S11.E07: Kerblam!

[Chip]

“Delivery for the Doctor!” A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor, leading her, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy’s largest retailer: Kerblam!

[John Potts]

For a supposedly Evil (or at least, uncaring) Megacorporation, Space Amazon Kerblam didn't work its workers that hard. How much time did Team TARDIS have to just stand around and chat? People at (real) Amazon get so tired they fall asleep at their posts! Admittedly, so far as we know, Jeff Bezos doesn't employ so many lethal robots (yet)...

[HauntedBathroom]

That was very competant, so it's a step up for most of the year to date. And I was glad to see that with the casting of Leer Mack, Chibnall was wiling to allow some comedy to slip back into the show. So far season 11's been as drab as Graham's cardigans.

[Llywela]

Well that was kind of a downbeat ending, second week in a row. Enjoyable episode, though, on the whole. Solid, rather than special. The story made good use of all three companions by sending them off to do different jobs. There was humour - Graham had some great lines. I have come to accept the Doctor's posturing with the sonic screwdriver as just a Thing She Does because it amuses her to do it that way, and she had a few speeches that really worked. Yaz was very pro-active. Ryan got to draw on his past experience while also touching on his dyspraxia issues. The CG was a big dodgy, mind, in that prolonged 'conveyer belt to the foundations' sequence.

I was surprised to see Lee Mack's character killed off so early on. I expected him to be around a lot longer. I always enjoy Julie Hesmondhalgh and did again here.

Yeah. Solid but nothing special.

[Ceindreadh]

I'M NEVER BURSTING ANOTHER BUBBLE WRAP AGAIN!!!

Oh who am I kidding, I'll take my chances!

I'm not sure why the Doctor had all the robots deliberately detonate.  Since she was able to override their destination instructions and tell them to open the box, could she not just as easily had them remove the wrapping without popping it (a near impossible task for humans of course) and just collect it for later disposals. 

She didn't have to kill them all. 

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, John Potts said:

Admittedly, so far as we know, Jeff Bezos doesn't employ so many lethal robots (yet)...

I'm sure he will take notes while watching this ep. 

[LiveenLetLive]

Yeah this episode was about as subtle as the NotTrump one--I don't suppose that the audience would NOT conflate Kerblam with Amazon eh? It was OK, not great like last week's IMO, but fine as a filler episode, there were some pretty funny lines and I like to laugh so that scored points with me, I especially liked Twirrly taking measure of the always frantic Doctor and suggesting that she browse blood pressure meds (hahaha, middle aged folk joke.)

Edited November 19, 2018 by LiveenLetLive

[Occasional Hope]

3 hours ago, John Potts said:

For a supposedly Evil (or at least, uncaring) Megacorporation, Space Amazon Kerblam didn't work its workers that hard. How much time did Team TARDIS have to just stand around and chat? People at (real) Amazon get so tired they fall asleep at their posts! Admittedly, so far as we know, Jeff Bezos doesn't employ so many lethal robots (yet)...

I enjoyed this episode.  

As the human workers were a quota and they had plenty of robots, they didn't really need them to do anything at all.

In terms of overarching themes for episodes this series I think we're seeing two: Fat cannot always be averted, which didn't turn up this week; and you can never be sure an obvious villain actually is one (the witnesses last week, the AI system this week).

[MarquisDeCarabas]

Something I just realised, the system put The Doctor in maintenance with Charlie before she switched it. It was trying to show her where the danger was. 

Thats a really nice touch. I kinda wondered why the system thought the best use of the Doctor’s talents would be janitorial work. 

[Triskan]

I liked that one.

But man, I have no idea what to say about it.

Probably because I've been reading and watching reactions already since the credits rolled, but yeah... I truly liked it but I really dont know how to elaborate ! :D 

[clack]

DW was once world-class sci-fi.

'Kerblam!' was ok for a Sarah Jane Adventures episode, but the crude CGI, amateurish acting, and the unsophisticated one-to-one allegories  (Kerblam = Amazon) are just not good enough in a world that now contains multiple quality sci-fi TV shows.

