TheMaster666
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- Aug 17, 2021
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I don't know if there's a Doctor Who mega-thread out there somewhere. I think there is one, but for the newer RTD 2.0 run. I'll just leave this here if that's okay. This is gonna be long, and you don't have to read all of it; if you just want to skip to an individual episode review, they'll be in bold for quick access.
Background
I've been quite pleased in recent days to discover I had been wrong to write off the Whittaker era. Like a lot of fans, the writing seemed to be on the wall by the tail end of Capaldi's run, and when the BBC announced a female Doctor, it seemed like they jumped the shark. While I remember seeing the first episode with her, I remember feeling bored by it, not finishing it, and not really seeing much else of her run, except Spyfall at some point which also left me thoroughly unimpressed. I also really wasn't interested in giving her a fair chance, because I didn't want to accept any version of a female Doctor, which in my head canon was just not something compatible with the show or character.
Well that was then. Cut to the recent past, some months ago, I caught the Nikola Tesla episode and found it to be rather good. So I decided to return in the last few weeks and check out some other of her stories. Namely, "Kerblam," a story inspired by Amazon warehouses, which I liked for its unique premise, and its followup with the Witchfinder General. I really liked that one too.
After that, I decided to go back and give her run a proper viewing, and I have to say this is proper Doctor Who. It has some serious highs, some embarrassing lows, and a lot of episodes somewhere in the middle.
The Characters
I really like this cast. I like Graham, I like Ryan, I like Yaz, and I like the Jodie Whittaker Doctor. It didn't come across to me as "woke." They didn't make a big deal of, "Look I'm a woman now, and aren't women so much better? Yaaay, Grrrl Power!!!" nor did they overly feminize the character nor overly sexualize her either. She really feels like just the same character as Capaldi and Smith and Tennant, and it's just a woman fulfilling the role. Just like how in real life, the title of a "Doctor" is not gender-specific or exclusively masculine. That's not to say she isn't without the occasional mildly cringey moment or scene here and there, but usually that can be chalked up to the writing more than her acting. She's definitely won me over. I love the new Tardis console, warm colors and beautifully designed; and I love the title theme and intro sequence, which very much harkens back to the classic series with its ethereal, abstract shapes and colors spinning through a vortex of clouds and stars. I like that they have a group of companions rather than just one (always more fun with a gang), and for once they actually have a companion who is older, not a 20-something year old. That's a first. Graham is very charismatic, but Yaz and Ryan are just as likable too, and having the companions all a bit loosely related to each other helps the family feel of the crew.
Okay, on to the episodes. I haven't seen all of them yet, but I've seen quite a few.
The Season 11 premiere, as I stated above, I originally found quite boring, and on this re-watch that didn't change. It's overly long with a sagging middle that just drags on with poor pacing, and the plot itself, and its throwaway villain of the week, are uninteresting (although the costume people deserve commendation for the impressive suit made of teeth.) This episode probably turned a lot of skeptical viewers off, as it really didn't put the new Doctor's best foot forward. However, Capaldi's intro wasn't the best either, and even David Tennant was a little rough around the edges in his early episodes. However, it gets the job done as far as introducing the new characters. I do like the (spoiler) twist that the titular "Woman Who Fell to Earth" and the one Ryan makes a video about is not in fact the Doctor like you're expecting but his nan.
Next episode, "The Ghost Monument." I liked this one a lot better than the first. Not the best episode of the season, but a very solid first outing (after the post-regeneration episode). This episode actually reminded me a bit of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in its resolution of the previous episode's cliffhanger. Rescued by the Infinite Improbability machine? Douglas Adams' resolution of a similar situation probably works better because of the inherent humor scaffolding an otherwise tenuous plot. It continues vaguely following Hitchhiker's Guide by the spaceship landing them on a deserted planet, although sadly, it is not the most expensive planet in the galaxy where the mice had commissioned the construction of the Earth billions of years ago. (Tangent over, I promise.) The mysterious alien tent on this deserted planet reminded me of one of Sylvester McCoy's episodes (can't recall the name). I liked the journey, and the Ghost Monument being the Tardis.
