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Loved it! Love Belinda! Ncuti feels like he’s coalescing well for me now. I love their dynamic. Show feels well balanced.
I liked it! For a season opener I think you want a big, fun, bombastic kind of thing that doesn’t get super heavy, so I think it worked very well in that regard. I also liked Belinda, especially her calling the Doctor out at the end.
It wasn’t a perfect episode by any means, but the previous watermark for a season opener is Space Babies, so for me this represents an almost infinite degree of improvement.
Felt like a forgettable Dr Who episode from 15 years ago. Like, the episode wasn’t great but it definitely had that Dr Who feel which I will absolutely take. The nine words thing was inspired and could have been great, except that they kept forgetting about it. I rewatched the whole thing, pausing and counting words, and I only noticed one time it came up without being highlighted and honestly it was probably a coincidence since it only happened once - the AI Generator said “Belinda - Mine”. But most of the time when the robots should have missed a word they just responded normally.
But hey, that’s probably my biggest complaint! Imagine watching an episode from a couple of years back and that’s the worst problem with it!
Although, there were a few iffy things. Like Belinda saying “I can stand up for myself” when that rebel questioned her, then just… repeating what the doctor said and not standing up for herself? It seems like a perfect opportunity to point out that she was kidnapped and wasn’t there by choice. Literally none of it was her fault. It’s Alan’s fault for murdering a bunch of people. She didn’t even realise that she’d accidentally bought Alan to the planet at that point, so why is she taking the blame?
Also, she’s very correct to point out that the Dr is not behaving well and she just wants to go home, but (out of universe) we can expect her to be around for a season of episodes so… let’s hope she keeps up the “please don’t kidnap me” energy and doesn’t just forget about it to be a regular companion
Decent performances all around, but still the usual received series problems of the story being rushed through and painfully underdeveloped characters (Pex Jr and the villain in particular were very 2D, and poor Sash 55 was almost comically formulaic).
Saying that I LOVED Belinda Chandra! I got some serious Barbara Wright vibes from her; she looks like she can can really stand up to the Doctor and be a character in her own right!
Looking forward to seeing where this series goes.
As soon as she said that the Dr was going to take her to the stars, I knew Sasha was going to die. Of course the writers would pick the 21st century earth person over an alien. Sorry Sasha!
Was it the best episode of Doctor Who I’ve seen? No but it wasn’t the worst and seems a return to form to Doctor Who. Belinda has more personality and character development in one episode than Ruby had in a entire series. The every ninth word sequence felt like RTD trying to do a mofffat scene and it worked well. Also the Doctor laughing at Alan basically getting killed by the polish polish robot was way out of character especially after even offering to save Alan from the pain he was in and if chibnall wrote that scene he would get so much flack but RTD is seemingly getting a pass for it at least in the online circles I’m in.
That and the on-screen pet murder made me wtaf
Enjoyed it, but it didn’t blow me away.
Best thing I can say about it is; it’s not a return to the best of Who but it isn’t as bad as the last few seasons.
Very McCoy feeling episode, every time i saw AL all i could think of were the Cleaners. And RTD is as subtle as a rhino horn up the jacksie.
Had its moments, but a bit of a mess
Polish robot was adorable. As was the large beast robots.
Such a low effort episode. I checked out by the time she sat on the throne. It’s like it was written for 2nd graders.
Episode was trash and a waste of talented performers. The show needs a rest for a decade and a complete overhaul with showrunners completely unconnected with RTD and his circle.
My 13 year-old son watched some of it. Said it was cringe and pissed himself when he saw the AI “face”. He thinks the show is stupid.
Dude you are putting a weird amount of weight on impressing a 13 year old
Not sure I understand what you mean er - dude - but thanks anyway. Be excellent.
