“The Robot Revolution” has given me a bit of a theory about Doctor Who as a series—at least lately. I don’t think its runtime allows it to satisfactorily run two simultaneous plotlines well. Something’s going to give.
Well, “Joy to the World” gave me a little more Doctor Who, but now I must wait, yet again. The new season won’t be starting for a while now—and all I’ll have is the trailers. Or, in this case, a teaser trailer. Which, as far as I can tell, just means it’s way shorter.
I always look forward to the newest Doctor Who Christmas special—and this episode, “Joy to the World” was no exception. It has already been too long since that last episode. Already too long since I got to see some adventure with the Doctor.
The Church on Ruby Road marks the beginning of Ncuti Gatwa’s tenure as the Doctor, and while the episode was a mixed bag, Ncuti did such a good job.
Empire of Death has weird pacing, a rushed ending for its conflict, and tries to pretend unrelated moments from the season actually reincorporate into the plot. But I didn’t hate watching it. Little sci-fi and fantasy ideas sprinkled throughout are interesting—and I’m glad that the episode finally explains Susan Triad.
“The Legend of Ruby Sunday” is the first part of a two-parter. We spend a lot of time being given mysteries, and then most of them are resolved at the end of the episode, or in the next one titled “The Empire of Death.” It’s not a stand-alone adventure by any stretch.
“Rogue” is a fun enough episode that could’ve been better with more time. Or, ideally, being split into a few different episodes. The pacing, storytelling, and character motivations suffer because we need to have four separate stories interlocking with each other.
“Dot and Bubble” is maybe my favorite episode of the new season so far. Yes, it does rely on a tired critique of people overusing cell phones for its whole premise to work, I won’t deny that—but, if you can accept that slightly cringey idea, this is one of the most poignant, emotionally devastating, and interesting episodes we’ve gotten since “Wild Blue Yonder.”
“73 Yards” is a confusing episode. I’ll admit that immediately. I did not fully understand the plot of it. The inclusion of supernatural elements might have something to do with that, but the conclusion and middle section left me uncertain of even the magic’s rules.
“Boom” is an episode that is clearly trying to be as morbid and macabre as possible. The story’s insistence on bleak moments, casual character death, and tragedy is so frequent it’s almost overplayed. I can’t believe I’m calling for the horror to be toned down—but here we are.
“The Devil’s Chord” is too short of an episode. I mean this as a compliment—and a criticism of everything added to the episode that limits chances to tell more of this story. This should’ve been a two-parter. It needed to be a two-parter. It could’ve been a top-ten, all-time episode if only it had been a two-parter.
“Space Babies” doesn’t seem like an episode to start a season with. Doctor Who is no stranger to weirdness, not by a long shot—but this episode is not only weird, it’s also goofy.