Side note, this story went classic without being fan service. Okay maybe a little fan service, calling back the Jon Pertwee-era Venusian Akido, but the way it's written in doesn't even feel like fan service, just like this is the same character so of course she can still do it. Up to this point, the companions are along with the Doctor not by choice but by accident, and she's trying to return them home, but can't exactly fly the Tardis always how she means to, which is why she lands in the location of the episode's plot, by accident more than choice. These are two elements of the classic series, and I'm happy to see them translated over finally to the modern one, which we haven't seen before at all.
Third episode, is "Rosa," easily the best episode of the season (well of those I've seen so far.)
If this show was going to be "woke," Rosa quite easily could've been the nexus point for social justice and finger wagging. In the prior season, Bill Potts went to the past, experienced mild racism or sexism which was common for the era she was in, and not only did she throw a tantrum over it, but the Doctor did too moments after explaining how you have to understand history in context and we can't antagonize these people if we need information from them.
Not in Rosa. Rosa deftly deals with the subject of racism, in a respectful, brutally honest, yet realistic manner. The actress who plays Rosa Parks does a remarkable job, and all the characters' American accents make the setting of 1950s in the South of the US immersive and believable. We even get to meet Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ryan's gobsmacked minor fanboyism at meeting such an important figure feels just like what we would feel if we were in his shoes.
The reason why Rosa, the episode, works so well is because the plot revolves around the actual famous historical moment of her refusing to give up her seat. Being a part of that history, watching it unfold, even making it happen is so much more satisfying than "Demons of the Punjab," where the history takes a backseat, or the earlier, classic Vincent Van Gogh episode where some generic monster is the villain. Much like the real Rosa Parks moment, the one in the tv show is a bit manufactured, with the Doctor and crew ensuring it happens as it's supposed to, without the meddling of a racist time traveler from the future. In real life, Rosa Parks was intentionally chosen to do this gesture because she would've been a more sympathetic figure to garner support for ending segregation. History has to be organized and planned to happen, but that doesn't reduce the enormity of the occasion any less.
We really see the tragedy of racism and segregation shown to us, firsthand, rather than narrated to us. Ryan experiences it, and though it obviously insults and outrages him on the inside, he understands the context of the era and that he can't outwardly protest. It gives him a renewed appreciation, and I think the audience as well. The 1950s were only some 70 years ago, within the lifetimes of some alive still today. Ryan contemplates, he can't stand living like this even for a few hours. How did people live their whole lives suffering these injustices? It truly is humbling, and also reminds you of the great progress that 50 years later a black man would lead the country as President.
Very powerful episode. Great writing. Great acting. I'd even wager it's one of, if not the best "historical" style Doctor Who episode, up there with or possibly even better than the Vincent Van Gogh one.
Fourth episode, "Arachnids in the UK." Fairly average Doctor Who fare. Return to Earth to see aliens have overrun it just when the companions are back meeting with family. A fun episode, but not super memorable, apart from two things: 1) A totally not-Trump business mogul with Presidential aspirations, whom I'm not sure if he's supposed to be unlikable, but I found him actually quite likable, in an Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock kind of way. The second memorable thing? Pekora. Yaz's father serves Pekora as appetizers. I love Pekora (they pronounce it wrong on the show though, or maybe Punjabis pronounce it differently from Indians, idk). I always called them Pekor-ah, but on the show it's Pekor-ay. The episode did have a rather weak resolution though, and the Doctor's supposed distaste for firearms takes a preposterous turn, refusing to shoot down rampaging giant spiders, out of compassion. Like, c'mon. They're giant mutant spiders. Instead, she does nothing and the queen spider just dies on her own, from the fact that scientifically it's impossible for a spider that large to breathe (we larger, more complex organisms require lungs and blood vessels for that reason.) So I like the use of real science there, but it nullifies the danger of the previous scene when they were sprinting away from that beast. I just think the not-Trump character's idea for going in guns blazing and wasting all those mutant spiders like a level of Call of Duty Zombies would've been a much more fun way of winning the day.