Moffat had his flaws, god knows, but he knew how to work an idea, to develop a concept by combining it with other ideas and images. Chibnall's naive science fictional ideas (giant spiders produced by pollution!) are those of one who is new to science fiction.

Edited November 19, 2018 by clack

[ElleryAnne]

An ok episode, but Kerblamazon's robots seemed like cheap knockoffs of the angel robots in Voyage of the Damned.

[Mabinogia]

That was fun. I was screaming at Kira not to pop the bubble wrap! And was pretty surprised by the bad guy in this one. I was rooting for those two crazy kids!

Loved Yaz wanting to bring Dan's daughter the necklace. I hope she tells her that Daddy was a hero. He did save Yaz, and I think he knew he was. 

I did like the small touch of the system trying to put the Doctor in maintenance so she'd be closer to the problem but she went and mucked it up by switching with Graham. Graham was once again great. I love him. 

I think Kerbazon should have stuck with Twirly. He was adorable and I think I'd much rather see him on my doorstep than those creepy robots. Yep, I'm a robophobe. Sue me. 

[cardigirl]

At last some connection to previous Doctors!  I liked this episode, til the preachy ending, but otherwise this was most like a Doctor Who episode than any of the others this season. 

[TwirlyGirly]

BTW...I've been using the same user name consistently across the internet since 1997. I also have a personalized license plate: 

 

I SO hope there's a Doctor Who Twirly Funko Pop in my future...

Edited November 19, 2018 by TwirlyGirly

[benteen]

There was stuff I liked about it.  A fun premise and an episode that really reminded me of the RTD days.  I liked the robots and the various continuity references.  But again, we have an unmemorable human villain and one barely thought out.  But there was definitely some good stuff here.

[CatWarmer]

I’m wondering how the system knew to send the red fez. It certainly made The Doctor happy though. I liked that little touch of continuity; what were others? I’m sure I noticed something but it slipped out of my memory.

We are certainly a long way from the scope of all of space and time. 

Amazon gave my son a very nice engineering job last year and he’s doing quite well, so no badmouthing!  No robots taking the place of organics as far as I know,although he won’t give me any details about his next team....

Edited November 19, 2018 by CatWarmer

[DanaK]

I liked it for the most part. It was somewhat slow in the first half, but it picked up in the second half and the last 10 minutes or so was pretty tense. Fascinating that it was the system asking for help and once again, a human being evil (though I figured it would be the upper management guy and not the maintenance man Charlie). In fact, that was interesting that the computer system reached out to the Doctor to help it take down the bad guy. But it was terrible that it killed Kira to try to get through to Charlie so I can't say it was a completely altruistic system

Poor Charlie. Just a mixed up young man who understood the problem of people needing to work but decided killing people to blame the technology was a good idea, and he got killed in the end by his own deadly idea

The robots were creepy, though Twirrly was cute

I'm aware the fez hat was Matt Smith's Doctor's thing, so that was a cute callback

@LiveenLetLive said

Quote

I especially liked Twirrly taking measure of the always frantic Doctor and suggesting that she browse blood pressure meds (hahaha, middle aged folk joke.)

That might be because she has two hearts and the Twirrly got confused

@Ceindreadh asked why the Doctor set off the explosives. Maybe she could only change the destination, not the action, at least with the time they had

Edited November 19, 2018 by DanaK

[benteen]

The bubble wrap reveal was clever.

"Some of my best friends are robots."  Nice K-9 reference there.

[DanaK]

I think the episode was, at least partly, less of a direct knock against Amazon (maybe in a humorous way though) and more what would happen if you let technology take over all the jobs then shoehorn a quota of people in there without giving them really fulfilling work. It radicalized Charlie. I guess in the end, Charlie got what he wanted, with the upper manager lady promising to make the company filled mostly with people employees. But that's not the best solution given it's a high-tech universe. You need to find something to fulfill people, but it may not necessarily be trying to hold back robots taking the jobs

Also, good stuff by Team Tardis, with everybody able to get something to do

[DanaK]

Interesting that there are a lot of very positive reviews online. I guess some liked it a lot more than I thought

[Lantern7]

Fandom: Chris, we need to talk. A lot of us feel that you're in a rut . . . that Thirteen is only really distinguishable due to her gender. We're looking at "Kerblam!" now. Ominous factory, creepy robots, suspect humans . . . it's been done quite often. Are there ANY swerves?

