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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
These are testing times for Doctor Who and not just because the Tardis has been impounded by a phalanx of murderous robots. In 2022, the BBC sold international distribution rights to Disney, affording the franchise a much-needed cash boost. Since then, Disney has been silent on whether it will co-fund a third series. Meanwhile, the BBC faces financial challenges due to a combination of inflation, a licence fee freeze and skyrocketing production costs.
If all this is weighing on showrunner Russell T Davies, you wouldn’t know it from “The Robot Revolution”, the opening instalment of the new eight-part series. Going by the sharp outfits, shiny retro robots and pristine CGI, it looks like no expense has been spared — this is no time to return to the wobbling sets and polystyrene monsters of yore. The episode also brings a new companion in Belinda Chandra (Andor’s Varada Sethu), whom we first meet as a teenager stargazing with her boyfriend, Alan, who mansplains the constellations and makes a show of naming a star after her, complete with shop-bought certificate. Fast-forward 17 years and Belinda, now an NHS nurse, is asleep in bed when robots crash into the house and abduct her so they can make her queen of their planet. On their tail is Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor, who has a plan to retrieve Belinda and his impounded spaceship.
Stern spoiler warnings mean I can’t reveal much more about the plot beyond a fractured timeline issue plus nods to zeitgeisty themes of toxic masculinity and AI, neither of which are interrogated with sufficient depth. But this opener is primarily about introducing Belinda, whose presence means the series is now led by a Doctor and a nurse. Her profession also accounts for her refreshing assurance as a companion who, used to seeing all human life in hospital, is unfazed at being hurled to the outer reaches of the universe and isn’t taking any nonsense from the Doctor.
Gatwa continues to dazzle as the 15th Doctor, lighting up the screen in a red tartan bomber jacket, pinstripe kilt and signature mile-wide smile. His doctor is mercurial, charismatic and not afraid to shed tears when confronting loss (has there been a Gatwa episode where he hasn’t had a good cry?). “The Robot Revolution” isn’t without flaws but it has enough verve and charm to leave you willing Disney execs to get their wallets out so this TV institution will live to time-travel another series.
★★★☆☆
Episode 1 is on BBC1 on April 12 at 6.50pm and on iPlayer and Disney+ thereafter
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