Space Babies - Doctor Who review 

A playlist of videos covering the issues with the BBC and transphobic reporting: ru-vid.com/group/PLmWFOeT2jEofVIDW9X3OL7GqWuX3Dxopu

They JUST encountered creatures who eat Human babies in the previous episode! It's been a few hours for Ruby!

I too found it very odd that they made the one baby who always looked like they were on the verge of tears to be the main baby we see

I too was won over by Ruby when she yelled Bogeyman and clanged that pipe. It was the way she didn't even frickin HESITATE. The baby was in danger. Right. BANG. I'm going in. When in a previous scene she'd been screaming in terror at the thing.

The butterfly effects has affected the doctor in the past. Doesn’t anyone even remember Pete?!

Her analogue seems to be Rose (19, blonde, working class, name beginning with R that is also used to delineate a shade of red), but I have to note that that the actress looks facially a lot like Jenna Coleman.

I think the doctor gave ruby a TARDIS key because she was willing to run straight into danger to save Eric and had ideas without listening just to the doctor. She showed him she could be a partner and not a sidekick

the Doctor being like 90% up front with Ruby about his past is a nice

Ncuti doing the "Nobody grows up wrong" monologue had me bawling!Screw all the assholes who doubted him as the Doctor, with that monologue, he Doctored on the same level as the best of them!

I feel like Ruby is a lot more bouncy and high energy than most companions, which pairs really well with Ncuti's manic energy.

Ruby Sunday is a foster child and is part of the system. While I don't think it needs to come back for this episode the lack of services for babies will circle back to her character arc.

One moment I really, really liked, for reasons I'm not entirely sure I can describe, was when 15 asked which year Ruby wanted to go to. Instead of just saying a year, the choice to go one digit at a time was just... I really liked it! I don't know! It's like, I get to see her thought process - "2" okay, not too far into the future... "1", roughly 100 years, I see you... "5" okay not exactly 100 years but "0" a round number, makes sense. And then just seeing her excitement as she says "6," as though it only just occurred to her that she could go SO MUCH FURTHER into the future. Something about that scene just set off all the right signals in my brain, I don't know! That being said, I would have liked to see how 15 would have wiggled his way out of taking her to 2150 considering that's The Dalek Invasion of Earth... (and where he left Susan, interesting...) I also called the bogeyman twist so early, basically as soon as the bogeyman was mentioned lol. It just seemed like the exact sort of thing RTD would do. Speaking of the bogeyman, I really, really liked the scene where he saves it. I feel like the Doctor has been quite passive recently (not 15), and so I was somewhat expecting him to just look on in despair and then get really, really mad - when the theme kicked in and he actually went into the airlock, that was the moment I really started loving the episode. Without that moment, it would probably be like a 5/10 - that single moment elevated it a ton.

Ruby running head first into making noise to save Eric, was the point that made The Doctor decide to give her the Tardis key.

I like the episode but it was a bit too fast passed which ended up confusing me but I did really love the line "nobody is grown up wrong" especially as someone who has autism and was bullied for it

Video idea from this review: Each moment you fell in love with each respective Doctor.

Every time The Doctor said "Space Babies!" it made me smile. He was getting so much enjoyment out of the concept of there being Space Babies.

It felt like a Red Dwarf episode written for a young audience, with even the Bogeyman reminding me of Red Dwarf's vindaloo-monster. So my main gripe would be that I wished they had leaned into the comedy and absurdity even more.

29:20 did you notice in the background that the doctor tries to use the wrench he's holding like a sonic screwdriver to make a noise until he realises it's not his beloved sonic?

I think the reason the political point was hit so hard is because writers have observed how low media literacy is these days, and it's the only way for certain people to not miss it. I hate that that's where we are, but I think that's where we are.

