Doctor Who season 14 episodes 2 & 3 (Doctor Who review).
Doctor Who: Season 14: Episode 2: Space Babies by Russell T Davies
Today is not a good day for reviewers. Even those of you who can binge watch are unlikely to want to watch and write simultaneously, risking missing something important, such as BBC3, channel 250, or the red button for extras. Therefore, all reviews are likely to occur later in the evening. I can’t even select JPGs before seeing the episodes. Oh, the IMdB is messing around. Access these episodes by going through Ncuti Gatwa’s entry, as it has yet to be added to the second ‘Doctor Who’ run.
The numbering of the episodes is a little confusing because I used it as a carry-on from the specials, so I had to spin the numbers back.
While waiting, are there any thoughts running through my head? The Gatwa Doctor will be the first to significantly change clothes and wigs in every episode. What will happen to the toy line? Are we going to get a basic Doctor outfit, a wardrobe, or a blister pack of assorted clothes and wigs to change into? To have a differently dressed Gatwa for each episode would take a lot more space. I’m also curious about how viewers will recognize him. Will he be known as the Hip, Soul, Jive, Dancing, or Loving Doctor? Time will tell.
Mention the Rani? Are we going to see her regenerate at some point? The Doctor really needs more than one Time Lord nemesis, and he’s hardly the last one. There are a lot of firsts going on, including how to step on butterflies. Considering all those invasions and such, the doctor has stopped; stepping on a butterfly is the least of his worries. The TARDIS tour looks like it’s for a new audience.
A spaceship full of babies. OK, so who changes their nappies? Ah! It gets very spoilerous.
In many respects, this feels like a bottle episode so early in the season. So why are they keeping the money back, even though they have the special effects budget from ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’?
As they are running one after the other, I’m putting them all under one banner.
Doctor Who: Season 14: Episode 3: The Devil’s Chord by Russell T Davies
Doesn’t Maestro (actor Jinka Monsoon) look awfully like Bette Midler in the 1983 film ‘Hocus Pocus’? Gods, the Beatles have gone ‘Father Ted’, long before he was born. The dance has gone out of reality since Maestro played the devil’s chord, which is really the lost chord. How much am I mentioning here? Parents will be sending their sprogs for all kinds of references they know or might not even know. Reference to Susan. Is she going to come back at some point? Too many loaded guns are here.
This doctor reveals a more nuanced perspective. It’s unfortunate that the duet did not perform “The Devil Came Down to Georgia,” but that decade is in the past.
They should avoid running two new episodes on the same night again. It becomes difficult to compare them and decide which is better based solely on contrast. Despite Maestro’s resemblance to a female toymaker and her status as his daughter, ‘The Devil’s Chord’ is undeniably superior and brimming with energy. I do hope Maestro isn’t going to be a one-off villainess. Can anyone spot Jimmy Clitheroe? I’m of the right age to spot subtle references. They could have touched on ‘The Navy Lark’, where an actor named Pertwee had his gig.
The doctor who faces god-like beings and wins is going to become gold-like himself, which may be a mistake.
This ends up becoming ‘Doctor Who: The Musical’. So much spoiler. In fact, that is a problem with doing this review. There is much to ponder and no progress to be made, and the current state of affairs is akin to a roller coaster due to the intricacy of the situation.
Extras
That’s interesting for ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’; no red button, but BBC on channel 23. That should make it easier for those who want to record a copy. They give away a lot of the secrets here. I enjoyed learning about the education required to become a runner and hair stylist. I can see the applications going in now, but I would recommend not starting with ‘Doctor Who’ and getting some experience elsewhere first. These extras are not the old 12-minute length, but a 30-minute length each. Can you all survive three hours of intense viewing?
I do think that with these double episodes, which are not quite the same as two-parters, there was too much to digest and type in one go, and I’m going to watch each on separate nights to see how right I was, so expect some more comments for each during the week.
Geoff Willmetts
11 May 2024
