Doctor Who 1x5 "Dot and Bubble" - Reaction & Review 

I gave it a rewatch and a lot of the dialogue from the girl had me like "how did I miss that" lol

My summary of this episode: You can lead a bigot to water, but you can't make em think.

The wild laugh Fifteen makes near the end when he finally realizes what's going on is so tragic. The Doctor really coming to the realization that in this regeneration - his skin color can and WILL get in the way of being able to save people sometimes.

The way my jaw dropped at Ricky's death scene

I watched this at midnight and couldn’t sleep for ages. I was so mad and wanted to see the boat get eaten at the end. The slugs were not the monsters after all.

The racism twist isn't tacked on. It's flagged so many times, but a lot of us didn't initially see it because we had our white privilege blinkers on. Some examples: * The first time the Doctor appears in her bubble Lindy looks almost disgusted, and blocks him, but when Ruby appears she listens to her, even though she's a stranger, because Ruby is blonde and white. * There are no people of colour anywhere in the episode other than the Doctor. * Everyone is white and blue eyed and mostly blonde, with Goth Paul being I think the only non-blonde: classic Aryan stereotype. * Lindy takes a while to realise the Doctor is the same man she blocked earlier, because to her, black people apparently all look the same. * She also talks about him being duly punished for his temerity in speaking to her and her friends and says she'll look forward to that. * When she introduces the Doctor to her friends she also says "He's not as stupid as he looks". * When Ricky September and Lindy are walking together after the slug encounter, Ricky says "During the Great Abrogation, this whole city was sealed off." Abrogation is the act of canceling, nullifying, or repealing something - probably racial equality and anti-racism laws, in this instance. The whole episode is full of racist microaggressions directed towards the Doctor, but on first viewing, most white folk didn't see them until the open racism of that powerful final scene. Up until that point I read the episode as a class critique and a satire of social media dependency.

The ending gives me big Midnight feelings because once again The Doctor faces human ignorance and just can't find a way to overcome it. Powerless to stop them from destroying themselves.

As a Black guy myself, it was abundantly apparent that something was off from the beginning of the episode. This is an unfortunate reality that I’ve experienced innumerous times in white dominated spaces in the States. The only thing I wish we had is more lines from Ncuti after that stunning performance at the end. The ending felt too abrupt to me.

WOW. even just watching this reaction, the music in the ending is just fantastic. my favourite use of music so far this era for sure

All the signs are there that foreshadow the racism twist: 1. Lindy blocking Doc right from the start 2. Lindy only speaking to Ruby even when the Doc is in the same chat 3. being genuinely shocked that Ruby and Doc are in the same room 4. calling Doc stupid a few times (but ok, i realize the word stupid is part of daily speech) 5. saying that all people like Doc look the same (the stereotype "all black people look the same") 6. calling tardis a voodoo 7. Linday saying that it's the Doctor's duty to save her 8. everyone in the bubble word is white, blonde and blue eyes

The twist at the end is a twisted end.

Honestly i think this and 73 yards have been the strongest eps this season , last ep i was sold on ruby and the doctor at the end of this one really sold me, Ncuti sold it

Yes, congrats on being the first reactor I've seen realise that the Finetimers are racist in real time. It's been so frustrating seeing all the media illiteracy. Thank you.

Totally felt you with all the “wow”s 😂 I felt so sick and angry at the end I had to shake it off and yell a bit

I loved the forshadowing when Lindy is shocked when she realizes Ruby and the Doctor are together in the same room and I loved the logic of a society based on the principle of removing any people the privileged class find unlikeable suffering the same fate when the A.I. they made to be in charge of everything developed the same attitude towards them.

I felt so dumb watching through the episode. At first I thought 'wait are they all white?'. But then I could swear I'd at least seen someone mixed race? That's uncomfortable. And I'm not even white. Became more apparent as time went on but when I got it I kicked myself for not going with my initial instinct. Definitely tied for my favorite this season with last week!

