Took Them Long Enough… (Rogue Review) 

New writers that immediately jump in, lay down and prove the fact that they get what a basic doctor who episode is just amazing. Please please please come back to write again!

This episode had an (extended) family of blood feel to it's villains

honestly if you swap the devils chord with rogue the whole season feels more natural.

I so relate to being distracted by the hologram Doctor faces, the first time I was purely focusing on trying to recognise all of them, then after the episode I had to go back to confirm that I wasn't imagining Richard E Grant, and THEN a third time to actually listen to the dialogue.

This is what’s annoying about it only being an 8 episode season. A couple more episodes like this dotted in between the out-of-format episodes would really allow the series to breathe and only strengthen 15 and ruby’s chemistry more and allow the unconventional episodes to stand out

if/when something tragic but non-death happens to ruby I will immediately shout "WELL THAT'S ALRIGHT THEN" at my screen probably after i spend a few minutes sobbing tbf, but still

While “Rogue” doesn’t jump into my Top Who Episodes, it’s proper Doctor Who fun and definitely one I see myself revisiting mostly because it feels like classic RTD-era flavor from start to finish. It’s wild that it feels so fresh when it’s really just going back to formula, but it just speaks to the strength of that formula. When you’re not trying to break the mould with the plot, you really get to focus on fun characters and interesting dynamics. “Rogue” also does some interesting light exploration into cosplay and role play, and the differences between what the Doctor/Companions do, what Rogue does, and what the Chuldur do: the Doctor is about living and having fun, Rogue is about survival, and the Chuldur are about consuming in feverish hunger. “Rogue” is absolutely a worthy addition to the canon

I know what you mean about it feeling like normal Doctor Who again. By this point I'm so attuned to what an RTD/Moffat/Chibnall script sounds like that it's refreshing to go into an episode without that baggage. It felt like being a kid again - that's not to say it was necessarily an amazing episode - but there was a real sense of possibility.

I really liked the character choices that were made for Roge because it felt very inline with the doctor’s type (mainly thinking of river). They are able to look after the doctor and act more as an equal like when Roge says run or River corrects the doctor on flying the TARDIS, also the doctor being more vulnerable with there past in a more emotional way instead of just stating what happened is very inline with 10’s relationship with rose. OH and they all have R names. I could probably think of more if I look more into it.

I’m not really a Doctor having romances fan, but I realised that was a losing opinion a while ago and if it’s going to happen I thought that the chemistry between him and Rogue was incredible and would love to see Rogue as a character who comes in for a couple episodes every so often.

i also loved how they made it a reference to bridgerton but immediately displayed the classism accurately in a way that bridgerton never does

It's alright, its no Space Babies though.

I also really REALLY love this episode as an exploration of 15’s impulsiveness? Like on one hand we have him meeting, flirting and falling a little bit in love with Rogue in less that 45 mins. 15 is so cheeky and warm and just invites this handsome guy on the TARDIS like it’s the most natural thing in the world. His life moves fast and he’s following his heart - it’s lovely! But then on the other hand it’s the Doctor who all but dooms that new relationship (not to mention almost his own best friend) before it’s even started. He doesn’t stop to think or even make sure what he’s seeing is true - he just jumps straight to ‘revenge’ and pays the sad, tragic price. I just love that if fifteen wasn’t so impulsive maybe he wouldn’t have let himself open up and make room for rogue - but also if he’d taken some time to think maybe he’d have seen through Ruby’s ruse and gotten to have his ‘happily ever after’ (at least for now)

The two goats 12 & 9 placed together in the hologram was amazing

i love your insight on doctor who :) its so refreshing to see someone just ramble out real full thoughts about it rather than nitpicking and complaining about every little thing

Such a simple refreshing fun episode . It felt verry nostalgic, loved it

I actually love the romance in this episode. The satire of Bridgeton rhetoric and drama, the big fun "scandalous" scene that the doctor and rogue created that turned into something personally genuine to the doctor, and despite his nodded return, the beautiful Casablanca's act Rogue made. This is more than just a lovely dovey cheesy romance with some basic tragedy, it's more intricate than that.

