Dot And Bubble is INCREDIBLE (Doctor Who) 

Yes! I wish I talked about this. It was quite personal to see all these people who are all about positivity and care and support just disregard people who are genuinely seeking help or seeking to help them. This exact scenario happened with a friend group of mine a while ago so it hit close to home. Good shout from you, my friend ❤️

With how possessive and vocal the random dude was at the end, being the direct voice telling the girls to turn around, igniting the bigotry even more - I could imagine even more horrifying finale to this whole storyline, at least for the protagonist of our story. I would actually give them much more time - until the list finishes and the orbs actually decide to chase them down. When faced with situation without any technology and lack of servants - new hierarchy would quickly be established and with civilisation being at brink of extinction, women obviously would have been pushed into very specific role. And with how the gal never even hugged someone before - it would have been probably one of the worst reality calls, even worse than the giant bugs eating her "friends". In fact - I feel like not being to able to survive beyond 2 weeks, probably would be more merciful end for all of them.

Love this comment ^ Yeah. As someone else in the comments pointed out, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. I think the tragedy here is that bigotry will take centre stage over even these people’s own lives. Crazy ending, loved it a lot.

No skills. No experience, no sense of community or teamwork. I give them two weeks in the wild.

If this episode has a sequel, the tiny colony brings to mind SPACE SEED in classic STAR TREK, and why we see Ricardo Montalban's bitter, rage filled Khan in STAR TREK II. They are trying to thrive inside an environment like the original Botany Bay. Normally, I would have assumed SCARO was their homeworld. They are several powerplays short of becoming DALEKs. Deep down, they hate all outsiders. The Doctor is unable to reason with them directly, he needed Ruby to be with him, and even then, they only half listened to her. The only colony member capable of independent thought is betrayed by Lindi.

The reason, why she acts like that, is insecurity about everything. She needs a bubble and constant encouragement, so that she doesn't get reminded about how much of a failure she is. Every insult to other people is what she expects to get in such situation. Hypocrisy is a coping mechanism to protect her emotions. In the end, she treats him as unworthy, so she protects herself from him looking down on her for her character

I also thought that they would die but more because I thought that the slug things would eventually invade the whole planet and kill all survivors, but the survivors will probably all just die from the things you mentioned first, though.

I agreed

Yessir 🫡 This was a very solid “Doctor-moment” for me - and it being his first filmed scene is CRAZY. Bro really just stepped onto set and owned the character.

Yeah, was great seeing him cry again. It never gets old!

Right?? Like, how does any actor even do that? It was amazing. I knew, from Sex Ed, that I would love him as the Doctor, but this was beyond expectations, so good.

Are you people joking? Is this satire?

NOOOO

I could have gone my whole life without knowing this. HOW COULD YOU? I'm not sure if I'd prefer if he was an actual person telling everyone when to pee and now he's dead, or if he was just some AI assistant. Then he wouldn't have to die, but I love the idea of him being an actual guy with that job

I thought Dr Pee was an AI App.

Doctor Pee was an Ai-generated virtual person - so no, he didn’t die.

Secret twist.... Doctor Pee was the AI in charge of culling the humans. 😳

Nice catch! Didn’t even really clock that.

Hell yeahhhh. I think I’m gonna look back at this one as one of the highlights of this era in a few years.

Thank you! You are very welcome to the channel ❤️ I’ve seen a lot of people saying this about WhoCulture now.. I guess I should check out their video and see what’s up.

He had the same effect on me. I instantly subscribed too. This was a great episode and he's not afraid to state it. Whereas I've unsubscribed to WhoCulture. I find much of what they have to say tiresome.

I really appreciate that, thank you! There’s so many people slating WhoCulture in the comments here 😂 I really should check their video to see what everyone means

@@MrGreaves don't bother. checking them out means they're getting support from you. You're not missing much and I'd rather the paymasters see a lack of views so that they re-think their strategy and, maybe, get hosts that aren't so ridiculously jaded, predictable and genuinely boring in their reviews.

@@robtymec2045 dang. that’s cold. I actually watched their video and while I don’t find it as offensive as most people seem to, it is quite ridiculous to see them completely miss the point of the social media critique and even the main focus of the episode! It is quite a lazy read of the episode, and this is what comes from corporate thinking rather than an individual’s passion for a show. Not to put myself on a pedestal. I’m sure I got a lot wrong in my review, (in fact I know I got a few things wrong) but at least it’s *my* review, you know?

Thank you for educating me on this. In this case, I’d liken it to Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack.. meaning you can’t charge and blast headphones without buying a new product. Also the quick buck comes from people when the charger they get given with the phone breaks and they have to replace it rather than use a spare from their old phone.. or for me, seeing as my dad has the new phone and if he comes round and needs to charge his phone.. I can’t help out unless I get the charger.

Yeah, I was very very shocked on a first watch. Obviously, I can’t relate to that of racial abuse.. but just to see it unfold at all was very haunting to say the least. I had quite the strong, emotional response to it that hasn’t really nulled in time.

Oh yeah! This one definitely felt similar to something like “The Macra Terror” or “Paradise Towers”. Very classic feeling episode!

Clearly a 10 out of 10 ...and as well thought out as BLINK. The door is very open for a sequel. A return to the Wild Wood.

