S01.E05 (BBC/D+): Dot and Bubble

[DanaK]

Premiering June 1 at midnight Saturday in the UK streaming on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ internationally (in the U.S. that would be 7pm EDT Friday evening) and then broadcast on BBC One at 18:50pm (6:50pm) UK time

Synopsis: The world of Finetime seems happy and harmonious. But an awful terror is preying on the citizens. Can the Doctor and Ruby make them see the truth before it’s too late?

Writer: Russel T. Davies

Director: Dylan Holmes Williams

Runtime: 43 minutes

Full production listing https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001zxwj

[DanaK]

Next time trailer

 

[NeenerNeener]

I think I agree with the Dot; those people are awful.

Edited May 31 by NeenerNeener

[DanaK]

That was weird but enjoyable and very dark at the same time. Lindy setting up Ricky to be killed by the dot in order to escape, then the whole bunch rejecting help from the Doctor because he wasn’t like them, ouch. The visuals were quite striking and the performances from the guest stars, especially the Lindy and Ricky actors, were pretty good. I give it a 7 out of 10 though I could still bump it up a point 

[PurpleTentacle]

What I didn't quite get is how homeworld got wiped out. Was everybody there also on the dot all day? Seems impractical. Also it seems from the story like those people would need to work longer hours than the rich kids and presumably some would also need to work jobs outside the bubble? Oh well, that's more of a minor thing, not that important.

Poor Ricky. He was the only good one of the bunch. Maybe if he would have lived, he could have convinced the others to go with the doctor. But our protagonist for the episode, killed him to save her own life. Man, she was a piece of work. Makes you almost glad that she'll starve to death in the wilderness. The doctor is really broken up about it, I'm not.

It took me a moment, maybe too long, to figure out what that "Because you sir are not one of us. [..] Screan to screan contact is just about acceptable, but in person... that's impossible." and "It is our god given duty to maintain the standards of Finetime." was about. Everybody in Finetime is white. Once you realise that the rest is obvious. It also puts the rest of the episode into perspective. Like why Lindy blocked the doctor right away, but entertained Ruby's questions. On first watch you think it's just because Ruby is a better smooth talker, but in hindsight probably not...

The episode leaves you dejected, but that was very much intentional and I got to say this was RTD's best episode this season so far. Hopefully he can keep up this level of quality.

Edited June 1 by PurpleTentacle

[NeenerNeener]

There was also a slam in there about not looking up from your cell phone to actually see the world.

As one of my co-workers used to jokingly say: "A sad commentary on human behavior".

[Affogato]

Well, this was dark.

why hadn’t she peed for three days? 
 

They won’t last long because the Dot got the larvae from outside, I’d imagine, so they probably won’t have time to starve. Outside may be full up with giant bugs. Howdver they could be artificially embiggened food animals that the Dot had put to a new purpose.
 

I wonder where Ricky got actual books to read. 
 

i don’t think there is enough information to figure out what was going on outside of the bubble. I wondered if they were a nursery bubble of some sort and had been raised there from birth. Perhaps the people had originally assumed they would get schooling but the Dot decided it wasn’t worth it. Perhaps there had been other bubbles the AI had killed, on the planet, composing their entire race. 
 

i liked that the couldn’t walk without explicit direction, without the bubble. 
 

 

Edited June 1 by Affogato

[Kite]

Really enjoyed this one, or rather, appreciated it. I thought (or was hoping) something was up with the lack of not-white people, didn't seem like a casting oversight.

My young kid early on watching the ep said he thought from the trailer that all the colours meant it was going to be in a children's hospital, and he's right, the setting is meant to be sterile and soothing and infantilising. I laughed when the Doctor had to apologise for treating Lindy like a child. I was watching her trying to walk and said "damn I'd hate to see what a kindergarten full of bubble kids would look like". 

Yes, Lindy is very much not a child, and the great thing is seeing how the annoying tics become horrifying by the end. It seemed to be about damn kids on their phones at first, but it's more about a politics of privilege, a determined malignant kind of ignorance. 

The Doctor's grief and anger here was perfect. It NEEDED to be extreme. It NEEDED to be passionate. Never be cruel, never be cowardly. Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise. The Doctor endlessly represents life, hope, love. The Doctor wasn't grieving for himself, he was grieving loudly, messily, passionately out of love! And that is a powerful statement against the seeming utopian puritan toxic positivity that was/is only about sterility, exploitation, control, lies, hatred and death.

“Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does.. I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT’S RIGHT! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that.. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me. And you’re going to die too! Some day.. And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand.. Where I stand is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?”