Fifth episode, "The Tsurunga Conundrum." By far, the worst episode of the season, probably one of the worst of the entire show. The whole thing's an unsalvageable mess. Just when I was really getting into this season, having underrated it and found it to be actually quite good and not at all woke---TC shows up...with a pregnant man. *Facepalm* They do try to sneak it in by having him be an alien, but he doesn't look any different from a human being. The whole sub-plot about this hysterical, whining pregnant man giving birth like a woman is just pure cringe, and an ominous foreshadowing of the direction the world's going in. But I endured, maybe the main plot is interesting? Nope. Some alien beast is destroying the ship, and we should be very, very scared by it, apparently. Then you see it, and it's this cutesy little guy who's non-threatening, and the CGI for it is so awful it would've been third rate CGI even 20 years ago. It would've been unacceptable even if this episode aired in 2005, and even then Dr. Who already had pretty bad CGI for its time. And this is bad next to that. This episode is a perfect example of the actors of the main cast being let down by terrible scripts. While the episode has a few moments of decent drama and dialogue which make the episode somewhat watchable, it's rampant with so many plot holes, both in the main plot and in the character drama moments. I could list them all, but really, why bother. Next.
Sixth episode, "Demons of the Punjab." This episode I was really looking forward to, especially given just how well this season handled a historical episode with Rosa. Unfortunately, I was a bit let down by Demons of the Punjab, not because it was bad, certainly not by any means; more that it was a wasted opportunity. Although the episode appears on the surface to deal with the separation of India and Pakistan following the end of British colonial rule, sparking not only deadly violence then, but a bitter rivalry between two nuclear-armed nations, with periodic wars that continue off and on to this day. Just earlier this year we had a horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir by Pakistani terrorists, which prompted retaliation by India invading Pakistan to strike the terrorists, and Pakistan retaliating to that incursion.
I was hoping to gain a deeper dive and understanding of the history of this moment, of British colonialism, of religious extremism and violence, of human nature, etc. While we do get some of those themes, they lie mostly on the periphery, and when you encounter them, you are generally told about them, rather than witnessing them firsthand like in Rosa. I walked away from the episode not really feeling like I'd learned anything more about the event.
This episode actually is a bit of a re-telling of "Father's Day" from Christopher Eccleston and Rose's era, the one where Rose goes back in time to meet her dead father, but is unable to save him. It has more in common with that plotline than Rosa, really.
What really breaks this episode for me personally, is the accents, or rather the lack thereof. All the indigenous Indians speak perfectly posh BBC English accents. While Indians do have more British-like English accents from colonial rule, they also have their own accent, and that really doesn't come across at all. Why couldn't the actors do an Indian accent? It's hard to take them seriously and get immersed when the people in India sound like they're from England, while ironically the grandma version of the character who has lived in England for the past 50 years is the only one with an Indian accent.
Not just the accents, but also the customs are overly westernized, and it feels inauthentic. Discussions of marriage for love, while noble and sympathetic to our modern sensibilities, are not really accurate. The reality is, over there, arranged marriages were much more common, especially so in the remote villages like where this is set. Even today they still exist. Not saying a marriage chosen for love is impossible to pull off in this earlier era, though it would've been probably fairly uncommon, but it works for the theme of unity and tolerance.
While it's tragic that the Hindu/Muslim hatred comes down to brother against brother, the episode takes the "brother against brother" theme a little too literally, and the hero's younger brother comes across less as the intended morality play on the dangers of tribalism and human nature; and more that his brother was just a lunatic murderer/serial killer who executed his own sibling in cold blood.