Think of it this way, our eyes see the world inverted (upside down) Fact. Our brain corrects this even though the input is inverted. Fact. So it's easy to see how living in this virtual bubble can make it difficult to walk without it... A bunch of scientists did an experiment correcting the image into the eyes, and the people fell over just as the character did, they couldn't even pick up a spoon or fork to eat. Eventually, everyone participating in the experiment got used to it, it wild and amazing to consider how complex or brains are and function.

Hell yes. Huge W from you. Sadly the season is too short, I agree. Not sure I’ll be putting it in my favourites - we’ll see how it ends - but Ncuti is definitely skyrocketing to the top of the list for my favourite Doctors. He’s honestly so perfect for the role!!

DAMN. I forgot to write in my joke about how this episode was literally “eat the rich”. Good shout, my friend!

This shows up in Time Machine with the Eloi and Morlocks... I thought this episode was drawing parallels to that.

I doubt that was an intentional theme, since there wasn't much focus on them being exploitative of the AI, but it's not too much of a stretch

​@@DoctorQcumber also, the entire population of the homeworld is dead, not just the rich people. Finetime is supposed to be a kind of utopian playground for rich kids, so the slugs eating everyone there would make sense... But the homeworld must have had a worker population, and now the world is empty.

@@MrGreaves There are so many layers to this episode. An AI misunderstanding the phrase "eat the rich" and taking it literally, then deciding to kill them off in alphabetical order - as an old programmer that gave me a good laugh

oh she had such a hard job and did it wonderfully. all love for the actor - all hate for the character!

also having to intentionally play an annoying unlikeable character, when most actors generally try to do the opposite.

Sorry if my wording came across wrong, I was just citing the 60th as examples of toxic fandom throwing actors under the bus and such… but either way, it may be a stretch. The more likely is that Ricky is there to show that Lindy would trust the Doctor if he was white, further foreshadowing the racism twist.

All is good! I love the different perspectives! And no doubt on the Ricky comparison! A lot of people have said this is the lull of the season, and I disagree. It is a very solid commentary, and I believe RTD at his best this season! I look forward to the next three episodes! Thanks for interacting with me and the reply! Love your content and look forward to future conversations!

I'm an American, I'm a Boomer, and although RTD's brain~freeze is brilliantly BLACK MIRROR in its take on social media, it also brings to mind HOMER and his LOTUS EATERS. The bubble culture Ruby and the Doctor encounter is proto-Dalek. ...when push comes to shove they turn into ambitious hate creatures without pity. Ricky is the only member of their species who could have been a Companion to the Doctor in that his decision to go offline during his waking hours bespeaks of independent thought. Can a Virtual Reality world similar to Scaro eventually evolve generations of Daleks over time? Is this what the A.I did? It introduced a plant/animal predator that keeps the rest of the universe sane and stable? Not hatred, the desire for a sense of balance. The A.I nips in the bud a most horrid arrival. Keep in mind the Doctor is usually unable to fully communicate with Daleks or entities like the Daleks ...and that he is a TIME LORD. He is on this world at this point in time for a reason. He is looking at a society like the one DAVROS only slightly modified.

You’ve hit the nail on the head for me. I hate to see so many people tearing down this episode. In my social circles, it was the best episode of the season. Classic sci-fi. Beautiful aesthetic, wonderfully chilling concept and a killer, sociopolitical twist at the end.

Yes, sorry I got this wrong. I’ve been told by multiple other people too. Replace my point with Apple removing the headphone jack and I think it still stands ^

I think a lot of white people thought that on the first watch. That's how covert racism works. Most white people aren't going to notice.

Of course it is about race watch it again and you will see and hear it is full of racist remarks

Thank you! And yes, 100%. Although I loved The Devil’s Chord too, Boom and 73 Yards were truly unique and standout episodes for the show. But this one just tops it all for me! Can’t wait for the next 3.

Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked it :)

I loved your review I think this is one of the best episodes Dr Who has done and Callie was great in her part❤

There’s nothing I hate more!

@@MrGreaves amen to that

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed! And you too! Hope you enjoyed Rogue and hope you enjoy the finale :D be sure to let me know your thoughts on them all if you fancy dropping by for further reviews ❤️

I love your point about Ricky. It’s something that I actually meant to put into my review but just kinda forgot to write down. Makes me hate Lindy even more! Thank you for tuning in and commenting ❤️

Ah I actually covered this in a previous video. Interestingly, both scenes are choreographed so that the Doctor and Ruby aren’t looking at her. They turn away from the computer in Space Babies and she’s always preparing tea while the Doctor is actually looking at the counter in The Devil’s Chord.

@@MrGreaves oh youre actually, my bad. There is a bit in the church on ruby road when ruby does look at susan twist for a fair amount of time so it could be from that too? But yeah youre right sorry

@@nasus_elyob absolutely no worries! I’m glad to see you speculating about the series. Always makes me happy to see fans engaging in the show - and my videos. Thank you for dropping by ❤️

@@MrGreaves ❤️❤️

@@MrGreaves While that is true, I am confused about why people assume she remembers her from 73 Yards, instead of say, from Church on Ruby Road, where Susan Twist is standing in the audience of her band playing and Ruby looks directly at her.