[tkc]

Your quote! Twelve was great. Peter Capaldi was so good in the role!

As for this episode, what a painful twist at the end. We went from sympathizing with Lindy to seeing how she wouldn't be anything more than the narcissistic person she had become. So sad.

Edited June 1 by tkc

[Sakura12]

Wow, that one was wow.  Since this was in the future I wasn't expecting that. Even though I should've. They were all white. 

We saw Lindy was an awful person when she set Ricky up to die. But then turning down the Doctor's help because he's not one of them. The signs were there like her being willing to talk to Ruby and just blocking the doctor. And them trying to block them once she realized Ruby was in the same room as the Doctor.  

She also killed the one person that maybe could've helped them survive. Ricky knew more than any of them. Up until a few hours ago Lindy barely knew how to walk. It's laughable they think they can survive on their own after only working 2 hours a day.  The Dot was taking care of the flaw in the system. 

I guess they are recognizing the twist at the end. 

[John Potts]

I cannot see any connection between this story and our world…. I suppose I could check if there are termites eating everyone, but that would require me to log off.

I wondered why the Doctor thought underground would be safe (I thought the termites were burrowing under the shield) until it turned out he was down there.

1 hour ago, Sakura12 said:

She also killed the one person that maybe could've helped them survive. Ricky knew more than any of them. Up until a few hours ago Lindy barely knew how to walk. It's laughable they think they can survive on their own after only working 2 hours a day.  The Dot was taking care of the flaw in the system.

That was perhaps the biggest shocker for me. It seemed completely needless - she didn't just not rescue him when he missed his swing, she slammed the door on him. I get that was the point, but yes, they are all going to starve to death in a few days without the one person who had an existence outside the bubble.

9 hours ago, Affogato said:

why hadn’t she peed for three days?

I'm guessing they have some sort of perfectly balanced, 100% efficient foodstuff that eliminates the need for - well, elimination. Pretty sure that's biologically impossible, but I'm prepared to give it a pass.

[CatWarmer]

That was depressing  but I did enjoy the brief Luke Skywalker reference.  If only the singer had used the Force...

[DanaK]

Overnights: 2.12 million viewers, 2nd for the night behind “The Wheel”

[gail56]

I probably will keep saying this, but I LOVE this Doctor! The way he handled the whole situation, Ncuti's performance is amazing.

My only nitpicks is if the Dots could kill people by themselves, why bother with the bugs? Also, as someone said above, how did they kill the whole Homeworld first? No one noticed that they were all being eaten before it got to the point of no return? No survivors at all? I can buy that on the little city, but not on a whole planet full of people.

Still, great episode!

[DanaK]

3 minutes ago, gail56 said:

I probably will keep saying this, but I LOVE this Doctor! The way he handled the whole situation, Ncuti's performance is amazing.

My only nitpicks is if the Dots could kill people by themselves, why bother with the bugs? Also, as someone said above, how did they kill the whole Homeworld first? No one noticed that they were all being eaten before it got to the point of no return? No survivors at all? I can buy that on the little city, but not on a whole planet full of people.

Still, great episode!

Notice Lindy's dot had to take multiple tries before it managed to kill someone (Ricky). I think the dots were likely quite a bit inefficient in directly killing anyone so they used the Hug Slugs, who also tidied up. The plan also allowed the Dots to keep the residents focused on their bubbles and not realize what was going on

[ABay]

Finally, a really good episode. That's 3 out of 6 for me. Only seeing the clues after the reveal, even the fact that were clues instead of from-out-of-nowhere shock, is brilliant.

Edited June 2 by ABay

[DoctorAtomic]

On 5/31/2024 at 7:23 PM, DanaK said:

then the whole bunch rejecting help from the Doctor because he wasn’t like them, ouch.

I totally missed that, so that helps. I was underwhlemed largely because I was hoping that Doctor Who would actually feature the Doctor from time to time. Last week, we at least had Ruby.

I also just wasn't buying in to the main character until she gave up Ricky, but before that, the episode just dragged for me. 

That's why at the end with the Doctor pleading for them, I just didn't care. 

It's too bad because it seems like everyone else liked it, but I couldn't get anything. 

Maybe if this one didn't come after 73 yards, I would have been a little more interested. 

[Affogato]

I am not sure I buy racism as the driving force. I realize that is the dark fairytale of the week but…  If we are to assume they have been sent to a perfect world by their white supremacist parents, should they not have given is a sign of this? If they are all white, did we see enough to determine this! It seems more xenophobia, which has different implications. Anyway it comes across as a bit of a stretch in the narrative. 