I suspect the shorter runs will cause problems for larger story arc, making them harder to disguise.

IT'S GAY TIME BABY A PRIDE MONTH WIN

I thought showing no TARDIS Arrival Scene was absolutely crucial for the timing and pacing of this episode

Perfect release timing honestly given the month 😂

I love that they brought Indira back (she was Susie in Torchwood)

In fairness. Adding John Hurt was actually the first time they said "Oh there could be other doctors all over the place". Do chibal wasnt the first to do it. Just the most flagrant.

I need rouge back asap. Just in one episode the chemistry was off the charts

I have no clue why this episode wasn't earlier on. Like swap this with devils cord, and I feel like the season would have followed so much better Also, the Richard E Grant cameo fully confirms that the argument of "you can't reference EU material because the general audience won't get it" is stupid.

It’s funny that some people clocked the “battle mode” line as foreshadowing because I just thought it was a bit of Moffat-style comedy😅 (honestly I loved it as a simple joke, when it came back it was just like “oh that’s cool”)

I definitely agree we need more episodes, but I don’t think Disney is very interested in that :(

Felt like this episode is definetly hiding a lot in plain sight, as on a second watch, I feel like the romance is a complete lie on the side of Rogue. He recognises the Doctor is into him, which is apparent almost immediately, and he just runs with it. I feel like, like a lot of other theories, his "boss" is the same as the Meeps as you can see his whole character shifts when Tennant's face appears. I mean, showing your past faces is not a good way to prove you are not a SHAPESHIFTER ffs. Before that moment I think Rogue is perhaps a little enamoured with him, and a little charmed, but after that precise moment he goes all lovey dovey (which I loved, and I really hope that there's a shred of truth to it all) and about 4 or 5 lines later he literally says "I'm in love". It's only after Tennant's face turns up he starts flirting and properly lets his walls down. I think Rogue is coming back and I think there's going to be a betrayal.

Honestly i thought that ruby did actually die for a second there, She's already died twice this season. It was the lack of snow that made me question it

Finally, Joe's review is out!

Good to see that you are enjoying this season almost as much as I am

I feel like this should’ve been a two parter. IMO the pacing seeing strange and the romance was a bit underdeveloped, and a two parter might’ve fixed that. I feel like Rogue as an equal to the Doctor was a great idea, that unfortunately was not expanded enough. Still, I can’t call this episode bad, just weaker overall, especially after the last 3 amazing episodes.

I do feel that in the Doctors moment of impluse, pushing upon darkness, believing he had lost Ruby to the bird people was a perfect opportunity to lean a bit more into the ‘Wrath of the Timelord’, to give this season a moment that reminds us of why the Doctor is such a force to be reckoned with, and the last person in the universe to be crossed like we have seen so perfectly before. Something I feel is lacking in this season is the doctors ‘presence’ in a lot of the episodes, while still very good, I would love to see more centre stage moments where we are shown that he is the person in the room we should be listening to, that we should respect and fear his demonstrations of wisdom and intelligence all at the same time as he exhibits his ‘cocky confidence’ In ultimately having the upper hand.

Excellent analysis, I love that they’re experimenting but subversion of the format won’t land without establishing expectations. Now, let’s just hope Jonathan Groff becomes a regular! Considering his unique level of talent we could have another Lucy Saxon level performance 👍

Loved this episode but having Geoff, Bridgerton and fun bird-alien villains was practically going to guarantee that for me. Ncuti was phenomenal in this one. Such sparkling dialogue between Rogue and him, I really hope he returns!

Loved this complex review, subbed for sure. “Bird dimension” lol. We do need Jonathon Groff back, looking forward to that. Yes, more eps would be way way better!

Happy birthday, Lucas! Good episode. I liked it a lot. I think this would be a good “show an episode to someone to tell them what Doctor Who is like” episode. Like a lot of people used to use Blink.

