Doctor Who Is NEW!: Kerblam!

This week's episode of Doctor Who Series 11 brings us a journey to Amazon in SPACE!

The Doctor and her friends out to solve a mystery with the working class, runaway automation and a bottom line focuses corporate hierarchy all caught in the cross-hairs. 

And the return of one of the Doctor's beloved accouterments! 

More to follow with, well, you know....

Yeah, spoilers.  

Kerblam!

by Pete McTighe  

This week's episode finds the Doctor getting a delivery from Amazon Kerblam! It's a fez! (Yay! A FEZ!!!) 

With a note: HELP ME. 

As Graham notes, it wouldn't hurt to check this out. 

SO it's off to the planet Kandoka,  or more specifically, it's moon that Amazon Kerblam! has transformed into a giant warehouse facility. It's here that that the Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham get jobs working for Amazon Kerblam!  to get inside and find who needs help. 

The deal is that Amazon Kerblam!  is mostly automated but is required to maintain a human work force of at least 10%. Apparently, unemployment in the galaxy is quite high so people are grateful to have any job, even a closely monitored, high drudgery job  working for Amazon  Kerblam!   
The Doctor and friends find out people are disappearing mysteriously. After a couple of management types are ruled out as acting in any nefarious manner, it would seem the automated systems of Amazon Kerblam! are acting out against humans. 

But not quite.  It turns out the HELP ME message to the Doctor came from that system. Someone is corrupting the system at Amazon Kerblam! to their own sinister ends. 
That someone turns out to be Charlie, a lowly maintenance worker who is looking to strike a Luddite style blow against widespread automation by turning Amazon Kerblam!
delivery robots into agents of death, armed with explosive bubble wrap. 

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of Amazon 
Kerblam! of delivery robots are primed to teleport to locations across the galaxy to delivery their fatal explosive payloads. 

The Doctor whammies the teleports, causing theAmazon 
Kerblam! delivery robots to teleport to where they already are, open the packages and poke the bubble wrap.  Charlie standing amongst this robot army is given a chance by the Doctor to escape. Charlie doesn't take it and is killed in the ensuing explosion.  

People do not make it out of this episode alive. At least two people that befriend Yaz and the Doctor are killed, people we get to know enough about to be very sad when they become innocent victims of Charlie's machinations.  

Like "Arachnids of the UK"  following "Rosa", this episode presents a lighter, rollicking adventure following the heavier "Demons of the Punjab".  The scene where Ryan and Yaz slide down the distribution chute and bounce around conveyor belts is a lot of fun. The Doctor fast talking her way into a job with Amazon Kerblam! with a little help from the psychic paper and the sonic screwdriver is a very light hearted moment. 

And the Doctor once more wearing a fez? It was delightful to see the return of the 11th Doctor's favorite headgear.   

The Doctor name checks her encounter with Agathie Christie from the Series 4 episode, "The Unicorn and the Wasp".  With Chiball's laser focus on only looking forward with only new stuff, I appreciate any shout outs we can get to previous episodes.  

Doctor Who Series 11 has had a recurring focus on family as well as the struggles of the working class. Kerblam! is a strong and entertaining entry in this season and towards those themes.