Doctor Who (TV Program)

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    ‘Doctor Who’ Season Finale Recap: Answers Through the Tears

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    Ncuti’s Gatwa’s first season as the Doctor closes with a typically ambitious episode.Season 1, Episode 8: ‘Empire of Death’If Ncuti Gatwa’s first full run of episodes manning the TARDIS has been characterized by anything, it’s big swings.Over the course of this season, the “Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T Davies has explored racism, queer love, the threat posed by technology and even fandom itself, with episodes ranging from the abstruse (“73 Yards”) to the strangely saccharine (“Space Babies,” which I have largely advised friends skip).The season has, at times, felt overstuffed, but it’s been the overhaul “Doctor Who” needed after losing some momentum under its previous showrunner, Chris Chibnall. Davies’s ambition is undeniable, and the penultimate episode — in which the evil god Sutekh returned after nearly 50 years — was one of the boldest, scariest “Doctor Who” episodes in years.While the finale doesn’t quite maintain the tension, “Empire of Death” is still an effective and satisfying end to the season. The episode opens with several loose ends to tie up: Sutekh needs to be stopped, and we still need to discover the identities of Ruby’s mother and her neighbor Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson).The action picks back up in medias res, with Sutekh’s hollow-faced, red-eyed servants Susan (Susan Twist) and Harriet (Genesis Lynea) uncurling their palms and blowing out a brown dust that turns everyone it touches to ash. Kate (Jemma Redgrave) and her team at UNIT, Britain’s supersecret extraterrestrial task force, are quickly destroyed.Kate, played by Jemma Redgrave, and her team at UNIT run Britain’s supersecret extraterrestrial task force.Bad Wolf/BBC StudiosWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Doctor Who’ Episode 7 Recap: God of All Gods

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      In the first part of the season finale, a terrifying enemy from the Doctor’s past returns, as mysteries start to be solved.Season 1, Episode 7: ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’Over six decades, “Doctor Who” has introduced many villains — including big hitters like the Cybermen (first introduced in 1966) and memorable one-off monsters like the gas-mask wearing Empty Child (2005) — as the Doctor’s most fearsome enemy.But in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” the first episode in the season’s two-part finale, it seems his ultimate nemesis might finally have been identified — or rather, rediscovered. It turns out the mysterious villain who’s been pulling the strings this season (“the one who waits”) was first fought by Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor back in 1975.This reveal is genuinely fear-inducing. But it’s the combination of Russell T Davies’s pacey, tricksy script and the show’s newly lavish production values that makes Episode 7 such a bone-chilling adventure — one far scarier, far more ambitious, than I expected from the show’s Disney era.As the finale opens, two mysteries, which Davies has threaded throughout the season, hang in the air. There’s the question of Ruby’s (Millie Gibson) back story, including the identity of her birth mother. And what about the mysterious woman (Susan Twist) who keeps popping up wherever the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby travel?These questions are on the Doctor’s mind as the TARDIS crashes into the headquarters of the United Intelligence Taskforce, or UNIT, Britain’s supersecret extraterrestrial task force. He’s greeted by the organization’s head, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), and her team, including the 13-year-old scientific prodigy Morris (Lenny Rush).Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, played by Jemma Redgrave, runs UNIT, Britain’s supersecret extraterrestrial task force.Bad Wolf/BBC StudiosWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Doctor Who’ Episode 6 Recap: A Charming Rogue

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      The Doctor and Ruby head back to Regency England in a meta meditation on cosplay and obsessive TV fandom.Season 1, Episode 6: ‘Rogue’For decades, cosplay has been a huge part of the “Doctor Who” fandom, with hardcore viewers rocking up to conventions or gathering to watch the show decked out in Tom Baker’s striped scarf or David Tennant’s slim suit.“Rogue,” this season’s sixth episode, is a meta meditation on cosplay — a portmanteau of costume play — and obsessive TV fandom, as the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) travel to Regency-era England and face off against a shape-shifting alien species who want to “dress up and play at ‘Bridgerton.’”Initially, the repeated explicit references to Netflix’s blockbuster show — as well as the enemies-to-lovers plot, the copious wisteria and the orchestral covers of pop songs — feel unnecessary. But it soon becomes clear that “Doctor Who” is engaging in cultural cosplay of its own.The year is 1813, and the Doctor and Ruby set about immersing themselves in the party of the season. Ruby quickly gains the attention of the night’s host, the proud Duchess of Pemberton (Indira Varma, “Game of Thrones”) and shocks the rude Lord Barton (Paul Forman) with her 21st-century slang and feminist principles.More than just an old-fashioned misogynist, Lord Barton is secretly a Chuldur, a member of a species of intergalactic social climbers who rise up the ranks by taking over the bodies of the powerful and interesting. First, they go for Lord Barton; later, the duchess becomes their next victim.The Doctor has never met a Chuldur before — not that he knows of, anyway — but he can tell something’s up. Scanning the room, his eyes fall upon a brooding, aloof nobleman called Rogue (Jonathan Groff, a notable King George in “Hamilton”) and the orchestra plays Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” to really hammer the point home.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Doctor Who’ Episode 5 Recap: Bursting the Bubble