Church on Ruby Road is the analog to Rose, Space Babies is the analog to The End of the World, the second Eccleston episode. Church on Ruby Road was our proper introduction to the 15th Doctor and the emotional themes of the season. Space Babies is the “now let’s have some fun with the premise” episode, just like The End of the World. We even get a repeat of the soniced phone to call home and a scene marveling over a view of a beautiful planet from a space station. I think the most important aspect of this is that it’s giving us the ethos of the show at this point: It’s a focus on stories as magic come to life. The Giggle and Church on Ruby Road (especially Church on Ruby Road) both lean into magical realism and this episode basically says it out loud that this is the realm we’re in now. Frankly I loved it.

I was surprised neither you nor Jesseie mentioned the best scene to me. Where the Doctor and Captain Poppy were talking, and she asked if they were born wrong. We adopted my older son when he was 10 months old. This was a topic of conversation my wife and I had with him from time to time and again when he came out a few years ago. He will be 21 in a couple of weeks. I told him I wish I had RTD to write my dialog for those, and he told me his mom I did juat fine on our own.

It’s the bogeyman. No, it’s snot. I’ll get my coat.

First of all i actually really appreciate you doing individual reviews for the episodes instead of both together cause it gives it a clean focus on the specific episode you want to talk about without them getting bundled and merged so i must thank you for doing this. I had a good time with this episode and honestly its possible getting new Doctor Who might have impaired my judgment a little bit but i will always say i like to enjoy episodes instead of picking at every little thing and moaning about everything like other channels do (not including the outrage channels). I also like how the Doctor got the basic things out of the way first like updating the mobile phone, the bigger on the inside explanation and all those bits cause even though im a old viewer i think its good to re-establish those tropes for any new viewers that might be joining on with this new Doctor. Speaking of the Doctor, Ncuti has so much energy here and i absolutely love it and seeing his smile throughout the episode is a little contagious like when hes on screen having a good time the energy to me makes the episode feel a little more fun and his chemistry with Ruby makes it even better. The Space babies themselves are a little strange but im here for it and the reason they are running the ship along with the nanny is a little sad since everyone abandoned them but they are lovely characters. I think this episode is good but nothing outstanding but its fun and i had a good time with it and while i like the second episode more i still found this episode fun and thats all i need

Throughout the episode, I was distracted thinking what an absolute nightmare the set must have been. ...human children aren't my favourite thing in the world.

Your reviews the ones I've waited on the most especially with the ruby stuff having echoes of past companions 😅

Thanks, Vera. Yes, even as a 12-14 year old, the Pertwee era was _loaded_ with political commentary and I _noticed_ it! That went on for decades after as well, and it was spot-on.

BIG AGREE on talking babies. I think it would have been 100x better if the babies had some tech to speak their thoughts - which still would have been super dumb - but anything to get rid of the mouths. Also RECAST the main baby for a baby that doesn’t look confused. It would be easy enough to keep filming u til you get a take where a baby looks happy and content when it says “I love you”. There were many babies no need to focus on 2 of them only like they did.

Baby Geniuses IN SPACE! I think the one thing I would change about this episode is that to avoid uncanny valley Baby Geniuses effect, they could've easily changed the space station into a space kindergarten/nursery where the crew were played by six-year-olds. The baby farm could still be there to make a point.

I think Ruby’s line about it not being strange was more about the fact she was abandoned as a baby and her adopted mother is a foster mother so she’s seen the ways a child could be let down but I agree it was made at the wrong time

I think the abortion/childcare metaphor carried on throughout the episode beyond that one moment. Specifically I think Jocelyn was supposed to represent the childcare system - she's doing her best but flawed especially since she has also been abandoned by the government (who give less than minimal funding for childcare systems). And when the Doctor said the Bogeyman "is one of the babies" I thought maybe it's supposed to represent kids who are basically abandoned even by the childcare system and demonised by society as troublemakers. However, I feel like social commentary like this belongs in an episode with a more serious tone. The trampling of reproductive rights and the failure to look after guardian-less children are very serious issues and putting them in an episode with such a jokey light-hearted feel kinda feels like if they had made Oxygen (which you brought up, and is one of my favourites) a light-hearted jokey episode. No matter how well written the episode and commentary could still be, the tone still wouldn't match the themes and the episode would be lesser for it. In my mind that alone drags this episode down a lot.