Chris Chibnall: The main antagonist turns out to be the bloke Graham befriends.

Fandom: Hmm. That's inter-

Chibnall: And the big reveal is exploding bubble wrap.

[long pause]

Fandom: [slow, appreciative clapping]

Well, that's how it goes in my head. Cute that the Doctor got something she ordered presumably two regenerations ago. I think of Twelve getting the package, turning to his companion, all, "Really, I am embarrassed. Why did I ever think this was cool?!?"

Once again, I feel that while everyone on screen is doing well, and Jodie is giving it her all, I'm neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed. I'm just whelmed. Most of the stories have been good, but I get how people would gripe about Thirteen not being distinct apart from being a lady.

Before I forget . . . anyone else like the Doctor without the hoodie?

Edited November 19, 2018 by Lantern7

[Sakura12]

I enjoyed this one and loved the callbacks, 11's fez and 10's adventure with Agatha Christie. 

Kerblam is definitely Amazon's future with creepy robots. I'm sure the robots were upset with humans doing the work they could accomplish much faster and without all the socializing. I liked seeing all the companions helping out. They do all have their skills. 

I'm ok with showing that we humans are our own worst enemy. We don't need aliens to introduce chaos. I can see the aliens locking their spaceship doors when flying by Earth. 

Maybe the Doctor should've lodged a complaint to Kerblamazon of getting her package she ordered two regenerations ago. 

Edited November 19, 2018 by Sakura12

[The Companion]

6 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

I'M NEVER BURSTING ANOTHER BUBBLE WRAP AGAIN!!!

Oh who am I kidding, I'll take my chances!

I'm not sure why the Doctor had all the robots deliberately detonate.  Since she was able to override their destination instructions and tell them to open the box, could she not just as easily had them remove the wrapping without popping it (a near impossible task for humans of course) and just collect it for later disposals. 

She didn't have to kill them all. 

Agreed. She had stopped them from deploying. They weren't on a timer. Why not ask the bots to retrieve and deliver the bad guy, then safely dispose of the weapon. The bots weren't compromised. The packages were.

4 hours ago, LiveenLetLive said:

I especially liked Twirrly taking measure of the always frantic Doctor and suggesting that she browse blood pressure meds (hahaha, middle aged folk joke.)

I thought it was cause she has two hearts.

3 hours ago, MarquisDeCarabas said:

Something I just realised, the system put The Doctor in maintenance with Charlie before she switched it. It was trying to show her where the danger was. 

Thats a really nice touch. I kinda wondered why the system thought the best use of the Doctor’s talents would be janitorial work. 

Awww. Poor system. 

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

That was fun. I was screaming at Kira not to pop the bubble wrap! And was pretty surprised by the bad guy in this one. I was rooting for those two crazy kids!

Loved Yaz wanting to bring Dan's daughter the necklace. I hope she tells her that Daddy was a hero. He did save Yaz, and I think he knew he was. 

I thought the misdirection was great. She was so clearly a red shirt and then they introduced the love story and you thought maybe they save her and these two crazy kids make it. I am really sort of sad about her. She gets only her second present ever, it is empty, and then she was killed to make a point. Poor girl. The system couldn't have given her chocolate first or bluffed or something? 

I loved that Yaz went to talk to the daughter. I hope she gets hefty benefits for her college education. Her poor doomed dad.

 

Overall I liked the uncanny valley creepybots. The fez made me way too happy. It was nice use of the team (though really, a police officer can't detain a suspect). It was another dark episode with a body count, but it was a good one.

[100Proof]

6 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

I'M NEVER BURSTING ANOTHER BUBBLE WRAP AGAIN!!!

Oh who am I kidding, I'll take my chances!

