‘Doctor Who’ Season 1 Premiere Review

This review was made possible by advance screeners of the first 2 episodes of Doctor Who. Doctor Who Season 1 premieres on Disney+ on May 10 and BBC iPlayer/One on May 11 with “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord”. New episodes are released every week.

Ever since the release of The Church on Ruby Road last December, the levels of anticipation for a brand new season of Doctor Who have slowly crept up week by week and I’m so excited to say that we made it. After what has felt like a lifetime, Russell T Davies makes his proper debut in an incredibly timely way with two interesting episodes to continue his new era of the show.

Whilst this review will be tight-lipped and contain no mention of the series’ plots, characters and theories, you will be thrilled to know that all of my spoiler-filled thoughts on the latest adventures from the TARDIS will be going live when the new episodes debut on Disney+ and iPlayer!

For anyone completely new to the show, then I would wholeheartedly recommend going back and checking out last year’s Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road for several reasons. Firstly, it is a wonderful introduction to Ncuti’s Doctor and Millie Gibson as companion Ruby. The second is the fact that it is a great starting point for new audiences, paired with some of the exposition featured in the season’s first episode “Space Babies”, people will be given a lot to work with, even if they’ve not seen the last 19 years worth of Doctor Who. Finally, I think we will be revisiting the events of the special for a long time to go, whether or not the show decides to wrap up the plot of Ruby’s parents between now and the Season 1 finale… who knows?!

SPACE BABIES

I truly believe we have a great pairing on our hands with Ncuti Gatwa’s portrayal of the latest incarnation of The Doctor alongside Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday. There were glimmers of charm and huge potential in the Christmas special, but it’s clear from both “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord” that the pair are inseparable. 

“Space Babies” stands out because of how enjoyable it is, thanks to a gracious amount of charm and exposition throughout it, a clear sign of a classic Russell T Davies-penned series opener. It begins the series by setting a new blank slate, going through an exciting adventure and planting seeds for upcoming episodes. It feels silly having even more exposition after The Church on Ruby Road because the first episode is full of it, including discussions of Gallifrey, The Last of the Time Lords, the TARDIS and even a lovely callback to how companions have used their mobile phones whilst on adventures in the past.

Everything about the episode just screams classic RTD. A scary villain paired with the humourous concept of talking babies works well and helps the episode feel like true Doctor Who, unlike some stories from the last few years… On top of the conventional archetypes used in the episode, the episode’s dialogue on the exposition side is really top-notch stuff. We hear about The Doctor’s life from a new perspective and Ruby Sunday’s foundling status really helps the Time Lord tap into his history, following on from Chibnall’s Timeless Child arc (which is clearly staying for the long run). I trust RTD to treat this storyline with great care and I think his writing can help improve a lot of the issues which fans had with the questionable arc.

Episode rating would have to be 7/10.

THE DEVIL’S CHORD

Episode 2, titled “The Devil’s Chord” sees The Doctor and Ruby Sunday come into contact with The Beatles, and if that wasn’t already a huge concept for an episode, the time-travelling pair have to come up against The Doctor’s “most powerful enemy yet”…

“The Devil’s Chord” is good, and by good I mean RTD-level good. It’s got some really interesting themes regarding the necessity of music in our day-to-day lives whilst also managing to provide some solid non-binary representation for viewers after some interesting discourse following last year’s special The Star Beast which had Donna Noble acknowledge The Doctor’s female-presenting incarnation in a not-so straight forward manner.

One of the key crescendos of this episode comes when certain characters appear to break the fourth wall, something rarely done in Doctor Who. Whether it’s a certain glance or wink at the camera, it implies that whilst the events of the episode are happening, there’s some form of link between the show and the viewer, perhaps caused by Maestro’s antics which is a really great twist. It’s a lot of fun watching an episode of Doctor Who with such huge stakes that also doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Jinkx Monsoon joins the Whoniverse as the episode’s villain Maestro. What is so fascinating about the character is how much of Monsoon’s personality from real life is put into this character, as well as how her many wonderful characters played on RuPaul’s Drag Race find themselves within this new performance. Monsoon was a great contestant on the show and contributes to a highly entertaining villain, though I feel like some elements of Maestro left me wanting so much more. Perhaps we could see them again in the future?

Also, Maestro comes with three separate costumes which all look absolutely incredible.., This season is clearly setting up to be the most fashionable with everyone having an extended wardrobe compared to seasons prior… “wigs galore” too!

The episode itself is set in 1963, a nice touch given the origins of Doctor Who and what even makes it a sweeter detail is when The Doctor begins to tell Ruby about his time on Totter’s Lane in the 60s and how they couldn’t go and visit because it would complicate timelines.

While the episode boasts compelling themes and engaging narrative elements, it’s important to address one minor letdown: the CG musical notes. While intended as “weapons” to lasso protagonists, the execution falls short, as the CG appears somewhat off-putting most of the time and fails to seamlessly integrate into the visual landscape. As I said though, a minor letdown doesn’t harm a majorly good episode.

The episode’s concept is nothing short of refreshing, though, I do anticipate that “The Devil’s Chord” will contribute to a lot of discourse. That said, I think it is easily the better of the two episodes. Whilst music has been a huge part of the show’s identity since 2005, there hasn’t always been a use of music paired with lyrics so it may appear off-putting to some viewers.

If I had to give the episode an individual rating out of 10, I think its quality warrants an 8 or 8.5/10.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ‘DOCTOR WHO’?

I anticipate a lot of mayhem to unfold over the course of the next two months, with a lot of my theories set to unravel upon the show’s release amongst my many spoiler-filled thoughts yet to be posted on the site. If anyone knows how Russell T Davies works as a showrunner, small and meticulous Easter Eggs and references can appear from the get-go, with seeds even planted in prior episodes before a season-long arc begins.

A number of things I look forward to include: Jonathan Groff finally making his long-awaited appearance in “Rogue”, which feels like a lifetime since he was cast in the show; Steven Moffat returns to the show next week for “Boom” – if you didn’t know, I was over the moon for his return. Finally, I am so excited to see how a certain mysterious appearance will continue to pop up and make way for a truly exciting finale.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON ‘DOCTOR WHO’ SEASON 1: “SPACE BABIES” & “THE DEVIL’S CHORD”

Doctor Who‘s opening double-premiere is sure to be a success for the show, with two highly entertaining episodes easing viewers old and new into RTD’s new era. The back-to-basics in Episode 1 matched by the mythological musical adventure fighting in Maestro in Episode 2 work incredibly well together. Ncuti and Millie’s core chemistry at the centre of each episode elevates both, leaving a want for even more timey-wimey adventures, I haven’t been this level of excited for Doctor Who since the 50th Anniversary in 2013, the next era of Doctor Who is going to be huge.