[DanaK]

18 minutes ago, Affogato said:

I am not sure I buy racism as the driving force. I realize that is the dark fairytale of the week but…  If we are to assume they have been sent to a perfect world by their white supremacist parents, should they not have given is a sign of this? If they are all white, did we see enough to determine this! It seems more xenophobia, which has different implications. Anyway it comes across as a bit of a stretch in the narrative. 

If you watch again, you'll hopefully notice the various microaggressions against the Doctor by Lindy and the others. If you weren't paying enough attention or weren't already primed to see it (if you were a Black viewer for instance), you might think "that was a weird comment" or "oh, major anti-outsider view there". The ending only cemented it. Some examples: 1) Note that the Doctor had tried other people before but got blocked and Lindy ended up ultimately blocking him as well, but didn't immediately block Ruby and even listened to her for awhile; 2) when the Doctor removed his block, Lindy at one point indicated not recognizing him as the guy who contacted her before because "they all look alike"; 3) Lindy got upset when she realized the Doctor and Ruby were actually in the same room and told them they were criminals, etc. At the end, they made it pretty clear they weren't going to go with the Doctor because of the way he looks

[Makai]

When I watched the ending I was a little surprised by The Doctor and Ruby’s initial reactions but I realized it’s because I had forgotten that The Doctor would have very little first hand experience with racism. While Ruby, as a white woman raised by a black woman, clocked what was happening faster and was more resigned to the situation. 

I really like how they incorporated that perspective shift. Now I really want to re-watch and pay more attention to both characters reactions to the smaller indicators. 

31 minutes ago, Affogato said:

I am not sure I buy racism as the driving force. I realize that is the dark fairytale of the week but…  If we are to assume they have been sent to a perfect world by their white supremacist parents, should they not have given is a sign of this?

I am not surprised many people were surprised by the ending but there were a lot of subtle signs. Lindy displayed a ton of microagressions throughout. 

Edited because @DanaK wrote was I was thinking. 🤣

Edited June 2 by Makai

[Affogato]

12 minutes ago, Makai said:

When I watched the ending I was a little surprised by The Doctor and Ruby’s initial reactions but I realized it’s because I had forgotten that The Doctor would have very little first hand experience with racism. While Ruby, as a white woman raised by a black woman, clocked what was happening faster and was more resigned to the situation. 

I really like how they incorporated that perspective shift. Now I really want to re-watch and pay more attention to both characters reactions to the smaller indicators. 

I am not surprised many people were surprised by the ending but there were a lot of subtle signs. Lindy displayed a ton of microagressions throughout. 

Edited because @DanaK wrote was I was thinking. 🤣

 I understand what they intended and I was not surprised. I just thought it didn’t work. Was there any indication this group had ever seen a person of a different color? Or had ever lived in another world? Where and why did they learn their prejudices? Strong enough to die for them?  Anyway, i don’t approve of racial prejudice, nor is this episode the hill I want to die on.  Yes there was some indication they were going to reject the doctor, but social media is made of small nastiness. 

[Megras]

I have read elsewhere, but it was on the internet so take with a pinch of salt, that this was originally intended to be an 11 & Amy story. I would assume that the story beats would be the same but Ncuti being black adds an extra level that wouldn't have been there with Matt.

[DoctorAtomic]

How do you do it with Eleven then? They're going to reject going with Amy because she's a ginger? 

I'm all for social commentary in Doctor Who; the war profiteering of the mine episode and rolling eyes over 'ok Miss Faith, *now* you want proof'. I've said before hurling 'woke' at Doctor Who as an insult is ridiculous to me because the Doctor has always been woke. In terms of the real definition about being aware to social injustice, not the internet definition used to troll. So I'm fine with the theme here. 

I think maybe it just didn't work for me because of the point of view. If we were from Ruby and the Doctor, you know they'd be talking a mile a minute in between contact and that would maybe liven up the show more. I think that might have been able to establish more suspense or impending doom or horror. 

I noticed most of the microaggressions, but I just didn't care about the fate of a bunch of racists. Maybe the Doctor would have made me care, but that was about 180 seconds of screen time. I also didn't pick up on that them sailing away was certain death. I'm not saying it wasn't, but I just didn't get it. 

11 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Was there any indication this group had ever seen a person of a different color? Or had ever lived in another world? Where and why did they learn their prejudices?