I'm not sure why the Doctor had all the robots deliberately detonate.  Since she was able to override their destination instructions and tell them to open the box, could she not just as easily had them remove the wrapping without popping it (a near impossible task for humans of course) and just collect it for later disposals. 

She didn't have to kill them all. 

Yeah. Why not just safely dispose of all the packages. They have teleport technology, just teleport all the packages into a sun or something. That being the case, she also kinda deliberately murdered Charlie

[tennisgurl]

So, just in time for the holiday season, be prepared to be terrified by...bubble wrap! Not a gift basket will be safe again!

Not a bad episode at all, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was fun to get back into space, as much as I've loved the historical episodes, and the big scary robot company was a solidly Who style kind of place. It reminded me a bit of the giant space bank from a few seasons ago, except that was more of a heist, while this was more of a mystery. I admit, I didnt see Charlie being behind everything coming at all, I figured that it was robots being scary and evil, because those things looked scary as crap, so kudos to them. It wasn't an amazing episode or an instant classic, but I thought it was a lot of fun, and it was certainly more focused than the last space episode. 

Yeah, I can see how this looks like a "robots gonna take our jobs and AMAZON!" kind of plot,but I do think the episode was a bit more complicated. The automation of the work force was shown as a bad thing, but the robots weren't really evil, and the system was actually trying to save lives, where a full on "before of robots" episode would have the AI system as a full on HAL 9000 style villain. The big speech the Doctor gave was all about how technology isnt evil, and can be a good thing, it just depends on how people use it, and people are the ones who are really pulling the strings. So, it did have a bit of nuance, certainly more than some Who episodes. 

The companions didnt have as much to do, but I did like what we got, with Graham being his kind, lovely self, Yaz wanting to get in touch with the daughter of the poor worker who was killed (I mean, damn dude, why not just announce your retirement party) and Ryan using his knowledge of these big companies to help out. And I liked the corporate people, and poor, doomed Kyra. All she did wrong was have a cute office flirtation, and want a present damn it! Also, I love how Graham always calls The Doctor Doc. Its super cute.

I do question the Doctors plan to explode all of the robots. I feel like they could have done more. Those robots were super creepy though, even knowing they weren't really evil, just alien and trying to help in their weird, mechanical kind of way.

Loved all of the shout outs and call backs, like Eleven finally getting his fez (which is still cool!), the Doctor talking about the wasps and meeting Agatha Christie, and the Doctor mentioning that several of her best friends have been robots. Good times.

[hnygrl]

Decent episode...but man....

 

Chibnall does not know how to stick the landing does he?  He'll write a compelling script and Jack up the ending. Every. Single. Time. 

The time(s) he didn't? HE DIDN'T WRITE IT! 

Jesus wept....it was a great concept, the Doctor was actually IN in this one and not just a Co-star, but he couldn't stick the ending. 

Frustrating 

Edited November 19, 2018 by hnygrl

[elle]

3 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I did like the small touch of the system trying to put the Doctor in maintenance so she'd be closer to the problem but she went and mucked it up by switching with Graham. Graham was once again great. I love him. 

Graham is easily my favorite companion.  I got a kick out of him calling the (bad) guy "Cockle".  Never heard that before, is it common?

4 hours ago, ElleryAnne said:

An ok episode, but Kerblamazon's robots seemed like cheap knockoffs of the angel robots in Voyage of the Damned.

There was something familiar about them that was bugging me.  Does anyone know if the same voice actor was used? 

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Before I forget . . . anyone else like the Doctor without the hoodie?

It was nice to see her without the coat.  I have noticed the varying color of the t-shirt, sometimes it is black and sometimes it seems to be a purple/maroon.  

[AnimeMania]

I am not really sure if this episode didn't make any sense or I was so hung up on my theory about what I imagined was going to happen that I missed what was really happening.

OK, here is what I thought was going to happen Kerblamazon - 10% human workers - slogan: Kerblamazon is powered by humans - they keep having power failures - humans are disappearing - conclusion: Kerblamazon is using humans as a source of fuel to run their operations

What really happened: I haven't got a clue! Why hire human workers to do jobs that they are horrible at. They should be hiring technicians, programmers, mechanics, productivity analysts, housing workers, food prep, janitors, doctors, etc. They definitely do not need people to put things in boxes or pull things from shelves.