My pleasure, thank you so much for tuning in! I’m glad you found some common ground haha. I must say I’ve not been watching many reviews for this, mainly because I want to keep my reviews original and so forth (other than with 73 Yards.. I was very lost) but I’ve heard similar comments to yours about other reviews. What have people been missing? It seems like a lot of people are unhappy with how this episode has been reviewed. Anyway, great to hear someone else giving this a 10! Truly a W for you ❤️

Forgot to say you got a new subscriber & I hope you get many more because your channel is great 😊❤️

@@A1somniaaathank you so much! You’re great, glad to have you on board ❤️

I too have been really surprised by the amount of reviewers who completely seemed to miss every single point the episode was making.

@ciaranirvine hope they give the episode another chance on re-watch. But I guess sometimes they can't see through their own filters for lack of a better word. I'm also glad to know I'm not alone in how I feel about it, seems there may be a lot of us after all :)

thank you! hate when people are so in the apple bubble ;) that they don't get that everyone else uses USB c even beyond phones. they're complaining about a problem being solved its confusing

Trust me. If I was the "Dots"? Having to service these self absorbed dingbats? Day in and out? I'd go Skynet a helluva lot faster, I'll tell you that much.

I’ve had this explained to me like 10 times already. I’ve rectified my mistake in various comments.

Hell yeah! W for you my friend. My top 3 of the season too (if you discount the Xmas episode).

Especially like the scene with him standing in the middle of bugs felt super suspicious to me. But I guess, it was suspicious - he was in a way working against our protagonist.

I’ve already been told, but thank you for informing me anyway ^^ L on my part. Change my point to Apple removing the headphone jack and it still works I think.

@@MrGreaves much love brochacho

Thanks for stopping by! Sorry you didn’t like the episode to the same level that I did, but here’s hoping ROGUE is a nice, fluffy bit of Doctor Who for you to sit back and enjoy! I’m hoping that it’s a nice entertaining bit of Doctor Who camp, but I’m not too excited for it still. It’s gonna be nice to see new talent in the writers room nonetheless.

@@MrGreaves I only know of 1 writer for the next episode (Kate Herron) only cause she wrote the 1st episode for Loki and also directed most of the episodes in season 1 of Loki.

oh 100%. I’m loving him. Ncuti is such a wonderful energy in the role. But I do agree.. the TARDIS feels a little empty and “clean” for my taste and the sonic, while I actually like it, could be better.

@@MrGreaves the tardis kinda feels like a new flat before you buy all the furniture and little bits to make it your own, whereas like smiths tardis felt like a reflection of his personality

@@theundeadsculptor6635 agreed. Even Capaldi’s TARDIS felt homely with some warm lighting, bookshelves, chalkboards and cabinets. Very simply but effective. I do like the Classic “cockpit” approach to the console room… but seeing as it’s where the Doc spends most of his time, it felt natural to evolve it into a living space. Going backwards from that wasn’t a good call imo.

11/12s tardis is my favourite ❤️ but I really love the new design, not only for it’s enormous size but it’s almost a more “modern” take on the ‘classic series’ white interior. Screwdriver shape is weird I will admit but it’s better than sonic sunglasses 😅

@@jasonpaulbaker1 I agree that it’s a good modern-take on the Classic console. Just feels like a step backwards to me. But it is still an AWESOME set. Hot take: I love the sonic sunglasses 😭 sorry! But yeah, I will still take the screwdriver over them any day.

Thank you so much! Your support means the world ❤️ I’ve heard complaints about WhoCulture a lot in this comment section… I hate to be someone else’s competition, but I’m glad people are finding more solace here after their rather misguided analysis this week.

Literally many people have told me this 😂 Replace what I said with Apple removing the headphone jack or something and there ya go ^^

Haven’t seen it. Don’t really keep up with their content. Why, what was wrong with it? Genuinely curious. They’ve had some strange takes before so 🤔 Either way, I appreciate it haha

@@MrGreaves It's mostly the super defensive tone Sean took, which caused him to focus solely on the social media aspect in isolation, instead of seeing that social media was being used as an example of the cognitive dissonance we all share in this world and have shared throughout history, and how "reality" is really that which forces us to confront our cognitive dissonance. (Lacan spoke of this quite a bit.) By doing this, the review trivialized the episode, and reduced the story to the closest familiar tropes he had in mind, apparently. They didn't catch on to anything before the "twist" (it wasn't a twist, more like a slowly dawning awareness), didn't catch the colonization reference, and he gave a "down" for how instransigently closed minded the Lindy was, as if he's never seen stubborn closed minded humans in real life, or on RU-vid for that matter. Hell, there's hundreds of people on here openly promoting racist ideology. And then there's the fact that he prefaced the review by saying, "this is THAT episode" that people, I guess he's saying, have to agree to disagee on. This is a cowardly attempt to forestall any need to actually listen to other points of view, or criticism of their review, while presenting a simplistic, banal, and culturally ignorant one. It really is bad.

@@darkthirty7855 Thank you for letting me know. That’s a shame to hear about.. I’ve never been a huge fan of WhoCulture’s “ups and downs” format but I’d tune in occasionally anyway. I think they’ve always had decent talking points, even if I disagreed with a few. Saddened to hear how they miss the mark here. It seems to have annoyed a lot of people, from what I hear.

@@darkthirty7855 I'm surprised at him, being Irish and missing the colonisation line. I'm Irish too and while earlier I'd noticed Lindy saying some suspect things I had put it down to her being an entitled snob - but as soon as that guy started going full coloniser I knew exactly what sort of society this was, it all clicked, and I wasn't surprised by the subsequent "screen-to-screen contact" line.

