Doctor Who Is NEW: The Robot Revolution

Welcome to Doctor Who Is NEW! where I post about the latest new episode of Doctor Who.

Season 2 or Series 15 or however you want to count it kicked of yesterday so let's see what's up with that.

There may be spoilers, honey! 

The Robot Revolution

by Russell T Davies 

17 years ago, Belinda Chandra is given an unusual  birthday gift by her boyfriend Alan: a certificate showing he has had a star named after her. 

The name of that star is Miss Belinda Chandra.

Including "Miss" in the name is not the only indication of Alan's outdated parochrial attitudes.  He also assumes she has poor math skills because she's a girl. 

Still, the star naming certificate is a harmless gesture, right?

Well...

17 years later....

After finishing her shift as an ICU nurse, Belinda returns home where alien robots land on Earth to take her back to their planet to be their queen.

The Doctor is in hot pursuit of the robots and Belinda when the robot's rocket ship hits a time fracture and we get...

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey.  

The TARDIS gets knocked off course and lands on Belinda's destination 6 months before she gets there.   

On the alien world, everything is named Missbelindachandra.

The robots are Missbelindachandrabots.

The planet is Missbelindachandraville.  

Anyway, it seems the robots and the humanoids co-existed peacefully until the coming of the A.I. Generator and the Missbelindachandrabots turned against the organic lifeforms on Missbelindachandraville.

Only the wedding of Belinda Chandra and the A.I. Generator will restore peace and equanamity. 

Yeah, this is bonkers.

The Doctor has ingratiated himself into the society of Missbelindachandraville's human population and has set himself up to save Belinda and stop the revolution. 

Things, of course, do not go smoothly. 

Belinda is a quick study and more than capable of keeping up with the Doctor. She also demonstrates the depths of her humanity and empathy by immediately going to work to help humanoids injured in the robot attacks.  

Ncuti Gatwa is a delight as the Doctor and feels more in tune with the role than he did last season. And Varada Sethu brings a sense of depth to Belinda that makes her immediately relatable and interesting. 

Belinda is a companion who does not want to be a companion. "I am not one of your adventures," she emphatically tells the Doctor, making it clear she has one goal: to get back home. 

Home is Earth on May 24, 2025. 

The Doctor seeks to oblige but the TARDIS keeps bouncing off of  May 24, 2025.  A final shot shows the Eiffel Tower and a pyramind and other debris floating in space. 

Well, that can't be good.   

"The Robot Revolution" is not a great story but is redeemed by it's goofy retro sci-fi charms (the robots and their rocket ship are straight out of a 1950's science fiction movie) and strong performances from our two leads. 

Next week: It's Miami, FL in 1952 and a cartoon comes to life and threatens... death!