I’m so glad both episodes became available at the same time. Really didn’t like space babies but the devil’s chord was great, so would’ve been a long and nervy wait for episode 2

While I enjoyed Gatwa in the special, he really convinced me in this episode. His early line of "There are no monsters, only creatures I haven't met yet" is a great ethos to see him having, especially after Chibnall's less emaphetic take with a lot of Whittaker's Doctor.

I want to be brief. I did not like this episode. This was a sub par episode at best and they chose this to introduce an entire new audience to Doctor Who. You could make the argument that those who stuck around for episode two, will probably stay till the end, but Space Babies as a season opener was an odd choice to say the least.

I was *just* refreshing your channel waiting for this, amazing timing, can't wait to hear your thoughts. Edit: Yeah that's pretty much my thoughts on the episode, not amazing but honestly better than I expected given the title and premise. Even if you can't get past the talking babies, Ncuti and Millie are so enjoyable to watch in their parts that it carries the whole thing. I do think it's pretty funny that I seem to be the only person in the world who wasn't really bothered by the mouth effect though, not sure why.

I feel sometimes people forget not every episode can be heaven sent or blink or the giggle. It’s space babies, babies space. It’s funny and cute and that’s ok

This a grounded (bit campy) episode (very New Earth-esque to me). It gets me to click with Gatwa's 15 well and his chemistry with Ruby Sunday. It gets their dynamic going from the start (goofy cold open with the Butterfly Effect btw) but their interaction with the Gran-E and the Space Babies is wholesome. We've seen computers and machines interpret something 'wrong' before (Smile, Face of Evil etc.) but it was a fairytale touch. Overall: 7/10

25:30 - Not "almost" from the beginning. Make it FROM THE BEGINNING, because Doctor Who was political since the very first story. You have a clan of cavemen with one caveman being the leader, but another caveman is jealous because he wants to be the leader. And he even murders another character and blames it on the first one to have him cancelled. Doctor Who was political from the very beginning.

ngl I interpretted the "butterfly compensation switch" as a joke on the Doctor's part just so she doesn't ask further. 'course if it actually ever comes up again i'll be wrong there.

I actually liked Space Babies. I've seen a lot of people hating on it, but I thought it was a pretty decent story with some strong emotional moments and excellent performances. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson are great together.

I liked this episode, it is enjoyable though The Devil's Chord is definitely the better of these first two episodes! Also one of my favourite aspects of this episode was the "Nanny Filter" filtering out any swearing, that was genuinely so funny!

I loved that the Doctor kept saying 'babies' and then immediately correcting himself to say 'space babies', simply because he clearly thinks 'space babies' is more fun.

Regarding political messaging in the Jon Pertwee era, I vividly remember the Doctor telling Sarah Jane to "sort out" the queen of the planet Peladon, which she interprets to mean, teach her about feminism, to build up her confidence. Its a weird, and almost dismissive line, but his hearts were in the right place.

As a Doctor Who viewer who started in 2005, I have mixed feelings about this episode. I have no issues with Space Babies as a concept, and I thought it was a really fun idea. But the CGI mouth movements really pulled me out of the episode, and once my attention was drawn to it the more distracting it felt. Telepathy would have been a much better choice in my opinion. Ncuti's excitement and joy is great throughout the episode, I love his interaction with the babies, and I loved the interaction between him and Millie. The only thing that grated on me was the amount of times 'Space Babies' was said. It was OK the first few times, and then I was like, "OK, I get it RTD. They're babies and they're in space... And that's the episodes title... Very clever..." I liked the mystery box element, even if it did give faint echoes of the fake Amy storyline. I liked the Bogeyman as a monster, although Im not too sure the resolution of it being locked away forever is the perfect ending for it. Overall, it was OK. Not the best story wise, but the bit that really shines is setting up The Doctor and Ruby's relationship...

The CGI babies were terrible, the pacing of the episode was all over the damn place, the monster started off awesome with it's kickass design and roar, but then it's ruined by being revealed as a silly "snot monster". It felt like a stupid Cbeebies episode, and not a good beginning for a new series. Devil's Chord was much better, and hopefully the rest of the series is too.