While the costume design for the obligatory "Demons" / aliens was very impressive, the characters were largely disposable, and I could've done without the obligatory supernatural alien in the past trope, which somewhat cheapens the significance of a real life historical inflection point.
A very ambitious episode, that still succeeds partially and is one of the better episodes nonetheless, but feels just like a major missed opportunity. It's good, but it could've been so much more.
Episode 7, "Kerblam." It's Space Amazon! 'Nuff said.
What you wanted more?
Actually, Kerblam was quite fun. This is the kind of topical episode that necessarily couldn't have been made 10 or more years ago (well Amazon was around but not the juggernaut of today), which makes it new and exciting to watch. It's quintessentially a murder mystery sort of plot, and as a "Who dun it?" it works well, avoiding some of the more predictable and cliche choices for a villain (e.g. the boss/ C-suite figure), and the end surprise at once caught me off guard and actually worked, from a character point of view. His backstory made sense.
Episode 8, "The Witchfinders." Yet a third historical episode--Whittaker's era is on a winning streak with these, give me more!
This episode walks the fine line between serious historical material and comedic camp just perfectly, nailing both, and for that accomplishment, it owes a great deal to its stellar guest cast, particularly the actor playing the King. It's another episode that deals with the sexism of the past in an honest but respectful manner, and deserves credit for that.
There are alien zombies in there which, of course, is totally way more scientific than witchcraft. Would never do something silly and ridiculous like witches in serious science fiction (except for that time they met Shakespeare of course), heavens no. Zombies on the other hand. Very serious business. Joking aside, this episode is aesthetically quite cool, and another one of my favorites this season.
Concluding remarks
Whew that was very long, I'll probably add more reviews as I see the remaining episodes.
Here's how I rank the ones I've seen so far:
1) Rosa (10/10)
2) Witchfinders or Ghost Monument, it's a tossup (7-8/10)
4) Demons of the Punjab (7/10)
5) Kerblam (7/10)
6) Arachnids in the UK (6.5/10)
7) Woman Who Fell to Earth (5/10)
8) Tsurunga Conundrum (1/10)
Background
I've been quite pleased in recent days to discover I had been wrong to write off the Whittaker era. Like a lot of fans, the writing seemed to be on the wall by the tail end of Capaldi's run, and when the BBC announced a female Doctor, it seemed like they jumped the shark. While I remember seeing the first episode with her, I remember feeling bored by it, not finishing it, and not really seeing much else of her run, except Spyfall at some point which also left me thoroughly unimpressed. I also really wasn't interested in giving her a fair chance, because I didn't want to accept any version of a female Doctor, which in my head canon was just not something compatible with the show or character.
Well that was then. Cut to the recent past, some months ago, I caught the Nikola Tesla episode and found it to be rather good. So I decided to return in the last few weeks and check out some other of her stories. Namely, "Kerblam," a story inspired by Amazon warehouses, which I liked for its unique premise, and its followup with the Witchfinder General. I really liked that one too.
After that, I decided to go back and give her run a proper viewing, and I have to say this is proper Doctor Who. It has some serious highs, some embarrassing lows, and a lot of episodes somewhere in the middle.
The Characters
I really like this cast. I like Graham, I like Ryan, I like Yaz, and I like the Jodie Whittaker Doctor. It didn't come across to me as "woke." They didn't make a big deal of, "Look I'm a woman now, and aren't women so much better? Yaaay, Grrrl Power!!!" nor did they overly feminize the character nor overly sexualize her either. She really feels like just the same character as Capaldi and Smith and Tennant, and it's just a woman fulfilling the role. Just like how in real life, the title of a "Doctor" is not gender-specific or exclusively masculine. That's not to say she isn't without the occasional mildly cringey moment or scene here and there, but usually that can be chalked up to the writing more than her acting. She's definitely won me over. I love the new Tardis console, warm colors and beautifully designed; and I love the title theme and intro sequence, which very much harkens back to the classic series with its ethereal, abstract shapes and colors spinning through a vortex of clouds and stars. I like that they have a group of companions rather than just one (always more fun with a gang), and for once they actually have a companion who is older, not a 20-something year old. That's a first. Graham is very charismatic, but Yaz and Ryan are just as likable too, and having the companions all a bit loosely related to each other helps the family feel of the crew.