Rogue was great, both the episode and the character, but I really wish it had been a two-parter. (although of course the season length wouldn't allow for that) The romance between Rogue and The Doctor felt rather rushed to me, where if it had an extra episode for them to get to know each other it would work a little better, instead of them being in love with each other after maybe two hours of knowing each other. I also think the shapeshifter aliens, while they worked very well in the episode, could have used a little more time to be a threat. (Maybe a bit of mystery/horror) Overall, I think what we got was great, but I feel like this story deserved a little more time to breathe.

Couple of thoughts - 1. Could have Richard E Grant been the Great Intelligence that entered his timeline... maybe there is some residue and mingling? 2.With this episode I felt some strong feels to Family of Blood as well as The Empty Child. 3. If the doctor is going to have a romance, I much prefer and in and out type character like River Song or a 1 off attraction than the normal companion like Rose. Part of me really hopes that Rogue comes back but in and out like River Song, over the seasons and over multiple doctors... 4. I was expecting it to be Rose, and I was certain the earrings are what was going saved her - because battle mode was mentioned in the beginning and that seemed like a setup line to me. 5. Earlier I mentioned the The empty Child - And Rogue and The Doctor - were like Jack and the Doctor but flipped (The Doctor seemed more flirtier more Jack like where as Rogue seemed more damaged and broken and withdrawn just the way the Doctor was in the First season of New who.) And it was also the Doctor was off flirting with the offworlder (like Rose did)... 6. To the "floating heads" I was so happy to see Jo Martin with everyone going on how Ncuti is the first black doctor. This shows that Jo Martin is also there as a black doctor. 7. I really feel this season was shown out of the intended order - like perhaps this episode was switched with the Beatles? I am completely loving this season - I wish it was more than 8 episodes.... I really think Ncuti is going to be my favourite doctor of the reboot.... Tom Baker is my Doctor, but Ncuti is going to make me have 2 favourites.

I stand by previous comments about this being the weirdest and most creative season and my really enjoying not knowing what to expect, but I want to add on that it being so weird and constantly trying different styles of story also made it genuinely exciting to get a relatively standard Doctor Who adventure! I dunno if it would stand out this much in any other season, but it feels like a highlight here even though (in my opinion) basically all of the other episodes are great. Really like this one, the villains are a fun twisted concept I could see them doing more with, Rogue is a great character I really hope comes back at some point, and it's nice to see the Doctor and Ruby just having *fun* for most of it, because we haven't had an episode I would describe as 'fun' since Devil's Chord. It can't all be landmines, surreal horror, and space racists or you'd wonder why anyone would keep doing this. My only complaint is that I wish the finale was like, at least two episodes away, preferably four. Loving this season but it's definitely too short.

I’ve loved this season wholeheartedly so far, yes the first or maybe first two episodes were a bit bumpy but the sheer sense of invention and experimentation with the format, with the character, the range of new threats and the themes and topics they’ve explored beneath the Sci Fi fantasy hook have been wonderful. It’s the freshest for me the series has felt since Capaldi and Bill and the most inventive and fun since Moffat’s debut season. That said I feel like the episode order needs a restructure: 1. Space Babies- Classic Jumping on point. 2. Boom- Ruby and The Doctor learn to trust each other, big moment for them right out of the gate. 3. Dot and Bubble- Doctor lite, makes a direct reference to Boom. 4. Devil’s Chord- Feels like a midseason finale, big baddie sets up the season threat. 5. Rogue- With the stakes established we go back to fun and follows on from the doctor’s conversation with Ruby about his granddaughter, (I lost everyone). 6. 73 Yards: Reintroduces Kate and Unit before the finale double, touches on Susan Twist and Ruby’s mystery and also a really unpredictable and suspenseful episode to put right before the two part finale. Feels a bit more organic in this order IMO.