"Eh" is how i can describe this episode. That and also "gross" and not fun gross, just gross gross.

I interpreted the tardis key rush as purposeful, like he was gonna wait but he saw her fight so fiercely for those who were in trouble and couldn't help themselves, and on top of that she was on the same page immediately about saving the boogie man

Honestly surprised there’s been no crazed headlines saying Doctor Who says Free Palestine

she said for food because her last outing with the doctor was literally babies for food, how did every reviewer miss that?

The repetition of "Space Babies" really grated on me by the end, and the "Push the Button" stuff was confused, especially with the knowledge that there may have been a cut scene that set it up. That aside, I found this fine. The toilet humour was a very big "Yup RTD is back wahey" moment, for better or worse.

Personally I really hated the quick lore dump at the start. Yes, I understand it was there to catch up the audience but I feel like we were really robbed of that fun thing Doctor Who does where we see each companion discovering more about the Doctor and the universe in their first proper adventure. There's a lot of really good, free character work you can do in Doctor who by finding out "Okay, what does this companion ask? What do they intuit? How do they react" and you just don't get that with this kind of infodump approach

The refugee biz has a particular resonance in the UK, as we have a law that requires a person to be in the country to claim refugee asylum, but our benighted Government has just passed a law to make it illegal to enter the country to do so. On a lighter note, I really enjoyed all the Alien/Aliens references in the Boogey man chase.

● 15 and Ruby are fun. Love 'em, looking forward to more of them. ● The gag with the butterfly was wholly unexpected and pretty great, but I'm bummed they didn't make her a Silurian. It was an interesting way to show that the baked in rules we're used to are changing. ● The idea of hyper-intelligent babies running a spaceship they've been left to die on its actually incredible, but the execution of that idea is incredibly distressing. Putting them all in strollers - prams - and using unconvincing cgi on there faces felt goofy in a bad way and also slammed the Uncanny Valley button in my brain. ● Nan-E was great. No notes. ● The monster was spooky and scary and then they explained what it was and I hated everything to do with it. Now it's just gross for the sake of gross humor. Great little mystery destroyed by the twist. ● The space babies were so terrified of the monster that even mentioning it sent them into hysterics, but they felt sad for it in the very last few minutes? What? I can see the Doctor and Ruby seeing parallels with themselves and out, but this felt as forced and objectively wrong as telling us to care about mutant man-eating spiders the size of large dogs and a van. It was especially forced for Jocelyn who goes from "it's a threat to my children" to "oh no, what have I become" for no other reason than that the script said so. ● ...how did the Doctor avoid from getting shot into space? I don't think he grabbed on to anything when he was pinned against the airlock, but I could have missed it. I'm not watching this episode _ever_ again, so I can't check. ● I don't generally care for the hyperbolic "my all ages show isn't dark enough, it's for babies now" screaming into the void that some fans do, but cripes did I ever feel that when I saw an inexplicably cheeked up space-station _fart_ it's way to refuge. ----- This is, in my opinion, one of the worst episodes in the entire history of the franchise. It had astonishing potential with fantastic _adult_ actors but immediately threw it in the bin, lit that bin on fire and farted on it. I can see this being a strong start of they hasn't used literal babies, didn't make the monster a pile of literally snot, didn't hit us with the "oh it's also a special snowflake and we love it now" and didn't end on a _fart joke._ I never liked fart jokes to begin with and this felt especially awful given the shaped of the ship. It really does feel like "Babies First Doctor Who" with how it glories in juvenile plot points.

Honestly, I'm worried since this episode is verily similar to the last one: a monster whose name is a pun and eats babies? That's two in a row. Maybe if it was spaced out, but it isn't.

I loved the way Ncuti handled the Gallifrey discussion. It's such a relief to see a post-therapy Doctor be open about things. After watching Thirteen stay emotionally closed off from her companions for SO LONG, it's nice to see the Doctor talk honestly and even bluntly about past events and trauma.