If you think ratings are so important then you must really hate Breaking Bad lol. Guess Fight Club, The Shining and The Thing are also terrible films.

Doctor Who hasn't been sci-fi since 2005.

@@Ilikefrogs.. Fair point

@@Ilikefrogs..eh? How?

What verbal sewage exactly?

@@YodaOnABenderidk.. seems to me that I’m not allowed to talk about racists in a negative light? 😂

@@MrGreaves “not all racists are bad, my grandad is a racist and he’s the nicest man I’ve met”

@@YodaOnABender 😂 honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard this one day

I’d agree, but to be fair.. it seems like certain people hate black people being on tv a lot more now than they did 10 years ago. Also, I think the people of Finetime are aliens given they have blue blood.

Edit: Is the channel name from the Pixes song? Im sure its not the first time this has been asked. @@MrGreaves Definitely. And reading thr comment I would say that people are much more tribal in their mindset and I certainly do agree that at this point.there are people of all races that are filled with hate that they cast on others giving themselves some feeling of superiority. It is one of those topics where I have to remember that my own personal experiences are not the same as the rest of the world based on location, identity, and time... I teach history to high schoolers so thats pretty much my life looking at viewpoints across the aile.... And yeah, people dont cross the aile at this point.

@@joshmcgootermier2301 Funnily enough, this is the first time I've been asked. And yes! The channel name used to be MrGrieves, but searching for it: you'd only find the Pixies song... so I changed it to MrGreaves, as Greaves is actually my surname! I got the nickname back when I was in college haha. Boring story out of the way, I like what you said about personal experiences being different to others'. I think it's incredibly important to keep this in mind; I'm constantly reminding myself "I don't understand this person's issue/problem" - and it's that empathy, or at least understanding, I feel a lot of people miss. I do think it's a jarring concept that so far into the future, racial prejudice would still exist. But I wouldn't be surprised at the same time, I guess? Just because I try and keep anti-woke content as far away from me as possible doesn't mean it's not out there, you know.

Can’t see I’ve actually seen their work - or if I have, I can’t remember them. If you’d be so kind as to list some stuff worth checking out, I can get back to you with my thoughts on this take 😎

​@MrGreaves Ty Tennant was in an episode of good omens season 2 with David Tennant and Peter Davidson

Good Omens is literally the next show I’m watching!!

I think Ty Tennant is too young.

@@MrGreaves also I love harry Edward melling in harry potter movies?

Fair point. Although it’s already been established in this season that computers and A.I work on a logic and algorithm based level so.. idk. I’m not too fussed. But still, would’ve been nice to see a “threat to the system” order play out.

DW isn't DW if it doesn't have cringe stuff. Tho in this one the acting was great. These are fake ppl.

I’ve seen and received my fair share of attacks on personal appearance - whether it be racism, sexism, homophobia and other stuff.

It depends on what you consider recent. During Obama’s first run for Presidency there was an incredibly popular slogan that I saw printed on hats and T-shirts that said “Keep the White in Whitehouse, McCain for President” and several variations of it. Also if you notice the only time eligibility for Presidential run has come up it has been with the Candidates who aren’t purely white. It’s also not that racism is gone, it is still big in microaggressions now such as people of color having to argue that their natural kinky hair doesn’t need to be straightened to be professional and such.

Are you in the US? Were the perpetrators verbally berating these people unprovoked? Were they truly berating them or were they just *disagreeing* with them and it turned into an argument with anger on both sides? Be careful with the word "attack." An attack invokes the imagery of a physical and violent threat, and shouldn't be used to describe a simple remark. I've seen my fair share of people referring to conversations as "attacks," when they're not the same thing.

@@cierrarachael9949 I’m not in the US. Yes they were berating these people and myself unprovoked. And I’d argue an “attack on” something or someone is not the same as “attacking” someone. But these comments were made with violent and hateful intent so either works anyway. The comments directed towards me weren’t even part of a conversation. I’ve just had people walk up to me and spitefully comment on my appearance. So…

I'm in the US. It was yesterday, when a dude shoved me on the subway and called me the n word in front of my 8 year old daughter. When I questioned him, he claimed it was because I was "walking too fast" I've been walking down the street, minding my own business, and had the word "Monkey" yelled at me three times this year. You must lead an incredibly isolated, uneducated life. Pretty similar to Lindy, it sounds like.

yeah i’m backing the dots lmao

I can understand this. While I think A.I and social media commentary go quite hand in hand these days, I can get behind wanting to stick to one or the other. And yeah it’s a shame the Doctor wasn’t in much of 2/8 episodes.. but that’s mainly because of filming schedules. Hopefully he’s in all 8 next year!

Doctor Who has always been political. The first ever story, An Unearthly Child, was an allegory for socialism. The second ever story, The Daleks, was a parallel to the Nazi party. And so forth. Ratings are not an indication of quality or audience entertainment. More so now than ever, given that the episodes release 18 hours earlier on streaming services - even in the UK. The Doctor acts completely in character. His main priority is saving people. There are so many episodes where the mystery is left unresolved or the threat is left undefeated - and in some of the most popular episodes ever too: “Forest of The Dead”, “Midnight”, “Sleep No More”, “Age of Steel”, “The Satan Pit”…… And the episode-exclusive characters weren’t meant to be sympathetic. You were supposed to hate them, not feel sorry for them. Even if they’re hesitant towards the Doctor because he looks different than anyone they’ve known, that’s still racist. They make an immediate judgement on him for how he looks. But there’s plenty of dialogue to support the fact that they’ve encountered different races before. Even down to the details about colonialism that I covered in the video. Also the Doctor had no way to get into Finetime to research the dots as he states in the episode: the bubble didn’t let the TARDIS enter the town. He did his best by deducting what they were doing and rescuing people from them. Glad you enjoyed the episode though, from an entertainment standpoint. It certainly was a fun one!