Okay, on to the episodes. I haven't seen all of them yet, but I've seen quite a few.
The Season 11 premiere, as I stated above, I originally found quite boring, and on this re-watch that didn't change. It's overly long with a sagging middle that just drags on with poor pacing, and the plot itself, and its throwaway villain of the week, are uninteresting (although the costume people deserve commendation for the impressive suit made of teeth.) This episode probably turned a lot of skeptical viewers off, as it really didn't put the new Doctor's best foot forward. However, Capaldi's intro wasn't the best either, and even David Tennant was a little rough around the edges in his early episodes. However, it gets the job done as far as introducing the new characters. I do like the (spoiler) twist that the titular "Woman Who Fell to Earth" and the one Ryan makes a video about is not in fact the Doctor like you're expecting but his nan.
Next episode, "The Ghost Monument." I liked this one a lot better than the first. Not the best episode of the season, but a very solid first outing (after the post-regeneration episode). This episode actually reminded me a bit of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in its resolution of the previous episode's cliffhanger. Rescued by the Infinite Improbability machine? Douglas Adams' resolution of a similar situation probably works better because of the inherent humor scaffolding an otherwise tenuous plot. It continues vaguely following Hitchhiker's Guide by the spaceship landing them on a deserted planet, although sadly, it is not the most expensive planet in the galaxy where the mice had commissioned the construction of the Earth billions of years ago. (Tangent over, I promise.) The mysterious alien tent on this deserted planet reminded me of one of Sylvester McCoy's episodes (can't recall the name). I liked the journey, and the Ghost Monument being the Tardis.
Side note, this story went classic without being fan service. Okay maybe a little fan service, calling back the Jon Pertwee-era Venusian Akido, but the way it's written in doesn't even feel like fan service, just like this is the same character so of course she can still do it. Up to this point, the companions are along with the Doctor not by choice but by accident, and she's trying to return them home, but can't exactly fly the Tardis always how she means to, which is why she lands in the location of the episode's plot, by accident more than choice. These are two elements of the classic series, and I'm happy to see them translated over finally to the modern one, which we haven't seen before at all.
Third episode, is "Rosa," easily the best episode of the season (well of those I've seen so far.)
If this show was going to be "woke," Rosa quite easily could've been the nexus point for social justice and finger wagging. In the prior season, Bill Potts went to the past, experienced mild racism or sexism which was common for the era she was in, and not only did she throw a tantrum over it, but the Doctor did too moments after explaining how you have to understand history in context and we can't antagonize these people if we need information from them.
Not in Rosa. Rosa deftly deals with the subject of racism, in a respectful, brutally honest, yet realistic manner. The actress who plays Rosa Parks does a remarkable job, and all the characters' American accents make the setting of 1950s in the South of the US immersive and believable. We even get to meet Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ryan's gobsmacked minor fanboyism at meeting such an important figure feels just like what we would feel if we were in his shoes.
The reason why Rosa, the episode, works so well is because the plot revolves around the actual famous historical moment of her refusing to give up her seat. Being a part of that history, watching it unfold, even making it happen is so much more satisfying than "Demons of the Punjab," where the history takes a backseat, or the earlier, classic Vincent Van Gogh episode where some generic monster is the villain. Much like the real Rosa Parks moment, the one in the tv show is a bit manufactured, with the Doctor and crew ensuring it happens as it's supposed to, without the meddling of a racist time traveler from the future. In real life, Rosa Parks was intentionally chosen to do this gesture because she would've been a more sympathetic figure to garner support for ending segregation. History has to be organized and planned to happen, but that doesn't reduce the enormity of the occasion any less.