I loved this episode. Some of the pieces individually didn't work for me but they all came together really well. The antagonist felt more like a general lack of empathy rather than any character or creature. All of the problems come from someone not caring or being too afraid to show that they care. And then the Doctor and Ruby show up and save everyone just by being kind to whoever's in front of them, even the Bogeyman. Even the babies being really unsettling with their CG mouths kinda worked for me because it's another parallel between them and the Bogeyman

I think Rubys a brave companion and earned the key. She ran into danger more than once to save the baby, when the doctor wanted her to go to safety she refused not allowing him to go into danger alone, and stopped Nan-e from killing the bogman. She stood out for me more than the doctor that's rare for a companion

I was wary of the rushed exposition and the rushing of the Doctor and Ruby’s relationship in general, but I bought it in the context of these characters. From what we’ve seen of Ruby’s club lifestyle, preexisting relationships, and general characterization, she seems very much like the type of person to go out and make a “new best friend for the night” (ironically something Ncuti just mentioned he does in an interview with Seth Meyers), so I buy that she would instantly form a strong bond with the Doctor. On the Doctor’s end, after a long bout of communication issues with 13 and then getting some healing with 14 and the bi-generation, it makes total sense to me that he would choose to get everything out in the open right away, having learned from his mistakes.

My favourite thing about the Butterfly Effect joke was that it enables the show to explain why time travel DOESN"T regularly have those types of impacts.

I actually really liked how Eric looked constantly worried. I hope you'll forgive the reference, but he very much felt like the Neville Longbottom of the group.

A disabled companion would be incredible. They've even already had a disabled character.

So, maybe not the intent, but these kids never had humans to learn facial expressions from. So, they wouldn't have "normal" facial expressions.

I also noticed the reproductive rights point immediately, but I felt that Ruby’s comment was quick, but poignant enough that it didn’t feel too heavy handed, whereas I did think that the refugee line later was too on the nose despite agreeing. Just my opinion

I honestly half expected when the Doctor says he can never take Ruby to the Church where she was found, for her to beg to just do recon, and then when he says no, she meekly asks to go home.

I just couldn't get over the terribly designed, creepy babies. One of the worst episodes for me because of them and because of the over-explaining this episode did. I'm actually terrified of the rest of the season...

literally every time i see someone say "doctor who was never political before!" i feel the immense urge to force them to watch the green death like 10 times in a row.

FINALLY- I needed to hear your view on this

The only true thing that threw me off about this episode is the babies. Automatically wanting to save the boogie monster. They spent their entire lives afraid of it, and not all of a sudden, it's like yea. He's our friend. 🤷‍♀️ You're going to have to explain something to me!!! You're going to have to make me okay with this and who's taking it home not me!!!.

My thought when the Doctor gave Ruby the key, was that he made a promise to keep her safe. Then if anything happens to him, when the Tardis has to flee to safety, Ruby has a key to get inside for when that happens, thus saving her.

I had such fun with this episode. And I'm with you 100% on how the Doctor talks abt Gallifrey. It reminded me immediately of how I talk abt a painful loss in my life. I recognized it instantly. I'm so impressed with the depth of emotion Ncuti Gatwa already puts into his Doctor. Cannot wait for more.

My general feelings about Space Babies is the same. There were two things that took me out of the Episode. The first is the disconnect between the emotions of the babies and the stuff they are saying. It's not the CGI. I don't tend to notice that. But saying one thing and the Baby portraying it clearly feeling another thing is there and noticeably so. The second thing is a clearly me thing. It's when the Doctor goes to rescue the Bogeyman. He opens the door and lets go and "falls" on the door. That's not how physics work. He would be sucked towards the hole that drags the air out. And here it's portrayed working like mavity. It bothers me, but most people might not notice it. The point I clearly got into Ruby was when she makes clear to the doctor she won't let him wonder of alone. I like her delivery of that scene I liked her characterization. It simply felt good and I learned a lot about her character. I think the episode in general did a good job of characterizing the doctor and Ruby and even Joslyn. It's very effective in that department.

The talking baby effect(s) could have been avoided entirely as it's well established that The Doctor speaks "baby" language. They could have have just said that the TARDIS is now able to translate it for companions as well like it does with nearly every other language and moved on from there.