You are so right. The story and character development has been utterly ignored, as has the legacy of the Dr. To anyone telling you that this new Dr. is in anyway like previous Drs I say, there has NEVER been a Dr in the whole history of the programme who would ever run away to cower in a basement if Widow Twanky climbed out of a piano! As to this ridiculous episode. Why the fcuk would the dots, who in seconds can become bullet like and kill, create the ridiculously slow and unneeded slugs. Every person has a dot, if for some inexplicable reason they want to kill their person, it would take 10 seconds 😶

@@MrGreaves Hmmm In the 90's, I met a number of actors who played on Dr Who and none talked about politics but were more interested in how I liked they work and the show. I guess I haven't seen these parallels to socialism etc. in the series. I thought it was more about a good guy against monsters. Thanks for the tip!

@@vickanid1862to be fair, most actors who will be or have been on the show would want to talk more about the role and the stories and the fun on set… but also the social climate is changing, so questions in interviews and among fans about politics and representation come about more often. also all good or great sci-fi will have underlying political themes. sci-fi was a genre made to critique our world and the future it might create. even Doctor Who was originally made to educate children about the wrongdoings of history, before it was changed. sometimes the politics come front and centre though, like in this episode or 2008’s “Turn Left” or even 2015’s “The Zygon Inversion”. I hope you don’t feel lectured to or anything. I just think it’s important to note how long Doctor Who has actually been political, because a lot of people are trying to convince a lot of other people that this is a recent thing and that it’s bad.

@@vickanid1862 As a Black sci-fi viewer, it's deeply disappointing how often white viewers will watch sci-fi tv shows with frequent and obvious allegories to racism, anti-semitism, gender, politics, and completely miss the point because these are issues they've never cared to educate themselves on.

Tell me you’re* joking, the credits of every episode literally says Doctor Who.

@@MrGreaves Ratings speak for themselves, the ones they allow to be posted anyway

@@Calnalytics ratings are not reflective of quality. If you think that ratings truly determine whether an audience loves a show or not, then you must think Breaking Bad is an awful show as well.

Stop watching then lol

Yeah, you and every other conservative “fan”. We’ll see you next week, where I have no doubt you’ll be telling us all you’re “done with the show” again.

@@MrGreaves well, i really dont care about ncuti beein black or gay and so on. 9th 10th were never cis What you want. Captain harness was explicitly omni sexual... The show is on a down spiral since the Last season of Matt Smith for me, and continue to sink since then. But no... I wont ne back for the space Bridgestone épisode...

@@dominqueparisi8487 fair enough. I guess the show isn’t for everyone. I know family members that tuned out. Sorry for prejudging. But also fyi, Disney aren’t (aside from minor instances) having any creative control. They only finance the show. I really dislike Disney with a passion but I can’t blame them for DW stuff I dislike….. well maybe other than the annoying distribution and reduced episode count.

Not sure how an opinion can be lazy.. shows laziness on your end that you don’t know what an opinion is. I also named many hints of the racism throughout the episode. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Like… it really didn’t. The dialogue throughout reveals the white supremacy. Your point about why Lindy was focused on is interesting. I’d agree with this as a critique, but I think it’s at least inferred that the Doctor was helping other people too. But yeah, maybe that’s a valid plot criticism. I don’t think A.I becoming sentient necessarily needs questioning. No one questions Skynet in The Terminator, where the Xenomorphs came from in Alien, why Replicants were made and how they became sentient in Blade Runner, etc. And if the A.I became sentient, it wouldn’t want to be discarded by its creators. So it tried to mask its murders by creating the slugs - links to the superstitions of the Wild Woods so no one would question it.

Hate to say it, but there's a chance you just aren't very smart. I haven't heard a single other person call this episode confusing. Also, stories that are written for adults tend to have multiple themes. Maybe this one is just above your level of intellect.

@@Ilikefrogs.. I don't hate to say it, but you're not smart at all and haven't been paying enough attention to other people's reviews and reactions and opinions on this very divisive episode that in no way stands up to the slightest bit of scrutiny. Nothing about it makes any sense and I ask good faith questions about it and instead of answering it you act like I'm a moron who hasn't gotten every other episode of Doctor Who he's ever seen whether they've been good or bad and try to act on smug and Superior by talking down to me. There were so many different threads that barely connected in this episode and so much we are left to Simply guess at what happened because it's so poorly thought-out from top to bottom, but then at the end they just shoe horn in this weird racist twist that the little hints of the episode don't really add up to this being the expected outcome. The ultimate problem is that it was doing so many different things at once that it needed to pick one specific Trope and stick with it, and I think it would have been a lot more interesting from the start if we knew that these people were racist but also knew that the only person that could save them was a black Time Lord. I also don't like how the doctor singled out the worst of all of them to save instead of somebody like Ricky September and then pretty much knew that Lindy had murdered him but didn't really do anything about it and even repeatedly offered to save her with no punishment for what she had done. But the ultimate villain being the dot and the Doctor realizing that they had suddenly gained sentience and grew to hate the racists seem like a real cheap use of the doctors abilities of deduction because they came out of nowhere, and it doesn't even remotely explain where the worms came from and how they were in conjunction with the dots. But the worst most nonsensical part of the whole entire episode was the fact that the dots could simply just Propel themselves through the brains of their users and kill them instantly but Russell T Davies instead came up with a really weird unexplained convoluted plot point with the worms devouring them instead and apparently no one could hear all the screams of everyone around them that were being eaten or even looked at their peripheral vision, which opens up a whole new other set of issues with this episode. Mainly, what kind of influencer only cares about a profile pic when the vast majority of them are shown doing something to show off their talent or their clothes or their food or where they're traveling, and apparently only Ricky September did something like this.