I think the last run of four good episodes was probably series 10's Thin Ice - Knock Knock - Oxygen - Extremis

It's not quite my favourite episode from this season - "Boom" still holds the top spot in my opinion - but I really liked this one. The episode offers a great demonstration of why we desperately need new blood in this show's writing staff, Kate Herron and Briony Redman's script feels so fresh and unique, yet still very familiar and in-line with what we expect with this show. I love the interactions between the Doctor and Rogue, I expected a good deal of sexual tension between the two characters, but I was pleasantly surprised to have them go ahead with them having a full-blown romantic fling; you really get a good grasp on their strong connection, Ncuti Gatwa and Jonathan Groff's chemistry is so delightful, and it really makes me hope the latter will return at some point. Outside of the main pairing, the central story was a little bit boilerplate standard Who fluff, but it was definitely well executed. The villains are suitably goofy and fun, the prosthetics are really well-designed and their performances, particularly Indira Varma, were really enjoyable. And as is expected with the majority of these period pieces, the costumes and production design are just beautifully ornate, while the use of classical variations of Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga pop songs was just delightful. I'll probably need to give it another go to see how it really ranks within the rest of the series, but "Rogue" was a real breath of fresh air after FOUR YEARS of scripts written or co-written by one of the showrunners, and it leaves me hopeful that Herron and Redman will be coming back to the show in the future

I love Doctor who! What a good thing that exists. Episodes have been dropping during my first time in the uk and it has been greatly adding to the experience.

Something that really took me out of this episode is that when the Doctor thinks Ruby is dead, THAT'S the point where he gets all angry and decides he wants the Chuldur to suffer. Not the MINIMUM seven people they mercilessly killed before her? Those people are just part of a silly little mystery, but now the Doctor cares about them being murderers? It honestly makes his indignation at their crimes come across as fickle and trivial. I really dislike Doctor Who's approach to NPC death sometimes, and this episode exemplifies that issue.

We definitely need more new writers for the show, and this episode proved why. I do think we should pull it back to where the showrunner writes like 2 or 3 episodes a season, and then the rest is filled by other writers (especially provided, of course, we get more than just 8 episodes + Christmas per year). I know Mike Flanagan has said that it’d be a dream come true for him to write an episode, and I personally hope that Maxine Alderton comes back for more. Plus, we need to have faith in a potential new showrunner that isn’t RTD, Moffat, or Chibnall, and having that potential new showrunner write some episodes is the best way to judge if they can do it.

Really enjoyed this review, I definitely agree that it’s a shame we don’t have more “filler” episodes, I don’t know if there is an episode this series that I’d just put on during a rainy day when I just wanna watch some comfort DW, every episode has some level of importance, I’ve loved every ep for sure and the series as a whole because I’ve enjoyed the experimentation but I sometimes just wanna chill out and watch an “easy” ep :)

I've been a fan of Jonathan Groff since he was 15 years old; working with him in community theatre, I recognized his extraordinary talent even then. He always delivers and delights. I agree with everything you said in your review -- it's been a strong season and I'm thrilled, but it's wonderful to have a good old fashioned episode like Rogue. I, too, wish the seasons were longer, and hope there is more Whoniverse material coming -- a U.N.I.T. spin-off, please! Thanks, and see you for the 2 part finale! Apparently there's always a twist in the end.

The birds with human teeth reminded me of chicken run, but I don’t mean that badly I thought they looked both silly but great

The season is too short; I can't believe that it's almost over, it justed started. If the season wasn't so short, this episode could have been a two parter and the romance could have been extened a little. I enjoyed it, but I felt it was a little too rushed.

Loved this episode, great to finally see a standard episode of Doctor Who (absolutely should have been swapped with The Devil’s Chord). I’m a huge Jonathan Groff fan so I loved his character and I hope he comes back, my only drawback was that it felt weird that the Doctor was the pursuer in the relationship. I’ve noticed they’ve been making this Doctor much more modern and mainstream to make him relatable to new audiences, but I did feel like it was out of character for him to be pursuing someone romantically right from the start based initially on looks. I did love their chemistry as it developed, but just strange for me to see the Doctor as the romantic aggressor when, as you pointed it, historically they’re usually not thinking about romance and stumble into it or have it thrust upon them

On the shorter season, I think it will feel better when we are into the second season next year, as 9 episodes a year is much preferable to 13 every two years that we had for the last 10 years. The problems come though if they are still treated the same as full seasons; (Ncuti leaving after less than 30 episodes or companions only lasting 10).

