Note: This article does not contain any major spoilers for episodes of Doctor Who that have not aired yet. There will be spoilers for epsiodes that have aired, however, so be forewarned.
I’m not going to bury the lede here: Ncuti Gatwa, the Fifteenth Doctor, is brilliant, and so is Millie Gibson as his new companion Ruby Sunday. Fifteen split from Fourteen, who was really a reincarnation of Ten, in what has to be the most confusing regeneration ever, and it’s fitting that he did, because the energy Gatwa brings to the role is reminiscent of David Tennant’s tenure. He’s the most comfortable with himself that the Doctor has been in quite a while, able to discuss the genocide of the Time Lords without completely losing his smile. Gatwa makes the role entirely his own in a very short amount of time, and any DW fans who don’t love Fifteen are either far too serious or potentially biased.
I had the opportunity to view the second and third episodes of the new season of Doctor Who (the first, “The Church on Ruby Road,” having premiered on Christmas Day). The episodes, “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord,” are insane, unlikely, funny, scary, and occasionally gross; in other words, exactly what Doctor Who fans want. “Space Babies” is one of those episode titles where what it makes you think the episode will be about is pretty close to accurate. There are, indeed, human babies (really mostly toddlers) on a space station, and they are just as adorable as you think they will be. It’s the classic Who formula where the Doctor and their companion accidentally arrive in the middle of a bad situation and have to work out how to fix things.
“The Devil’s Chord,” on the other hand, is more closely related to “The Giggle,” the episode in which the aforementioned confusing regeneration occurred. The villain this time is called Maestro, played by the wonderful Jinkx Monsoon, who overacts the role perfectly. The episode also features The Beatles in a manner that brilliantly avoids having to pay the certainly-exorbitant licensing fees that you would expect from their presence in a TV show. This of course also gives the Doctor and Ruby a chance to emulate the (then-future) Beatles’ crossing of Abbey Road, because who could resist that temptation? (People who know the original Abbey Road photograph well should observe this scene carefully for an added treat.)
Both episodes were written by Russell T. Davies, and anyone who’s seen episodes with the Ninth or Tenth Doctors will recognize his style of dialogue. It’s refreshing having Davies back in charge of Doctor Who, after Chris Chibnall’s disappointing run with Thirteen, and Steven Moffat’s sort of overall smugness with Eleven and Twelve. It’s even kind of nice returning to Davies’ habit of occasionally hitting the viewer on the head with an analogy to real-world issues.
Let me just close by adding that I watched the episodes twice each, partly because they were excellent and partly because I wanted to find all the things that the press kit specifically asked reviewers not to spoil; and I can’t wait to watch them again when they hit Disney+ on Friday (May 10). Gatwa and Gibson are just so much fun and full of energy, you just can’t not enjoy watching them.
All images copyright Disney and BBC.
Note: I was provided with screeners for the two above-mentioned episodes by Disney+. All opinions expressed here are my own.
