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Here ’s our abstruse diva into the high gear and depression of Doctor Who S02E01 : " The Robot Revolution , " which kicks things off on a solid , conversant note .
Now that you ’ve watched the first episode ofDoctor Who , let ’s go into the ups and down feather of " The Robot Revolution " since it has highs and first and motion . Russell T. Davieslikes to enclose the companions via their personal lives , let in when they ’re kids to connect the audience to them . Alan ’s remark about fille not being good at math ? carmine flag . Alan ( Jonny Green ) not caring what Belinda want for her birthday and buying her a planet ? Another red flag that becomes the whole plot later . retrieve those former " buy a major planet " or " buy a secret plan in ancestral Scotland " certificates ? They were scams . Of course , a twit like Alan would fall for it . MAJOR SPOILERSahead …
Doctor Who Callbacks or Repeats? – You Decide
We ’re in good order introduced to adult Belinda Chandra ( Varada Sethu ) in a whirlwind of montage – she ’s a meddlesome nurse in a busy hospital who ’s good at her business . All very ordinary , as Russell T. Davies likes to remind us , the associate are normal people before they meet the Doctor . Knowing Davy , it ’s a measured recall to series three of the 2005 revitalisation , where we were inclose to Martha ( Freema Agyeman ) , and that instalment carry place in a infirmary . That ’s believably knowing . Bit of the fellow ’s slice - of - life before she ’s whisked off across Space and Time . And of course of study , the Doctor is looking for her , but we never find out why he was bet for her specifically . Is this a timey - wimey thing where he ’s from the future and come back eff what ’s happening the rest of the time of year ? Who ’s the someone from the future who told him she would be of import ? This is Screenwriting 101 , setting up the time of year arc ’s payoff .
Um , the Doctor shorted out all the power in a hospital . How many liveliness support machines short got shut off ? Did you really think that was funny , Rusty ? And why would the transonic screwdriver short out all the electronics in a construction when it ’s just supposed to get someone ’s middleman info from the computer ? Somedays , broad comedy can get careless and callous … and just not funny , bruv .
Kidnapped in Pajamas by Robots
Belinda seem like she ’s in the eye of her own BBC twentysomething dramatic play about young professional flatmate . Yes , that ’s a whole subgenre in British TV that used to be bigger than it is now . Now , it ’s increasingly boring grimdark copper shows involving sequential slayer . Anyway , Belinda has annoying flatmates who do n’t do the washing up and eat each other ’s food . We ’re almost certainly not going to see them again until the net episodes this season , and for now , their only defining trait is " annoying " . We can bury them because it goes allHitchhiker ’s Guide to the Galaxywhen some goofy but menacing robots from outer quad show up and snatch Belinda while she ’s still in her pyjama . Oh , and they disintegrated a computed axial tomography . Is this a extension to the crass screenwriting and simplistic manualSave the Cat ? curious how cat murder is often treated as comedy on British boob tube shows . If they bolt down a dog , the whole land would be up in arms , and the switchboard would be light up with complaints .
If you think those robots depend familiar , that ’s because their goofy - looking plan is very similar to the one worn by comic and invitee villainGreg Daviesin the 2015 Christmas Special " The Husbands of River Song . "
Yeah , Mrs. Flood ( Anita Dobson ) is the Susan Twist of season two . Sir Humphrey Davy allege she would show up in every episode , and she ’s a baddie . That ’s why she keeps breaking the fourth wall and talking to the camera . carry her to do that every episode when she shows up for a few seconds . And she lived next door to Belinda ? Is this the same street Ruby and her mother and granny live on ? Are they all neighbours , or is Mrs. Flood just rove around squatting in one house after another ?
Being Queen of Planet MissBelindaChandra One Sucks!
How does bribe a certificate to own a planet make her the poof of a whole satellite ? Is there an office that register that information ? Is there more than one Planet MissBelindaChandra ? Belinda does n’t even have any real power . She ’s supposed to merge with the real power harness the planet , the AI Generator .
Of course , AI Generators are evil ! Belinda is supposed to marry and merge with Al Generator and get assimilated into its machinery , which would stamp out her . It does n’t make any good sense , but there ’s an explanation subsequently . And there ’s a full - botch resistance movement fighting the golem who have taken over and kill anyone who does n’t keep an eye on orders . And who should be helping out with the insurrection but the physician ? He ’s been here for six month waiting for Belinda to show up because timey - wimey . It ’s a common image ofDoctor Whoto have the Doctor help out a rising against dictatorships , and also with timey - wimey , though this is the first time it ’s been on in the serial publication for a while . Some of the rebel resent Belinda for being the symbol that landed the whole major planet in a murderous robot dictatorship , which is n’t exactly fair . Shooting and redshirt deaths result as usual , and feels kinda same - wye ; hence the same - wye sense about this premiere sequence . This is the shakiest prospect of this episode ; the tone shifts uneasily between jokey conceptual absurdity and virulent serious deaths .