Attack of the Bird People!

the final 6 episodes of season 3 and 4 are all top tier episodes. The short length of each episode and of this season is by far my biggest issue. Also would love to see Maxine Alderton write an episode in Ncutis era, she wrote easily the best episode of Jodies era.

The cold open like made me squeal it was just so dcotor who. I really wish ruby was a little more present but the scenes we got were so fun.

fun & thoughtful review!

Honestly, love these reviews. I can put it on like a podcast... oohhh you should just upload the audio to spotify that'd be awesome.

such an incredible episode loved it, im sure theres people talking about how the doctor reacted to rubys "death" with the damn them to eternal hell kinda stuff, i guess its not written by rtd so not necessarily going to be a deep philosophical reaction like rtd has built for the character, personally it makes sense its an appropriate reaction and its not a big deal. (havnt finished the video idk if u talked about it EDIT u did cool ye same)

This was absolutely my favourite episode of the season for all the reasons you outlined. I've enjoyed the season for the most part, but this was the perfect enjoyable, silly romp, and it was actually well-written! Loved Rogue, loved the silliness of the enemy, and the humour/jokes all landed I laughed out loud multiple times. I was getting Girl in the Fireplace and Family of Blood vibes from this episode, and I'm SO here for the romance!!!

Seen the heads scene a few times now, and I still just get distracted imagining the doctor desperately trying to maintain composure to impress hot man/save his own life while a face all evidence could easily suggest he doesn’t remember being floats around in front of him.

I've been really enjoying the season! It's no season 4 or 5, and I wonder if that's in part to missing the middle filler, or maybe the middle 2 parter. Or maybe those series were just way too good :D Loving the videos!

i also couldnt pay attention to what ncuti was saying when the heads were rotating coz richard e grant and i was trying to spot paul mcgann

Great review as always

I knew Ruby was fine because of Kate Steward in the Zygon 2 Parter from Series 9, also in the trailer we saw Ruby hit someone with a book.

On the subject of the smaller number of episodes this series, I agree that I miss the longer runs, but on the flip side, couldn’t you argue that it leads to greater quality overall? Like there’s less chance for filler - not filler in terms of things that don’t push the season arc forward, but rather the kind of filler where they had only 12 good episode ideas and 1 stinker because they had a 13 episode order and had to go with an underwritten, underdeveloped one to fulfil their contract. I do agree though that I feel a bit bereft that we’re getting into the groove of things and we’ve only got two episodes left 😢

my main (possibly only?) gripe with this episode is that it made me feel slightly weird as a cosplayer. its not a big deal and could easily be changed by switching out a couple lines but it felt like a strange choice for a show with such a huge cosplaying community. other than that i loved it :3

My main issue with this episode is that we're back on a Doctor romance plot, which is probably more of a personal preference. Rogue does work much better as a love interest than Rose or Clara.

for me, this entire season has been strong. I thought the devil's chord was great and it only kept getting better from there. Space Babies is the weakest, but it's still a good episode of doctor who

Please, please, please let us have a longer series with more episodes written by other writers.

I quite liked this episode. I think it should have maybe switched places with "The Devil's Chord?" That could have maybe fixed a lot of people's issues with the season's pacing and the dynamic between Ruby and the Doctor. My biggest complaint about the episode is one that I have for a lot of DW, and that's the fact that the Chuldur are built up to be a world-ending threat, when we reeeally don't need every episode to raise the stakes to that height. The Chuldur were killing people and wearing their bodies for entertainment. That's messed up and evil enough without Rogue being like, "If they get out they'll destroy the world!" My brother in Who, just put them in prison. You don't need another dimension for this one lol.

Did you notice Rogue's bir ship is an hommage to the "Lost cities of gold" anime with Esteban, Zia, Tao "Le Grand Condor" from "Les Mysterieuses Citees D'or"

I liked the story. LOVED the chemistry between Gatwa and Groff, jesus christ the tension was off the charts. I'll be honest whilst I've enjoyed conventional Doctor Who before this one isn’t up there with the likes of The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit. But I think that's got something to do with the fact that I don't love the time period or setting.