This is kind of like the last episode where we're just supposed to take for granted that the Old Woman could cause the PM to fear Ruby so much to run away. I don't need everything spelled out, but you also owe the audience an internal consistency too. Again, Ruby might have been able to show that to us, through the Doctor, as it was said upthread about her being more aware. 

In the end, I liked it enough, probably better than last week, but I think 'didn't work' is fair criticism. I also think wanting to see the Doctor more isn't a hard ask. 

[Affogato]

I thought ‘xenophobia’ and Ruby looked more like Lindy’s bubbly friends. Racism is learned, it is not our natural state. 

[Makai]

2 hours ago, Affogato said:

Was there any indication this group had ever seen a person of a different color?  Or had ever lived in another world?

I thought Lindy’s line about screen-to-screen contact being “just about acceptable” and it “obviously” being his “duty to save her” are indicators that that they have seen people of a different color. 

And, yes, they did live in another world because Lindy says Finetime is only the rich kids aged 17 to 27. 

2 hours ago, Affogato said:

Where and why did they learn their prejudices?

I am assuming that we will find out more about this, particularly, now that we have gotten onscreen acknowledgment of the same person reappearing in each episode. 

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think maybe it just didn't work for me because of the point of view. If we were from Ruby and the Doctor, you know they'd be talking a mile a minute in between contact and that would maybe liven up the show more. I think that might have been able to establish more suspense or impending doom or horror. 

I one hand I think this would have made it a more enjoyable episode because 90% of the episode was people I couldn’t care less about.  On the other hand, switching the perspective would have undercut the impact. So, for me, it would have been a more enjoyable episode but more generic episode. 

Edited June 2 by Makai

[DoctorAtomic]

My suggestion about switching the pov might have made me more invested because the Doctor would be freaking out he couldn't get to the people and they kept getting eaten. You could still have the microaggressions to indicate that something was off. I would have also liked to see Ruby's reactions to that. 

I don't know if the Doctor knew they were racist and didn't care, which would make sense, or just didn't know at all. Not that the Doctor doesn't know racism, but our modern Doctor (One to present) hasn't never been nonwhite, which was mentioned before. 

For me, the show is about companions traveling with the Doctor, learning, becoming surprised what they can do, being brave, and taking that back home. 

So having a conversation, for example, Ruby seeing enough racism in her own time from a very particular perspective, isn't concerned about a bunch of racists being eaten and the Doctor arguing that would have been more interesting. 

I think you could work in killing September, and you can still have same ending.

I mean, ymmv. Clearly, there was still something to the episode for me because I'm still talking about different takes. 

[John Potts]

Although it wasn't, I was reminded of Isaac Asimov's "The Naked Sun" - a major plot element of that story is that the Solarians find it abhorrent to actually see people in the real world (as opposed to via a screen). There were elements of that when Ruby tries to get Lindy to turn off her bubble and look "with your eyes!" which she cannot grasp that made me wonder if RTD had read the story at some point.

[NeenerNeener]

16 hours ago, Affogato said:

I thought ‘xenophobia’ and Ruby looked more like Lindy’s bubbly friends. Racism is learned, it is not our natural state. 

It probably wasn't just racism; it was ageism too. That city was all people in their 20s; the Doctor looks to be in his 30s. Taking "Don't trust anyone over 30" to an extreme.

Edited June 3 by NeenerNeener

[QuantumMechanic]

I’m really annoyed that out of an 8 episode season at least two of them are Doctor-lite.

And I guess I’ll have to be the skunk at the garden party but I didn’t like this one at all. Not because it was “woke” or anything but because Lindy and her crew were too goddamned annoying to watch. Yes, they’re supposed to be but that fact doesn’t make it any more enjoyable to watch.

Overall I’ve been deeply disappointed with the season. I thought it had nowhere to go but up after tossing Chibnall but oh well.

[DoctorAtomic]

There's only 8? Now I'm quite disgruntled. 

[DanaK]

5 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

There's only 8? Now I'm quite disgruntled. 

Yes 8 plus the upcoming Christmas special

[DoctorAtomic]

Certainly with all this D+ money they could have at least made 10. 

[Llywela]

8 hours ago, QuantumMechanic said:

I’m really annoyed that out of an 8 episode season at least two of them are Doctor-lite.

Gatwa was still filming the final season of Sex Education when production began on this season of Doctor Who, so the two Doctor-lite episodes were designed to accommodate that commitment. They were pretty much the first episodes filmed, if I recall correctly, and allowed the show to move forward while Gatwa was otherwise occupied.

