2023: The Church on Ruby Road

“It isn’t magic – it’s a different kind of physics.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Nice to see the Doctor back on Christmas Day again! For all that Russell T Davies is keeping to the continuity established by his predecessor, it seems one thing he was set on was abandoning Chris Chibnall’s setting of the “Christmas” special on New Year’s Day, and returning the show to the Day itself.

Doctor Who: 2023 Special #3 – The Giggle

“You’ll be someone else. It doesn’t matter who. Cause every single one of you is fantastic.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

These specials have been an interesting side trip into the world of Doctor Who, giving us the second shortest-lived (onscreen) incarnation of the Doctor, reinvigorating the show while acknowledging everything that went before. It’s easy to imagine, after these, that we’ll still be watching Doctor Who in several years’ time. But the new question is – just how many?

Doctor Who: 2023 Special #2 – Wild Blue Yonder

“There’s something on this ship that’s so bad the TARDIS ran away?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

This second Special to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60^th anniversary perfectly demonstrated the show’s flexibility by being almost totally different from the last. A far future, alien, sci-fi setting rather than contemporary Earth; only two (ish) characters rather than the previous ensemble; and some of the weird, weird concepts that only science fantasy can do. Diverted by Donna’s coffee-spilling goof at the end of the previous ep, our dynamic duo found themselves trapped on a ghostly, seemingly empty starship at the very edge of the universe – only to find they weren’t as alone as they thought.