We really see the tragedy of racism and segregation shown to us, firsthand, rather than narrated to us. Ryan experiences it, and though it obviously insults and outrages him on the inside, he understands the context of the era and that he can't outwardly protest. It gives him a renewed appreciation, and I think the audience as well. The 1950s were only some 70 years ago, within the lifetimes of some alive still today. Ryan contemplates, he can't stand living like this even for a few hours. How did people live their whole lives suffering these injustices? It truly is humbling, and also reminds you of the great progress that 50 years later a black man would lead the country as President.
Very powerful episode. Great writing. Great acting. I'd even wager it's one of, if not the best "historical" style Doctor Who episode, up there with or possibly even better than the Vincent Van Gogh one.
Fourth episode, "Arachnids in the UK." Fairly average Doctor Who fare. Return to Earth to see aliens have overrun it just when the companions are back meeting with family. A fun episode, but not super memorable, apart from two things: 1) A totally not-Trump business mogul with Presidential aspirations, whom I'm not sure if he's supposed to be unlikable, but I found him actually quite likable, in an Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock kind of way. The second memorable thing? Pekora. Yaz's father serves Pekora as appetizers. I love Pekora (they pronounce it wrong on the show though, or maybe Punjabis pronounce it differently from Indians, idk). I always called them Pekor-ah, but on the show it's Pekor-ay. The episode did have a rather weak resolution though, and the Doctor's supposed distaste for firearms takes a preposterous turn, refusing to shoot down rampaging giant spiders, out of compassion. Like, c'mon. They're giant mutant spiders. Instead, she does nothing and the queen spider just dies on her own, from the fact that scientifically it's impossible for a spider that large to breathe (we larger, more complex organisms require lungs and blood vessels for that reason.) So I like the use of real science there, but it nullifies the danger of the previous scene when they were sprinting away from that beast. I just think the not-Trump character's idea for going in guns blazing and wasting all those mutant spiders like a level of Call of Duty Zombies would've been a much more fun way of winning the day.
Fifth episode, "The Tsurunga Conundrum." By far, the worst episode of the season, probably one of the worst of the entire show. The whole thing's an unsalvageable mess. Just when I was really getting into this season, having underrated it and found it to be actually quite good and not at all woke---TC shows up...with a pregnant man. *Facepalm* They do try to sneak it in by having him be an alien, but he doesn't look any different from a human being. The whole sub-plot about this hysterical, whining pregnant man giving birth like a woman is just pure cringe, and an ominous foreshadowing of the direction the world's going in. But I endured, maybe the main plot is interesting? Nope. Some alien beast is destroying the ship, and we should be very, very scared by it, apparently. Then you see it, and it's this cutesy little guy who's non-threatening, and the CGI for it is so awful it would've been third rate CGI even 20 years ago. It would've been unacceptable even if this episode aired in 2005, and even then Dr. Who already had pretty bad CGI for its time. And this is bad next to that. This episode is a perfect example of the actors of the main cast being let down by terrible scripts. While the episode has a few moments of decent drama and dialogue which make the episode somewhat watchable, it's rampant with so many plot holes, both in the main plot and in the character drama moments. I could list them all, but really, why bother. Next.
Sixth episode, "Demons of the Punjab." This episode I was really looking forward to, especially given just how well this season handled a historical episode with Rosa. Unfortunately, I was a bit let down by Demons of the Punjab, not because it was bad, certainly not by any means; more that it was a wasted opportunity. Although the episode appears on the surface to deal with the separation of India and Pakistan following the end of British colonial rule, sparking not only deadly violence then, but a bitter rivalry between two nuclear-armed nations, with periodic wars that continue off and on to this day. Just earlier this year we had a horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir by Pakistani terrorists, which prompted retaliation by India invading Pakistan to strike the terrorists, and Pakistan retaliating to that incursion.