Things I didn't understand: Why the power failures, why the vat of human remains, how can one man reprogram (billions?) of lines of code to circumvent it's original purpose to serve his own agenda, why didn't the one man reprogram (billions?) of lines of code to hire everybody on the planet since that is what he actually wanted, why isn't there any programmers that notice that their computer code is being changed.

[tkc]

That closing shot, panning down to the open Kerb!am box has to be one of Who's most affecting images ever.

Must... pop... the... bubble... wrap...

Edited November 19, 2018 by tkc

[John Potts]

1 hour ago, elle said:

 I got a kick out of him calling the (bad) guy "Cockle".  Never heard that before, is it common?

It's a cockney (East London working class) thing. I don't know if Bradley Walsh ad libbed it, but both he and his character might reasonably throw in the odd bit of Cockney rhyming slang. Though Bradley was actually born in Watford so doesn't qualify as a real cockney.

3 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

Maybe the Doctor should've lodged a complaint to Kerblamazon of getting her package she ordered two regenerations ago.

Two Regenerations for the Doctor, maybe, but it might be only three days before from the perspective of Kerblamazon!

[AudienceofOne]

I have to give the writers credit, there was a nice little Cybermen fakeout in this. I worked out pretty early that it was the system that asked for help but with the disappearing characters and the brownouts it had Cybermen written all over it - until it wasn't. 

Like a lot of these episodes in Doctor Who generally, they get a little confused about the show's message. For a start, Mr 'I am a Cybernetics genius' apparently failed statistics since he didn't realise that 10% of the workforce in each company does not equal 10% of the human population. Secondly, the conclusion that "technology isn't evil, it's how we use it" in an argument against a deranged, murderous organic is one I can get behind. But how that led the Head of People to unilaterally decide she was going to push for the company to be staffed by a majority-organic workforce made absolutely no sense. If I was in her shoes, I'd be more likely to conclude it was people that were the problem. 

Neither the robots nor the AI did anything wrong in this - it was entirely the human being. And while the work was boring and pointless, it's not like the staff were abused.

Still, it was a solid episode and I particularly liked how they utilised the companions - especially Ryan. But the plot hole and, inconsistencies were a bit annoying.

4 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Once again, I feel that while everyone on screen is doing well, and Jodie is giving it her all, I'm neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed. I'm just whelmed.

Are you in Europe?

Seriously though, after the last couples of seasons I'll take whelmed. Whelmed is awesome. Whelmed is the best thing that's happened to this show in years.

[PWHCHCH]

3 hours ago, elle said:

 

There was something familiar about them that was bugging me.  Does anyone know if the same voice actor was used? 

 

The voice actor is Matthew Gravelle, another Broadchurch actor - he played the guy who killed Danny Latimer. He hasn’t provided any other voices for WHO apart from in spin off media. 

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

Seriously though, after the last couples of seasons I'll take whelmed. Whelmed is awesome. Whelmed is the best thing that's happened to this show in years.

I agree that after the escalating melodrama and convolution of recent years, a scaling-back-down was required. A period of smaller, more intimate, simpler adventures to reset the series, so to speak. For an audience that has become accustomed to frenetic action, hyperbole and grandstanding, however, that change does take a bit of getting used to!

Personally, I would dearly love to somehow be able to harness the energy and creativity of Moffat to the solid old-school vision of Chibnall (because the Moff works better when he is reined in), and weave it all together with a dash of Davies character magic. Now that would be a great show to watch!