The line where he talks about Gallifrey being gone completely missed the mark for me, and for one main reason: Ruby asks a really stupid question in order to prompt him for it. She could have asked what it's like on his planet, or whether she could go there, but instead she asks: "Gallifrey? And where's that?" as if she were making smalltalk and isn't really interested in the response.

How did the space station create the boogeyman? Like, are the babies made out of nothing or human embryos? Is the boogeyman part human?

I just wish this didn't feel like fanfiction...

I guess I'm confused about your thoughts on the butterfly effect joke. You said you don't like it, but the TARDIS having a butterfly compensation switch that was off is the payoff of the joke. So if you like the payoff, I guess I don't know how the setup was different. Of course just seeing the setup could mean you don't like it. But altogether I thought it was a fun jab at a common sci Fi joke and also that the TARDIS Regenned so the controls were different. Which we've seen before.

Surprised that you didn't mention that in the end of the episode The Doctor was going to reveal his name to Ruby but gets cut off as the episode ends. Eleven's era was BUILT on him never revealing his name. I mean he literally has an episode called The Name of the Doctor. Also regardless, The Doctor just in general NEVER tells people their name or entertains a conversation surrounding it. But here we have 15 EXPLAINING Gallifreyan naming conventions which as a nerd and a sociologist, I LOVE those kind of miscellaneous bits of lore that most folks overlook. 15 is by far the most open Doctor and I think that's a brillant character trait for his Doctor to be known by. Like you said, Martha had to press Ten about his origins (in series 3 in the episode called Gridlock) after he lied to her about them. Nine is honestly the most closed book Doctor I've ever seen within the main regen line (so excluding the War Doctor and Jo Martin's Doctor). So ultimately I view both 15 handing Ruby the TARDIS key extremely early, telling her the footnotes of his life, and discussing his name and culture so openly as evidence of this Doctor finally being the one that "moves on" so to speak. And that the Doctor is also more comfortable with sharing this with Ruby due to them both being adopted.

Those Babies where audience surrogates, Eric was RTD watching Who as a kid, they where even watching the monster on TV for most of the episode and Ncuti was adorable dealing with them. Also first problem the Doctor solves by healing something, the final thing was sorted with empathy. This was Who distilled to it's essence, at least as RTD sees it.

Jocelyn reminds me of someone… "Where's the crew?" "Teleported off." "But you stayed?" "Someone had to teleport them." "Why you?" "Everyone else was screaming." (Doctor grins) "Welcome aboard!" Gotta love the people who do what's gotta be done in a crisis!

The difference i'm seeing right now between Ruby and Clara is that Clara was a mystery first and a companion second while for Ruby, at least right now, is a companion first and a mysery second. Ruby became a companion before The Doctor realized that there's some greater mystery going on meaning that Ruby gets to prove herself as a companion and as a character while getting to have a greater mystery in the background. With Clara by the time she was finally on board the Tardis we met and saw two versions of her die which The Doctor was hyper focused on and early on she didn't really get to be a character, she didn't really get to prove herself as a character or to the doctor in her first (or third?) episode or first outing for THIS Clara, and that carries over until basically her mystery is resolved and she had to stop being a mystery and start being a character.

I understand why they opened with this one, because RTD wants to lean into the Timeless Child reveal of the Doctor being a foundling and what that means for the character. I agree that the babies were crazy uncanny valley and didnt like them, but there were very solid Doctor moments and Companion moments in this one and that kept it on the north side of "good' for me. Other recurring things you didnt touch on are the Susan Twist cameos and the persistence of the "Mavity" gag

CGI talking babies was never going to work. I kept thinking that they could have something like dummies/pacifiers that could have spoken for them.

Thanks Vera for producing this review, I've been looking forward to it! Your nuanced, well voiced and well thought out comments help a lot in my own processing of the show, regardless of my agreement on specific subjective points. I especially appreciated that you took the time to approach elements of this episode from multiple perspectives and interpretations; Ruby's "not so strange" line and the infodump, in particular.