I love how villain of the episode is somehow a misdirect for the main conflict. The title, the progression of the plot. While watching something frlt a little off, like i was missing something the whole time. Then this closing scene came in and hit me like a freight train. The racism was there the while time i just didnt see it.

I can't wait to see what all the haters going say about this episode. Most likely they will call it "woke." Like everything else they disliked.

It was VERY connected to the rest of the episode. -Lindy immediately blocks the Doctor -Lindy asks if the slugs have to do with the Doctor -Lindy didn't realize it was the same person when the Doctor came back on -Lindy saying "I hate you I hate you" and later "I was right to hate you" to the Doctor -Lindy calls the Doctor and Ruby criminals after discovering they're in a room together -Lindy tells her friends the Doctor isn't "as dumb as he looks" -there isn't a SINGLE non-white person on the planet besides the Doctor And there's even more. It was ALL OVER the episode.

I feel particularly with this season that a lot of people get really annoyed if it isn’t an amazing episode. In past series it seemed that everyone was a lot more up for the ride. But Doctor Who has always had pretty varied episodes in each series. And I totally agree that possibly more than any other, this season’s episodes are VERY memorable hahaha

LOL loved this episode. I agree with mostly everything you said. It's not perfect, but that twist in the end made it all worth it. The acting was top notch again by Ncuti. My racist alarm bells were going off early in the episode but I was like "surely i'm mistaken, these are just horribly privileged people"... nope.

That ending was jaw dropping on the first watch, like damn

I completely missed the racism, I feel embarrassed. I thought it was a critique of people who live in a bubble and hate anything outside it. But in the end, the inhabitants will just die, so it was all a waste of time for the doctor and Ruby. Unless the inhabitants get lucky, but...yeah, no. They're too incompetent. Also, this episode reminded me of that Capaldi episode where Clara acted like the Doctor and good people died, but the mean old man who didn't appreciate anything lived. Similar message: Sometimes bad people live and good people die, no matter how hard you try. Only this time it was due to their own ignorance. The ending truly makes the episode.

Here’s the thing, though. In regards to the Doctor light episodes. Jodie Whitaker didn’t have them. And this season there are only eight episodes. They only did this and last week’s one because Ncuti Gatwa was still filming Sex Education.

I think this episode becomes much better on rewatch. I think when you know the ending all the beats throughout the episode start to make more sense. Even things like the AI turning against the people after listening to them... Its pretty funny haha. I enjoy it more now. 8/10

Who meets Black Mirror; a BIG V sign to all the haters out there whether they hate blacks, gays or the BBC! Episodes getting stronger and stronger!

Ncuti was making the series at the same time as his long running TV series Sex Education, so the Doctor Lite episodes were done with his role reduced to account for his periods of unavailability. They work round it pretty well.

yeah the ending feels it's tagged on... as a person of color though, that's kind of the experience. when it comes out, it seems to come out of nowhere even though everything has been nice enough.

It gains on a rewatch! Once you know shes racist you can see it was there all the time.

im white and i cant possibly understand what humans of different types go through, but I see we are all human, the fact other people say otherwise is ignorant and stupid. I hope this doesn't sound like virtue signaling or white knighting, because i truly believe this.

5:56 I completely agree with you there!

It's funny when you consider that the Daleks are the most racist beings in the known universe, and that is far more subtle

i love this episode! such a poignant commentary on racism and social media. thanks for posting your reaction/review!!

So, is it totally impossible that Dot grabbed the slugs from the forest and genetically engeneered them into the 'monsters?'

I just thought of something, is something trying to actually turn the Doctor against humanity? First we had abandoning babies, then we had blind faith, now this, and that look of pure disappointment, its like something is pulling them along to see the worst of the worst of humanity.

Its not about social media being bad... its about wyt privileged people living in their literal segregated bubble

To think this ending was his first ever scene 😳❤️

The first time I watched it I didn't get the racism element at all. Like, not at all. And maybe that shows just how fortunate I've been. The next time, Ikinda started getting it, and the third watch - now having that idea in my head, yeah, no, i absolutely see it. It maybe feels disconnected at first, but on a rewatch...