I've seen a few people mention that they don't feel they have a clear grasp on Thirteen's character. I'm not having that problem, I feel I have a clear sense of who this Doctor is - bright and sunny and optimistic by nature, a tinkerer who likes working with her hands, an impulsive meddler with a tendency to act without much forethought, and so on. What is really missing, for me, and this has been a problem from the start, is a sense of any real bond between the Doctor and her companions. She still, after all this time, tends to approach them as a group, rather than as individuals. I feel as if she likes having them around because she enjoys the company, but she hasn't allowed herself to become genuinely attached to any of them. Her interactions with them are almost entirely plot-related - she discusses what's going on around them, she dishes out tasks...but she doesn't take time to talk to them on a more personal level. Hardly at all. And for me, I think that would make all the difference. It wouldn't take much. Just a few moments reserved in each episode for the Doctor to touch base with her companions as individuals, steadying nerves, sharing moments of triumph, etc, instead of addressing them en masse. And part of the trouble there, I feel, is that the show has slotted Graham into that role instead. He is the one written to have meaningful little moments with the younger two, offering grandfatherly pearls of wisdom and reassurance. Give those moments to the Doctor instead, allow her to build a true bond with each of them as individuals, and it would make a huge difference to even the weakest episodes, I feel. And perhaps a sense of genuine peril to one or other of them might help - we saw her telling the trio that she couldn't guarantee their safety if they came with her, and perhaps we could argue that is why she hasn't let herself get too attached, because she's been burned before...but there's a story right there that the show isn't giving us. So maybe if there was a sense that one of them was genuinely in danger, we'd get a chance to see how much she cares, and that would help us to feel like there is a genuine bond there.

I dunno.

I thought this was a solid enough episode, I enjoyed watching it for the most part, but as others have said, the ending - as so often this season - was weak. And it felt like the episode itself wasn't entirely sure what kind of message it wanted to send, much like the spider episode, so ended up feeling a bit muddled. The main villain was a human terrorist, with the poor innocent system fighting back and crying out for help - but the system was also straight-up killing people, and it made that decision all on its own. I can understand the reasoning behind Kira's death, horrible though it was, but what was the point of liquidising all those other people?

Edited November 19, 2018 by Llywela

[AudienceofOne]

33 minutes ago, Llywela said:

but the system was also straight-up killing people, and it made that decision all on its own. I can understand the reasoning behind Kira's death, horrible though it was, but what was the point of liquidising all those other people?

The system only killed Kira. All the other deaths were whatshisname. 

[Llywela]

2 minutes ago, AudienceofOne said:

The system only killed Kira. All the other deaths were whatshisname. 

But why? We saw the postmen robots attacking Lee Mack's character - programmed to do so, perhaps, but for what purpose? 

[libgirl2]

I enjoyed the episode. Started strong, was fun but got a bit bogged down in the middle. It had enough of a creep factor with those robots.

[benteen]

7 hours ago, Llywela said:

 

I've seen a few people mention that they don't feel they have a clear grasp on Thirteen's character. I'm not having that problem, I feel I have a clear sense of who this Doctor is - bright and sunny and optimistic by nature, a tinkerer who likes working with her hands, an impulsive meddler with a tendency to act without much forethought, and so on. What is really missing, for me, and this has been a problem from the start, is a sense of any real bond between the Doctor and her companions. She still, after all this time, tends to approach them as a group, rather than as individuals. I feel as if she likes having them around because she enjoys the company, but she hasn't allowed herself to become genuinely attached to any of them. Her interactions with them are almost entirely plot-related - she discusses what's going on around them, she dishes out tasks...but she doesn't take time to talk to them on a more personal level. Hardly at all. And for me, I think that would make all the difference. It wouldn't take much. Just a few moments reserved in each episode for the Doctor to touch base with her companions as individuals, steadying nerves, sharing moments of triumph, etc, instead of addressing them en masse. And part of the trouble there, I feel, is that the show has slotted Graham into that role instead. He is the one written to have meaningful little moments with the younger two, offering grandfatherly pearls of wisdom and reassurance. Give those moments to the Doctor instead, allow her to build a true bond with each of them as individuals, and it would make a huge difference to even the weakest episodes, I feel. And perhaps a sense of genuine peril to one or other of them might help - we saw her telling the trio that she couldn't guarantee their safety if they came with her, and perhaps we could argue that is why she hasn't let herself get too attached, because she's been burned before...but there's a story right there that the show isn't giving us. So maybe if there was a sense that one of them was genuinely in danger, we'd get a chance to see how much she cares, and that would help us to feel like there is a genuine bond there.