I was hoping to gain a deeper dive and understanding of the history of this moment, of British colonialism, of religious extremism and violence, of human nature, etc. While we do get some of those themes, they lie mostly on the periphery, and when you encounter them, you are generally told about them, rather than witnessing them firsthand like in Rosa. I walked away from the episode not really feeling like I'd learned anything more about the event.
This episode actually is a bit of a re-telling of "Father's Day" from Christopher Eccleston and Rose's era, the one where Rose goes back in time to meet her dead father, but is unable to save him. It has more in common with that plotline than Rosa, really.
What really breaks this episode for me personally, is the accents, or rather the lack thereof. All the indigenous Indians speak perfectly posh BBC English accents. While Indians do have more British-like English accents from colonial rule, they also have their own accent, and that really doesn't come across at all. Why couldn't the actors do an Indian accent? It's hard to take them seriously and get immersed when the people in India sound like they're from England, while ironically the grandma version of the character who has lived in England for the past 50 years is the only one with an Indian accent.
Not just the accents, but also the customs are overly westernized, and it feels inauthentic. Discussions of marriage for love, while noble and sympathetic to our modern sensibilities, are not really accurate. The reality is, over there, arranged marriages were much more common, especially so in the remote villages like where this is set. Even today they still exist. Not saying a marriage chosen for love is impossible to pull off in this earlier era, though it would've been probably fairly uncommon, but it works for the theme of unity and tolerance.
While it's tragic that the Hindu/Muslim hatred comes down to brother against brother, the episode takes the "brother against brother" theme a little too literally, and the hero's younger brother comes across less as the intended morality play on the dangers of tribalism and human nature; and more that his brother was just a lunatic murderer/serial killer who executed his own sibling in cold blood.
While the costume design for the obligatory "Demons" / aliens was very impressive, the characters were largely disposable, and I could've done without the obligatory supernatural alien in the past trope, which somewhat cheapens the significance of a real life historical inflection point.
A very ambitious episode, that still succeeds partially and is one of the better episodes nonetheless, but feels just like a major missed opportunity. It's good, but it could've been so much more.
Episode 7, "Kerblam." It's Space Amazon! 'Nuff said.
What you wanted more?
Actually, Kerblam was quite fun. This is the kind of topical episode that necessarily couldn't have been made 10 or more years ago (well Amazon was around but not the juggernaut of today), which makes it new and exciting to watch. It's quintessentially a murder mystery sort of plot, and as a "Who dun it?" it works well, avoiding some of the more predictable and cliche choices for a villain (e.g. the boss/ C-suite figure), and the end surprise at once caught me off guard and actually worked, from a character point of view. His backstory made sense.
Episode 8, "The Witchfinders." Yet a third historical episode--Whittaker's era is on a winning streak with these, give me more!
This episode walks the fine line between serious historical material and comedic camp just perfectly, nailing both, and for that accomplishment, it owes a great deal to its stellar guest cast, particularly the actor playing the King. It's another episode that deals with the sexism of the past in an honest but respectful manner, and deserves credit for that.
There are alien zombies in there which, of course, is totally way more scientific than witchcraft. Would never do something silly and ridiculous like witches in serious science fiction (except for that time they met Shakespeare of course), heavens no. Zombies on the other hand. Very serious business. Joking aside, this episode is aesthetically quite cool, and another one of my favorites this season.
Concluding remarks
Whew that was very long, I'll probably add more reviews as I see the remaining episodes.
Here's how I rank the ones I've seen so far:
1) Rosa (10/10)
2) Witchfinders or Ghost Monument, it's a tossup (7-8/10)
4) Demons of the Punjab (7/10)
5) Kerblam (7/10)
6) Arachnids in the UK (6.5/10)
7) Woman Who Fell to Earth (5/10)
8) Tsurunga Conundrum (1/10)
ILLYRIAN
Yet the silly Dr. Who missed seeing the new moon orbitting Uranus.