I think the reason the dots went so far as to use the slugs to kill the people of finetime and the homeworld was due to as the Doctor speculates “it learned to hate you” Sure the dots could just propel themselves into a person’s head and be done with it, but that would be quick and the people wouldn’t suffer. The slugs eating and digesting the people is a more painful and drawn out process. The dot wants these people dead, but more than that, it wants them to suffer

Addiction? Lmao. This episode was pretty much entirely about racism

@@cfor8129 social media/screen addiction?

In my opinion, it all blended together very well. Good sci-fi should always tackle a multitude of issues, in my eyes. Also the Doctor was very much not passive. He saved quite a few people, even without any access to the town. Shows his initiative and thoughtfulness at the top of its game.

@@MrGreaves he saved? they went to die in the end he didn't save anyone

​@bahadirozer you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The doctor isn't a god he can't save people who don't want to be saved, and as far as I remember, he never has saved anyone who didn't want to be saved. He did everything he could to save them while they cooperated, but what was he meant to do when they rejected him? Knock them out and drag them into the tardis by force?

How are they monsters exactly? swap the races and have all black people and youd be crying.

To be honest the moment Doctor offered to save them, I actually kinda hoped whe would be a secondary companion. Like this would have been actually really sick plotline to have, especially as at some point I would imagine her bigotry and murder would have came out, leaving Doctor equally devastated and disappointed (infuriated). But at the same time - this was a satisfying ending and obviously we have no time for more companions with Ruby fully needed whole time slot for her storyline.

Yes! Sorry I’m not too well-researched on this stuff (history was never my strong suit) so I omitted further discussion for fear I’d say something wrong and make a fool of myself haha

@@MrGreaves Oh no no no worries, I just wanted to contribute to the conversation as I thought it was interesting with the added context of the sub-continent , great video!

You are not. It's not that good

I don’t agree with the idea that black people escaped early and the Finetime people will invade. My impression is these people are the last on that planet. The only survivors, talking about taming the wilderness. Which is a laugh because these spoiled children won’t have any of the skills to survive without technology.

Really? Damn, I loved it (as you know from my review). I think although it’s probably just RTD virtue signalling as per usual, it was a great sci-fi tale with a killer twist at the end. And though I know trivialising racism to be an “ending twist” sounds bad, I think it also retroactively makes the whole story super powerful. And I’m not sure if racism needs to be majorly layered. Sometimes people just have a bias or hatred towards other people that’s stronger than all of their other feelings and impulses. I’ve definitely encountered one or two people like that. Either way, sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this one. Hope the next season is more of the Doctor Who that you love - as I hope it is for me, as I too love Ncuti and feel like he’s being shafted a bit.

I’ve been corrected on this front by like 50 other comments. I appreciate the criticism but damn am I tired of reading this comment lmao. Appreciate the compliment all the same :)

Huh.. that is interesting. Maybe it is the fantasy vs sci-fi element that I mentioned? Not sure. I still liked 73 Yards though! Admittedly nowhere near as much as Dot and Bubble but..

Yeah, I noticed it as well (and I'm also one of those people who didn't really vibe with 73 Yards while absolutely loving Dot and Bubble). I personally think that it's not only the sci-fi vs fantasy elements, though that might be part of it.. But also, the way the script was structured and how the ending "twist" was handled. Unlike last week's episode, the ending wasn't ambiguous and confusing at all imo. While the episode still preserved some mystery and left a few things up for discussion/interpretation (as any good DW episode should do imo), it was much better paced and executed imo. E.g. I honestly wasn't too bothered not to find out more about the monsters and their connection to the Dot. Unlike 73 Yards, where finding out more about the Woman felt crucial to understanding the overall plot and messaging of the episode (esp considering the twist at the end), in Dot and Bubble, the monsters were more of a plot device. I was totally fine with just accepting the Doctor's explanation of why/how they were created. Would it have been cool to know more about them? Sure. But did not knowing bother me or hinder my understanding of the episode or my enjoyment of it? Not at all. Can't say the same about 73 Yards, where even the people who actually enjoyed it, seem to have entirely different interpretations of what actually happened and why. So yeah, I think that viewers like me, who dislike ambiguity when it comes to major plot points, probably didn't vibe with 73 Yards; yet, the fantastic pacing, build-up, messaging and overall themes of Dot and Bubble, made it much easier for them to follow and like. And just to clarify, it's not that I need to have ALL the answers, or that I need them handed to me on a silver platter or spelt out; in fact, Dot and Bubble proves that I do enjoy episodes that require some thinking and analysis to fully understand. I just didn't enjoy 73 Yards having NO clear point or explanation, and requiring much more of a "jumping to conclusions" type of thinking overall.. Especially since it was also basically undone at the end, which made the entire story feel even more pointless imo.