21:56 it's a callback to the rings of akhaten which is neat

It's fine to be Black Mirror light as Children don't/can't watch Black Mirror

From the start she was giving the Doctor terrible comments even down to the "you all look the same" It was her revulsion of them being in the same room the alarm went when she's been in a room with others what's the difference? they were all white not one black person. Ricky was clearly cool and because he was educated when talking with the Doctor not backhanded comments just grateful he would have made a good companion They have no redeeming qualities at all the DOTS saw this and decided to take them out the worst possible way, They could have just killed them all like Ricky. * The reason for the Doctor light two episodes it clashed with filming Sex ED it seems insane they went ahead with production when this clash was known about and considering it was delayed already. The promotion of this episode was terrible i can see why it did badly ratings wise they needed a reaction shot of Ricky and the Doctor. Other wise people would assume its an episode all of airheads talking on screens with slugs. the final scene was the 1st day of filming hence the costume he's wearing so that entire section was the very first thing he filmed as the Doctor.

Notice the look the Doctor gives the sign on the TARDIS door as he goes to enter it? It used to be white with black lettering, now it's black with white. I don't know if that was intentional on RTD's part (he's not normally the king of subtlety) but it seemed to me the Doctor was only just realising.

I disliked her within 15 seconds and it went downhill from there.

@Cayles there is rasism and classism in the episode

The episode is very much about portraying and critiquing a white supremacist society all along, its all there from the start and not really a "twist" as a result. The social media critique is fully intertwined with the critique of white supremacy as well and, as a result, is commenting not just broadly on the effects of social media but very specifically also on how social media plays a role in insulating white supremacy and contributing to normalizing it. The episode massively rewards a rewatch for those who realize the white supremacist critique later into the episode (for those who realize it from the outset, its maybe not as much of a rewatch discovery experience, I would guess). In this fashion it does a brilliant job of implicating the audience based on when and how they come to realize that the story isn't merely about commenting on social media but very specifically the intersection of social media and the fostering of hate-based infrastructure. And its meaningful, I think, to present this kind of critique while implicating the audience as much as possible because it serves to make the points being made resonate deeper with our actual world and the actual lives of viewers. When one realizes that the white supremacy was apparent from the start but that it wasn't being noticed because of personal privilege or bias or what have you, it prompts more personal questions about the experience of watching the narrative. At least that's my two cents from watching a variety of folks react to and commentate about the episode.

This might have been an episode when ncuti was off filming sex education

On both sides of my family my Uncles and Aunts are white supremist so they chose to home school their kids in preference over sending them to a public school where they would interact with people of color. Now my cousins are all covered in swastika tattoos at 45 degree angles. They didn't get that way without the bubble. Now that they are adults I am terrified to know how they are raising their own children. This is a systemic problem that continues to pervade our country and the human species. I could see a future where those 5 unrelated people are genetically diverse enough meet up and produce enough generations of offspring to make a place like Fine Time.

I thought Lindy was pretty much a jerk throughout the episode. Interesting use of social media as a red herring. All the microaggressions throughout the episode were a lot, leading to the ending, so I don't see how it's "tacked on." I am surprised some reactors are not seeing this at least by the end of the episode. Although you didn't like this episode, I think you might want to give it a rewatch.

would you probably react to doctor who unleashed? ^^

this episode pissed me off and I was shipping them hard

As a 60-year-old man, I hope you young people realize your future is fucked. Stop living your life through your phones.

It's funny how many people think this episode is racist. It's Doctor Who! He's come across a variety of races like Cybermen, Sontarans, Daleks, etc. Perhaps these aliens don't have non-white people? Doctor Who usually significantly tries to stop the threat, or at least fully understand it, but this bunch just says to jump into my TARDIS! Folks are putting a racist spin on it which may reflect their perception of the world and not the actual Doctor Who.

total Kids show now (but that's the point isn't it)