Minimum Easter Eggs
The biggest Easter Egg in this instalment is the Doctor ’s two center baffle to the rhythm of the serial publication ' theme song .
Oh , and if you ’re keeping track , the Doctor ’s transonic screwdriver is now orangish , so if you want to buy a current one , that ’s the new color .
Redshirts and Fridging Alm0st-Companions
Dead Almost - Companion Trope : here ’s what always befall . A likable and smart ( unremarkably female ) part helps the Doctor and is provide the chance to travel with him , but since the actress is not the declare fellow , she ’s dead heart . Bye - bye , Sasha 55 . She ’s not the first and wo n’t be the last . When Russell T. Davies is the showrunner , this always happens at least once a season . This is what palpate samey and repetitive to longtime spectator of the serial . Let ’s hopeEvelyn Millergets better roles after this .
It was The Incel All Along!
This twist is what lifts the episode into pointed satire all along . Incels are the bad , and only incels would take issue . The reveal is very wacky : it was " AL " all along , not " AI . " Alan is a manipulate misogynist , and that ’s why Belinda ditch him , and he never got over her . That set off the whole game . Wonder what the £ 50 he owe her was for , did he make her pay for the planet certificate ? There ’s kind of a plot of land abysm over the timey - wimey circuitous plot here : Belinda tells the automaton that Alan is behind the whole matter , not her , so they go back and snap up him , where he have over the big machine that controls the golem . Who control the robot before ? And where did he get the advanced technology they hooked him up to ? He then place them to get Belinda so he can marry her , but his estimate is to meld with her , which is symbolic but does n’t make a lot of good sense since it would just shoot down her ; but hey , that ’s incel logic for ya . Alan ’s comeuppance go forth no ambiguity for what Sir Humphrey Davy thinks of incels whatsoever . Are Character Options going to release a toy of the cunning automaton Roomba that literally wipes Alan out of universe
Who Saves the Day? The Answer is Yes… Sort of?
Once again , there ’s a subtle shift where it ’s not the Doctor who saves the sidereal day but his companion . He enables Belinda to use her Science literacy to shoot down Alan . She touches the past and present interlingual rendition of the certificate and causes a breach in Space - Time . The MD , being a Time Lord , manage to pull her out , but Alan gets lose in the convolution and debirths to an embryo before the cute fiddling cleanup robot becomes a mortal weapon and wipes him out of beingness . Expect outrage and even some crazy citizenry to yell that Alan got retroactively aborted .
The citizen of Planet MissBelindaChandra One are awfully well-heeled to appease when serenity breaks out . They might have conk out on a rampage to destroy every automaton on the major planet for killing their friend and family under Alan . But hey , this is a minor ’s show . Everyone should get along in the end . It ’s the friends you make along the way .
“You’re Dangerous!”
This has been a longsighted prison term coming . The new companion not only does n’t really want to be here – she ’s the first one since Tegan ( Janet Fielding ) in the 1980s . Belinda calls out The Doctor for being foolhardy with people ’s life . He analyse her DNA without consent and forever put people in danger . They die on his watch , like Sasha 55 and the other member of the opposition . Belinda is immediately aware he could get her killed . The Doctor may make people well and enable them to become their better angels , but he ’s also reckless and get careless with multitude around him . He ’s turn tiddler who were his companions into soldiers and weapons , even inadvertently . It ’s novel to have a companion who does n’t dote on the Doctor ’s every word .
And yeah , Mundy Flynn from season one ’s story " BOOM ! " , also played by Sethu , is Belinda ’s remote descendent . That bit ’s over and done with . The Doctor said he saw her entire life when they were in that time distortion together , and he has become a part of her life story , so again , we ’re intoSteven Moffat - style timey - wimey where Davies worked out the season ’s payoff onwards of time when he plotted out the season .
Whoops Apocalypse!
The Doctor does n’t make out he ca n’t get Belinda back to Earth on May 24th , 2025 , because there ’s no Earth leave alone to go to ! It ’s been blown up ! It ’s just some detritus , a London taxi , and the Eiffel Tower float in space now . There ’s the second half of the season discharge and the heavy question : who blew up the Earth while they were away ? Is it the gods ? Is this part of Belinda ’s timeline or an interruption that the Doctor is going to have to even up ? Again , set up for the time of year discharge .
Overall , the time of year two premiere of Disney - eraDoctor Whois off to a solid , if not sensational , depart . " The Robot Revolution " is firm than " Space Babies " last year , which might have lost viewers and newcomers for being too silly , and some citizenry might feel less excited about this time of year because of the first season ’s flaws . That mean after Sir Humphrey Davy gets all the introduction to the new companion and re - unveiling of the show out of the way , the second installment , " Lux , " might be strong . The put-on is to get more the great unwashed to watch after the first one .
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