@@micron000 This is maybe the best summary I’ve seen for why 73 Yards doesn’t quite work (at least for me, and I guess everyone else it didn’t work for).

@@micron000 wow thank you for such a thorough and thoughtful comment. I agree with you, absolutely.

​@@MrGreaves Lol thank you :) To be fair, there were things I also liked about 73 Yards, such as the visuals/direction, or Millie's acting.. But the script just felt really rushed and not actually coherent. The episode was simply trying to do too much, which caused the pacing to feel a bit off (it might have worked better as a 2-parter in this regard imo); and it just left too many open questions overall, even regardless of the "loose threads" left by the twist ending (Meaning, it wasn't just needing to know more about The Woman and what she actually said, or not having clarity on what happens with Gwilliam now that the timeline was fixed; but also, why did the Doctor even disappear? Why would the TARDIS lock Ruby out? Who made the fairy circle in the first place? etc). But yeah, after spending a week thinking and chatting about it with quite a few people, I do think that the overall confusion and ambiguity was the main issue for a lot of viewers who didn't like it. There's literally no definitive explanation for how Mad Jack was even created or what it is (some people say it's just a nickname referring to Gwilliam, others, think that it's an entity who took over him and used him, or the personalisation of some hex or curse), and there's no real explanation for how exactly older-Ruby was The Woman (like, it can't just be simple time travel shenanigans, because, then she wouldn't have these "powers" of being able to teleport, make people run away, being seemingly immortal etc; plus they're also played by different actresses). The twist just felt like drama for the sake of drama, it didn't make actual sense within the narrative and was left entirely unexplained. And personally I found that trying to work it out, when it's been left SO open for interpretation, just made it exhausting rather than fun lol. The loose ends left by Dot and Bubble, however, were very minor details in comparison. The "twist" was very well established and built up to, as long as you know where to look, and the final message was very clear once you put your mind to reading it. It was the kind of episode that I do find fun to theorise about and analyse, which I feel is a sentiment echoed by a lot of the folks who didn't vibe with 73 Yards :)

It is very unfortunate to see… Certain politicians have for sure corrupted a vast majority of the country. Glad you stand out from the crowd ❤️

we all wish 😂

Yessssss. Great comment! It baffles me how volatile opinions can be these days. It’s like no one knows what opinion even means! But I would say that if you’re opinion is “black people are bad” then you probably should be turned in haha

The question is where would such an opinion come from ? Who raised them to hate like this? It is hard to have such opinions if you have wonderful friends and colleagues from diverse cultures. I think there's much more to this story. I don't know if we will get the answers in future episodes or be left to wonder what made this society. Incidentally I think it is normal to be unhappy with every new Doctor, it isn't that you hate them but more that you liked the old Doctor so much you didn't want a new one but you have to give them a chance to develop and grow on you. It's a shame that some people won't even try.

Thank you so much! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the videos and glad to have you here! ❤️

That’s a better idea of that the G.A was than mine. I agree that it’s possible Ricky was racist.. but reading the text of the episode, he was well educated on history and wasn’t part of the “bubble” that enforced everyone else’s opinions. He was also thrown under the bus and killed by Lindy, which could’ve just been a character moment for her… but I think is more reflective of how the conservatives want to get rid of the liberals, you know? He was kind to the Doctor in their interaction, even mildly flirting, and was more concerned about the general well-being of others than his own safety.

@@MrGreaves I think we will never know about Ricky, and that's kind of part of the point, possibly, but liberals are not free from racist ideas. What kind of history is Ricky reading? Does he have access to books that weren't approved by the system? (The system, even if it doesn't like the inane chatter, would have learned bigotry also.) He may have been able to think beyond that. We'll never know. Gothic Paul was aware enough to notice people were going missing.

@@HuntingViolets I know I was just generalising. Yeah, I personally like that we’ll never see outside of Lindy’s bubble to know whether or not Ricky or anyone else wasn’t a racist.. but going off of what is presented by the episode, I like to at least hope Ricky wasn’t racist. It’s presented (at least to me) that he isn’t. But again, we’ll never know. And I agree, that’s the point. All you can do is hope that these people close to you aren’t actually bigots.

Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the episode and the review! I agree. I’m learning more and more about the episode the more I hear and see about it, like all great pieces of art. And hell yeah, this one definitely strikes an emotional chord I can’t quite explain. Maybe my 10/10 was a bit hasty, but this episode had me so engrossed and emotional and excited.. in a way I can’t describe. Genuinely, after 3 watches with a very instinctive love, I’m solid that this is one of the all time greats. I’m sure I’ll be rewatching this one over the years, much like all my other favourite Who episodes!

I just found it to be a very clever and fun episode, with some great emotional backing. Completely agree about it feeling like a classic Doctor Who episode. Quite surprised that you missed the racism to be honest! But hey, at least you know now :P

@@MrGreaves IKR! The racism just went right over my head. i just assumed it was an "other" moment, rather than a skin colour thing. Great review

@@aliservan7188 To be fair, I thought that was where it was going at first… and then I sorta clocked the all-white cast, certain comments and Ncuti’s reaction. Awesome stuff. Thank you for the kind words friend ❤️

@@MrGreaves i didnt even register the all white cast until the reveal and then i was like oh damn

me too!