Honestly I really enjoyed Space Babies, it was nonsensical science fiction/fantasy type of episode that I was absolutely on board with. The episode commits to the idea and doesn’t shy away from the morality of the concept of genetically engineered babies being abandoned in space by the crews. And I adored Ruby and Fifteen’s dynamic here, it has a bounciness (and at the end of the episode a view of equals as partners/friends in space) to it that feels like youthful but with them both having their own unique experiences that matured them so that both characters have the young and mature aspects of them. And it’s more personal moments like the “nobody is born wrong” touch me, so it still gives me something I can relate or appreciate. I do really love your take on the episode despite the differences in taste, because you always phrase and articulate it in ways I understand so I’m excited for Devil’s Chord review just as much as this one was for when the episodes dropped

My biggest dissapointment with the episode is the doctor risks his own life to save the Bogeyman. Claiming he's one of her children as well. But we never see him again. I was hoping he'd hang out with the kiddos and they wouldn't be scared anymore. What happened to him?

So was the Settings in 14's TARDIS also the same? A possible "serious" reason/explanation for "Mavity"?

The immigration one was a direct reference to boats from France coming over to England with immigrants. The current conservative government has been using it to prop up their campaign with slogans like "Stop the boats".

The biggest thing that got me really is the speedrunning - especially given that, and although I know you’re not talking about it in this video but, the next episode has a 7 month gap between this episode - it feels like they’re trying to fast forward their relationship to a point where they’re already in a pre-established relationship as opposed to letting them discover each other on screen. Part of my favourite aspect of getting a new companion is seeing the companion discover the Doctor, and the universe as a whole. It’s very true that, after a while, the companions almost seem to get jaded by travelling, that they take it for granted like anyone else would after you’ve done it so much. You get less impressed by a massive planet in front of your eyes after it’s the 7th one you’ve seen this week, y’know?

I didn't mind the line about "not that odd" because I thought the same thing at the same time. Roomie and I were jokingly going "I wonder if that's a metaphor or something"

I have been waiting for your review with great anticipation so thank you for a great video in advance

a few moments feel al ot like they're rushing through points they think they need to go through with new companions

16:40 It's terrible when you read lips because you are hearing impaired They didn't need the CGI or a band to make them talk, they could have just talked telepathically. "Once their born, screw them."

33:30 I think, in his eyes, she earned the key when she charged into danger to save an innocent (banged on the walls and generally made a lot of noise to save the baby).

I like this episode a lot, and I agree with you that some things were a bit rushed. you can see that this episode was conceived with the idea that it would be seen right after the Christmas episode and not in May, I have yet to see it again but I'm convinced that by watching both the Christmas episode and this one in a row, the latter comes out better

Pft. Just dress up an old computer mouse until you get the new screwdriver in.

i agree with what you had to say on RTD openers. this is fairly standard for them.

To your point of 'hammering the issue a bit too hard,' this is a point I've struggled to put into words myself. I am 100% for political allegory, but in my mind it loses so much when the writers take that next step from allegory to like "when we say this, this is actually what we are referencing." As if they have zero faith that their audience is sophisticated enough to pick up on it.

Throughout the whole episode, I was thinking that it would've been better if the space babies were non-human because of that mismatch between the facial expression and the lines being read. The telepathic headband idea as a possible solution is interesting, but I don't know if that would've worked any better. The faces still wouldn't match what was being said.

I also really like the follow-up to the butterfly effect joke. Because they are TIME lords. Right? It's implies that time is way more messy and complicated without time lords there to bring "order" to the universe.

I've got to admit I'm kind of embarrassed by this episode, I think it leans into a lot of the biases that people who won't watch Doctor Who have about the show in a bad way. As for Gatwa's reaction to the question about Gallifrey, it feels very real, and it's worth remembering that it probably came from a real place as a survivor of a genocide, who would have grown up with a family with that trauma.

I recently rewatched The Curse of Peladon, an old favourite of mine, and was shocked to notice how obvious the "we should actually join the EU" (well, not the EU yet, but you know) messaging was lol