[DanaK]

9 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Certainly with all this D+ money they could have at least made 10. 

Davies said 8 episodes + a special is what they can afford

[NeenerNeener]

3 minutes ago, DanaK said:

Davies said 8 episodes + a special is what they can afford

I'd be willing to watch aliens made from garbage cans and bubble wrap again if it meant we got more episodes. But they would have to be well-written episodes.

Edited June 3 by NeenerNeener

[DoctorAtomic]

Isn't this co-produced with D+ and BBC though? 

[DanaK]

7 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Isn't this co-produced with D+ and BBC though? 

Technically it’s co-produced by BBC Studios and Bad Wolf and distributed by the BBC on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ internationally. The BBC owns the rights and Disney+ is allowed input but not control

[DoctorAtomic]

So maybe D+ is hedging on it. 

[tennisgurl]

Here I thought that last week was Doctor Who does Black Mirror, but this is even more Black Mirror, it felt a lot like the social media episode with Bryce Dallas Howard but with extra slugs and racism. I thought it was overall a good episode and I had fun with it, even if its too bad we had two Doctor lite episodes in a row (although with Gatwa's schedule I understand) and I left the episode with a lot of questions, which is how I have been leaving a lot of episodes this season. Where did the dots find these slug monsters or how did they make them? How did they destroy homeworld? I assumed that these pastel colored idiots were just the privileged young people and that's why they all wore their social media bubbles, but was everyone back home also a total idiot who were easy to munch on? Why eat them alphabetically? I don't need everything spelled out to me, but it feels like every episode leaves so much unexplained this season and the Doctor is not that interested in getting answers. It could be because RTD is going for a more magical vibe, but it feels strange. 

In retrospect the racism seems pretty obvious. Actual Trash Person Lindy looked visibly disgusted every time she spoke with the Doctor, kept making microaggressions against him like saying "he's smarter than he looks" and acting like he was "the help" and the total lack of people of color among the floating heads of Pastel Privilege Palace. I wish that if they were going to add racism to this critique of social media they would have gone more into it instead of tossing it in there at the end, but it didn't come out of nowhere. 

RIP Ricky September, the only none useless person in that whole city. I really cant blame the dots for going homicidal, if I had to listen to those idiots yammer on about nothing all day I might get violent too. 

Edited June 3 by tennisgurl

[Kite]

17 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

It probably wasn't just racism; it was ageism too. That city was all people in their 20s; the Doctor looks to be in his 30s. Taking "Don't trust anyone over 30" to an extreme.

The Doctor does not look in his thirties there?? People have been falling over themselves to comment on how young Gatwa looks. And several of the actors in this episode are in their thirties, and in my opinion, look it. The Doctor just doesn't look like an outlier wrt age, and not the way he dressed either there (though it was a bright/definite/strong colour palette and hence different), so I find it hard to believe ageism was meant to be part of it. 

Talking of age, haha wtf at Lindy's mum being the Susan Twist character. Loving this mystery. 

Edited June 3 by Kite

[Eulipian 5k]

Nice of RTD to give us 2 potential Companions, and then:

• Ricky September = OOF! Headshot
• Lindy Pepper-bean = #teamslug, #teamlamppost, Definitely No Sally Sparrow

There were a couple of scenes that were just "look at her skin, look at the straight from the Crayola box complexion" The same with Ricky September, you had to notice the skin coloration when they were together.

[Sakura12]

They were people living in their perfect white bubble.  It is both a commentary on living on social media isn't real. Lindy didn't really care about her friends, she didn't get that upset that they died then she easily gave Ricky up to save her self. But then they also thought that only white people deserved things. Racist live in their own bubble and refuse to look outside it. 

I did notice Ruby clocked it before the Doctor. Granted he hasn't been a black man that long and she was raised by a black mother. She did give up trying while the Doctor continued. She was probably the audience in thinking let them go. 

I don't think we were supposed to like them. They were awful people but that doesn't mean they deserve to die. As much as we may kind of want them to. We should be like the Doctor and try to save them since they are a living species. Because they are going to die out there, unless the woman who keeps appearing everywhere saves them. 

I'm thinking she has a perception filter on to. They are noticing her but aren't thinking about what it means that she is everywhere they are. 

I also saw someone point out that when Ruby makes it snow the Doctor said that means there is hope. There was no snow this episode. 

 

[WAnglais1]

Really saw everything in this coming like a 5th Avenue bus. I think we've seen all of RTD's tricks. I'd rather they had waited for Ncuti to be free from Sex Education and given us the Doctor prominently in all the stories. The dadgum show is called Doctor Who, not "What Rejected Black Mirror Story Is On This Week." 

