GamesRadar+ VerdictGatwa and Gibson are brilliant, and Jinkx Monsoon crackles with malevolent energy in a fast-paced double-bill that opens up the new season. We’re not so sure about those Space Babies, though…TODAY’S BEST DEALSCheck Amazon
GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
Gatwa and Gibson are brilliant, and Jinkx Monsoon crackles with malevolent energy in a fast-paced double-bill that opens up the new season. We’re not so sure about those Space Babies, though…TODAY’S BEST DEALSCheck Amazon
Gatwa and Gibson are brilliant, and Jinkx Monsoon crackles with malevolent energy in a fast-paced double-bill that opens up the new season. We’re not so sure about those Space Babies, though…
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This is a spoiler-free review ofDoctor Who Season Oneepisodes one and two
One of the complaints that was occasionally leveled at last year’s trilogy of 60th anniversary Doctor Who specials was that it perhaps felt a little too much like returning showrunner Russell T. Davies' previous era of Doctor Who. Those episodes - and I personally loved all three - consciously mimicked the structure of a David Tennant season of yore. There was the light-hearted opener, an experimental middle-season chapter that foregrounded character work, and the classiceverything-but-the-kitchen-sink finale. Absent, however, was a sense that the “RTD2” era would be moving in new directions.
That’s not an accusation that can easily be aimed at the first two episodes of Ncuti Gatwa’s debut season as the Time Lord. ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord’ will feel familiar enough to regular viewers - this is still very much Doctor Who and fears from fandom that the show has been somehow “Disneyfied” (whatever that even means) are unfounded. At the same time the showhasmade some changes, both in tone - it feels, in these two episodes at least, lighter and funnier - and the type of stories being told. Davies has hinted that the series will be embracing its fantasy elements more fully and that’s certainly the case here, even while both episodes retain the dark edges and real-world themes of all Davies' work.
Ncuti Gatwa is a fascinating and mercurial new Doctor
(Image credit: BBC)
Then the Space Babies of the titles show up… and this is where I feel like the episode may prove divisive with fans and viewers.
One of the great things about Davies’ anything-goes approach to Doctor Who is that, quite frequently, he’ll come up with ideas that are so outlandish and bizarre that they’re obviouslybrilliant. Sometimes, however, he’ll hit on a notion that slides so far into whimsy that you end up questioning if the show (which, in fairness, is about an immortal eccentric who flies around the universe in a phone box) has slid too far into outright silliness. Basically, if you can handle talking babies working on a space station and a healthy dose of toilet humor then you’ll probably enjoy the episode. If not, well, the next one will probably be more to your taste.
(Image credit: BBC)
There has been much speculation that ‘The Devil’s Chord’ will be a musical episode along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s classic ‘Once More, With Feeling.’ Again, we can’t go into specifics here, but it’s not quite that. It does, however, lead to a final act unlike anything that Doctor Who has ever attempted before. If you’re watching the episodes live on BBC1 then it will make the ideal lead in to this year’s Eurovision.
If these two episodes are your first experience of Doctor Who then you’re likely to think this is the most bizarre TV show ever made with its babies and Beatles and dinosaurs and Bogeymen. There’s a sense that Davies is not only keen to open the show up to a wider audience, but to push its boundaries beyond defined notions of genre. Oddly, the things it makes me think of are not just Star Trek and Alien (though both are lovingly winked at) but blockbusters likePaddingtonandWonka- films that nominally take place in our world but have their own strange internal logic. That’s pretty good company to be keeping.
At the same time, it retains the usual mix of life and death, love and monsters as ever. We start the season with a light-hearted episode called ‘Space Babies’ and will eventually end it with one titled ‘Empire of Death.’ The next instalment after ‘The Devil’s Chord’ appears to be, in part, about the Doctor stepping on a landmine. Doctor Who is weird and wild and unpredictable. In that sense, at least, the show is the same as it ever was.
Doctor Who: ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord’ are released on May 10 at 7pm ET onDisneyPlus, and at midnight May 11 on BBC iPlayer. The episodes will also be broadcast on BBC One on May 11, starting at 6.20pm.
For more great new TV, check out our guide tothe best new shows coming your way in 2024.
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More about doctor whoDoctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa reflects on the one year anniversary of his debut as the Doctor admitting “I didn’t quite realize the magnitude of what I was taking on"Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies teases season 2’s “scariest episode” and a “big surprise” from the mysterious Mrs Flood
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Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa reflects on the one year anniversary of his debut as the Doctor admitting “I didn’t quite realize the magnitude of what I was taking on"Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies teases season 2’s “scariest episode” and a “big surprise” from the mysterious Mrs Flood
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa reflects on the one year anniversary of his debut as the Doctor admitting “I didn’t quite realize the magnitude of what I was taking on”
Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa reflects on the one year anniversary of his debut as the Doctor admitting “I didn’t quite realize the magnitude of what I was taking on”
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies teases season 2’s “scariest episode” and a “big surprise” from the mysterious Mrs Flood
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies teases season 2’s “scariest episode” and a “big surprise” from the mysterious Mrs Flood
LatestI didn’t know how badly I wanted to grill and gobble up monsters until this upcoming survival roguelike made it look so tastySee more latest►
Latest
I didn’t know how badly I wanted to grill and gobble up monsters until this upcoming survival roguelike made it look so tasty
I didn’t know how badly I wanted to grill and gobble up monsters until this upcoming survival roguelike made it look so tasty
I didn’t know how badly I wanted to grill and gobble up monsters until this upcoming survival roguelike made it look so tasty
See more latest►
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
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2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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