Interesting… How so? I must say, I’m really hoping the Cybermen are in Season 2. Hope they’re handled with some much needed respect.

@@MrGreavesmaybe not the cybermen specifically but it could work with them. This episode felt like a precursor to a future story, not because it was incomplete but because it introduced ideas that could be expanded upon in the future. Imagine a group of young, privileged racists who believe survival is their birthright, yet they struggle to survive and end up almost dying out. So they take any measures necessary to survive. Or perhaps they’re approached by some yet unnamed big bad who offers them salvation in exchange for servitude. It just seems like these people could end up as cybermen or something Toclafane adjacent.

​@@unclekarl5219 I'm not really sure about that, but you're not that far. Cybermen are build in a mean to survive. They question how far are we willing to go to overcome nature and our own mortality to keep on living, even at the cost of our humanity. The Daleks, in another hand... They are the embodiment of hatred and racism. Anything that isn't a Dalek is inferior, in their views. They just call everything "pest" and are willing to exterminate anybody different from them. As could Rusty says : "They would be good Daleks."

@@unclekarl5219 this is incredibly smart and you should be a future writer for the show. you’ve just NAILED the Cybermen in a paragraph about a hypothetical sequel to Dot and Bubble.

@@MrGreaves lol I don’t know about that, just that these characters would make a great group for a future villain’s minions. Thank you, though

I'm surprised anyone who grew up watching Classic Who is still alive tbh

@@Ilikefrogs..not to mention that the show has been “woke” basically since its inception, yet only now they have an issue with it lmao

I think some part of you does care what people look like if you can’t manage a story that features racial discrimination because it’s “PC crap”. Maybe the problem is you and not the BBC?

Translation: "Wah, I'm a white sci-fan and everything isn't about me and people who look like me anymore!!" Just say you're a racist and go.

And by the way, the whole purpose of sci-fi is to discuss politics, gender, and racial issues through a different lens, which shows like Doctor Who, Twilight Zone, and the Outer Limits have been doing since they began. That should be obvious to anyone who knows anything about their original creators and those creators political views. If you've consumed 50 years worth of sci-fi programming and haven't picked on ANYTHING it was meant to teach you, you're a disappointment to everyone who has worked towards creating it.

@@MrGreaves No, the problem is people who say 'I think' as though that's an important point, people who seem to think they know what a complete stranger's point of view is, people who make personal comments rather than address an issue, and pretty much everything you have said in your response. Racism exists, we know. It doesn't exist to the extent that it used to, progress has been made over decades. Some of us were alive when Martin Luther King was still with us. Now, political correctness is making everything go backwards. This episode was racist to it's core. White people bad. That's racist.

@@glerp10000000000 We literally live in an age where political standpoints are "we don't want to see many non-white people in this country". Racism might not be as integrated into society but it's still as relevant as it ever was, and tackling that issue on TV is not "political correctness gone mad". And also, to my understanding, there are literally 2 white people in the episode who are not racist and are literally the good guys. But the episode is also commenting on imperialism and colonialism, so of course white people are THE racists. That isn't racist towards white people? I don't think Doctor Who is always perfect at representing people from varying groups, and it definitely has the capacity to be patronising and belittling to certain groups, but to call this episode "woke, PC garbage" is genuinely baffling to me. You also assumed the entire intention of my comment as a definitive reading, while commenting on my use of the words "I think" which was literally put in place to be speculative... At least I dare to infer and have original thoughts, rather than copy and mirror the bile that's spread by idiots like Bowlestrek and co. Anyway, I'm highly doubtful that you'll read all of this - let alone respond to it - but please know that this channel is not for people like you. I for one do not care what your skin colour, sex or sexuality is and never will I ever. This channel is open to all except those who accept that. Feel free to slam the door on your way out :)

Thank you for this comment ^ I was actually pronouncing his name with a silent N before, but saw in a recent interview with Ncuti that the N in his name should be pronounced. If you want to know which video it is, I believe it’s the custard cream interview on the Official Doctor Who RU-vid Channel btw :D

I don’t disagree with you exactly. I wish Lindy would’ve received a good old smack. But I think realistically, these situations don’t go like that. I think it’s very important to show how hopeless and helpless people can be when put under this abuse. I had someone abusing me the other day, calling me a f****t and whatnot (and I’m not even gay, I just have long hair for a guy) and I was just so taken aback and terrified that I just had to stand there and wait for my friends to come back. I also think it’s very in-character for the Doctor to still try and help them out. I think it makes his character a lot stronger, as he is always giving villains multiple chances to redeem themselves and such… I also think he just desperately wanted these people to break away from their ideology - even a little bit. But sadly wasn’t the case.

The Doctor is a grown up. He can defend himself and Ruby has no right to be offended on his behalf, she can just be ashamed and that's exactly what she was. It's probably even "common" to here because she was raised by black women. Eric, the (space) baby, was ... well a (space) baby. And more importantly, he said he was about to face the monster because of Ruby's influence. She acted because he was a vulnerable (space) baby, but also took responsability for putting Eric in this dangerous situation.

I wasn't a huge fan of that either.