Edited June 4 by WAnglais1

[Makai]

13 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

So maybe D+ is hedging on it. 

That’s unlikely. RTD has said that show is just more complex and that nine episodes now takes as long as 14 episodes did in the past.

13 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Why eat them alphabetically?

Because they were being directed on who to kill by a computer system that was going down a list. 

13 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I don't need everything spelled out to me, but it feels like every episode leaves so much unexplained this season and the Doctor is not that interested in getting answers. It could be because RTD is going for a more magical vibe, but it feels strange. 

I may end up being wrong, but, I think the Doctor is interesting in getting answers but isn’t vocalizing the questions yet. The pacing of this season isn’t the best and I think it’s making it feel disjointed as a whole. 

[ABay]

I've never seen Black Mirror. Comparisons to it mean nothing to me.

[tv-talk]

Ok, I definitely liked the creepiness of this episode and loved the allusion to people nowadays being unable to function without their devices telling them what to do. That part was great, and the utter vacuousness of everyone chattering in the Bubble, the influencing, humble bragging. All of that was terrific send-up of current culture. BUT....

The racism you could see coming from a mile away was unnecessary to me, not sure the point of that really. And The Doctor didnt seem to get it, worse even was he and Ruby unable to tell that whats-her-name had done something awful ie had the Dot kill the September guy who was saving her.

And The Doctor being so completely bent on saving this random group of awful people...to the point of tears?? Really? The Doctor now cries in every episode? Ugh, I hate that. He/she has been involved and/or witnessed the elimination of billions of people at this point, whole realities gone, all of Gallifrey, intergalactic wars that annihilated entire civilizations...yet cries over this group of a-holes not coming with him? Come on, The Doctor is a lot steel-ier than that at this point. 

I get they want Ncuti to be the most modern Doctor ever and I like the energy he generally brings. However for an oldhead like me, the Doctor ogling the singer as being hot is completely annoying- I mean that just isnt the Doctor. It's brief enough I can just sit through it, whatever, but geez the waterworks every time something is happening is just too much. I am sorry but The Doctor would not have cried over those people not getting in the TARDIS. 

I know it seems like nitpicking and that every Doctor IS different from the others, but I am very big on the general outline of Who the character is supposed to be and I'm not getting enough Doctor vibe from Ncuti so far. YMMV and hopefully a big part of that has to do with his limited screen time these past 2 eps. 

[DoctorAtomic]

12 hours ago, WAnglais1 said:

I'd rather they had waited for Ncuti to be free from Sex Education and given us the Doctor prominently in all the stories.

We usually get a Doctor Lite that features the Companion. I can't really complain about that. Otherwise, yes, if the dual production is an issue, then I don't see why you wait. It's not unforseen. That was back when there were 13. Now there's only 6 featuring the Doctor? Come on. 

I'm also finding it hard to believe that D+ doesn't have the money for 10 episodes either. 

For a show that's been on so long, it really isn't on much.

[benteen]

Very good episode. Definitely a take on Black Mirror. I'm sorry Ricky didn't survive, he would have been fun on the Tardis.

I know The Doctor indicated that Linny and her friends won't survive. It's too bad though that Linny didn't encounter the 10th Doctor. If he found out what she did to Ricky, he would have meted out a punishment that would have wiped that look off her face at the end of the episode. 

[Eulipian 5k]

On 6/1/2024 at 10:08 AM, Affogato said:

why hadn’t she peed for three days? 
 

Dr Pee is part of a campaign in Finetown: "Never waste a day on daily waste"

Amazing that RTD turned us all into the Dot. About the same time the Doctor explained that the Dot came to hate them. Most of the audience had already become Top Tier subscribers to #teamslug, #teamlamppost.

[Affogato]

3 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

We usually get a Doctor Lite that features the Companion. I can't really complain about that. Otherwise, yes, if the dual production is an issue, then I don't see why you wait. It's not unforseen. That was back when there were 13. Now there's only 6 featuring the Doctor? Come on. 

I'm also finding it hard to believe that D+ doesn't have the money for 10 episodes either. 

For a show that's been on so long, it really isn't on much.

Dr Who is, I think, less hurt than many other shows by the shortness of the seasons. That said I would prefer cheesy effects and more shows. Our experience with the Doctor carries over to some extent (generic Doctor) but this doctor, to me, has not yet become a full person, and he is almost finished with the season.  Maybe that’s it.