I respectfully disagree, I think you're viewing this backwards, because this is "season 1" of a new era. If 2004 was the birth of "new who" than this is the birth of "new new who" and what we've seen so far is the standard and this episode is a step backwards to the "new who" format.

I loved this episode, I don't understand the portal not letting her be taken out of but allowing a swap? but i loved the episode. the last couple have also been great but this one was uncomplicated. which is great

I think in the future they should bring back these writers, bring back Jamie Mathieson and/or Toby Whithouse, and at least one totally new writer per season. We need a higher percentage of episodes not written by RTD😅

Yessss, warm blanket, lovely all over. Fave ep yet.

Theres something about this episode that for whatever reason Space Babies and Devils Chord didnt have for me, and I think its that I was invested in the stakes. Often when they are no stakes (like I didnt feel the Emotional Weight of Space Babies or Devils Chord) people defend it with "dont take it too seriously, its just silly fun" and I ask myself "then why isnt it fun either? Why does it feel too goofy to be serious and too loose to be thrilling" and i think they feel so thin and silly that I get very little from them. Theyre not even bad, theyre just ... empty. And i do now thing silly or serious the story needs stakes. Because here, I fully bought into the rogue/gatwa dynamic. I wasnt entirely fooled with Ruby's death, but I did think it mattered if Gatwa was willing to sacrifice her or not. So the fun is emphasized with a sense that things mattered, and a lack of that 'significance' makes everything feel empty, tone be damned. I had trouble with 73 Yards and Dot And Bubble despite them being 'serious' because again I didnt understand the stakes of the creature and didnt care about Lindys well-being. THIS i felt momentum and I felt the stakes. TL;DR i guess my point is silly isnt an excuse for a thin story, and serious isnt an placeholder for drama. I loved this for just being a story that mattered to the main characters for once. (Boom was like halfway there, I cared about Gatwa/Ruby but i didnt care at all about the side character child and soldier people)

Great episode, classic Dr Who.

The only bit I would disagree with you on here is I would say that Space Babies is similarly meat and potatoes Dr Who. It’s quite a classic episode structurally. It just has a bombastic element that makes people think it’s a more left field episode than it is. Whereas The Devil’s Chord is Doctor Who does pure spectacle (i.e. the Web Planet) which is something Dr Who barely ever does because of budget constraints. Obviously still strange to only get 2 out of 6 so far be ‘normal’ episodes. But similarly to late stage Moffat, I do think this is one of those things we get hung up on at the time and we worry about the casual viewer (who I can’t help but agree might be a bit lost by the approach), and then in a few years time we look back at it like series 9 and go wow this is Doctor Who taking big swings and it feels like it’s written for me.

I’ve freaking loved the last four episodes. I think end of season 3 was the last time I felt it was this strong. Rogue was a fantastic addition and I really bought the romance, which is almost impossible in such a short timeframe. It did remind me a bit of The Girl in the Fireplace but less tragic. My only complaint is the season is too short and that’s a nice place to be, especially with a show I’ve loved for so long.

The fact they didn't include rowan Atkinson and the other curse of fatal death doctors is disgusting

73 Yards was very much a typical RTD story. And normal episode? Since when has Doctor Who ever been normal.

Am I the only person who rather liked Dimensions in Time? I can't be. Anyway, happy Pride! (now if I could only find a girl who looks like a cross between Gatwa and Groff and Gibson...)

This episode was amazing. Had me jumping up and down, shouting “NOW KISS!”

Ooh I just LOVED this episode! The classic Doctor Who format with the fresh-feeling queer storytelling. For me this is emblematic of the direction Doctor Who should go in. Classic and innovative at the same time!

I really liked this episode, despite the fact that I don't like when the doctor gets involved with romance. Well, at least it's not with a companion.