 

Excellent, excellent point.  There hasn't been a lot of one-on-one scenes with the companions and this is the one area where I will acknowledge that the crowded Tardis has been a problem here.  I would say the one companion she's had the most interaction with on a personal level has been Yaz.  I think this Doctor has a close bond with her companions but it has been as a whole rather than individual.

I think the stories this season have been a mixed bag.  I'm looking forward to the historical episode next week as this season the historical episodes have been the strongest.

Edited November 19, 2018 by benteen

[darkestboy]

So much better than the last few weeks. I really wouldn't mind another episode from Pete McTighe as well. Shades of 10th and 11th Doctor era here as well as some blatant references to both.

The Kerblam bots were sinister enough and Charlie made for a decent antagonist. The fact that he got an actual comeuppance made for a nice change this series as well.

Good guest characters with Judy, Jarva, Dan and Kira as well as the main cast being utilised pretty well too.

Nice the show remembered Ryan's dyspraxia and working in a warehouse. I think he got a lot of great moments this week though Yasmin and Graham didn't feel shortchanged either.

The Doctor's joy at seeing a fez again did make me smile, 8/10

[The Companion]

3 hours ago, Llywela said:

But why? We saw the postmen robots attacking Lee Mack's character - programmed to do so, perhaps, but for what purpose? 

He said he use them to test the bubble wrap bombs, didn't he? 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, darkestboy said:

So much better than the last few weeks. I really wouldn't mind another episode from Pete McTighe as well. Shades of 10th and 11th Doctor era here as well as some blatant references to both.

The Kerblam bots were sinister enough and Charlie made for a decent antagonist. The fact that he got an actual comeuppance made for a nice change this series as well.

Good guest characters with Judy, Jarva, Dan and Kira as well as the main cast being utilised pretty well too.

Nice the show remembered Ryan's dyspraxia and working in a warehouse. I think he got a lot of great moments this week though Yasmin and Graham didn't feel shortchanged either.

The Doctor's joy at seeing a fez again did make me smile, 8/10

Loved that. 

[TwirlyGirly]

12 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

<snip>

Maybe the Doctor should've lodged a complaint to Kerblamazon of getting her package she ordered two regenerations ago. 

 

Maybe two regenerations ago, but... couldn't it have been just a few days before the delivery?

Sorry... thinking about this does give me a headache. The Doctors travel in space (entire universe) and time (past, present, and future). So doesn't that mean ALL of the Doctors exist simultaneously?

We don't know the specific dates (days/month/year) the Kerblam! episode took place. We only know the location (the Moon). Isn't it possible 11 ordered the fez just a few days prior? He had the ability to travel to ANY date, so couldn't he have just happened to be (date-wise) a few days earlier than the actual delivery date when he placed the order? (And then he either moved forward or backwards in time, making delivery TO HIM impossible).

If my thinking is totally out-of-whack, please educate me!

TwirlyGirly: the person who after reading the first two chapters of "A Brief History of Time" felt like her head was gonna explode, and so put it back on the shelf, never to be picked up again.

Edited November 19, 2018 by TwirlyGirly
Added possible excuse for my comment

[Llywela]

9 minutes ago, TwirlyGirly said:

Maybe two regenerations ago, but... couldn't it have been just a few days before the delivery?

Sorry... thinking about this does give me a headache. The Doctors travel in space (entire universe) and time (past, present, and future). So doesn't that mean ALL of the Doctors exist simultaneously?

We don't know the specific dates (days/month/year) the Kerblam! episode took place. We only know the location (the Moon). Isn't it possible 11 ordered the fez just a few days prior? He had the ability to travel to ANY date, so couldn't he have just happened to be (date-wise) a few days earlier than the actual delivery date when he placed the order? (And then he either moved forward or backwards in time, making delivery TO HIM impossible).

If my thinking is totally out-of-whack, please educate me!

TwirlyGirly: the person who after reading the first two chapters of "A Brief History of Time" felt like her head was gonna explode, and so put it back on the shelf, never to be picked up again.

