Doctor Who and Star Wars are back on television, and Varada Sethu is starring in both sci-fi franchises on Disney+.
Given an unconfirmed third season of Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa’s second season at the helm of the TARDIS has been preceded by months of speculation regarding the series' cancellation or hiatus. As it's the 20th anniversary of the revival, returning series showrunner Russell T Davies will surely have some big surprises in store for Whovians (myself included).
The Robot Revolution delivers a much stronger opening episode than season one’s divisive Space Babies, introducing us to a new companion, Belinda Chandra, played brilliantly by Varada Sethu, with a refreshingly different dynamic challenging the Doctor in a way that recalls Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding), a classic companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors.
The Doctor is searching for Belinda in a London hospital where she works as a nurse. However, he's too late, red robots rock up to her home and take her away to their homeworld to resolve a conflict overseen by artificial intelligence (AI) - a theme explored in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Introduced in The Church on Ruby Road, Anita Dobson reprises the enigmatic role of Mrs Flood as Belinda's nosey neighbour. Who is she? An ally, an enemy or someone or something else?
The retrofuturism of Missbelindachandraville pays homage to Forbidden Planet, Dan Dare, and Cloud City from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Once the big bad is defeated with the help of Scoot, a cute cleaning robot, Belinda resists the Fifteenth Doctor's clarion call for a timey-wimey adventure aboard the TARDIS, insisting the Time Lord get her home immediately! However, the TARDIS seemingly malfunctions, and that's where the fun begins.
It is a season opener that balances adventure, character development, social commentary and intriguing mystery (why does the Doctor tell Belinda about her familial connection to Mundy Flynn in Boom?) in a way that bodes well for the season ahead, regardless of the series' future. That being said, please have fewer tears from the Doctor!
New episodes of Doctor Who drop every Saturday on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland. Season two is available for pre-order from Amazon (affiliate link).
Have you watched The Robot Revolution? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated for spam. Stay on topic and do not embed links. Keep it family-friendly.
Thank you.