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      The Doctor saves a rich wannabe vlogger from being eaten by a giant slug, but a final twist leaves him reeling.Season 1, Episode 5: ‘Dot and Bubble’We’ve passed the midway point in this season of “Doctor Who,” and the show’s ambition shows no sign of subsiding. After playing with themes of religion and politics, it’s artificial intelligence, already touched on in the earlier episode “Boom,” that’s the topic du jour in “Dot and Bubble.”With its slick visuals and clear anti-technology viewpoint, Episode 5 has echoes of “Black Mirror,” Charlie Brooker’s dystopian TV anthology — as this season’s showrunner, Russell T Davies, who also wrote the episode, noted in a recent interview.But whereas Brooker can use each episode of “Black Mirror” to focus on a different aspect of contemporary technology, Davies has just 43 minutes to explore its overarching morality in “Dot and Bubble.”It makes for a slightly overstuffed episode — critiquing and parodying capitalism, YouTube and celebrity worship — that is saved, in part, by a genuinely unexpected twist in the final act.As with the previous episode, “73 Yards,” the Doctor doesn’t feature all that heavily in “Dot and Bubble” and the action feels less consequential to the season’s overall arc. Instead, the focus is on Lindy Pepper-Bean (Callie Cooke), a blonde-haired, blue-eyed wannabe vlogger with a penchant for pastels.Lindy’s life revolves around a two-part technology: Dot, a tiny robotic pearl that hovers in front of her, and Bubble, a virtual sphere of colorful screens beamed around her head. Within the Bubble, the perpetually peppy Lindy is in constant conversation with her friends; she chats away with the cadence — and vocal fry — of a family-friendly YouTuber, and they coo back.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Doctor Who’ Episode 4 Recap: Now You See Her

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      A strong episode focuses on Ruby, the Doctor’s companion, and the mysterious older woman who starts following her from a distance.Season 1, Episode 4: ‘73 Yards’Let’s get the easy bit out of the way. “73 Yards” is not just the best episode of the season so far, but also the strongest story “Doctor Who” has produced in years — despite the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) hardly featuring.That’s not to say the decade-spanning story’s success depends on Gatwa’s absence. Yes, Episode 4 gives Millie Gibson space to break out of her companion role for the first time, and she gives a nuanced performance well beyond her 19 years.But it’s Russell T Davies’s ambitious, unpredictable script that will ensure a place for “73 Yards” in the Whoniverse history books. The episode constantly wrong-foots viewers, plays with folk stories and horror tropes, and finds a genuinely terrifying villain in a nuclear-warmongering politician.“We are in Wales. Spectacular!” shouts the Doctor as the TARDIS materializes on a craggy cliff face. For international viewers, it’s a swift introduction to a nation that has long been associated with “Doctor Who”: Davies is Welsh, and the show is a former BBC Wales production.In a seemingly throwaway comment, the Doctor mentions a future prime minister, a Welshman named Roger ap Gwilliam, who will lead Britain to “the brink of nuclear war” in the 2040s. “Sorry, spoilers,” he says, shooting Ruby a smile.The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, and Ruby start the episode on a cliff in Wales.Bad Wolf/BBC StudiosWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Doctor Who’ Season Premiere Recap: Back in the Groove

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      The new season, written by Russell T Davies and starring Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, opens with a double episode premiere.Season 1, Episodes 2 and 3: ‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord’Russell T Davies, the showrunner for the new season of “Doctor Who,” had a tough task ahead of him.How do you convince longstanding fans that this British institution of a show is back in safe hands after several disappointing seasons, while also introducing a new international audience to a sci-fi series steeped in 60 years of history?In the premiere double bill of “Doctor Who,” you can feel Davies grappling with these questions, with largely successful results. After the show was canceled in 1989, Davies rebooted “Doctor Who” in 2005, manning the ship during Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant’s tenures as the time-traveling Doctor. Under Davies, “Doctor Who” was not only popular, but, dare I say it, kind of cool.We met Davies’s new Doctor, played by the Scottish-Rwandan actor Ncuti Gatwa, last year in the show’s 60th anniversary episodes (and somewhat confusingly, this new season’s first episode aired as a stand-alone Christmas special). This is also the first season to debut on Disney+ in the United States, and since the rules governing time and space in the “Whoniverse” are notoriously complicated, there’s a lot of world building to do in less than two hours of TV.Typically, a “Doctor Who” two-parter would feature a shared story or location, but here we have two separate adventures. The first episode, “Space Babies,” does much of the heavy lifting to set up the season, so that by the time “The Devil’s Chord” rolls around, “Doctor Who” can do what it does best: take the audience on rip-roaring, high-voltage adventures.“Space Babies” picks up where the Christmas episode, “The Church on Ruby Road,” left off. The Doctor’s new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) enters the TARDIS, his spaceship disguised as a police box, with lots of questions about where he comes from. It’s the Doctor’s job to take her, and any first-time viewers, through the basic Time Lord fact sheet: He comes from the planet Gallifrey and is the last of his species, an orphan like Ruby; he has been alive for thousands of years; and he spends his time traveling through time and space. As introductions go, it’s not subtle, but it gets the job done.Ruby is human, TARDIS technology confirms, but she remains a question mark we can expect the season to return to later.Bad Wolf/BBC StudiosWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More