Yep, you are right. The order might have been placed two regenerations ago by the Doctor, who was probably distracted and forgot almost immediately, but from the point of view of the Kerblam company, it was most likely only a matter of days - the delivery teleport simply latched onto the nearest TARDIS, not knowing that a later version of the Doctor was drifting back through the same timezone to intercept that delivery.

Wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey!

[clack]

Some nitpicks : if only the lucky 10% have jobs, and if even those few are paid poorly -- who then is buying all those deliveries?

And also, is the TARDIS now vulnerable to random aliens and robots teleporting in? I assume that the TARDIS must have purposely allowed the delivery robot  through it's defenses, but is that ever explained?

[AnimeMania]

Doesn't the Tardis stop all weapons from entering. So the bubble wrap has to be safe. Pop away, Graham!

[Eulipian 5k]

5 hours ago, Llywela said:

What is really missing, for me, and this has been a problem from the start, is a sense of any real bond between the Doctor and her companions. She still, after all this time, tends to approach them as a group, rather than as individuals. I feel as if she likes having them around because she enjoys the company, but she hasn't allowed herself to become genuinely attached to any of them. Her interactions with them are almost entirely plot-related - she discusses what's going on around them, she dishes out tasks...but she doesn't take time to talk to them on a more personal level. Hardly at all. And for me, I think that would make all the difference. It wouldn't take much. Just a few moments reserved in each episode for the Doctor to touch base with her companions as individuals, steadying nerves, sharing moments of triumph, etc, instead of addressing them en masse. And part of the trouble there, I feel, is that the show has slotted Graham into that role instead. He is the one written to have meaningful little moments with the younger two, offering grandfatherly pearls of wisdom and reassurance. Give those moments to the Doctor instead, allow her to build a true bond with each of them as individuals, and it would make a huge difference to even the weakest episodes, I feel.

I think they have come a long way from the Capaldi's Doctor who spent the first episodes after re-gen referring to all humans as "pudding brains".

This Doctor did fully learn Clara's (yes Clara's!) lesson about "custody of care (?)" that she also argued with Danny Pink about. This doctor immediately assumes responsibility for anyone she is with; either "I'm sorry you had to see this" or "I will keep all of you safe". Tennant's doctor never said that in any of his "base under siege" episodes. Tennant and Capaldi would just as soon sacrifice someone to learn more about the villain.

I do appreciate Graham's role at "steadying nerves, sharing moments of triumph" with Yaz. The Doc does the timey/wimey science and Graham does the human science. After hundreds of years with humans what would she want to know about anybodies' personal issues?

She seems like a reaction to the warnings from the last three re-gens which were always "Don't travel alone". I still chuckle at her saying "I'm calling you Yaz, because we're friends now", vs how Smith reacted to meeting Clara in her "Snowmen" iteration.

[DavidJSnyder]

17 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Doesn't the Tardis stop all weapons from entering. So the bubble wrap has to be safe. Pop away, Graham!

That either doesn't work anymore or never really did.  We've seen weapons fired on numerous occasions and the Doctor calls it a lie in Let's Kill Hitler.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, clack said:

Some nitpicks : if only the lucky 10% have jobs, and if even those few are paid poorly -- who then is buying all those deliveries?

And also, is the TARDIS now vulnerable to random aliens and robots teleporting in? I assume that the TARDIS must have purposely allowed the delivery robot  through it's defenses, but is that ever explained?

That part perplexed me. I thought that couldn't happen. 

[rur]

14 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

Maybe the Doctor should've lodged a complaint to Kerblamazon of getting her package she ordered two regenerations ago. 

Why is everyone assuming that the Doctor ordered it? The system had been around for quite awhile, and if it was sentient enough to ask for help from the Doctor, it was probably sentient enough to learn what the Doctor would like and send it to her.

[benteen]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

Doesn't the Tardis stop all weapons from entering. So the bubble wrap has to be safe. Pop away, Graham!

I was surprised that the Kerblam robot was actually able to get through the Tardis itself.  That is virtually an impossible thing to do.  Generally when those doors are closed, you cannot get them open from the outside.