Loved this one. I don’t have as much to say about it as some of the others, but I think that’s a good thing. It’s like “I like it - solid episode - no notes!” The only thing I found to criticise was that Indira Varma’s bird costume really looked like a costume around the chest in some scenes. It looked kind of baggy, like maybe it was too big and was bunching up. I was also distracted by the Richard E Grant face and totally missed all the dialogue as a result, but I had fun in the moment thinking “WTF! Shalka is canon now?!”

While I understand the want for the season to start off normal before going into the new stuff, I have the opposite view. I loved Doctor Who for so long, but the newer seasons just couldn’t grab me the same and I wasn’t able to make it past Jodie Whittaker’s first season. I didn’t even watch the specials with David Tenant, despite him being one of my favorite doctors, for fear that they would mess him up too. I started off this season just watching spoiler reviews, and the praise for Boom finally got me to actually watch the episode. It was decent, so I watched 73 yards before reviews came out, and it felt like my passion for the show came back. It felt new and exciting, and you could feel the quality of the writing behind every decision. I think it was smart to start with that, as the show was able to show off the writing skills and all the new ways they could go with the episodes, so that when we do get the classic DW episodes, they still feel fresh and invigorating. I don’t know if I would be as hyped for the season (or even watched it) if it slowly built to the new stuff, rather than kinda starting out with it, just like with the Netflix life action ATLA, where the quality only became really good the last few episodes. Now, I’m excited to get back to basic again because my faith in the writing has been restored.

Space Babies was *preeeeeetty* Doctor Who.

My one issue with the story is that while I like Ruby and I like her with the Doctor, the whole 'she's my best friend' bit felt hollow and a bit unearned. I just don't feel like we know them as friends as much as I would like by this point in the season, especially as their relationship has had such little screen time. IDK. It just didn't work for me. Very tell not show.

What I find interesting is everyone was so mad about two guys kissing when they couldn’t look at the bigger picture…. They are not even the same species 😂

I liked this episode quite a lot, we needed a regular old runaround and a cool love interest for 15! I still don't care for Ruby though, she could have not been in this episode and honestly it would have been a lot better!!!

I also personally can’t remember a run of 4 episodes in a row being so strong, but I think this also sort of links to the point that there’s only 8 episodes in the season? With the old format you could kind of get away with a few episodes being a bit rubbish, there were often enough winners in a season to balance it out. In a season as short as this it’s more important to make sure that each episode is an engaging banger, and I miss having episodes with the formula we know and love. With less episodes, theres less opportunity for ‘average doctor who’ to be entertaining enough for the audience. Granted, I loved Rogue and I’ve enjoyed watching Doctor Who more than I have in a long while

Subscribing because I can tell you know what you're talking about, unlike majority of "who" RU-vidrs who just wanna add sensationalism to their reviews. Are you on Tumblr?

I don't really agree that we've had that many major "format subversions". Devil's chord was standard fare with a more dangerous enemy. Space babies was a very standard setup, location, monster, stakes, methods, resolution. Dot and bubble wasn't default format, but it was classic doctor lite format, as was 73 yards. Boom was the closest to a novel format, and it was basically the same as a standard monster episode, except it was done in a single location, and the monster wasn't mobile. All of these excelled in ways that are new and fresh, but they didn't do it by being something "other" than doctor who. And, face it, we all know that this new "show" isn't a magical fresh slate. It's a showrunner we already know, with canon that hasn't been reversed or changed. It's a new season of the same show in every way that matters, so yes, what subversion there was *does* hit hard.

It was exceptionally good and balanced. How rare is it for the Dr meet someone, like River and Rouge, who are his equal. No wonder it developed.

Wait grant played the doctor before Christopher in a cartoon episode

They need more different writers

The Toymaker played with the timeline ! So he let Richard E Grant as the Great intelligence take over the War Doctor after the 8th regenerated (Or didnt do the war) And thus this alternate timeline has been canonized!!!! Great intelligence in the timeline, takes over the doctor and becomes the shalka doctor in that other timeline from which the floating head comes !

Animated Richard e grant was a fun watch years ago, totally funny to see him in the show as the doctor, they said fuck it